1979 Seavette

[jmdevine85]

I am officially a Seacraft owner! I purchased a 1979 Seavette (outboard model) this weekend. I am the third owner, the previous owner had the boat since 1987 and actually supplied me with the purchase agreement from the original owners and Rybovich Marina. twin 200hp Evinrudes for $8,070.

I am still not sure as to whether I am going to restore it as a Seavette, make the swap to a center console, or do something a little more unique and kind of mash the two together, I know the purist hate to see another Seavette lost so I will be taking my time in figuring out what route to take, reading through lots of the rebuild/mod threads and asking many a question.

I will document as much as I can as I go, and hope to gain lots of knowledge from those that have gone before through this process.

first question... what part of the HIN would identify what # seavette hull this is?

Jeff
Venice, FL

[Bikecop1]

Pics please.

[jmdevine85]

a couple pictures, gonna take a lot of work... but hey original cushions

[erebus]

Man, that first pic...
Old lady's got some lines...
Looks badass just sitting there.

[rcnight]

JM - Send me a PM with your contact info. I might have something of interest.

[flyingfrizzle]

Originally Posted by erebus

Man, that first pic...
Old lady's got some lines...
Looks badass just sitting there.

I second that

[jmdevine85]

a couple questions as a start to think about pulling things apart... my anticipated order... trying to take as much off in a way that it can be saved

1. Remove Glass windshield (cut black dry-rotted seals, remove glass, unscrew frame from seavette cap (is there a proper name for this as to not confuse with the regular top cap?)

2.Strip remaining upholstery inside the cabin to expose and screws/ bolts etc.

3. remove hatches on seavette cap.

4. locate and remove bolts holding seavette cap to hull

I'm assuming both the windshield and cap use some type of adhesive in addition to any bolts. so cut scrap saw grind to separate.

5. after seavette cap is detached and off start removing all the hardware and rub-rails etc.

6. decide what i'm doing transomwise, planning on removing the splash well replacing with full transom with 3-4 compartments/live well etc.

7. Remove remaining floor leaving an inch or 2 of flooring to attach new floor to, open up stringer tops to de-foam/ re-foam.

8. Fuel tank, there is no tank in the boat, I was given a tank 113g? aluminum tank that looks likek it was painted? maybe with some type of epoxy? claimed it was new and never had fuel into but there is still rubber hoses on the bibs where lines were cut off. pressure test and re-coat and use? or not worth the risk?

9. redo the transom. there is no seam where the top cap hits the stern. is there a better or preferred place to make the cut to separate the top cap from the boat? forward on the transom storage boxes on the gunnel?

Determine layout of any new hatches/placement of fuel tank and wells


I know i'm probably missing stuff I'm going to continue to read through the pinned 23 rebuild that's posted on here among other threads. But i do want to try to keep the seavette cap in one piece. so that i can put it back one. so any experience with removal of that will be most welcome.

[jmdevine85]

Any advice in pulling the seavette cap off? Trying to get it off in one piece?

[flyingfrizzle]

Originally Posted by jmdevine85

Any advice in pulling the seavette cap off? Trying to get it off in one piece?

I found that using a thin blade or sawzal blade works well for separating the spots that are bonded to the hull. You will find that most of the cap is just sitting on the hull shell with rivets holding it together. But before they dropped it on I have found that there may or will be several places where they applied potter putty to the joint. I have used putty knifes to run around the joint to help separate the two pieces but you will find some spots that are bonded together with the putty. I have just took the sawzal and ran the blade across the bonded spots to free the cap from the hull shell. You may find other spots like the rear box to be bonded to the transom or such also. You will be able to tell where it is stuck at though.

[Capt Chuck]

after seavette cap is detached and off start removing all the hardware and rub-rails etc.

Make sure you support the hull sides horizontally or your cap will not fit when you reassemble it !
Use the search function and see how other members have done this. Good luck with your rebuild. Gotta love the Gucci teak inner liner trim !