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John "Smitty" Smith III

John "Smitty" Smith III

.
May 4, 2017
35
ILLINOIS HOMEMADE BOATS Unsure Tampa
Good day all, I just picked up this 1977 Illinois Homemade Boat (ILZ044040377) from a guy who was about to restore it but had a major motorcycle crash which left him with a limited range of motion in his arm. I looked the boat over and found that is a was all fiberglass, a material I'm very familiar with. There are no holes in the hull, however, the retractable keel looks rough. I have no idea what "type" it is. The company no longer exists from what I can tell and the numbers in the HIN don't help me. So, for starters how do I identify what type of Illinois Homemade boat this is?
20170503_092059

20170503_092059

20170428_132745

20170428_132745

The day I went to check out the boat.
Message_1493402156288

Message_1493402156288

20170503_092200

20170503_092200

20170428_170833

20170428_170833

 
JRT

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,048
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Looks like a cast Iron weighted Swing Keel to me from the rust and position. Not sure the length of the boat, but that keel could be several hundred pounds so be very careful when moving it. The control of raising and lowering that should be carefully inspected as it could be a big source of issues.
 
John "Smitty" Smith III

John "Smitty" Smith III

.
May 4, 2017
35
ILLINOIS HOMEMADE BOATS Unsure Tampa
Sorry about that....The boat is 25 feet long. The movement is controlled by a crank much like the one at the front of the trailer. I will take a picture and post. Cast iron!! Wow...didn't expect that. The sounds like $$$$ to replace or recover if that is even possible.
 
JRT

JRT

.
Feb 14, 2017
2,048
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Actually looking at your close up maybe that is actually lead. Is it rusty or is that just growth? Maybe it was in a saltwater in FL? Either way it will be very heavy and the crank you describe will need to be well secured and the cable in good shape. my O'Day 25 is a weighted keel with just a light 40 lb swing center board. My understanding of a heavy weighted keel sailboat is you have to swing it down otherwise the boat is not sailable or stable.
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
The picture of the young lady staring at the boat is priceless. So many captions come to mind. LOL
 
John "Smitty" Smith III

John "Smitty" Smith III

.
May 4, 2017
35
ILLINOIS HOMEMADE BOATS Unsure Tampa
Yeap its too late!! It's in my driveway and I have the title.
The only money I have spent on the boat is on the trailer tires and signal lights. So, with all that said let us begin.....
The boat is dirty and it has some rain water inside (about an inch) I need to shop vac out. I will take more pics of the interior.
Is there a special soap for boats or can I use up a bottle dawn or Oxy-clean and a scub brush to get the green moldy stuff off?
I will take my wire brush grinder and see what is under all the rust and shells and take a pic.
The girl standing in front of the boat is my step daughter. She was so terrified to get up on the boat because the trailer kept moving up and down....LOL!!
Thanks for all the responses. I still don't know what kind of boat it is. I do know it floated 5 years ago.
 
Brian D

Brian D

.
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Sounds like a This Old Boat project. Have fun! Go easy with the grinder. Do keep us updated with progress.
 
cb32863

cb32863

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Jun 29, 2010
1,287
Beneteau First 235 Lake Minnetonka, MN
Once you get all that "stuff" off of the exposed keel and where it is attached, hopefully you can cover it. Try some POR 15. It bonds to rust and you can fair over it with thickened epoxy. Then you can bottom paint it. Those blisters look like a wee bit o'work too.....

http://www.por15.com/
 
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JRT

JRT

.
Feb 14, 2017
2,048
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Ya that sure looks like rust so cast iron not lead. I'd make it functional, so clean it a bit and do the POR 15. Some how you are going to need a way to drop that keel while on the trailer. I'm guessing that it will weight 300-400 lbs so be careful. I would concentrate on that keel first, if you can't get that to work then you don't have a safe sailboat.
 
John "Smitty" Smith III

John "Smitty" Smith III

.
May 4, 2017
35
ILLINOIS HOMEMADE BOATS Unsure Tampa
John Tubb said:
Ya that sure looks like rust so cast iron not lead. I'd make it functional, so clean it a bit and do the POR 15. Some how you are going to need a way to drop that keel while on the trailer. I'm guessing that it will weight 300-400 lbs so be careful. I would concentrate on that keel first, if you can't get that to work then you don't have a safe sailboat.
Click to expand
I believe you are right about going with the keel first. I do however need to clean the boat. It looks terrible in the driveway.
 
John "Smitty" Smith III

John "Smitty" Smith III

.
May 4, 2017
35
ILLINOIS HOMEMADE BOATS Unsure Tampa
It's been raining and once the sun comes out I'm going to try wire brushing some of the rust and shells off the keel to see whats underneath. I'm hoping that it comes off easy and that the keel is not damaged too much. We will see. Thanks again all for the replies. "This Old Boat Project" will be updated here and I have a ton of questions as I have never been on a sailboat until last week....lol!!
 
JRT

JRT

.
Feb 14, 2017
2,048
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Anything will be an improvement:) But as I said before you spend any money on coatings, I'd get that keel to move up and down freely with good function and make sure the pivot pin and cable are strong. Since you have no idea what that boat is and nobody has jumped up to tell you, getting a replacement part will probable be the nail in junking it.
I'd stick with elbow grease and basic soap cleaning on everything for now only.
 
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