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78 Predictor Full Restoration
- Thread starter Adambomb
- Start date
yellowfiero88
Well-known member
Yep, it has power steering (so nice!). Mine came with the B43 Onan but was upgraded to a P218 Onan from a tractor that fell off the forks while being unloaded. I bought it from original owner who was also the service manager at the deere dealer. After selling some of the 3 point implements, I have noting into it.....can't beat that! I still have the 3 point, cab, 49 snow blower, 4' rear blade, and 50" mower deck
HANK PREDICTOR
New member
83 Predictor
AdamBomb
Thanks for the posting of your pictures and the notes in your captions. I'm very new at this and recently purchased an 83 Predictor. I was thinking it may be a good idea to take it down to the transom to actually get an idea of its condition before I start re-doing the interior. Your photo's alone showed me alot and hope to see more in the developmental stages and the Final out come as well. I'm just in the thinkng stages but seeing how your going about it has me feeling a little more confident and able to understand how to take it apart without doing any irreverseable damadge.
Keep It Slow and Easy
Hank
AdamBomb
Thanks for the posting of your pictures and the notes in your captions. I'm very new at this and recently purchased an 83 Predictor. I was thinking it may be a good idea to take it down to the transom to actually get an idea of its condition before I start re-doing the interior. Your photo's alone showed me alot and hope to see more in the developmental stages and the Final out come as well. I'm just in the thinkng stages but seeing how your going about it has me feeling a little more confident and able to understand how to take it apart without doing any irreverseable damadge.
Keep It Slow and Easy
Hank
Awesome pics! And that's a good lookin' boat!
I picked up a '78 Predictor myself a few months ago and am about to start tearing into it. This is my first boat though so I'll be learning on the fly.
Can you go into a little more detail on the separation of the hull halves and the removal of the floor? Or is there a thread somewhere that details this a little more?
I'm probably going to take mine out this weekend then I'll be taking everything apart.
Thanx!
.
I picked up a '78 Predictor myself a few months ago and am about to start tearing into it. This is my first boat though so I'll be learning on the fly.
Can you go into a little more detail on the separation of the hull halves and the removal of the floor? Or is there a thread somewhere that details this a little more?
I'm probably going to take mine out this weekend then I'll be taking everything apart.
Thanx!
.
Adambomb
Member
Thanks for the encouragement HANK PREDICTOR and imelmo. I'd encourage you both to work on your boats if you have a warm dry place to lay up the fiberglass, and expect to pay around $500 for fiberglass and transom materials. We're doing transom, stringer, floor, carpet, interior, paint, jackplate, and motor install. so my bill is climbing fast. and I honestly didn't expect that I would have to replace anything but the transom, motor and seats when I first started.
To answer your questions, imelmo there are a ton of restorations like mine or better on the forum. you can search for them in the restoration section.
To seperate the top deck, you first remove the hardware that holds the bumper in, and remove the bumper, then drill out the rivets that hold the rail on, remove the rail, then drill out the remaining rivets, they also threw in a few screws to remove. Some of the rivets you may have to drive out the center before you can drill them out, it was real pain in the ass.
Depending on the condition of the floor, you can remove the carpet, and seats, then either tear up the floor with your hands and a crow bar or cut sections out of it peice by peice, being careful not to cut, or puncture the hull. when you get to where the floor connects to the fiberglass, you can tear up the layers of fiberglass that holds it down and remove the hull and deck puddy and remaining fiberglass with a hammer and chisel and a grinder. we punched through the boat in a couple places so expect to do some patch work if you arn't super careful.
To answer your questions, imelmo there are a ton of restorations like mine or better on the forum. you can search for them in the restoration section.
To seperate the top deck, you first remove the hardware that holds the bumper in, and remove the bumper, then drill out the rivets that hold the rail on, remove the rail, then drill out the remaining rivets, they also threw in a few screws to remove. Some of the rivets you may have to drive out the center before you can drill them out, it was real pain in the ass.
Depending on the condition of the floor, you can remove the carpet, and seats, then either tear up the floor with your hands and a crow bar or cut sections out of it peice by peice, being careful not to cut, or puncture the hull. when you get to where the floor connects to the fiberglass, you can tear up the layers of fiberglass that holds it down and remove the hull and deck puddy and remaining fiberglass with a hammer and chisel and a grinder. we punched through the boat in a couple places so expect to do some patch work if you arn't super careful.
Adambomb
Member
So after a short break to fit Keith's Pacifica into the garage we've started making progress on the Predictor again.
To free up some room, make it easier to work on and stabilize the boat, Keith and I Picked it up off of the trailer and set it on the floor, then built a frame around it. You can also see the new floor we cut and dry fitted in this picture. We made the floor a few inches narrower than the original, this will allow us to cover up the slot the last guy cut in the hull and it will also make for a little more room in the boat.
Here's a couple closer shots of the floor. We still need to cut a peice for the bow.
We had enough plywood left from the floor sheet to cut a couple peices to glue together for the stringer.
Heres a shot of me prepping the old fiberglass for the new layers. I will be doing this for many more hours before the boat is ready for the rest of the new glass work.
To free up some room, make it easier to work on and stabilize the boat, Keith and I Picked it up off of the trailer and set it on the floor, then built a frame around it. You can also see the new floor we cut and dry fitted in this picture. We made the floor a few inches narrower than the original, this will allow us to cover up the slot the last guy cut in the hull and it will also make for a little more room in the boat.
Here's a couple closer shots of the floor. We still need to cut a peice for the bow.
We had enough plywood left from the floor sheet to cut a couple peices to glue together for the stringer.
Heres a shot of me prepping the old fiberglass for the new layers. I will be doing this for many more hours before the boat is ready for the rest of the new glass work.
, looking good though!
CheckmateFever
Well-known member
It's coming along nice!! 
HANK PREDICTOR
New member
Adambomb
Thanx for the update. I have decided to take it completely down and rebuild it from the transom up. I do see a peice of wood from what was left of the original flooring after one attempt to restore it by someone. it looks like there was only one stringer in this 83 from the transome up to the bow beneith the flooring right in the center. I'm far from getting to that point still cleaning and tearing it down. Learning as you go is a slow process lol.
Keep those updates coming. The're very motivational.
L8R
HANK
Thanx for the update. I have decided to take it completely down and rebuild it from the transom up. I do see a peice of wood from what was left of the original flooring after one attempt to restore it by someone. it looks like there was only one stringer in this 83 from the transome up to the bow beneith the flooring right in the center. I'm far from getting to that point still cleaning and tearing it down. Learning as you go is a slow process lol.
Keep those updates coming. The're very motivational.
L8R
HANK
Jetmate
Well-known member
Adambomb
Member
After a couple days of grinding the hull in preparation for glass, and another shipment of resin, fiberglass mat and hull/deck putty arrived in the mail, the boat is ready for the stinger and floor! heres a picture of everything prepped. and a shot that gives a good look at the balsa through the fiberglass. I punched through to the balsa in a couple thin spots with the grinder but it's all sealed back up now.
Heres a look at the stringer install. With everything already dry fitted, keith and I screwed the stringer to the floor and buttered it with hull and deck putty. After that, we carefully carried it over the to hull, centered it, set it in, and applied even weights.
After the putty had dried, we unscrewed the floor, removed it, and applied another two strips of putty on either side of the stringer where the wood meets the hull, doing this will help us get good contact when we apply the fiberglass. when that had dried, we sanded it to prepare it for the mat.
Heres some pictures of stringer after we fiberglassed it. the mat starts at the top of the stringer and extends a few inches past where the floor will end.
Next, back to grinding. and prepping the floor you can see the lighter tracks on either side of the hull where I prepped for the floor to meet it. We also went over the top of the stringer to level everything off and make the floor sit snug and painted two coats of resin on the bottom of the floor to seal it up and keep if from rotting. and the last shot shows keith patching the end of the stingers to cap it off from moisture.
Heres a look at the stringer install. With everything already dry fitted, keith and I screwed the stringer to the floor and buttered it with hull and deck putty. After that, we carefully carried it over the to hull, centered it, set it in, and applied even weights.
After the putty had dried, we unscrewed the floor, removed it, and applied another two strips of putty on either side of the stringer where the wood meets the hull, doing this will help us get good contact when we apply the fiberglass. when that had dried, we sanded it to prepare it for the mat.
Heres some pictures of stringer after we fiberglassed it. the mat starts at the top of the stringer and extends a few inches past where the floor will end.
Next, back to grinding. and prepping the floor you can see the lighter tracks on either side of the hull where I prepped for the floor to meet it. We also went over the top of the stringer to level everything off and make the floor sit snug and painted two coats of resin on the bottom of the floor to seal it up and keep if from rotting. and the last shot shows keith patching the end of the stingers to cap it off from moisture.
CheckmateFever
Well-known member
Nice!! Man that thing is gonna be solid as a rock!!! Lookin' good!
Ya the floor is all glassed in now I just went out and walked on it its strong as hell next is transom knees seat boxes carpet and then the top goes back on going to glass the splash well to the transom after all that its time for paint put the jack plate and the motor and run it hopfully by May.
john lamon
Well-known member
Looking good guy's 
Adambomb
Member
Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone! It definitely motivates me to post this stuff when I know people are actually reading and appreciating it...so here is another update. Floor install. After the stringer was prepped and ready to recieve the floor, I buttered it up with an even layer of hull and deck putty and we set the floor down in the boat and screwed it back down to the stringer.
next we filled the gaps between the floor and the hull with putty, ideally we are looking for no bubbles when we lay up the glass.
Next step was to cut a sheet of fiberglass that covered the entire floor, and start covering it with resin. we used a different type of mat for the floor, the 1708 that we used on the transom had stitching in it that made it thicker and easier to work into corners and angles, the mat we used on the floor was a rougher sheet with no stitching.
heres a look at the first layer. We will lay two more after this while it is still tacky, two strips on either side of the floor to cover up the seam and seal the remainder of the hull. You can see the fan in the first shot set in the bow. we turned this on after the mat started to harden a bit, this really speeds up te curing process.
This shot is taken after the next two layers were put down.
next we filled the gaps between the floor and the hull with putty, ideally we are looking for no bubbles when we lay up the glass.
Next step was to cut a sheet of fiberglass that covered the entire floor, and start covering it with resin. we used a different type of mat for the floor, the 1708 that we used on the transom had stitching in it that made it thicker and easier to work into corners and angles, the mat we used on the floor was a rougher sheet with no stitching.
heres a look at the first layer. We will lay two more after this while it is still tacky, two strips on either side of the floor to cover up the seam and seal the remainder of the hull. You can see the fan in the first shot set in the bow. we turned this on after the mat started to harden a bit, this really speeds up te curing process.
This shot is taken after the next two layers were put down.
