My 2 1980s Vintage Mac 25s

[Catigale]

I like to mix the oil a tad, and just a tad, on the heavier side... figure a little extra can't hurt, but not too much...if it says 4.5 oz then I add 4.8

I just finished rebuilding a 1986 Tohatsu M8A which is a discontinued motor...needed a water pump impeller...no such animal available...took one from another small outboard and used the dremel and a razor and she pees great now....

So you can do this man....buy your paint yet?

lets go sailor

Too much oil can hurt it...you really should rejet the carb if you change the oil:fuel ratio.

Stick with 50:1 and get rid of that old gas mix too. Put in your dad's Oldsmobile or lawn mower or something.

[NavySailor]

Thanks for the info Steve. HT eh? I'm surprised you didn't comment on my bottom paint! LOL

I was talking to the Admiral about calling around to see what I can to do save a buck and she told me to just order the new windows from Rudder-Craft. I quickly said 'aye-aye' and that was that. I'm surprised to learn that these aren't the original windows. I wonder when they were replaced. Even my daughter said those rosey windows have GOT TO GO!

[NavySailor]

Put in your dad's Oldsmobile or lawn mower or something.

I remember my Grandfather used to pour the old car oil onto the gravel along the street to kill the weeds. Ah - the good ole' days!

[NavySailor]

Lots of work on the boat today. Removed all the wood. Including the bulkheads. (and the hornet and wasps nests behind the walls!) Removed the golden carpet from the ceiling. Sander didn't work very well on all the loose paint so I got my grinder out with the brush wire wheel and went to town on the walls and ceilings. Meanwhile the Admiral and one of our swabbies sanded down all of the wood. More work tomorrow and hopefully interior paint!

[NavySailor]

Can anyone point me to a tutorial on how to repair these cracks? One is in the floor of the cabin by the head. The other is topsides inbetween the gray anti-skid material.

[Steve K]

Thanks for the info Steve. HT eh? I'm surprised you didn't comment on my bottom paint! LOL

I was talking to the Admiral about calling around to see what I can to do save a buck and she told me to just order the new windows from Rudder-Craft. I quickly said 'aye-aye' and that was that. I'm surprised to learn that these aren't the original windows. I wonder when they were replaced. Even my daughter said those rosey windows have GOT TO GO!

I have one (comment on bottom paint). Strip it...... if you intend to keep the boat on the trailer. Then wet sand to at least #600 grit. If it looks okay you're good. If not, think about an Epoxy primer and Marine paint, or polyester primer and re-gelcoat. (I can send you links for the products you'll need and some application guides, if you want to go the gelcoat route........ Most guys seem to be afraid of gelcoat, but it is easier than one would think to apply.)

I've done the restoration thing once or twice, btw. Here's a taste...........
(fully restored a 1978 Catalina 22 some years ago)
https://app.box.com/s/e25891a375be219e88a7
I completely refinished her in gelcoat (black stripes too) and fiberglassed the swing keel.
Also have stripped bottom paint off of a few other boats. Here are some other misc pics of some of my projects.
https://app.box.com/s/24e664a9c5574914851c
https://app.box.com/s/1570f72f9af4c1a1fbbb
There are some re-runs in these two directories. Just click the first thumbnail and then you can click through them. You'll get a kick out of the shot of the Catalina turned completely up-side-down. (it's in there somewhere)

Your cracks look like they are superficial (just in the gelcoat). If so, a place to start would be the article I wrote in the features section years ago "Repairing Gelcoat"
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/article ... elcoat.php
This works for both scratches and small cracks in the gelcoat layer.
Just refinished the sink in my D awhile back.

I always say, the Admiral knows best. The RC windows will save some time and they are finished nicely around the edges. And really, the price isn't bad for a plug and play product. My first set cracked, but it was my fault (wrong sealant and tightened screws too much) but I can tell you, the RC windows will not turn pink
The #4991 tape can usually be had on Amazon, btw.

Not horn blowing here, happy to share my small scope if experience though
Best Breezes,
Steve K.

[Ormonddude]

it Looks like they either mounted the speaders wrong or the entire mast is upside down you may want to look into that.

[NavySailor]

Thanks Steve - Busy with non-boat stuff for the rest of the day. But will read all of that later today! I didn't think that it was possible to get ALL of that bottom stuff off. I bought some stripper at West Marine to get off as much as I could. They thought I should just apply an enamel paint to the bottom but if I can get all that crap off, I'll just gel-coat it and keep it waxed.

Ormonddude - here's another pic of the mast that I took this morning from the ground while standing behind the boat. I have no idea if it's right or not, will need the experts here to tell me. Everything was already in place on the mast - so if it's backwards someone else did it.

[Ormonddude]

OK after doing a quick google of macgregor 25 images - I see yours are correct and not placed anything like they are on a 26x or M so purely my bad, your spreaders are fine.

[NavySailor]

Whew-happy to hear that! I like less work and less headaches!

[Catigale]

Those spider cracks are gel coat (cosmetic) cracks. Fiberglass flexes, gel coat does not. If the fiberglass gets loaded, the gelcoat will crack like you see. Enjoys your boat and fix it in winter while you relax. You will probably have to do the prep work in winter and apply the gelcoat in springtime warmer temperatures.

[Barnacle Jim]

Ahoy

Good photos! You're doing a fine job of restoring your boat. In some ways, restoring can be a lot of fun and makes the boat (or any project) much more personal and much more meaningful to us.

[Steve K]

Ahoy

Good photos! You're doing a fine job of restoring your boat. In some ways, restoring can be a lot of fun and makes the boat (or any project) much more personal and much more meaningful to us.

I bought the Grand piano, on auction, that was in my 5th grade school music room for 25 bucks (I'm 61, btw). Plan to restore it one of these days. (comment on the (or any project) thing) I get a kick out of two things in particular......
1. getting the best performance out of, well formerly, cars (used to drag race) and now sail boats.
2. taking just about anything old and neglected and making it like brand new..... (cars, sail boats, musical instruments, furniture...........) .

Best Breezes,
Steve K.

[topcat0399]

Whew-happy to hear that! I like less work and less headaches!

so you bought an old sailboat....

[NavySailor]

Whew-happy to hear that! I like less work and less headaches!

so you bought an old sailboat....

LOL - yeah, no kidding! And I just tore out my old deck and am about to install a new 1,200 sq ft one. Lowe's just dropped everything off. The boat is landlocked now because it can't get out until the deck material is out of the way. (I kind of did that on purpose to motivate me to finish the deck faster!)