The Eastern Rebuild Page 2

The Rebuild

The Eastern rebuild was going to be a simple fix, replace the internal leaking, under floor mounted, gas tank and fix a small spongy spot in the floor. Upon cutting into the floor it very quickly turned into much more. This boat was made very cheaply and hacked together with scraps and inferior NON marine products by the factory, no marine lumber here, cdx plywood and pine untreated framing 2x4's. From scrap wood, pine framing lumber, car mats, nails and poor construction, along with the lack of a bilge pump and drain plug turned everything into major rot factory. The boat is a 22' Eastern, 1988 vintage, and there was only 1 owner before Tunuts (a family member) and is 100% original. No modification, changes or additions have ever been made to the boat from the day it left the factory, heck not even a dang cup holder, in fact the motor that came with the boat when new, a 115 Merc of the same vintage, had the original spark plugs and has no more the 200 hours total.

Fuel Tank Update

A new fuel tank was ordered by Tunuts through Eastern themselves, in the beginning of December. Last week it came in at Eastern but they said we could not buy it now because they had none in stock and they just got an order for a boat. They informed us they would order us another one that would take another month or more to come in. This is as bad as customer service can get! The order was canceled and we ordered a tank through another dealer and it is expected to arrive in less then 3 days. It's a good thing we had the common sense to have Eastern order us a new tank before we needed it, because they would not have had one in stock for themselves, something does not sound quite right when you do not carry any inventory of a custom item like this.

The 115 Mercury Motor

The motor has been gone through, all fuel lines have been changed to ethanol safe lines, the carburetors have been gone through along with all filters on the motor. The lower end has been removed and the water pump has been replaced along with all seals in the entire lower end. The trim cylinders have been fixed as their seals were also leaking. New sparkplugs and a new ignition pack was installed as only 2 cylinders were showing spark when tested. The lower end is still off at the moment because we are waiting to hook up the controls up first so the shift linkage can be set properly.

Please note that when this boat was originally "built" the Eastern boat company was owned and run by different owners then they currently have. The new Eastern boats are completely different and the build quality is far superior, so we were told. Remember this boat was slapped together 23+ years ago.

All photos were taken with android cell phones on the spot and at the time of discovery, that is after we stopped laughing and shaking our heads. (if you notice weird colors on some images it is from a heater we were using to help cure some areas)

	All fixed.	Drain tube install.	A Boats Best Friend.
Drain tube ready to be installed, coated with life caulk.	More life caulk on the drain tube.	Installing the brass drain tube.	Drain tube installed, outside view.
Drain tube installed, inside view.	Console tube parts with proper size drain holes.	Glassing in the Console tube.	Another view.
Test fit of the added plywood that will house some 2 part foam for floatation.	2X4 stringers are going in.	Another view.	Starting to glass in the blocks for the foam sections.
Another view of the start of the glass in the blocks for the foam sections.	Started foaming with some left over foam we had, more is on order.	Front 2X4's are cut and installed.	Original ladder.
New ladder platform all made, just needs sanding, routing, and a few dozen coats of teak oil.	Test to see if our idea would work.	Printed our logo on a 25 year old inkjet printed and then lobsta used an engraver to etch it into the swim platform. then we used black lacquer to highlight it.	Finished with one of many coats of teak oil on it.
Close-up view.	Coats of teak oil slowly going on.	Rear floor section all cut out and dry fitted, it will be spit coated on the bottom before installation.	Another view.
Tank is in and the last stringers are going in.	The golden gas tank.	The last stringer is in.	All stringers are in and ready for glass.
Final foam blocks are installed but still need to be glassed.	Entire frame is finally DONE!	Frame is done, next is to install the bilge, hoses, more foam and the deck.	Close up of where the hoses will be routed, PCV bushings were peanut buttered. in after all edges were rounded and sanded smooth.
Waiting to the 2-part foam to do it's thing can be dangerous as you think of how much still has to be done and what it will cost.	Rear deck is all foamed and ready for the decking tomorrow.	Gas tank lines are installed.	Another view of the tank.
Bilge is installed and ready to go.	Fuel pick up line was encased in PVC pipe, as this bay is going to be full of foam, this was done so the line could be replaced easily some day if ever needed.	Just another view of the filler and tank vent hoses.	Rear deck is in!
Front sections are getting ready to have their decks permanently installed.	The entire deck is in and the edges have started to be peanut buttered.	Another View.

All Righty Then!

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Last Updated: January 31, 2013

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