My boat renovation.

M

Michael MacLean

Member
Jul 1, 2019
55
St Jacobs, Ontario
Boat Info
1987 460 Express
- newly purchased and planning a major interior renovation
Engines
Caterpillar - 2 x 375 hp
Hello everyone. This past summer I, along with one of my brothers, purchased a 1987 460 Express Cruiser with the intention a doing a bit of work on it to turn it into a floating cottage. As with any project like this it took on a life of it's own. My two other brothers have joined us to work on it as well. We are having the best time on this project.
I have a blog now that I post regular updates on.

My1987searay.com

Click on "follow" at the bottom of the screen if you are interested. We are learning as we go along and would appreciate any advice.
 
That’s awesome. I don’t have the skill set or the patience for this type of work, I can’t even imagine how many times I would have to do something over again to get it right. Good luck!
 
Thanks. We have 9 months of work ahead of us. My brother Donald is a cabinet maker and works for me. Please feel free to keep following the blog.
 
You four are doing a great job on the restoration, taking the time to do it right and at the same time you're building on what appears to be a great family experience. You're lucky in many senses. Most of all in having the brothers who are interested in helping and spend the time getting their aging bodies into some awkward positions.

Ya gotta love the fun you're having.
 
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Very nice work. Do wonder about that corian floor in the shower. We are building a new home right now. Using some corian in the showers but not on the floors due to its slick nature when wet.
 
That is a good point. The Corian floor is only in the one section of the head. The shower and toilet are combined and we won't be doing anything to that area. Keeping it the original colour. We just wanted to get rid of the blue in the vanity area and I will be putting down a small may.
 
Just spent some time going over the whole blog.
Loved it!
Glad you saved that classic beauty from the scrap heap.
Those Cat’s should move her along nicely once you’re finished.
You’re very brave to take on a project like this but it looks like along with the needed skills you have a good crew to help.
Hopefully you have experience with diesels or a friend with the knowledge to get those motors running perfectly.
The only thing that I can even begin to suggest is that when installing and building around anything that might need to be checked, maintained, serviced or replaced keep future access in mind.
 
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Without the help of my brothers there would be no way that I would take this on.
As far as the engines are concerned I had them checked before I committed to buying the boat and they did an oil analysis. I will continue to do one every oil change to monitor the health of the engines. We are taking a course in February that will give us a very basic knowledge of our engines and how to maintain them.... Plus my niece's fiance is a diesel mechanic. As for myself I know absolutely nothing about engines. My area of expertise is custom cabinets and renovations.
I agree with what you said about making sure everything is accessible for servicing. We will make sure we build the cabinets to be able to do that.
I hope you continue to follow us on this.
 
Great thread and really enjoyed reading your blog. I can't wait to see the finished project. And what a great way to bond with your brothers. Your either going to be closer as a family or be at each others throats by the time it's complete. :)
Question for you...How is the additional weight figured when doing a project like this?
 
Thank you for following along. Please do check in as we go. As for the bonding...we have been through several projects together over the years so if we are all still alive now we should be fine.
With respect to the weight... Your guess is as good as mine. We took a lot out and will be adding a lot back in. The boat weighs 25,000 lbs so I am hoping that 500 extra pounds either way shouldn't make too much of a difference as long as it is even distributed.
We are actually cutting the size of the fresh water tank in half so that should also work in our favour. When the boat was built things were different. Now we should always have quick access to fresh water so don't need to store as much.
 
WOW!
That will keep you out of the bar.
Your commitment to the project is commendable and to have this time with your brothers truly amazing. Please keep reminding us as you make progress.
 
Mike … that is a complete renovation … I don't think I would even call it a renovation more like a build. Incredible...great work... just curious if you put a budget together before hand?
 
What is a "budget"? Never heard of that before.
We do have a budget in mind but we will see how it goes. We need to do this right and, since I see this being used over the next 20 years, I don't want to cut corners to save a bit of money when it won't look good.
Thanks for the message. I hope that everyone will enjoy watching what we are doing.
 
Mike,
If at all possible you may want to reconsider the smaller freshwater tank. It always nice to have freshwater. Especially with a boat that big where you’re going to be taking showers and washing dishes.
My current boat holds 100 gallons and it’s perfect.
My old boat held 40 gallons and it wasn’t enough.
 
The new tank will hold about 350 litres .... Or about 90 gallons. They had two tanks before and each held about 80 gallons.

I appreciate the input though.
 
That is an awesome job Guy's !!!! Keep up the Beautiful work...Thanks for the post. I have a 1987 390 and they are some great classics, she's lucky to have you guys !!!
 
Thanks for the kind words. As much as we are looking forward to getting her into the water next year we are enjoying the process.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.
 
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