Newbie restoring 2355 Ciera.-gctid829142

[Buncrana]

Hi BOC. I'll start by saying thank you for your previous replies you guys have saved me a lot of money.

In July I bought a 2355 Ciera 1996 and unfortunately was taken. After 5 minutes in the water the engine blew and had to be replaced (put in a 357 Mercruiser) . I decided to restore the old girl as I was very impressed with the lines and look of the boat.

I have recently retired and was looking for a project anyway but am a complete newbie to boats. I think most of you will agree when I say I cannot count the hours I have put in because if I do it will be grossly overpriced.

I have several questions at the moment.

1/ Battery switch use. There are three positions and I have three batteries. 1/off 2/ 1 ..3/2. and finally all. I can see that it is a way of keeping at least one battery for starting. What should I run it on 2 or all? Overnight what should it be on if I anchor up? I left it trailered with just the white light on as if I was anchored and in the morning it was dead. I suspect there may be more wired than should be?

2/ I jacked the front end up and looked at the front bilge pump. There was water there about 3 liters. How does water get there without a breach in the hull?

3/ The hull is painted black. Chips show a blue paint under the black and then the white gel-coat. Do I have to sand it all down or can I paint over it. If I can paint over it what is the best kind of paint to use? I trailer the boat so it is not in the water for a long time and I live on the East coast of Vancouver Island.

These are the projects for the week... No doubt I will be asking more in the future. Thanks in advance . Martin.

[dmcb]

"Buncrana" post=829142 wrote:
Hi BOC. I'll start by saying thank you for your previous replies you guys have saved me a lot of money.

In July I bought a 2355 Ciera 1996 and unfortunately was taken. After 5 minutes in the water the engine blew and had to be replaced (put in a 357 Mercruiser) . I decided to restore the old girl as I was very impressed with the lines and look of the boat.

I have recently retired and was looking for a project anyway but am a complete newbie to boats. I think most of you will agree when I say I cannot count the hours I have put in because if I do it will be grossly overpriced.

I have several questions at the moment.

1/ Battery switch use. There are three positions and I have three batteries. 1/off 2/ 1 ..3/2. and finally all. I can see that it is a way of keeping at least one battery for starting. What should I run it on 2 or all? Overnight what should it be on if I anchor up? I left it trailered with just the white light on as if I was anchored and in the morning it was dead. I suspect there may be more wired than should be?

If you have 3 batteries most likely 2 are combined to provide more storage. That would be your house bank.

That could be 1 or 2. It really doesn't matter.

The other post (1 or 2) will be your start battery.

You can tell which is which by turning it on 1. See what works. It should either power your starter or you cabin lights and all other things.

If it starts, it is your start battery. The other will be your house battery. But now see if it operates the starter also. If it does, it is wired wrong.

When you turn it on all, both the house and start bank is combined.

You can run it on all when the engine is running and all batteries will be charging. When you stop, switch it to the house bank and your start bank will always be charges.

That is if it is a good battery.

If you go to start and the start battery is dead, switch it to all and you will be able to start. That is if the house bank still has a charge.

At this point I will just say if you want long battery life do not discharge any battery before 50% and voltage is not an accurate way to check if the battery is in use. It has to be at rest for voltage to be an accurate measure. There is ways to measure accurately but more on that another time.

It is difficult to know how someone has wired your boat. The fact is if a light ran them dead overnight, it either wasn't charged or the battery is no good. Before you buy new batteries, I suggest golf cart batteries for your house batteries. Best bang for your buck and they are deep cycle batteries. Ask how to wire them if you go that route.

2/ I jacked the front end up and looked at the front bilge pump. There was water there about 3 liters. How does water get there without a breach in the hull?

Rain water, water tank leak. Hose leaking. Lots of ways. Most likely not the hull.

3/ The hull is painted black. Chips show a blue paint under the black and then the white gel-coat. Do I have to sand it all down or can I paint over it. If I can paint over it what is the best kind of paint to use? I trailer the boat so it is not in the water for a long time and I live on the East coast of Vancouver Island.

No paint job is better than what is under it. You have options. You could use a stripper to remove the paint to the gel coat and see what you have. It just might be possible to buff it back to its former glory. If not you have removed an unknown quality paint and an unknown prep for the paint that was applied.

Or you could just sand it down to the gelcoat and paint.

I would not paint over what you have. It just won't be a good job. .

These are the projects for the week... No oubt I will be asking more in the future. Thanks in advance . Martin.

Good luck with your project. There is a lot of satisfaction in what you are doing.

Doug

[Pcpete]

In the case if the forward bilge, look very carefully at the top of your rub rail, the aluminum strip that goes around the hull, for breeches in the sealant. It could because of fa small dent or where a PO bumped into something.

[flyman219]

+1

On my previous boat I had to make a small slit to the underside of the rub rail where it meets the hull on each side at the low point also, to let water that may get in, out. Without the relief it was like a gutter without a downspout being sealed with silicone sealant. The water would be trapped and fill up to the screw and rivet holes and then leak to the engine compartment. I watched it seeping in during a rainstorm once. After the reseal of the top edge of the rub rail and adding the relief, problem solved.

Mike