84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

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Velislide
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84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by Velislide »

Now that I think about it, not a bad name for a boat. In too deep. :roll:

Anyways, did a little wheeling and dealing, and ended up with this boat. Into it for about 8 grand. Has fresh water cooled 270s, both run great. Came with the Kohler 6.5k generator, not installed, with 400 hours on it. Interior was not terrible, some water damage on dinette wall, on the flat trim wood. Kitchen was missing the fridge. Lots of junk in the boat, old electronics. 15 rods with linecounters, electric down riggers, planer boards, all the fishing gear you'd see on a charter boat. Boat also has a custom built tri-axle trailer for it. Monster of a trailer.

I figured all in all, it was worth around what I paid. Owner said he could drop it in and go, no issue. This thing was setup 100% as a fishing boat. I'm looking more for like a 70/30 party/fishing boat, so renovations already started.

Gutted out all of the kitchen cabinets, and the dinette. Removed all the old electronics. Going to be redoing the inside helm with dual Raymarine Axiom 9 displays, which I already have. Plan on fitting the boat with all Raymarine, as I'll be ordering the Autopilot next. Got a smoking deal on both these displays, Seatalk hub, cables, and 3d sonar, for 1000$.

Plan on installing a 10-11 cu ft fridge where the oven was, keeping a similar layout over there. Full 6' countertop where the dinette was, moving a larger sink to that side, and installing a all in one washer/dryer under that counter top also.

Sound system is mostly roughed in, using four 8" Inifinity Kappa Marine components on the back deck, two Kappa 10" subs, and four 6.5s in the salon/kitchen, running off the Infinity NMEA2k head unit (6.5s), and the rest on two 1800watt 5 channel Infinity amps.

Plan on cutting up the flybridge helm to get it tucked forward and condensed as much as possible, as I'll have another Axiom display up there when the time comes. Plan on getting some more usable seating up there, so thinking a L shaped couch, surrounding the helm up there. Haven't thought too much about it yet, getting other stuff done first.

Rear deck is rock solid, flybridge is rock solid, and stringers from what I can tell are rock solid. forward deck has a couple minor soft spots, nothing I can't work on later on. For some reason though, the stringers under the engines are rotted out. I'm sure its been run like this for awhile, as this roven woven is pretty tough crap on its own, but it's something I plan on taking care of.

So, am I crazy? :shock: I like boats, and I like projects. Feel like if I stick 10k into it, I won't lose much? Not very often you see F32's with custom built trailers.
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prowlersfish
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by prowlersfish »

Sounds like a major project. Rarely does anyone get back the money one puts in on a boat? What your doing may or may not add value to it. Depends on how its done and people's perception of it. But make the boat the way you want it, it's your boat. Lot of boat to tow. Photos of the project?

Rereading your post strings should go to the top of your list if they are bad.
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by RWS »

Do you have a survey?

All the bits and bobs are in your face, the real deal is whats going on below decks

Otherwise she's a floating condo

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Velislide
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by Velislide »

No survey done, I have a pretty good understanding of how these are laid up, after spending some time working on it. Anything can be fixed. Assuming inboard stringers will be bad all the way to the transom, but I could be wrong. In front of the engine, stringers forward of that bulkhead are crispy sounding like they are made of rock, when I hammer them. Hardest thing would be removing the engines to fix the stringers.

Used a F550 to tug it home. Pulled pretty easy. I'd be happy breaking even. I haven't seen a single F32 Trojan anywhere near where I have plans for this one going, as far as the build. Most stay pretty basic, as far as interior and electronics. So if it was worth 20k in the end, I'd be happy with that.
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by prowlersfish »

Time will tell.
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by prowlersfish »

Velislide wrote: Wed Aug 25, 2021 7:42 pm No survey done, I have a pretty good understanding of how these are laid up, after spending some time working on it. Anything can be fixed. Assuming inboard stringers will be bad all the way to the transom, but I could be wrong. In front of the engine, stringers forward of that bulkhead are crispy sounding like they are made of rock, when I hammer them. Hardest thing would be removing the engines to fix the stringers.

Used a F550 to tug it home. Pulled pretty easy. I'd be happy breaking even. I haven't seen a single F32 Trojan anywhere near where I have plans for this one going, as far as the build. Most stay pretty basic, as far as interior and electronics. So if it was worth 20k in the end, I'd be happy with that.
Bad stringers will kill value. IMO, modifications will ad little to the value ( there are exceptions) and can limit buyers down the road. Any ad ons or " upgrades on my boat were done to suit me or my better half no thoughts on value.
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by swampman »

Hard to find much valid input on here except "get a survey" . Seems no matter how deep an understanding you have of your own boat you couldn't possibly know more than a surveyor will tell you after a few hours looking it over ,according to some of these fellas .
Seems to me you got a good grasp on things you want to do , what needs to be done, and it seems worth it to you . That's all that matters really . Try to ignore all the negativity and naysayers , some don't comprehend that just because one doesn't have a surveyors credentials , don't mean they don't have the common sense and experience to evaluate a boat on their own . Best of luck to you with your project !
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by prowlersfish »

swampman wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:50 am Hard to find much valid input on here except "get a survey" . Seems no matter how deep an understanding you have of your own boat you couldn't possibly know more than a surveyor will tell you after a few hours looking it over ,according to some of these fellas .
Seems to me you got a good grasp on things you want to do , what needs to be done, and it seems worth it to you . That's all that matters really . Try to ignore all the negativity and naysayers , some don't comprehend that just because one doesn't have a surveyors credentials , don't mean they don't have the common sense and experience to evaluate a boat on their own . Best of luck to you with your project !
I see Survey brought up one time in the response. I stated some things to think about m biggest concern was the stringers. Just being upfront about it so the OP has realist info. Not negative or positive just truthful.
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by BeaconMarineBob »

Please post pictures of your restoration work.

If you need your owners manual or electrical drawing we can help.

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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by mrrudely »

hey guys
noticed mention of stringers in this thread
can anyone tell me how to test the stringers on an 89 mid cabin?
thx
rr
10 meter mid cabin
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by Velislide »

Been pretty busy, haven't got a ton done lately. Just waiting for some cable to come to finish off wiring the sound system in the rear. Removed the decking on the engine hatches, and the kitchen flooring. As the flooring I'm going to use, is going to be vinyl plank, that glues down, I'm going to be laying new sheeting on the floors, shimming it up a little to get things flatter than the terrible factory floor panels, with less sections. First though, I want to repaint the bilge area down the center. Stringers are solid in this area, but going to apply some penetrating epoxy sealer to the exposed areas where the drainage channels are. I'm sure this will all outlast the useful life of things to me.

It's kind of amazing how poor the quality of work, from the factory, on this boat. From the teak framing for the floors, to the engine hatches. Have to remove a lot of the original screws and decking, and adjust everything so the floors are flatter. Nothing was squared up ever, it's pretty bad. The lips for the engine hatches, are not even close to straight with other parts of the teak framing. And this is all original screws, no extra holes. Apparently 3/8" out of wack, is within Trojan tolerances.

I'd much rather do all of this work, then work on the inboard engine stringers, for now. Leave those for last, since that won't be fun. Won't be as bad when it's one of the last things to do. Might find some different engines by then, since I do have dreams of two 6.0 GM motors down there.
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by prowlersfish »

6.0 would be sweet. Thanks for the up date.
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by rickalan35 »

Personally, I am surprised that you have found the original Trojan construction to be shoddy. I have not seen or heard that before. My two Trojans and those of my friends were well framed and the finish work very well done.

Good luck with the rest of your renovation. Photos would be nice to see.

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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by Velislide »

Things like, one corner of an engine hatch being 1/4" higher than the other corner, so once sheeted, it's not totally flat, bothers me. They didn't maintain the same gap on the support strips of teak. Factory issues like that bother me.

Everything's designed well enough, just the fit and finish is pretty lackluster. Things you'd never know with just carpet in the salon, I'm sure. Which is why I'd guess their tolerances were so loose.
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Re: 84' Trojan F32, in too deep?

Post by prowlersfish »

Velislide wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 4:29 pm Things like, one corner of an engine hatch being 1/4" higher than the other corner, so once sheeted, it's not totally flat, bothers me. They didn't maintain the same gap on the support strips of teak. Factory issues like that bother me.

Everything's designed well enough, just the fit and finish is pretty lackluster. Things you'd never know with just carpet in the salon, I'm sure. Which is why I'd guess their tolerances were so loose.
Pretty much on par with many other boats of the time, Trojan was a price boat (not pricey). With that said Things the fit well almost 40 years ago may not fit as well today. Sure applies to me and my jeans. :)
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