1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
quickenberger
Posts: 90
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:48 pm

1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby quickenberger » Thu Jan 23, 2020 5:52 pm

After acquiring a 1986 FRONTIER 25 from the East Coast the plans were set in motion to get it to Anchorage Alaska. Trailering it on the Alcan in November proved to be all sorts of fun and exciting. The boat and trailer made it with only one tire casualty.

The FRONTIER 25 has been stripped of most rigging and deck lids. I am working on redoing the dash so that there is more room for seating inside the cabin.

The deck lids were pulled after removing about six inches of snow. All three lids showed signs of soft spots. I peeled the skin off of the main center lid. I took pictures of the results, and I am quite surprised at how much excess resin filled voids of access ports.

deckWood.jpg
Fig. 1. Three views of wood reinforcement from the cockpit center deck section. On left is the wood side at the fuel access. Center and right are the aft access hole, wood side and skin side.
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The plans are to redo:
  • the transom
  • deck lids
  • fuel tank
  • dash
  • cabin seating,
  • and paint
The goal is to turn this FRONTIER 25 into a family boat instead of a work boat.

I will update as the rebuild of the 1986 FRONTIER 25 progresses.

jimh
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Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby jimh » Fri Jan 24, 2020 9:22 am

I am somewhat amazed that you could separate the wood backing reinforcement from the fiberglass molded deck sections, leaving the wood apparently very intact. The bond between the wood and the fiberglass deck must not have been very strong, and the wood must have been in reasonably good shape in order to come off in one piece. My impression from reading accounts of other renovation projects involving the deck and its reinforcement wood is the process of separating them is tedious and involves a lot of work with a chisel.

tswone
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Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:00 pm

Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby tswone » Fri Jan 24, 2020 12:58 pm

I have been looking at a couple Frontiers for the same purpose, family cruiser. What should I be aware of when inspecting a Frontier? I would be using the boat mostly in bays in Maine, sometimes offshore. Also, how do they trailer and launch? My experince is with an older Mako 20, I am curious as how they compare and what I may be getting myself into. Any info is appreciated. Thx.

quickenberger
Posts: 90
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:48 pm

Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby quickenberger » Fri Jan 24, 2020 3:21 pm

jimh wrote:I am somewhat amazed that you could separate the wood backing reinforcement from the fiberglass molded deck sections, leaving the wood apparently very intact. The bond between the wood and the fiberglass deck must not have been very strong, and the wood must have been in reasonably good shape in order to come off in one piece. My impression from reading accounts of other renovation projects involving the deck and its reinforcement wood is the process of separating them is tedious and involves a lot of work with a chisel.



I was also pleasantly surprised. On the 1995 Sentry 19 boat I restored, the wood was wet but still well bonded to the skins. I used a piece of 5/8-inch steel tubing and hammered one end flat, forming a wedge. Using that tool, I was able to drive the wedge under the skin and wood which did a good job of separating.

On the repair of this lid I will use wood but everywhere a screw passes through I will cut away the wood core and fill it with thickened epoxy. I plan on documenting this process. I will also vacuum bag the lid and new wood together and document that process since it is by far a better method of ensuring good adhesion.

Whole Skin.jpg
Fig. 2. Whole Skin.
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quickenberger
Posts: 90
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:48 pm

Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby quickenberger » Fri Jan 24, 2020 3:47 pm

tswone wrote:I have been looking at a couple Frontiers for the same purpose, family cruiser. What should I be aware of when inspecting a Frontier? I would be using the boat mostly in bays in Maine, sometimes offshore. Also, how do they trailer and launch? My experince is with an older Mako 20, I am curious as how they compare and what I may be getting myself into. Any info is appreciated. Thx.


Most of these boats are going to have some work that will need done. Mainly the deck lids. There are 3 on this one I have. The forward one covers the forward part of the fuel tank and has the access for the vent hose connection to the tank. That one was not too bad to remove. The main lid was pretty easy to remove but is heavy. The aft deck lid has a small opening for access to the bilge.

One thing to know is the cabin is fairly small compared to the size of the boat. I will attach a picture of what it looks like with most of the rigging being pulled out.

Cabin-Derigging_.jpg
Fig. 3. Cabin Derigging.
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There are three lids in the front bow for storage and the way the current seats mount are on swinging hinges. The console was mounted to the side about mid-way. I plan on either re-purposing the original console more forward, or making a complete new dash so the original seating can be moved more forward. Behind the passenger seat on the port side I plan on making "L" shaped seating.

Each storage compartment up front has a through-hull so be aware of any water intrusion there. There are three through-hulls in the stern areas as well. There is also a drain hole in the splash well where there could be access to bolts for a single engine mounting. The transom height is 25" in the center if a single engine is used. It is 20" if twin engines are used and they are spaced 29" apart.

Be aware of deck soft spots and a lot of these boats had modifications to fit the user's needs. Mine has a swim ladder that can be attached to the starboard side where the dive door comes off. Deck lids are not too difficult to fix and I will post the updates on this thread.

One disappointing find I didn't see is that extra holes were cut to allow drainage from port and starboard bilges into the main center bilge. Foam was not sealed from those cuts and I know water intrusion is there but I cant tell how much since it's been in the negatives for the last few weeks and everything is frozen.

Ask if the fuel tank was ever replaced. The way these are set in traps water on the top and doesn't drain well.

Fuel Tank without Lid.JPG
Fig. 4. Fuel tank seen with deck removed.
Fuel Tank without Lid.JPG (36.7 KiB) Viewed 5797 times


The cavity in which the tank sits is below the lip which can trap water. The foam on the side will hold that water against the tank causing corrosion. I plan on replacing the tank anyway so it's something I expected.

So far these are the things I can think of to be aware of. I haven't operated the Frontier on water yet but am sure it'll be tough enough for up here.

tswone
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Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:00 pm

Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby tswone » Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:14 pm

Thanks for the info and for taking time to post details of your rebuild[.] I have read that due to the forward placement of the pilothouse the Frontier was marketed towards non-offshore use. This was because the bow area could get uncomfortable in larger waves.

That said, I know the hull can take a beating, so perhaps just a warning. I have thought it may be nice to have a second helm station behind the pilothouse, for docking and perhaps comfort in heavy seas at speed.

[Changed topic. Please use PERFORMANCE to initiate your new topic on performance. This thread is illustrating repairs and modifications. Thanks--jimh]

quickenberger
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Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby quickenberger » Sun Feb 02, 2020 6:15 pm

I started mocking up the new dash yesterday. So far this is just the right hand side. I’ll start the left side when I can get to it. When I get it mocked up I’ll epoxy it together and start making fillets with thickened epoxy and start sanding. Then it’ll be time to glass and fair the dash insert and then glass it in place. More to come later.


mockup_.jpg
Fig. 5. New cabin dashboard mockup.
mockup_.jpg (18.49 KiB) Viewed 5537 times

biggiefl
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Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby biggiefl » Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:09 am

Would you just replicate the one you made as it looks like the dash is the same on both sides?
On my 24th Whaler. Currently in the stable: 86 18' Outrage, 81 13' Sport(original owner), 87 11' Sport, 69 Squall(for sale cheap).

quickenberger
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Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:48 pm

Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby quickenberger » Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:33 am

I think having the left side built like a tray would be better than a full dash spanning the cabin. The forward "V" shaped section makes it a difficult area to work with so I'm thinking a tray would be better than a glove box. I could mock something up and see if it looks right and makes a good use of space.

I need a solid chunk of time to work on the boat since it takes some time to heat up the cabin to work in. Here is a picture of the temporary heater installation. It keeps the cabin nice and warm at about half power.


heater_.jpg
Fig. 6. Temporary hot air heater in cabin during work.
heater_.jpg (36.97 KiB) Viewed 5534 times

biggiefl
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Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby biggiefl » Mon Feb 03, 2020 1:37 pm

A tray with a lid(plastic or wood) would work well.
On my 24th Whaler. Currently in the stable: 86 18' Outrage, 81 13' Sport(original owner), 87 11' Sport, 69 Squall(for sale cheap).

quickenberger
Posts: 90
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:48 pm

Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby quickenberger » Sat Feb 08, 2020 4:37 pm

I was able to do some more work on the deck lids today. Most of the time was spent grinding the underside of the top skin. The areas where an inspection port was molded needed the most grinding. Some fiberglass repair on the forward most lid where a thin flange was molded was also done.

11a.jpg
Fig. 7. Underside of laminated deck cover.
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12a.jpg
Fig. 8. Cutting board to support under flange.
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13a.jpg
Fig. 9. New glass epoxied down.
13a.jpg (24.31 KiB) Viewed 5540 times




Plastic was used on top of the new glass to put pieces of wood down to hold the glass in place.

quickenberger
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Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:48 pm

Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby quickenberger » Sun Mar 01, 2020 4:29 pm

I laminated the first layer of ply onto the existing top skin and vacuum bagged the assembly down to the flat concrete. It turned out well and is quite straight. The little amazon vacuum pump ran all night and didn’t overheat. Progress is slow but coming along.

deckVacuumBag_.jpg
FIg. 10. The deck reinforcement being adhered with a vacuum bag technique.
deckVacuumBag_.jpg (24.02 KiB) Viewed 5249 times

quickenberger
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Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby quickenberger » Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:29 pm

A little update on the project. The deck lids are almost done and I have started transom work.

shop_.jpg
Fig. 11. Getting the FRONTIER 25 into the shop was difficult. It barely fit.
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transomWoodExposed_.jpg
Fig. 12. The wood reinforcement in the transom wasn’t rotten but was quite wet.
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splashwell_.jpg
Fig. 13. The splash well.
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I plan on doing some fiberglass work to make the splash well more friendly and not hold so much water. You can see that water collects here.

If a single outboard is used then there is access to install the fasteners, but the splashwell is below the water line and fills with water. I plan on filling that deep sump area with foam and glassing over the top to tie the transom skin into the splash well skin.

jimh
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Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby jimh » Sat Mar 28, 2020 1:16 am

Normally on a 25-foot hull only the deeper part of the engine splash well (as seen in Figure 13 above) will fill with seawater. If the boat's trim is so far down by the stern that seawater flows into the splash well via the through-transom drains and rises above the deeper part of the sump to flood the entire width of the splash well, there is too much weight in the stern or too much engine weight on the transom.

quickenberger
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Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:48 pm

Re: 1986 FRONTIER 25 Rebuild

Postby quickenberger » Mon Jun 29, 2020 5:56 pm

I am a little behind on posting the progress and have mostly finished the rebuild. There are a few deck pieces that I need to fabricate and some general tidying up. I will update with some more photos when time allows.

The [twin legacy] Evinrude E-TEC 150-HP engines are on, and this boat does 42-MPH at an engine speed of 5,000-RPM. [Please report more information on performance in the PERFORMANCE forum. --jimh]