The first weekend of "Operation: Boat Hack" was a success!
Sat:
With a little rewiring and some new starter cables, I got the boat running, only to find a leak in the fuel system. (see sunday)
Took out all of the seating around the engine for better access, I decided to rebuild the plywood structure as I can see signs of dry rot in the wood.
Sun:
fought with the fuel system all day, had a flange fitting on the fuel stick and round off (soft brass). Ended up cutting the line off so I could take it off the carb without damaging the carb body. But now I need to re-bend a new line from the fuel pump. Since i was at it, decided to run new fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump as the rubber hose was in questionable condition. (try finding double thick fuel hose in any auto store these days!)
found that the vinyl side wall backing plywood had a bunch of soft spots, I am going to get new marine plywood and recreate the walls on the sides.

Update:
Ordered carburetor rebuild kit and gaskets. Its time for some open carb surgery! mmm, the sweet smell of carb cleaner (fyi its super toxic)

found a couple of soft spots in the floor of the boat, but most of its good. Worried that the spots may lead to some structural weakness. Going to add a plywood deck on top of org deck. (the deck is covered in a thin layer of fiberglass so it not easy to simply replace) Thinking that a sandwich of new deck screwed together to the soild parts of the old deck will tie everything back into one solid structure.

found new marine carpet (8' wide) for $6.75/ft. but the online color samples are poor. need to stop over to their warehouse and look for myself

Trying to source good 5/8 or 3/4 AB exterior grade plywood. youngblood lumber looks promising.

edit-EEP! over $50 buck for 1/2, didn't even have the heart to ask about 3/4. Guess I am going with cheaper home depot 3/4 AC exterior @ $34. I am all for quality/longevity, but I need 8 sheets total and dont need the plywood to outlast the fiberglass shell

Picked up new waterproof fused switch panel (6 switches) to replace a broken one. The wiring seems kosher so I only need to install the new panel in place of the broken 4 switch panel. Now the Lights, bilge pump, engine area blowers should come on.

Opted to pick up a new 750 gph bilge pump as well, as the old one hasn't worked in some time, not sure if its wiring or mechanical, but a working bilge pump seems kinda important.

3/4 AB grade exterior plywood found and purchased. Ready to start floor construction. Need to remove the gas tank and unbolt the outboard hydraulics pump.

This seems like one of those the only thing original is the decal type hacks

Got all of the rotted wood out. The good news is that it seems to only be limited to the decking around the engine bay, the substructure and forward deck is fine. Since the engine compartment was closed up it stayed wet much longer. Plus for some reason it was carpeted, adding to the moisture problem.
New engine compartment will not be carpeted, my plan is to use waterproof marine paint on all the new surfaces.

Pulled out all of the carpet, now I just need to scape off the carpet chunks that wanted to remain behind.

Picked up some heavy paper to make floor templates, hoping to have the new floor installed in the next couple of days.

If you do not have one yet, those oscillating multi-tools like the Fein, or Rockler infomercials show work great for scraping.

Menards has a basic one for $24 this week, and I have been using mine for laminate floor removal, works great

Anyone know a good place to get teak wood? I am building a new seating arrangement and I'd like to trim it out with new teak.

Deck scraped, smooth as a baby's butt. That is, if the baby was made from fiberglass and plywood with carpet glued to it...

Glued in supports around the lip of the engine compartment (see the taint image).
So when I am ready to lay down the new plywood I have something to screw into in those spots.

First deck template made and transferred to the plywood. But found that my plywood blade was pretty dull. First cut was painfully slow, that simply wont do...

For teak wood in the twin cities I would try a place in Maplewood called Forest Products Supply (http://forestproductssupply.com/).

They have about any kind of wood you could want, including Teak. Its a fun place to browse.

-John