Mustang 24 rebuild

[giddyup58]

Hi all.
New to this site, but there seem to be a lot of very knowledgeable people here.
I recently acquired an old (70's) Mustang 24 with the transverse berth that needs everything done, which in itself is not the problem.
What I would like to know, is if anyone here has/had any experience with these boats.
I've pulled the 351 Windsor out, replaced the bearers and transom and I'm about to start mounting the outboards.
I figure 2x200 2.5 mercs will wake the old girl up.
They can be either on a hull extension or on a clear-water pod.
Either method will have the motors semi recessed into the transom, so I expect the "extension" to be no more than 300mm.
Any thoughts?

[giddyup58]

Here's a photo, to see if I got the photo posting thing right!

[FisHard]

Sorry cob, I haven't got any pearls of wisdom for you except to say that is a cool old rig and I look forward to seeing your progress!

[myusernam]

same as a jenks?

[goona]

I think with twin 200's on her it will fly. Be very interested to see the top speed when you finish.

[davo]

A mate had a 24 ft Mustang and it had a 260HP Mercruiser. The boat will be a missile with twin 200HP's. Just watch the extra transom weight.

[giddyup58]

May be ok with the weight, as the outboards are literally half the weight (each) of the sterndrive.
I'm in the process of mounting them at the moment and it looks like a 300mm clear water pod is going to be the way to go. A bit of modification to the back of the deck should see it all looking factory.
I may run into problems with weight of fuel.
I have 2x160 litre tanks outboard and a single 140 liter mounted as far forward under the rear floor as I can get it - hard up against the transverse cabin. There's only 50 litres of water in the nose to balance it...
The 140 should be ok for running around the bay, with the extra 320 for going wide. I should be collecting the tanks on the weekend and I'll post a pic so you can see what I mean.
Still, a lot of weight there. Just have to wait and see how it goes. May have to rethink the pod and make it into a hull extension to pick up some buoyancy.
But it's all good fun, but for the fact that in the last week I've developed a sensitivity to the vinyl-ester or the darn gloves, which is playing havoc with my hands.

[battleon]

Looking forward to seeing the pics!!

[mal555]

same as a jenks?

Yep, the hulls are the same, different deck structure.

[Yobbo70]

Just out of curiosity what is your budget on this? because fixing up an old boat can be incredibly expensive even if you are doing a lot of the work yourself, you may be better off buying something thats ready to go, there are some good buys out there if you have the readies, anyhow like the others Im keen to see some pics

[giddyup58]

Yobbo 70 - Thanks for the thoughts, but I've done this a few times before and I really enjoy the challenge of turning a sows ear into a silk purse.
Labour is the major cost of any boat refurbishment, and luckily, I can handle all the timber work, glassing, paint prep, painting and trailer repairs myself.
Also, I will end up with exactly what I want.
As to the cost, not as much as buying one, but I will have to work my butt off. Which is OK.

[giddyup58]

Don't quite know how those photos got there....

photo 1: the day I bought it - 22.4.14. The seller kindly towed it 60km to my place
photo 2: Got it home, took it off trailer and set it level and 4 degrees tail down.
photo 3: Had to cut out most of the moulded interior to check/replace stringers.

I stood a bulkhead on stb'd side to form a new head/shower compartment, and started rebuilding the mid cabin:
082.jpg

Here's the before, cabin and cockpit:
016.jpg013.jpg

Here's the middle, cabin and cockpit:
073.jpg072.jpg

Here's new girders and transom, ready for sub floors:
097.jpg

Sub-floors in:
002 (2).jpg

Mid-cabin progressing:
001.jpg

Mid cabin floor framed up and dry fitted:
003.jpg

Open heart surgery on one of the side tanks:
008.jpg

Trial fitting-up semi-pod. I had to hang the top 1/2 of a 200 merc behind the boat to physically check clearances.
It's under 300mm long and it projects 400mm into the boat.
Not a really clear photo, but I'm playing with it tomorrow and I should have the mould attached, which will make it all a lot clearer.
012.jpg

[Still_Dreamin]

Coming along nicely! Keep the pictures rolling in

[giddyup58]

Hi all.

Been a while since my last post, but unfortunately I developed a sensitivity to the gloves I was using and my hands swelled up, wrinkled, the skin became tissue thin and all cracked and bleeding. Quite horrid really.
Anyhoo, all better now, so I've managed to get a bit done.

When I left off, I was mucking about with a pod and fuel tanks. Glad to say it has all been solved...

Here's the mould for the pod


Add a bit of glass and resin:


Some heavy duty alloy strap and
S/S nuts and bolts all epoxied in place:



Laminating schedule - Should hold together
89.jpg


Stb'd underfloor 140 litre tank fitted:
Obviously, there's a mirror tank on the Port side.


Centre 130 litre day tank fitted; and
Floors fitted over outboard tanks


Lid over day tank giving shallow storage space,
with deep storage behind:
The bulkhead that the tank is against to the
left of the photo is the back wall of the transverse berth


I didn't like how narrow the cockpit was in the old girl, so I decided to remove the side decks where not necessary, and reattach the sides.
The exercise only picked up 250mm more width, but the cockpit feels much bigger now and I think the boat looks a bit more modern.
I based it on an 80's Haines 635L:

Side deck and cockpit combing, GONE!


Combing/side ready for permanent reattachment:


Bit of glass and a little bogging and it should all look lovely...

I have a couple of ideas regarding the back of the boat. The pod is only 300 deep, but recesses 400 into the boat, giving enough room (just) for the twin Mercs to tilt.
Should have that finished in the next few days, so I'll try not to be slack and post the photos.

The cockpit floors are nearly done and the access hatches sorted.
I wasn't 100% happy about the placement of the batteries and oil tanks, but they should be OK.
I'll await your feedback when I get those pictures up...

[ozynorts]

Photo's haven't worked mate. Need to use the "go advanced" button and import the images into Af then insert inline in your post.