23' Sceptre to CC Conversion

About a year ago, I picked up a 1989 Seacraft Sceptre with a "semi-soft" floor and a suspect transom.  I fixed the soft hatch covers and used the boat for a while.  Last week after 900 miles of towing and 3 days on the water, the transom has decided it's ready for retirement.

I initially thought I'd like the enormous deck space that the Sceptre offered, but for me it's got more drawbacks than pluses.  So I'm taking it down to the hull, and I'm going to build it as a CC just the way I want it.  I'll post up photos of my progress as I make it.  First step is to sell the motor before I start tearing it apart.

Hi Matt.  Im glad you got to use it for a while.  I guess that OX66 is still running strong?  Very interested to see what you have planned for the rebuild.

Joel, it's probably going to end up being laid out similar to the one you redid - I like what you did with the stern. I don't know yet if I'm going to modify/reuse the cap or just create my own. I'll probably make that decision when I start tearing it down.

How did you like the way your interior came out without the liner? To me, liners seem like such a waste of space and weight. I'd like to rip mine out and stiffen the hull sides the way you did, unless you had issues with it.

The motor's good, but it's a 25" shaft (I'll most likely use a bracket or at a minimum build the transom to 30"). That and being 25 miles to the mouth of the bay, getting a 4-stroke makes sense, especially if gas doesn't stay $2.

smilinmatt wrote:Joel, it's probably going to end up being laid out similar to the one you redid - I like what you did with the stern.  I don't know yet if I'm going to modify/reuse the cap or just create my own.  I'll probably make that decision when I start tearing it down.

How did you like the way your interior came out without the liner?  To me, liners seem like such a waste of space and weight.  I'd like to rip mine out and stiffen the hull sides the way you did, unless you had issues with it.

The motor's good, but it's a 25" shaft (I'll most likely use a bracket or at a minimum build the transom to 30").  That and being 25 miles to the mouth of the bay, getting a 4-stroke makes sense, especially if gas doesn't stay $2.

I really liked not having the liner.  In hindsite I did not need as much stiffeners as I put in, I could have just used the transverse glass stiffeners and tapered them down towards the sole (to avoid toe stubs)

I would reuse as much of the cap as you can, its easier to build off of it then to make one from scratch.