if u want to do a fibre glass one or a bondwood  hawks in osbourne park are supa helpful

cheaper to buy one already to go and no headachs and frustration., sounds like a good idea but most people that start rebuilds of boats cars or whatever usually give up

Yeah that does happen a bit too, lot of "unfinished projects" in the paper.

hi till we completed our boat rebuild in jan this year a full resto from ground up replaced every nut and bolt every fixture bar motor fish finder and radio everything is brand new our boat is a 4 meter swiftcraft the only job farmed out was the upholstery on the back seat! i only really used two companies to buy the materials from.the first being automotive paint tools and equipment in cannington.all fibreglass,paint,primer,bog,sandpaper and other little bits and pieces were bought from there they also supply tools to hire if you dont have it for that one of job!but most importantly the advice i recieved from the guys there was really really helpfull i honestly can say our boat would look no wher near as good without their advice! the second place where we bought nearly every fixture screw nut bolt and other fittings was whitworth marine in leederville it may have cost us a little more than if we had of shopped around but just the simplicity of having pretty much evrything we needed in one place outweighed the cost of driving around searching for bits and pieces.also the biggest single piece of advice i can give is ... write a list as u go of everything needed i found there was nothing more frustrating than having to leave somthing i was doing only to have to drive and purchase a bolt or sandpaper or somthing else small but big enough to stop the ball rolling! i enjoyed every minute of totally rebuilding our boat and found that the self satisfaction of doing everything ourselves and having a smick looking boat is pretty hard to beat! pm us for more info and dont listen to the knockers! i could not have purchased our boat finished for what it cost us to rebuild it! hope this info helps ta jo and adam

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep them in mind.

after finding out that the boat I bought had a f@#ked floor and the stringers were just floating in between the hull and floor. Best advice. Be organised. Do it in stages and dont move on until that stage is complete. Forget buying small quantitys of resin and cloth. Measure your job up and buy bulk straight off the bat. Jeff websters mag, Buying second hand trailerboats, is an excellent reference. As flash as said have everything on hand if you can as it is a pain to drop everything to go and get that 1 thing. If you get stuck give us a PM i might be able to help..

satisfaction is knowing is done right the first time and getting out in the boat you built (or rebuilt) yourself, all i can say Till give it a go and dont take shortcuts to speed things up

It all depends on what you are after. If you just want a boat to go fishing with, or a Yacht to go racing etc, make up a list of all your wants, plus $50,000 plus and go and buy it. In the long run it would be cheaper, re-sale value etc.

However if you are in fact talking about a hobby project, and you have only a small amount of start off capital, then the re-build is a way to go. The only problem is, that no matter what you do, you will still end up with an old boat, and the value increase will no way reflect the amount of time, money and frustration that you have spent on it.

The same amount of money could be spent on golf clubs, camera etc etc. Taking this up as a hobby, you will have the satisfaction of having done it your self, and knowing it has been done properly.

I have so far brought two cheaper priced boats that needed and still need alot of work. I keep a ledger of "all" my expenditure. Its those small items, screws, nuts & bolts, electrical, fittings etc that cost heaps and the cost climbs very quickly.

It doesnt take long before you start looking at the bottom line and ask yourself "Why didn't I just go and buy a better boat".

If you just want a hobby go for it, but if its just a boat, go and buy what you really want, and spend your time fishing.

Hope these may be of some help. And as mentioned, at the end of the day you are pouring a heap of money into an old boat - no worries if you want to keep it, but down the track if you wantr to sell it you'll be in no way compensated for the money and time you have poured into it.

http://www.seamedia.com.au/_tmp/seamedia-RD0VsA.pdf

http://www.seamedia.com.au/_tmp/seamedia-Vs5Rpg.pdf

http://www.seamedia.com.au/_tmp/seamedia-h6dykG.pdf

Just remember, in those throw away overalls, it is hot and uncomforable. Grinding fiberglass is itchy ------- very itchy, and sweaty, and sticky and -------

But after a days work on it you can sit back and have a beer. Better still have the beer before you start, then stuff the fiberglassing, then just have more beer.

Great Hobby!

what we done was get a 6 metre dinghy cheap and mig weld a cabin and a transom dual engine/marlinboard and better than anyting at shop considering price