Norman 20 Restoration

[smitch6]

Well i've finally got me a new restoration project.....
The boat we have is a 17' so not great for overnight sleeps so i wanted something a bit bigger, and after looking about decided i wanted a norman 20'

I wanted a complete restoration project so i can get the boat how i want it not how someone else wanted it.
so after looking on flebay, gumtree & FB i saw 1 on FB cheap, but the trailer was an old caravan so flat and needed loads of work before i even started on the boat.
I was meant to be looking at it yesterday (Monday)
last week i went on Shpocky and found another for 3 times the amount of the 1st one, but the trailer was good.
so after a few haggles i knocked him down to half the price he wanted. and spent the weekend with family in Wolverhampton.
drove up to Wigan (just west of Manchester) on Monday and collected the boat.
The trailer has had 4 new tyres, new bearings, new brakes etc so i hoped it was good to tow back to Suffolk.
I put in the satnav avoid motorways just to make sue all was ok and the M6 was really busy with loads of tailbacks.
2 hours later after the stupid satnav took me north of Manchester and back into the city centre and me screaming at it i asked the wifey to go on google maps and get me out of here.
I was not best pleased i can tell you.
so I left Wigan at 10am and arrived back in Suffolk at 7pm rather shattered and exhausted.
dropped the boat off at my storage place, went home showered and went to bed.

Went back down this morning to have a look at her and was pleasantly surprised.

all the windows, windscreen, bow rail and rubbing strip are there which is handy as they are the expensive bits.

We didn't do much today just had a bit of a sort out as, as you can see it was used as a bit of a dumping ground, so lots of rubbish inside.
so cleaned the rubbish out, brought the windows & Windscreen home and that was it.

Looking forward to getting stuck in now.......

 

[smitch6]

well got home and had a look at the windscreen and stripped it down as the rubbers were shot.
what a nightmare, the screws that hold the corner brackets in were woodscrews so had rusted in
they had to be drilled out, and now i have the screw stubs left in the brackets.
the brackets are about 50mm long x 10mm wide right angles
so as you can imagine a bit hard to sort out.
i guess it would be easier to drill out the old screws if i had a pillar drill but i haven't
so will have a go at using an angle grinder to smooth the off and clean them and then drill new holes carefully without drilling into my knee.

The bow rail is also a bit bent, it's bent outwards so sticks out a bit further than the boat at the back feet, so tried to bend it inwards slightly and it started to crack at 1 of the front legs where it joins the rail.

so now got to find someone to repair that for me....... also

all the glass/perspex on the windscreen is either cloudy, cracked or slightly the wrong size (side pieces held in with silicone)
so will be replacing with new poly perspex off a windscreen friend of mine.
it doesn't go cloudy etc like normal perspex so should last.

hey ho lets hope the rest isn't as much hassle as i've had this afternoon
 

[deebee29]

Looking forward to following your progress 

[Timbo]

Looking forward to this restoration project.

Have a look at the screw extractor set at Screwfix  I had to remove about forty rusted screws from a bodge job of my Dad's. I used my drill driver to drill the pilot hole and used the screw remover set to get the screws out. It was a bargain £4.99. 

[smitch6]

the screws are tiny about M3 size so they are too big

i think i may have someone who can make me so aly replacements, just waiting on costing

[Boaters]

We restored a Norman 20 many  years ago and found her a gtreat little boat for us at that time.Did all the jobs you seem to have to do,with the addition of extending the hatch to provide space over the cooker which was worth while as we had seen this on later models.had many good times with her on the Great Ouse before moving on to a Freeman.Keep posting your progress as I will be interested.Best of luck.  .Roy

[VetChugger]

Here is a photo that a lad on my site sent in of his Norman 20 restoration.

Superb job on what really is a very versatile boat. Look forward to seeing some more of your work Smitch.

[smitch6]

9 hours ago, Boaters said:

We restored a Norman 20 many  years ago and found her a gtreat little boat for us at that time.Did all the jobs you seem to have to do,with the addition of extending the hatch to provide space over the cooker which was worth while as we had seen this on later models.had many good times with her on the Great Ouse before moving on to a Freeman.Keep posting your progress as I will be interested.Best of luck.  .Roy

Out of interest i am seriously thinking of doing that, but unsure of how to do the hatch...

how did you make the hatch?

[smitch6]

8 hours ago, VetChugger said:

Here is a photo that a lad on my site sent in of his Norman 20 restoration.

Superb job on what really is a very versatile boat. Look forward to seeing some more of your work Smitch.

is he local to lowestoft?

as i really could do with seeing one in the flesh and taking some measurements etc

[VetChugger]

I doubt he is very far away Smitch as he builds boats for Haines. I'll ask him if he minds me giving you his email if that might help?

 

[MauriceMynah]

Smitch, do you need a pillar drill, I have one going spare. I'm on the Herts Essex border not far from Stansted airport.

[smitch6]

55 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

Smitch, do you need a pillar drill, I have one going spare. I'm on the Herts Essex border not far from Stansted airport.

Hi thanks for the offer.

I have hopefully got someone who will be making me some brackets in aluminium and drilling & tapping the holes for me.

but if it doesn't come through i will definately give you a shout if thats ok.

Thanks

[smitch6]

Well been having fun while the rain hasn't been spoiling things.

Wanted to cut the hatch out to look like the more modern versions so got the jigsaw out and took the plung.

before

After

I actually cut another inch off the side just to make it look slightly better.

i'm happy with how it now looks, just got the attach the inner skin to the outer skin.

Got the top half rubbed down, filled, repaired and 2 coats of undercoat, rubbed down again and got 1 top coat on.

Annoyingly every day this week now will have some kind of rain at some point so painting is on hold at the minute.

I want to get the top half painted and polished so i can then get the windows in and make her top half watertight.

I have a gazebo to cover the back half so that will help there.

I'm quite a perfectionist and i'm happy with how the top is going so that's good.

[deebee29]

Looking good so far 

[imtamping2]

You need this..........

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cream-Foldable-Pop-up-Party-Tent-3-x-6-m-/253082052658?hash=item3aecdda832:g:QSMAAOSwzahZh3L0

or a friendly farmer with a barn.......

[smitch6]

I do yes

I have a small gazebo but it's only 3x3 so only covers either the front or the back

i was after a big one but funds wouldn't allow it as i'd rather spend the money on the boat lol

I have a friendly farmer where i store my boats at only £50 per YEAR is mega cheap

and he's happy for me to do any work i want on it.

only trouble is there's no water or electric so my genny is getting a good workout

and i make sure we have a flask of hot water for a cuppa, plus we take the camping cooker just in case.

[smitch6]

will post the progress tomorrow when i have time, as she is kinda finished and in her new mooring and we stayed on her this weekend for the 1st time after launching her Friday 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

I`ve always loved the Norman 20, and really love the conquest, but my wife is a bit claustraphobic, so would`nt sleep in the tiny aft cabin.  It`s a real shame, as i`ve often considered putting a Norman 20 on the River Wey, as it`s about an hour and 10 mins away, so would be great for weekends.  I`d love to see your pics of how she looks now.

[smitch6]

Here's some pics before & after, have too many to put on here so only a few....

This is what the interior looked like when i got here

This is it now......

Outside of the new canopy i made and all the signwriting on her which i also made

Had to make a little cover for the door as once i made the hole bigger i couldn't get anything to cover the hole.

The cabin door also is the toilet door, to save space, and there's a flap to the right of the door which drops down to make a handy surface in the kitchen area.

Forward cabin in progress, fitting the carpet lining and trying the cushions, which i made for size.

You can just see the red switch on the cooker/sink combi unit.

I cut a new hole and fitted that switch to operate a solenoid on the gas input, so in case of an emergency you can quickly flick the gas off and it shuts it off as soon as it comes onto the boat, saves hanging over tha back and turning it off at the bottle. ( i also have a manual shut-off right beside the solenoid just in case.)

Made a couple of doors to cover the transom hole, keeps the draught out and helps to quieten the outboard noise, some ppl have a board covering it, but i thought this way it will be easier to get to the outboard to do anything on it.

 

 

[imtamping2]

Great job.......I hope you are feeling very smug and proud of your self....you deserve it. 

[BroadAmbition]

Well done that man. Well done indeed. Show off!  

Griff

[Selsie]

Looks a really nice job, congratulations 

[Guest]

Great project. my first boat was a Norman 20 conquest and they are very solid well designed little boats. I miss it actually

[NeilD]

Hi, I have just got a Norman 20 mk 2 deluxe, its in need of a full refit, looking for any tips please, Where is the best place to get the windows repaired, replaced or parts to do this please?

any info for suppliers would be greatly appreciated