1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

You know, you can dye(paint) them. This stuff work kinda Ok, but supposedly doesn't last too long. It might work for a while and make em more color compatible with your boat.

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=YCh_T4-xE4Os8AT9-Z3iBw&ved=0CGEQ8wIwAw#

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

I had thought about that... but my dad brought them up to me today and I don't think I will need to dye them. Still not a 100% match, but much closer than the first picture shows. They are actually quite maroon! We sat them in the boat and pulled it out into the daylight and they look pretty good in there. I forgot to take pictures in the daylight, so these will have to do for now.

In addition to the seats, I also got two nice covered dock bumpers (the two bag looking things in the first pictures), a decent 1-man tube (which we already have a good one, so I don't really need it), and a bunch of marine fluid (and some new framing squares and other woodworking tools that were also left behind). Apparently, the story is that it was an older couple living there and when he died, his widow just took her stuff/stuff she wanted and left the rest. My dad got a nice L-shaped desk, a bunch of tools, and they donated 25 large trashbags full of clothes.

Anyway, here are the pictures. I'm quite excited about this score! The seats are in near-perfect condition; albeit a bit dusty. There were 4 seats, so I'll still have to make a custom middle cushion (I just threw the old one there for the test fit) and they're not the custom seats I wanted, but for FREE I really can't complain.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Yep, I'd say that's pretty darn close. Werks fer me!!!!

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Milestone reached! I just placed an order to US Composites for the following:

10 yards 1708 x 50"
15 yards 1.5oz x 50" mat
10 gallons 435 layup resin
5 qts 3M glass bubbles
A couple of rollers/bubble poppers
A few chip brushes
A few squeegees
Quite a few mixing tubs
A box of rubber gloves

I know I will probably have to make another small order to them, but this will be more than enough to get me started. This weekend I will be picking up my plywood and other supplies from the lumber yard and I will be building a cradle, of sorts, to put my top cap on so that I can work on it separately (still need to finish sanding it to get ready for primer/paint). I'll also be making my carpet order within the next two weeks.

I washed the hull out last weekend and there is a bit more grinding needed and I still have to cut out the existing stringers and pull the transom, but with a garage full of supplies within the next week or so will give me the motivation to get 'er done! If all goes well, I'll be back on the water by Memorial Day! I really want to upgrade my trolling motor and fish finders, but I'm more anxious to get back on the water than to do the upgrade. Besides, those are things I can upgrade at a later date without much effort.

 

[craigweaver]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

wahoo fmJ! just got my USC order yesterday. We'll be sniffin fumes together

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

More progress! I picked up a lot of supplies last night and got busy today with getting the cap off and and ready for some work. I built a couple of stands from some PT lumber I had (nothing pretty, but they work). I pulled the cap and put it up on the stands. I started by glassing up the large holes that were up in the bow. Tomorrow I fill/fair them and fill the remaining screw holes and such and hopefully have it all sanded and ready for primer by the end of the day.

They're nothing spectacular, but here are a few pictures from today after I put the top cap on the stands. The stands are the perfect height for me to be able to work on the top cap without killing my back.

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

The seats look great. They even look better than great because they were free. WOW!!
Looks like your making some good progress. Like the way you have your cap setup.
Hope your wife is doing well.
Keep up the good work.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Thanks Decker. The wife is doing good. She's still hurting, but she's just as ready for the boat to be done as I am. The stands were actually her idea (with the help of Google) and I couldn't be happier. It's nice to have the cap off the boat but still at a level that doesn't require bending over. It will make the job go by quicker and easier, I'm sure.

On a different note, I'm trying to find a dang tachometer for the boat but I can't figure out what I might need. It may be a far-fetched question, but does anyone know what sort of tach I need for a 3-cyl Mariner?

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

**Double post**

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

More progress to post!

I finished 'glassing the holes in the hull. The previous owner had made pretty large holes for some reason, but had them covered by plates/stickers. Never could figure out their purpose, so I closed them up. Anyway, after glassing them I faired them (and by no means are they perfect, but they're good). I also filled the screw/switch holes throughout the rest of the cap.

Once the holes were all filled, it was time to sand. I went through an entire pack (8 sheets?) of 60 grit paper to get to this state! There was a lot more surface area than I had thought/expected. I didn't want to miss anything on the cap. The last thing I want to happen is to have paint pull up in the nooks and crannies. Anyway, I've since hit it with 150 and 220 and I'm going to hit it with some 320 after dinner (I know I don't need to go that far, but I've got the paper so it won't hurt any). I'll give it a good bath and hopefully be able to put on a coat of primer tonight. I'm starting to get nervous thinking about what the paint is going to look like (it looks great on the trailer and my stripes, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about but we'll see).

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Hadn't posted in awhile, but have been keeping tabs...

Happy to hear the Mrs. is recovering well, thoughts and prayers...

The mini project is the perfect way to get familiar with all this glassin bizness...I kinda did the same thing...

Great score on the seats! I think they look awesome, and the price was perfect...

Awesome score on the glassin goodies...now the real fun begins...

Nice work so far on the cap...I like the simple yet effective stands...

And, as far as a tach...post a thread in the Mercury/Mariner Engine forum...ask the question...same bunch of helpful guys...
If nothing else, look up "faztbullet" or "Clams Canino" and try PM-ing them...Mercury engine gurus...

Just for informational purposes...the big hole up front on the cap, could have been for a battery gauge for the trolling motor battery, and the opening on the port side of that, looks like it was possibly for a control panel for the aerator on/off/timer switch, a Batt-1/Batt-2 switch, and a place for the trolling motor plug...along with giving you access to bolt the trolling motor from underneath...

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Good call on the reason for the port-side hole GT1M! There was an old TM receptacle to the left of it (the smaller hole that was filled). It makes perfect sense that a hole would be there for access to the TM. The hole not factory, though (either that or it was enlarged at some point) as the edges were not even close to even/symmetrical/smooth. I've got a new control panel that I will be putting in this place, but I needed to close it up first since my panel is much smaller than the hole.

It ended up being later than I wanted by the time I got back to the boat after dinner, but the wife came out and helped me wash it down and wipe it with acetone so that I could get started spraying the primer. I had to get a new water trap and had some problems with it... and then had some problems getting the gun settings correct so it was dark by the time I started spraying. I pulled out the shop lights and was able to get a 90%+ coat of primer on (I'm sure there are a few areas that I couldn't see that didn't get sprayed). I'll take some pictures tomorrow morning. I doesn't look much different, though, because the primer I bought has a brown pigment instead of white/gray (go figure!). Tomorrow I should be able to scuff it and put down the 2nd coat. The goal is to have the top cap work done by the time my US Composites order comes in. It sure does feel nice to be busy working on the boat again.

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Sounds like you had a great weekend. The cap is looking good.
What filler did you use on the cap.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

I used the Bondo marine reinforced putty stuff.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Quick pic of the primer...

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Sitting at work trying to kill some time and I've been thinking about starting my wood work for dry-fit. I came up with a couple of questions:

1 - How do you tie/join the plywood together to make the full span for the stringers? Obviously, I can't make a 16' stringer out of an 8' piece of plywood without joining pieces together.

2 - How do I pull the existing transom from the hull? It's not 100% rotten so it's still got a fair bit of structural strength do it. I've tried to pry it off a little bit but haven't been too successful (yet).

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

There are a couple of ways to make long stringers...

You can sister the plywood together... http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=534913&page=2 Post #13

You can scarf the plywood... http://www.unclejohns.com/jonboat/building plans/sheet-04.gif

You can make 16 foot long blanks and cut the stringers out of them...

As for pulling the rest of the transom, you may have to go caveman on it and pry, grind, scrape, yank, and generally beat the carp out it and yourself...some guys have used a chainsaw to turn it into sawdust, even...either way, you can make a template of it fairly easily out of cardboard strips and hot glue...

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Thanks GT1M. I think for time/ease I will butt them together.

I got 2 more coats of primer on the hull today. It all looks good so I am calling it done. We have baseball and/or softball for the next few days so I'm not sure when I'll get the first coat of color on it, but it will be soon! Here are some pictures after the 3rd coat. It's a nice dull brown, just waiting to become maroon.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Yeah, that'll work just fine...a lot quicker, too...
BTW, the "red oxide" primer coat looks good, and it should make the maroon on top look real rich...

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

I sure hope so GT1M! I'll be honest, it wasn't by choice that I got the red oxide. Nobody in town had the "regular" primer in stock and I didn't want to wait a week. I wasn't sure how it was going to work out but my dad (who was with me) said that my color will look better over a dark primer than it would a light primer so I figured 'why not?' and bought it.

On a side note, I'm real pleased with how well my patch job on the holes up front turned out. They all but disappeared (as they should have... but with my lack of experience, I didn't know how well I did)!