1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Don't mind the mess in the garage. HA!

And finally, a look down the sights

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

"Don't mind the mess in the garage. HA!"

At least you have a garage to close....My mess is in the carport for all my picky neighbors to complain about! Actually since the grinding fiasco, they have been pretty cool with me...I think some of them have even taken an interest in watching what I am doing lol

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Yeah, I'm quite lucky to be where I am. I'm out in the "country", yet off the main road to the marina. In some of the pics, you can see the main road. If you take it to the right exactly 1 mile, it dead-ends at the lake/marina (which I've been lucky enough to secure free launch at). I've got about 40 acres of woods behind/to the side of me. No neighbors to complain and no city ordinance or HOA bylaw to adhere to.

I just realized that my pictures still have dust all over the hull. I thought I got some after the acetone bath, but apparently not. I guess I'll have to snap some more tomorrow. I wasn't thinking that my progress was anything special, but I just went through some of the "before" pictures, and it's like night-and-day. Looking back on those pictures, I'm REALLY pleased with how well it looks now!

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Ok, opinion time again. Again, here's the boat from the day I bought it:

And here is the boat from the 1984 brochure, from Doug Vahrenberg:

Maroon and white is the color scheme. The trailer will be maroon. The carpet will also be maroon (burgundy). We're still not sure on the seats. The current plan is to keep the same design, but replace brown with maroon and tan with white. Basically, it means the hull will be white with a maroon stripe and the cap with be maroon.

After looking at the brochure picture, I'm now also pondering the idea of going with that design; where the hull is white with a maroon stripe that breaks in the middle (as pictured) and the cap would also be white. I like this design because it will balance out the maroon and white. In my original design, there would have been a whole lot of maroon in concentrated locations (especially the cap/deck).

So what do you guys think? If you have any other suggestions, I'm also game to hear them.

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

you know what I think lol....i like funky lines so that looks cool to me...that design sure would match my trailer nicely lol

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Well Judge, I agree 100% with you... but the wife won out. She still likes the original plan and doesn't like the "lightening bolt" break. If momma ain't happy, nobody is happy. HA!

Anyway, I finished sanding the trailer (I forgot pictures, but that was nothing special anyway). I stopped and picked up a quart of metal primer after work and decided to give spraying a shot. This is my first time ever spraying paint (aside from a rattle can), so I figured for $8 I would cut my teeth on the trailer.

I think I got the gun set up right (regulating @ 75 PSI at the compressors and shooting @ 35 PSI at the gun seemed to be best). The label mentioned to thin with acetone up to 15% so I tried 5%, 10%, and 15%. I think 10% is what I need. I shot some areas too close which blew the primer in swirls and shot some areas too far away which didn't give a great coverage. I'm fully expecting I will have to sand some of it off and give it another try, but it was dark outside so I won't really know until I can look at it in the morning.

Anyway, the trailer is no longer brown (well, the bottom, hubs, and tongue still are)! Sorry for the bad pictures; again, it was dark outside. I'm glad I decided to spray instead of roll! It took less than an hour to shoot.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

What kind of gun R U using? You can adjust the Volume on the gun too! Are you using an inline filter to make sure no water gets to the paint? From what I can see in the dark, it looks pretty good. What Primer did you use??

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

I'm using just a cheap-o gun I picked up from PepBoys for about $20. It's an HVLP with a 1.3mm tip. I turned the tip to spray vertical instead of horizontal. I shot at about 12" away from the trailer.

I've got a trap at the gun and one between the compressors. I only had a small pancake compressor so I bought another slightly larger one and plumbed them together... best I could do on a budget.

Before I started, I ran just air through the gun at 40PSI for 30 minutes straight to a) make sure no water was shooting and b) check how long I could shoot for before losing pressure. No water was shot and, while both compressors were kicking on and off, I seem to be able to shoot continually for plenty of time.

I ended up going with the Rustoleum oil-based "clean metal" primer (TSC was out of Valspar so I had to go to Lowes). I just got a quart to start with and I shot about half of the can.

When I check it in the morning, what should I look out for (aside from swirls/orange peel/bad coverage? What does it look like if water ended up in the spray and what does it look like if surface adhesion wasn't optimal?

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Oh, and I forgot to mention I may have been flirting with disaster in terms of temperature. The can said not to use in sub-50 degree temps. It was 58 degrees when I shot it and it will drop as low as 40 degrees overnight.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Ok, if you got water, it will be crinkled and peeling but I doubt that happend. Sand I down lightly with 220 and wipe it down with acetone before shooting the next coat. Do you understand the Air Flow and Fluid Volume settings on your gun?

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

lol, wish i had an area to work where i could risk the overspray, because spraying it definitely faster. On my trailer i did not roll...i used a 2.5" brush and did the brush and tip...worked OK, but if you get close you can tell its not a professional job and someone did in it their driveway with a paint brush lol. But from a few feet away it looks good. the temp could kick you in the butt....waiting for a decent day is the pits but worth it...spray early in the day so by time its done warming up and starts to cool your paints pretty well set up. Looking good though. git er' dun

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Well, I don't suppose I understand fully. I understand keeping the air pressure regulated correctly, but either I'm blind or my gun doesn't have a fluid volume adjustment. Aside from the regulator on the gun, the only other options I see on it is being able to rotate the head, adjust the trigger, and a knob on the side that says "Round". When I adjusted this knob during my testing, it seemed ton control the "cone" of spray, but since I was just blowing air I couldn't tell for sure.

And you hush Judge! I get enough negativity from the wife! HA! I know it wasn't the greatest of decisions, but I needed to cut my teeth and I had a few hours to spare tonight. I don't get many days where I can work on it early in the morning and with each day getting cooler and cooler, I had to take the plunge. It's been 3 hours since I finished and it's still 50 degrees outside, so maybe I lucked out.

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

lol wasn't meant to be negative...it will probably be ok, just saying when ya do your color coats watch that temp...would be nothing worse than getting a pretty trailer and the paint starts to peel since it did not bond....I know that worries me since it was my first time doing something like this lol

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

So there's no knob on the back on the upper portion? Take a pic of it an post it.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Oh, I know buddy. I was just joking. I hear ya though! I probably won't shoot any color until I can get a free morning. With primer, I know I can sand it off if I need to and I would rather it be my learning experience than my color coats. I only have to worry about this with the trailer, though. The boat is in the garage and I can keep it above 50 degree.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Yes, there is a knob on the back, but I thought that just adjusted the tension on the trigger. Here's the gun:

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Half way through the day. Notice the sag in the second picture. Is this anything to worry about? It's been like that since day one.

The sag in the keel is known as a hook. This should be straight. The hook will cause some performace issues if not corrected.
When you flip the hull over and start to rebuild the stringers you should push the hook out.
You can do a search here and find some good info.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

LOL, nope that is the Fluid Volume control knob. The More you screw it in the less paint it will spray. Put some thinner in the cup and play with that and you'll see what it does. Side knob is the fan. I like to set the fan by putting it on full stream and then back it off until it just begins to fan. On the volume you will have to play with it until you get the coverage you want. To much and you'll get runs, Not enuf and you'll get poor coverage. Your pressure settings are pretty good. Just make sure the compressor keeps up. Starting on the trailer is good. It IS just a trailer so a few Mess Ups won't kill ya. Once you get a feel for and get the settings and your mix down, it will start to flow great. You'll be a PRO in no time. Temp is important. 60? is about as low as I'd want to go.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

LOL! Thanks WOG! This cheap gun didn't come with any instructions, so your info is a huge help! I went out with a light to take a closer look. I didn't see any runs, but there are areas of light coverage (and that's probably just because it was dark and I couldn't see everything I was shooting). It's pretty smooth, as well. It's not glass smooth, but it's nowhere near "orange peel" rough. The areas where I obviously shot too close will need to be fixed, but overall I'd say it's just rough enough to need a light 220 sanding (as you mentioned). There's no bubbles or peeling (yet). I'm pretty sure the volume is good. I think I may have had the fan adjusted too much, though. It was shooting out in a pretty good mist but didn't seem to be much of a fan pattern. Basically, it was wide enough to where I could make a single pass and cover the entire rail, plus more. It seemed to coat pretty well, so maybe it's ok. The compressor keeps up just fine; only one of the two compressors was kicking on and pressure never dropped below where I set it. If I'm spraying and BOTH compressors kick on, then I will probably stop spraying for a minute to let it catch up.

Oh, and how do I tell if my mix is good? Best I could figure is that I wanted it thin enough to leave the gun, but thick enough to be viscous. When I thinned it at 10%, the consistency appeared perfect. It wasn't thick nor was it runny. It didn't splatter or run when I shot it

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Smart move doing trailer first...my finish on trailer came out better than my boats did, but that comes from more hands on and learning the technique...so I wish now the trailer had been my practice area lol, The boat will be fine once I do the wet sand and buffing though, just a little more work