"1986 16.5' Dateline/Sidewinder sports boat. Full strip and rebuild

[GT1000000]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

No matter how much you want this boat to be a part of you, riveting your hand to it is not usually a recommended way of doing this...

Looking absolutely fantastic...if you are only 3 days or so from getting it back in the water, I would have to say Mission Accomplished...

Considering the miserable working conditions, cold and rain, under a little canopy...I have to repeat myself...you and your Dad have done the darn near impossible...I don't believe that a professional shop, under ideal working conditions, with a full crew, could match what you two have done...another weekend or two and you'll be adding the finishing touches...

STELLAR Performance Gentlemen!!!

Very much looking forward to the final installments...

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

No matter how much you want this boat to be a part of you, riveting your hand to it is not usually a recommended way of doing this...

It's ok, thankfully I have a spare on the other side You have to put your fair share of blood, sweat and tears into these things!

Looking absolutely fantastic...if you are only 3 days or so from getting it back in the water, I would have to say Mission Accomplished...

Considering the miserable working conditions, cold and rain, under a little canopy...I have to repeat myself...you and your Dad have done the darn near impossible...I don't believe that a professional shop, under ideal working conditions, with a full crew, could match what you two have done...another weekend or two and you'll be adding the finishing touches...

STELLAR Performance Gentlemen!!!

Very much looking forward to the final installments...

Thanks again for the words of encouragement. I got my mother involved in this now, she cleaned my old carpet for me with one of those big floor standing carpet cleaners, and I have to say it looks new!!

Various other bits and bobs have been cleaned and tidied up tonight too ready to go back in. I bought a 3 gauge cluster pod to sit on top of the dash, so that should arrive in a few days. I still can't find a piece of glass to lay up my carbon facia on though. Might try a charity shop and worst come to worst buy an old crappy mirror to do it on.

As for how long it's took to do it... I'll do it faster on my next boat

Kinda makes me wonder why I'm in IT I thoroughly enjoyed doing this, and would love nothing more than to have a few acres of land and a barn/workshop (boat-house if I win the lotto) for projects.

 

[drrambo1]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Man, you did a great job in record time... I am amazed by the effort your dad and you put forth.. Keep it up, and enjoy the detailed touches that bring her to life again. Detailing.

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Man, you did a great job in record time... I am amazed by the effort your dad and you put forth.. Keep it up, and enjoy the detailed touches that bring her to life again. Detailing.

Thanks drrambo. Still what feels like a long way to go, but I certainly feel that I'm onto the final stretch!

Managed to get a bit done yesterday before the rain came. Sanded down and flow-coated the new rear floor section:

Other bits and bobs were done yesterday like drilling the new drain hole in the transom well, prepping the trailer, removing the wood from the bow to be sanded and oiled, sanded down the transom and put a second coat of flow-coat on etc etc.

That led me to today. As it has been non-stop wind and rain, I decided to stay home and start work on the seats.

They were very rough inside, and still had quite a bit of rotted wood in the bottom. As I'm no longer screwing these to the floor, and bolting them through instead, I need to remove and smooth all of the bottoms ready for Kevlar and glass:

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Peanut butter time:

Kevlar tape added to stop the nuts from tearing through:

As my boat is called Bumblebee, and is in fact an Autobot, it was only right that the Autobot shield was added for good measure!

Just going to head back into the shed and start work on the carbon fibre bits...

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Carbon time!

I'm making panels for my new dashboard from carbon fibre. I started out by hunting high and low for a sheet of glass without success. I managed to find and old picture frame hiding upstairs that would do just the trick!

First off measure out all the carbon you need. As it's quite a slippery twill I used sharp scissors and kept it as flat as I could or on the roll.

Then I needed to wax the glass a few times using mold release wax.

I put down two layers of the twill weave, backed with a very heavy cross-woven carbon/glass mat. I've left this now to set, so will post back later with the finished result before I cut it out.

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Things went quite well I think

What do you guys think?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Kevlar, Carbon Fiber...

At this rate you could be building the next Starship Enterprise with all of the exotic materials you are installing in "Bumblebee"...

Looking great...impressive stuff and very cool!

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Kevlar, Carbon Fiber...

At this rate you could be building the next Starship Enterprise with all of the exotic materials you are installing in "Bumblebee"...

Looking great...impressive stuff and very cool!

Thanks GT1M. The Enterprise might be my next project

It was quite a fun day today working with the more interesting materials. I've got another few carbon bits and bobs to make, so more fun to come!

 

[sqbtr]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

WOW


First time I've seen this thread.

You're flying through this and your work is top shelf.

Sweet looking boat and it should last you till you're an old man..

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

WOW


First time I've seen this thread.

You're flying through this and your work is top shelf.

Sweet looking boat and it should last you till you're an old man..

Thanks sqbtr, I'm trying to make as much progress as I can. Hopefully it will last me a while yet lol




Well I changed my mind on using carbon fibre panels on the dashboard. Instead I thought why not have a full carbon fibre dashboard?!!
So there was my work for tonight cut out. I needed to be quick as I only had a few hours as I've got a super early train to London to catch in the morning with work.

I sourced a sheet of glass from a local glazier in my lunch break. I needed it to be long enough and wide enough to give me my dash size and allow a bit extra. I then used the old dash to mark out a rough pattern and how much slack I'd need round the sides to cut in to.

Now I'm no expert when it comes to this, in fact I'm not afraid to say I'm a total newbie. However if I've got any advice to give it is take your time when cutting your carbon cloth. If you pull at it, then it distorts like crazy and no amount of pulling and poking will get it neat again!

I used two layers of 2x2 twill weave carbon, then one layer of cross woven carbon/glass, then one layer of 4.5oz CSM, then finished off with some biax I had left on a roll.

I'll not be able to pull it off the glass till Saturday morning, as I don't get back home till late Friday night. I can't wait to see what it looks like!

I'll be sure to update this thread with pics.

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: "1986 16.5' Dateline/Sidewinder sports boat. Full strip and rebuild

Well I just got back from London and all I could think of was peeling this carbon off the glass!

Came off quite easily thanks to the 3 coats of wax. I'm very happy with it, however my dad thinks the 'join' in the two sheets looks (and I quote here) "bloody awful!!". :facepalm:

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: "1986 16.5' Dateline/Sidewinder sports boat. Full strip and rebuild

Not as much work done this weekend as I would have liked. I had my best friends stag day on Saturday and I am best man. Go-karting, paintballing and beers! (not all at the same time, although that would have been fun). They had two special paintball markers for myself and the groom to use, which could deliver 13 balls per second at 6000 PSI!! And boy did they hurt!

Anyway, back to the boat. I got a full cut and wax done on it in the time I had left. I worked through stages:

1. Farecla G3
2. Farecla G10
3. Autoglym Super Resin polish (good filler)
4. Autoglym Extra High Gloss sealant
5. Farecla Marine Wax

I'm going to coat it with Dodo Juice Purple Haze (link here) and Meguiars Flagship Ultimate Quick Wax when I get some time.

I used a rotary polisher and a variety of Farecla mops to achieve this.

The gel coat was very heavily oxidised, and there are micro-fractures in the other surface. I'm still tempted to have the sides vinyl wrapped if I can work out a good design. There aren't many places in the UK that do vinyl wraps for boats though, and I can't seem to find anywhere in the USA that would take my design/measurements and just ship me the wraps, rather than install :/

On the left of this picture you can see where has been cut with G3, on the right un-touched:

Before:

After:

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: "1986 16.5' Dateline/Sidewinder sports boat. Full strip and rebuild

Side shot after cutting with G10:

Aerial shot!

It's getting there slowly but surely

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Bumblebee sure is sparkling like a gem...very nice job of shining it up!

I will bet you are quite anxious to get it wet...

Are you going to redo the bottom paint?

I like the Carbon Fiber lay-up...that is going to look very cool...hey, and for what it's worth, I can't see the splice from way over here...plus you could use that spot for a theme logo...see the attachment below...

Keep up the fantastic work...

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Hi GT1M,

I like that idea! I'm still unsure on whether to partly trim the carbon dash in the same vinyl as what is used elsewhere in the boat. I'm just going to have to try a few ideas out and see what they look like.

Here are a few pics of today's work:

Old dash:

New carbon dash (not fitted or cut for instruments yet):

I'm actually really happy with how it turned out! Woo!!



Also got the rigging grommets in:

Got the seats drilled and test fitted. Took a little bit of fine tuning as I'd made the bases a little thick when I laid them up with Kevlar (hence all the dust on the floor in this pic):

Got all my hatches and drain holes screwed in. Got the transom well drain hole fitted and sealed in with Sikaflex.

Plan for tomorrow:

• wire up my bilge (I have some AWESOME cable to do this)
• install transom stainless plate
• Drill engine mount holes
• Cut dash and pre-fit instruments
• Refit steering
• Start work on a carbon throttle control mount.
• Drill and test fit new top mounted instrument pod
• Plan a wiring harness.
• Sleep lots

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Got my bilge pump in and wired, with the wiring all neatly fixed up:

Carbon 'look' pod sat where it will be fitted, just testing what it looked like with the carbon dash in place:

Dash cut and instruments in as a test fit:

See the dash in 3D HERE


The plug from the hole cut in the dash for the trim gauge:

I also got my stainless transom bracket installed. Drilled the engine mount holes. Then I used Sikaflex 291 to 'glue' the bracket in place and pulled it tight by using bolts through the engine mount holes.

I'll take a pic of that next time I'm down there!





What's everyone's thoughts on how this looks? Too flat or bland? The waterproof radio box is going in the big gap in front of the passenger.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Love the look of the dash...definitely a keeper! Just an added thought, don't know if it would work, but if there is a lip along the bottom edge of the dash, and you don't want it to get chipped or scrape your knees, you could put a piece of black rubber hose, some kind of weatherstrip or rounded aluminum trim attached by way of some clips/clamps, double stick tape or black silicone...

And the wiring looks spot on...Very, very nice!

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Love the look of the dash...definitely a keeper! Just an added thought, don't know if it would work, but if there is a lip along the bottom edge of the dash, and you don't want it to get chipped or scrape your knees, you could put a piece of black rubber hose, some kind of weatherstrip or rounded aluminum trim attached by way of some clips/clamps, double stick tape or black silicone...

And the wiring looks spot on...Very, very nice!

Thanks Gus,

I'm going to do something similar to what you've said. I'm going to run some "L" channel along the bottom edge, probably 1" x 1" covered in 1/4" foam, then covered in the same vinyl as to top of my dash. That should protect knees from the sharp edge, and also cover a slight scuff down near the wheel where the chuck of my drill nicked the carbon :facepalm:

Here is a pic I took last night of the stainless transom plate installed, and the alloy side caps getting cut and tested for fit. They need hammering flat before being installed! It hasn't been anti-fouled yet before anyone starts to take the mickey

 

[kwik_uk]

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

Re: 1986 16.5' Dateline Bikini full gut and rebuild. My first

A little bit more done this weekend, it's slowly getting there!

Got the aluminium transom top caps cut, bent and bonded on. Made some cool rubber stripping for the channels in them. I'm happy as I got a real OEM look
Also got the steering cable and nut through the transom grommet. This took a LOT of hot water to soak the grommet in before it was anywhere near stretchy enough to go over the nut!
Also gave the whole underside two coats of International Paints Interspeed Ultra anti-foul (I love this stuff!! but bloody hell it's expensive!!:facepalm.

Managed to find the original serial to my boat when cleaning the aluminium top plate!! 338-BK-OB It seems my boat was number 338 made, of the Dateline Bikini Outboard. Quite a nice find

Dashboard is nearly done now, just got to straighten up the gauges and screw them down. Then put the beige vinyl trim along the bottom to match the top. Gauge pod is in place too, as is the steering rack and boss. Changed this to black satin from white using plastic etch primer & paint.

All that's left to do now:

1. Fit carbon facia on the controls mount
2. Install controls and cables
3. fit carpet (Dad kindly volunteered while I'm down in London with work)
4. Fit rear back rest and curtain as it's now been rebuilt from scratch!
5. Wire up the instruments
6. Fit the engine!!