1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

[Struc]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Not sure if you wanted pictures posted in your thread, but well, here they are anyway...

You can see here a sticker I removed, and the oxidation on the lower part of where the sticker was. This isn't the worst of the oxidation, but gives a good contrast.

On this picture, to the left you can see where I went over the area one time with the rubbing compound and buffer. It'll take 3-4 different passes to probably get that all out and to a place where I'm happy with it.

Here is the difference on the rear of the boat. I'm pretty much done on the right side (still needs a wax coat), and the left side is pretty much untouched. Ignore all the scratches and stuff. It is a nearly 25 year old boat after all.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

That rear section looks great Struc! Did you wet sand that area with 1000 1st? If so, how much?

 

[Struc]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Yes, that is one of the areas that I wet sanded first. It looked as bad or worse than the other side when I started.

I probably sanded until, when wiped down, it looked similar to my second picture, where I had gone over the left side area once with rubbing compound. It was still oxidized, but just had a light haze to it, rather than the full milky look. Then I started in with the buffer and rubbing compound. I believe I made 3 different passes over that area with the buffer.

And, when I say passes, I mean load up the buffing wheel with compound and hit the whole area with it on there thick, and then work it until the material is almost gone, and then let it dry and wipe it down with a towel to see where I'm at.

I am, however, by no means an expert on doing this stuff. This is the first time I've done it on a boat, and really have never spent much time doing it on cars either. I'm just flying blind here, but it seems to be working out and turning out well. Engine work, yeah, I'll say I'm pretty skilled there - anything mechanical really. But this "paint work" is all new to me, so take my example for what it's worth.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Had her out for the first time this year. Went to Lake Elsinore in Southern Cal for 3 days. The water was awesome and the boat worked great. I did have some intermittent sputtering on the last day (ran great otherwise), so I will be having the carb rebuilt this week just to be safe.

Here are some videos -

Taught the boy to drive - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdMLoHrqs90&feature=youtu.be

Daughters learning to kneeboard -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cALLBI-MSeY
http://youtu.be/gKZwt4wAh0M

Had a very small leak (about a half gallon in 8 hours on the water). I thought it was coming from the swim platform bolts so I took them out and used a healthy amount of 5200 when re-installing. Still leaked. On closer look, it appears to be coming from where the speedo cable comes thru the transom. I will seal that up this week.

 

[Struc]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Glad to hear all went well! Good to see the kids enjoying it as well. Not sure how mine survived all these years without the boat now.



Getting my boat ready for vacation - 7 days on the chain of lakes in Eagle River, WI. Can't wait!!

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Glad to hear all went well! Good to see the kids enjoying it as well. Not sure how mine survived all these years without the boat now.



Getting my boat ready for vacation - 7 days on the chain of lakes in Eagle River, WI. Can't wait!!

Wow, 7 days! Sounds like fun. Have a great time Struc!

Gonna try your sanding/buffing techniques next week. I will post some pics

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Finally got to restoring the shine to the paint. I am very happy with how it has turned out. If this beautiful new shine doesn't go away quickly, I may just throw the Vaseline away. I have only done about a 1/4 of the boat so far. It took me 2.5 hours and was a real pain, but look at the shine.

I used TSP to get all the Vaseline and wax off, then wet sanded with 1000 grit 3 times, compounded 3 times, and polished 2 times. It still needs a coat of wax.

This is after the sanding and compound.


This is after the polish. Look at the reflection. You can see my foot and some tools on the ground.



How often do I change or clean the pads? It definitely worked best when the pads were fresh.

 

[AMD Rules]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Looks great SD! You can clearly see the difference, and the reflection.

I still only have half of my boat shining, and I have never addressed the transom at all. A lot of chalkiness in that area. Mechanical priorities have prevailed again this season (new plugs, wires, rotor(s), cap, battery cable, starter, oil, filter, rebuilt carb, trailer parts (wheels, tires, rollers) etc...) however maybe later on this season I can follow in your footsteps and start looking at the cosmetic issues again.

We're headed away for two weeks this w'end with boat in tow. Cross your fingers!

Great to see you enjoying your boat. That was a huge project, and well done.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Thanks AMD. Sounds like she has been keeping you busy. Enjoy your vacation. Be sure to post a few pics of that boat in action.

 

[Struc]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Looks Great! Excellent shine to it. Wax it up good or you'll be angry about water spots.

Can't wait to finish mine up too. We're up in Eagle River now, and while swimming I keep seeing the back of the boat where I finished, and the back part I didn't start yet. Makes me anxious to get it done!

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Got a couple more hours in today on the gel coat. 4.5 hours total and have done the stern and one side.



Hard to believe it was a chaulky pink a few hours ago.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Just got back from 5 days at Lake Mohave (AZ/NV). We had a great time and the boat worked perfect. Well, almost perfect. All electrical suddenly died one afternoon and we had to be towed in (thank goodness I have Vessel Assist). With the help of a few iboaters, I chased down the problem to a positive battery cable/solenoid connection and was right back out on the water.

 

[Struc]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Glad to hear your issues were minor. I had a sucessful 7 days with my boat as well. Everything worked flawlessly, and we used the boat every day for many hours of cruising, water skiing / wakeboarding, a little fishing, and anchored for swimming.

The work on your paint looks great BTW! Did you finish up before leaving for your vacation? I haven't touched mine, but have the bug to get it finished. I worked so hard to get the mechanicals up to 100% before leaving on vacation that I'm a bit burned out on the boat, but the motivation in starting to return.

About an hour into the return trip we hit a deer smak center, and insurance ended up totaling my Durango. Had to leave my boat 4 hours away and get a rental car to get home. Luckily my brother-in-law was up in that area with his family and was able to tow my boat home at the end of his trip, so I didn't have to find a vehicle to go and get it with.

Ah, the memories...

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Wow, too bad about the deer and especially the Durango. I take it no one in the car was injured? Glad to hear the boat worked well on the long trip.

Yes, I did finish my paint restoration. After reading your post about looking at the half that wasn't shining, I put in a few more hours to finish mine up. I used the same compound as you and I was very pleased with how it came out.

Speaking of polishing, I guess I did have another minor issue with the boat. I failed to tape off my fuel vent when I was working on the paint and wound up completely clogging it up. I guess the polisher continually pushed more and more compound and wax up the vent as I was working. When I was filling up the tank near the lake, I had only put about 2 gallons in when all of a sudden -- WHOOSH!!! a 5 foot long geyser of gasoline shot out the fill hole and about 10 feet straight up in the air. Lucky no one was behind me. I removed the vent and not only was the screen clogged, but wax had been shoved clear into the main chamber and had hardened. It took about 10 minutes to clean and I was back to business.

 

[Struc]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

LOL...! Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to cover up my vent next time. Pretty funny story.

And no, nobody was injured, except the deer of course. It never felt a thing. It was a pretty big doe, so the bumper only hit the legs of it. The whole body pushed the grille, radiator, etc into the engine. The damage wasn't really horrible, but the truck wasn't worth a whole lot. Got $4500 value from the insurance company, which was way more than it was worth. It was a 2001 which I bought new, and was pretty much only on boat towing duty. It's now been replaced by a 2004 which is in much better condition, so it all worked out OK. It was pretty funny seeing the tow truck driver haul the whole rig, though - boat and all.

 

[AMD Rules]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Sounds like everyone had successful outings (except for wildlife). Likewise we had a 14 day outing, two cottages. Boat made it 13 out of 14 days without any issues, which is a record. Starter puked on the last day, right in front of the cottage. Lots of tubing, knee boarding, fishing, sun and smiles all around.

Towing my boat (1 hr+) to get back to the ramp was done covertly , at 6am, and I made sure not to look anyone in the eye as my sad broken boat waddled its way back and forth behind me on the tow rope.

Good year for the Seville's.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

That's great AMD -- 14 days on the lake sounds like a great vacation! ...and getting towed sucks, but it happens...even to newer boats.

It's good to see the Sevilles having a great summer. I still have a few more trips (short ones) left.

 

[Chris_94_Sprint_TX]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

I am aware this post is old, but do you recall how many yards of vinyl, you used for your interior and the cushions? Also how much foam and wood were used for the cushions?

Chris

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

Chris - it looks like 7 yards of gray vinyl and 1 or 2 of the red. I did not replace the old foam. I just bough enough 1/2" foam to wrap everything (to make up for the compressed foam) to make the covers fit nice and snug. I think I got away with one sheet of 1/2' plywood since I did not do the lounge seats (still haven't).

 

[Chris_94_Sprint_TX]

Re: 1986 Sea Ray Seville Restoration

My lounge seats are still pretty solid just have a few rips in them. Your restoration looks great BTW. I hope mine turns out as good, this will be my first boat but I have a done a few cars. My Seville doesn't appear to be a full resto just a lot of cosmetic stuff and a few mechanical/electrical items. Here is the thread if you want to check it out - http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...r/1985-searay-seville-restoration-564033.html

Chris