1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

Finally got the first coat of primekote on the bottom half of the boat. Well sort of, I ran out with a few feet left on one side. I mixed half the container and worked with that. Since I came up a little short it gives me a pretty good idea of how much primer and paint I will actually need. I have pictures, I don't think they turned out very well and it is too late tonight to go through them and put them up.

For the primekote I used the 4" Wizz rollers. They work pretty well. I used one for putting on the primer and one for tipping. If the Perfection lays down better than the primekote I know I will be very happy with the outcome.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

Grrrr, not happy at all right now. When I mixed the Interlux Primekote I used half the can of the primer with half the can of the reactor. The can of reactor was sealed but didn't seem full. Since I had never used the product before I figured this was normal and that everything would be fine since I used half of each can. Well the next day I checked the other can of reactor that I have and it feels full to the top. The can is supposed to contain 8 ounces which mixes 3:1 with the 24 ounces of primer. Well the first can that I got only had 6 ounces of reactor in it, which means I used only 3 ounces with 12 ounces of primer, a mixture of 4:1. While the primer feels dry to the touch it seems very soft, sands off very easily, and gums up the sanding discs in no time.

I contacted Interlux about this and they said if I got a soft cure that I need to remove everything and start over! Son of a ...... I already spent 4 hours sanding using 25 sanding discs, looks like I'm in for at least another 4 hours and 25 more sanding discs. So far Interlux hasn't said anything about getting me the additional reactor agent. If they don't I guess I just wasted another $30 on a quart of their product. The sanding discs will run about $20. So $50 and 8 hours of work because someone couldn't quality control their product. Not happy at all.

The primekote came from Wholesale Marine. I'm not sure where the product went missing but those are the two entities involved.

Trying to stay positive about the whole situation, it does give me more time to go back and fill in the scratches and such that I missed. The primer really highlighted them.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

Well that's a nightmare!

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

At least it should be easy to sand off. I just got back from working on it and just taking a sanding block with 220 on it and lightly sanding creates a cloud of dust like baby powder.

Interlux did say that they could send me another can of the reactor agent free of charge but it would take about 10 days to get to me. That means I may or may not have it by next weekend and the weather is getting cold here. I really need to get the first coat of perfection on the entire boat by this Sunday. Losing 8 hours of work time is going to make that tough to do.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

I got about 90% of primekote sanded off last night. The remaining parts seem to have bonded and hardened up enough. I had some 120 sanding discs left over so I hit the boat with that. Right now I'm not sure if I will go back over it with 220 or just leave it and sand down the next coat with 220.

The plan for tonight is to sand down more of the scratches that I filled in on the bottom half of the boat. Then move to the top half and finish sanding it down. Then I would like to primekote both the top and bottom. Last time it took 2 hours from the time I first mixed the primekote until the bottom half was done. It will either be a long night or if I'm too tired I will skip the top half tonight and do it tomorrow to make sure I do a quality job on it.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

It's 1:30am and I just got back in from working on the boat. I got primekote on most of the bottom half. The top has been rough sanded and wiped down with acetone. I will sand it with 220 in the morning while wating for things to warm back up. I might be able to even take some decent pictures tomorrow and get them posted.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

Finally some progress. I have 2 coats of Primekote on the bottom half and one coat on top half. Most the visible scratches have been filled and I will probably say good enough on that. Not having to fill, wait for it to dry, then sand should help things move along quicker. The plan for Sunday is get the top half sanded down and put the second coat of Primekote on. Wait for that to dry to the touch and start sanding the bottom and making sure I have everything needed to start applying the Perfection. I hope to be painting by early afternoon when it is the warmest. I would like to come back later and sand down the top half and put it's first coat of Perfection on as well. I only have Primekote on right now and it is already looking much better than it did before.

Here are some pictures.

The hull that I started with.

After 2 coats of Primekote on the bottom and one coat on the top.

The front of the console before I extended it. You can see the outline of where the windshield used to be. I made the console level out all the way out to the cushion.

The extended console (from the opposite angle).

 

[swire]

Re: Rebuilding a 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski

Re: Rebuilding a 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski

Both consoles extended.

Both consoles after one coat of Primekote.

Middle of the boat looking forward.

Middle of the boat looking forward after Primekote.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Rebuilding a 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski

Re: Rebuilding a 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski

Nice work.

 

[swire]

Re: Rebuilding a 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski

Re: Rebuilding a 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski

It's been a long day but I've gotten done everything that I wanted to do today. I sanded the top half and put the second coat of Primekote on this morning. Sanded the bottom half and put the first coat of Perfection on it. Then this evening the top was dry, well at least dry enough to sand, so I did and then put the first coat of Perfection on the top. Even with just one coat of perfection the hull is looking smooth and has a high gloss.

I plan on putting on 2 more coats of Perfection, then painting strips all the way around with 2 coats of blue Perfection. The boat design on the page one is probably what I will be going for. I already have the white rub rail just like the picture.

Here are the most recent pictures.

 

[swire]

Re: Rebuilding a 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski

Re: Rebuilding a 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski

Just got done putting in another 6 hours on the boat tonight. I spent some time cleaning the dust and debris out of the shed so that it wouldn't end up on the finish. Then I sanded the whole boat, wiped it down with 2333, mixed the paint while it drying, then put another coat of Perfection on both the top and bottom. It's looking better with each coat.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

Put in another 6 hours last night and got the 3rd coat of Perfection on the boat. I was hoping this was the last coat but I will have to inspect the boat to make sure. I know I messed up in a few spots but most of that should be covered by the blue strips that I will be painting. So for now I am thinking it is good enough. The long hours have worn me down and I wasn't focusing on the task at hand as well last night. It's going to rain and be cold for a few days so that will give me a break.

I ordered the seats for the boat but the actual color of the product is completely different than the manufactures and vendors pictures. The gray in real life is the same color as the charcoal in the picture. The charcoal is so dark they might was well call it black. Not the look I was going for. It will cost a couple hundred dollars in shipping and fees to return the seats. So I'm debating on what to do.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

So I've been looking over the boat and trying to figure out how I want to draw out the blue lines on the boat. That is taking some time because creative drawing and seeing the lines isn't my strong suit. What is becoming very clear is that I really screwed up my finish coat. It is bad enough that I'm strongly considering sanding it down and putting another coat on. In one spot it looks like I missed a complete roller width on the finish coat. Others look like I forgot to tip the paint. I'm not sure what happened as I thought I had mastered painting. So if you are doing your own boat I would advise not pushing yourself too hard and rushing the project.



Here is an image of the Wise seat that I received compared to the image provided from the vendor and the manufacturer. The manufacture was very responsive when I told them I was looking for seats. After I sent them the picture and asked why the color is so different, not a peep. I decided I will return the seats and go with very light colored seat. I haven't found exactly what I'm looking for yet but one thing I know is that it will not be a Wise brand seat.

Please forgive my very bad photoshop. These are the types of seats that I'm looking at. They seem to work much better than the dark seats that arrived.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

I finally got the stripes layed out and put the first coat of blue on. The blue masking tape is still on in the picture. Using a paint with color is a lot more difficult than with just white. Any little over lap and pressing too hard to too soft with the roller will show up. I also started work on sanding down the trailer. I should have plenty of paint left over to cover the trailer so that it will match the boat.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

I have found that you cannot trust pictures on the web. So many variables can change the color that you see. I think they look pretty close if you asked me, just a little darker. The web picture just looks over exposed.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

I think those are pretty nice looking seats. I have been pleased with the upholstery quality on both the low-end and high-end Wise seats that I've purchased.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

They are nice looking seats and the quality seemed top notch. If I had a dark colored boat like a Tracker fishing boat where everything inside the boat is dark gray or black they would have fit perfectly. The look I'm going for is more light and bright. A light gray color similar to the picture would have worked with the gray carpet. The dark color is just too much of a contrast with the white interior.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

Second coat of blue paint went on last night. I still have noticable overlap marks but it is getting a lot better. I am hoping the 3rd coat will cover everything up and come out great. If not I will put on a fourth coat. That will probably leave me short for painting the trailer though. We've got rain and cold weather the next couple days so I won't be able to do any more painting until the weekend when it warms back up.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

Swire,

It's good to see all the progress you have made. Painting is definitley tough work and working with the Interlux Perfection can make it even more challenging. The really good thing is the Perfection paint is REALLY tough stuff. I have had a full season of running around in my resto boat and hardly a scratch can be seen. I think that your boat looks fantastic. If you are unhappy with the finish coat, now is the time to fix it up. A light sanding with a 400 or better grit paper and then a final careful recoat could make a big difference. Also, you should be sanding between coats of the striping also. That will help remove any roller marks. Keep up the good work. You are on the down slope now.

 

[swire]

Re: 1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

Greg,
I've been sanding between every coat of primer and paint, including the blue strips. I don't really have a problem with roller marks, I think I've got that down pretty good. It is just a color difference where the roller with new paint meets up with were the previous roller ended. The area with more paint can show up a little darker. I think that is mainly because I'm painting the blue on top of white and the coats are thin. The additional coats should make it all blend together.

I talked to Interlux about any time constraints on applying another coat of Perfection. They said as long as I sand the last coat there is no time limitations on applying another coat. I'm thinking of waiting until April, when it warms back up, and then decide if I want to recoat. I've already managed to get a blue smudge mark on the area above the top stripe. I didn't catch it until after it had dried. Also rain was predicted the day after I did the final coat, so about 8 hours after I put the coat on I put a tarp over the boat since the roof of the building leaks. The tarp actually scratched the perfection. So most likely I will want to put on another coat when everything is all done to cover up any more blemishes I manage to put in it.

I'm glad to hear your boat barely got a scratch on it. Did you ever leave your boat in the water for a day or two? If so was there any problem with the paint below the water line softening up?