1987 Cheetah 196 Fish and Ski Rebuild Project and Pictures

[Greg Mrozinski]

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

Okay. Gotcha. Yeah, I taped off my white strip before applying the paint. My guess is you just need to keep applying the blue stripe paint until it finally covers the white.

The paint will stay a little soft for about 3 days to a week depending on temps. That actually is a good thing because sanding is much easier during that period. I did not paint the bottom of my boat wit the Perfection. I just sanded it down a little and reapplied the bottom paint. Then I painted with the Perfection from the water line up. I did that purposely because I knew that I was going to leave the boat in the water for several days at a time during the summer. Plus in my part of the Chesapeake Bay it's just easier to bottom paint rather then worry about peeling paint on the bottom.

 

[swire]

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

The weather has not been my friend the last week. Still I did get decent weather Saturday and made the most of it. I put on another coat of blue Perfection. It is really starting to darken up but it is going to take at least 4 coats to look good. In the close up picture you can see a little bit of color variation still.

I also started work on the trailer. I got it stripped down the best I could and was able to use the remaining bit of PrimeKote that I had to put one coat of primer on it.

The weather is supposed to be warm the next 3 days but with rain every day. Then it gets cold and might not stay warm enough after that to paint. Jay from Interlux said that Pefection should not drop below 41 degrees in the first 24 hours of being applied.

 

[swire]

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

So I have some good news and bad news. I was going to be out of town for the last warm days this year but it turns out my truck had other ideas. I made it to Illinois to visit my parents for Thanksgiving and on my way to Michigan the engine in my truck blew while travelling through Gary Indiana. Not sure what happened as it was running perfect, then started ticking, overheated, and now coolent pours out of my tailpipe when I crank it over. So I spent 7 hours over the next 2 days getting it towed back home. The good news is that I made it back in time to put the last coat of blue paint on the boat and had enough left over to put the first coat on the trailer. Trying to make the best of the situation.

I changed my technique on the last coat of paint. I was using the roller and roller method but the tipping roller has always seemed to leave a lot more stipple in the paint and sometimes it doesn't even out. So I dropped the tipping roller and just went with one roller. I would load up some paint on it, apply a light touch on the first pass, move a roller width over and apply another light touch, as the roller was loosing paint I would start to apply more pressure. I did this until it seemed like decent pressure on the roller was starting to apply a lighter coat. I would then work back towards where I started, moving over a half roller width at a time, and going over any visibly heavy areas until it looked smooth. I have to say the final result seems much better. The stipple from the roller on one section would be almost gone by the time I worked my way back on the second section. It seems like a much smoother finish. I haven't had a bright sunny day to look it over well yet but I feel this last coat came out better than any other coat on the boat.

Today I was able to pull the tape off the boat. I am definately going to have to put another coat of white paint on. The blue leaked through the tape in a couple spots. Although no one would really see it I know I can do better than that. So I've ordered another quart of blue and a quart of white. The blue is for the trailer and maybe some blue accents in the boat but I'm not sure yet.

As for the trailer, I have ordered new fenders. The new fenders have a back to them to keep the grease and dirt from the road from hitting the boat, plus they have a flat step on the top of the fender. The new fenders are larger than the existing so I will have to move the fender mounts. That will be a chore as I haven't been able to break the nuts free yet. Once I do I will have to drill 8 holes through the steel frame in order to mount the fender brackets.

Here are the latest pictures.

 

[GT1000000]

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

Hello swire,

I just came aboard your thread and have just finished reading it through.

First off I have to say, way to stick with it through the good and the bad.

You are doing an incredible job. A definite inspiration.

Second, I want to say that is one nice looking boat...Yes, I am biased, because it has a lot of similarities to my Glasstream. It seems a lot of manufacturers from that era used a lot of the same design ideas, interesting...


And finally, thanks for sharing your experiences with us and I'll be tagging along to see it "splashed".


Best of Luck and Godspeed,

GT1M

PS- sorry to hear about the truck, hope you get it sorted out.

 

[ezmobee]

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

Paint is looking real sharp. Gotta love it when the tape comes off!

 

[swire]

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

I'm about ready to call it quits on the painting and give up any idea of taking the boat out for some winter striper fishing. The building I am in is not good for heating or staying dry. It rained sooner than I expected after what I thought was the final blue coat and the water drops ruined the gloss even though the paint had dried for about 8 hours before it rained. So I taped up the top half of the boat again and put an additional coat on one side. I can still see the where the water drops ruined the gloss, so it is going to take 2 coats to cover that up. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm enough to paint but there is a chance of rain all day tomorrow. The white part of the boat needs to be redone as well. At least the top and sides. The bottom side of the hull is fine.

I got a new camera that takes better pictures. Here is what the boat looks like. The gloss shows up really well. The part of the boat where the gloss was ruined is on top half way back and can't really be seen.

 

[ezmobee]

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

Your painting issues sound a lot like my current house painting issues. :facepalm:

 

[swire]

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

Painting never seems to work out for me but I'll get it eventually.

I did manage to get the trailer fender brackets moved so they fit my new fenders. It required drilling 8 half inch holes through the frame. The motor on my drill was smoking by the time I got done. The new fenders should work out great and allow me to put 14 inch tires on the trailer instead of 13 inch.

 

[swire]

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

The rain held off most of the day, so I put another tarp over the boat and put what I hope is the final blue coat of paint on. It did rain and will rain for the next 24 hours. All it takes is one drop of water to get through a seam of the tarp and ruin the finish but I'm hoping that won't be the case.

I also put another coat of blue on the trailer. It is starting to really look sharp. One more coat and the trailer should be done except for the new fenders and the bracket that holds the bow roller. I can paint all that stuff in my basement so it isn't critical at the moment.

The next step with the trailer is pulling the wheel and the hub and then measuring the spindle to make sure I get the right size seals. There always seems to be grease leaking out of them even after I replaced them. With new paint I really don't want grease thrown all over the trailer, boat, fender, and wheel. After that I have new LED brake lights to pu on. I am planning on running new wires for the lights and maybe adding some side marker lights to the trailer.

 

[swire]

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

We've had a couple warm days here lately. I put another coat of blue on one side of the boat where the water drops had ruined the finish. I then retapped the boat so that I could paint the white sections again. I just finished that up. I have a tarp over the boat and it should keep all the rain off because as usual when we get warm weather it is followed by rain. I put another coat of blue on the trailer. It does not have a tarp over it so I hope the rain doesn't get on it because that should be the last coat for the body of the trailer. The remaining pieces are the fenders and other hardware that mounts to the trailer.

I had to completely redo the fenders for the trailer. They were a very smooth plastic. I knew when I got them that I should have sanded them to scuff them up but I didn't. I primed them and hoped everything would be ok. They scratched easily but nothing major. I put the first coat of paint on them and solvent in the paint tore up the primer pretty good. I ran out of PrimeKote so I was using something else. Tonight I scraped all the paint and primer off the fender, then sanded with 60 grit, followed by 320 grit. I didn't put any primer down as it doesn't seem to be compatible and just applied paint directly to the scuffed surface. A few more coats on the hardware and then it will be ready to put back together. I still have to pull the wheel and hub off so that I can get a correct measurement on the size of the spindle. Then I will either replace the hubs or replace the seals if I feel confident that they won't leak grease.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

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

Swire,

Just caught up on your thread. Looking good. I like that color combo of the white-blue-white. Keep up the good work.

 

[swire]

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

Swire,

Just caught up on your thread. Looking good. I like that color combo of the white-blue-white. Keep up the good work.

Thanks. I'm trying to get it to look similar to the design of the boat I posted on page 1. It is white-blue-white and has a white rubrail. I know tastes are personal but I really like that look.

If I could get ever get it to stop dripping rain onto the freshly painted surfaces I would be in good shape. I have a tarp over 99% of the boat. It rained after the last coat of white and that 1% got ruined. If I had to do it all over again I would have bought a 12x20 canopy to place over the boat inside the shed while painting. I have one more coat on the new trailer fenders and I should be done with that. I certainly hope that is the case because I will be out of paint.

Putting the two halves back together has me concerned. The last time I did it I had to use ratchet straps to help pull things together. The paint, at a few days old, seems to scratch just by rubbing it with a towel. I can see me scratching up the paint where I use straps. Also as I was painting the boat the straps left yellow marks everywhere they touched. It is going to be a time consuming event to get the two halves back together without marking up the boat.

 

[swire]

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

Weather, the holidays, and getting my truck fixed have kept me away from the boat for awhile. I got some more work done this week. I believe I have the last coat of paint on the trailer fenders and the hardware for the bow roller. I've got both hubs pulled off and thought I would have them put back together tonight with new bearings and seals. However, one of the bearing kits came with the wrong sized bearing so I either need to buy the correct bearing or reuse my old one. The old one is maybe 4 years and should be in good shape. I have the new gauges mounted into the console. I put on the 4 cleats on the boat. It feels good to finally be putting things back together.

I have a several items on their way and some waiting to go in. The stereo is going to be a big project as the boat originally had just two small speakers on each side and not enclosed. I've got a full stereo system planned, 4 speakers, subwoofer, and amp. I will have to build some type of enclosure for each speaker in order to get good sound.

 

[swire]

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

Finally making a little progress. I've got a ton of parts in the house waiting to put them together and in the boat. The problem is finding time. The trailer is almost back together. I need to order the new tires for it, make sure the fenders are aligned properly, and redo the brake lights.

As for the boat I still have to work on the bait tank and decide if I'm going to put a larger gas tank in before I put the 2 halves back together. I'm not sure if the bait tank will work the way the picture below shows or if I need to fully support the bottom of it. Anyone have thoughts on this?

While I'm figuring out those details here is what I got done today.

 

[River_Lizard]

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

Swire,

If 2/3's of the bait tank are supported, I believe you should be fine with that. It looks like it's made out of some stiff plastic so it should be able to support itself going over that span. Or you could get some 1/4" ply, resin it and put it across the section under the bait tank for added support.
On a different topic...you need to road trip to VA and hit the James River or the Potomac for some serious catfish. Not too sure about the "jug" fishing part but if you have a rod rack for the back of your boat you could fish like we do down here in VA with multi-rods across the back of the boat.
I haven't updated my website in probably a year or more but I've got some photos of some of the cats I've caught on the James. Just click on fish photos and then click the photo to enlarge. http://www.riverlizard.com

 

[swire]

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

I am making very slow but steady progress on the boat. I'm just more or less burnt out on the project at this point but grinding on so I can get it back in the water.

The trailer has been rewired and new brake lights installed. I still want to add some side marker lights, and additional set of brake lights, and need to wire up the 3 light ID bar.

The trailer is done enough that I was able to get the boats off the blocks and back on the trailer. That was a fun job doing it by myself. The boat is still in 2 pieces. I am double checking every electrical circuit before I put the two halves back together. Much easier to add and fix things now when I can stand under instead of squeezing through a small hatch.

My new carpet is in. I've taken all the old carpet, latches, and hinges off the hatch doors. Just need to cut and glue the new carpet on. Once the boat is together I can put the carpet on the floor and decks of the boat. My new front seats came in. They will get installed after the carpet.

Still to do:
Get the cushions redone to match the new seats.
Build new hatch covers over front compartments. The cover and cushions are currently one piece, I want them seperate so I have a bigger fishing deck if I want it.
Put the 2 halves together.
Reinstall the windshield.
Install the new rubrail.
Build custom fit speaker and subwoofer enclosure.

Here are pictures of the new seats and the boat in 2 parts sitting on the trailer.

 

[GT1000000]

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

Glad to see you back at it...it is looking real sharp almost all put back together sitting on the color matched trailer...Beautiful Job!

Those seats are real nice, they are gonna look right at home...

Getting close, man...Congrats!

 

[swire]

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

The boat is done! Well at least done enough to spend the day on the lake. I still have some hinges to put on, a little more wiring, the hoses need to be redone, and my fishing gear mounted back on but as far the rebuild I am calling it complete.

 

[swire]

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

 

[Teamster]

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

Wow,......Nice work!!