1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

Well i've done very little to date as I have been to busy moving house. Also the boat is now stored at my folks place as I have no shed to keep it in

the flocoat has been a PITA as it just dried too bad, I rang the supplier and told him my story so he sent out another batch at a cheaper rate but this too just dried too bumpy worse than ornage peel I have seen on gel coating threads.
So i rang again and after a few days he called back saying that maybe the moisture in the air is too much and so he claimed that he'll add a bit more wax to the next batch and see if it works.



So I recieved the 3rd batch with the added wax and it was much much better when it went off inplaces it required very little sanding to level and in the worse spots a few runs with 220 grit to get down the high spots left by the brush sorted it out.
I applied it a bit heavier but well impressed with the result.
When I think about all the wasted hours I put in with the first two batches it really annoys me but I'm going to redo the whole hull with the good stuff as i am a bit light in places anyway.

Can't find the pics of the new batch going on but I'll post them later when I can.

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

Now I need to think about what i'm going to do about installing my seats ,before they were just screwed into the deck and if they needed to be removed to make way to access the back of the dash or something they would have to be re screwed back in. My suggestion to stop my new deck being drilled into, is to make a template of the bottom of my seats (rough pic from a cut off hence the corner missing)
View attachment 116022

I plan to glass this to the floor where the seat shall go and have 4 ss bolts protrude from it and then place the seat over the bolts and tighten nuts, remove excess and hopefully the foam in the seat should act as padding againgst the nuts...Then i just remove the bottom cushion and 4 nuts and hey presto seat lifts out and no more screwing into the deck. I'll put spring washers in with the bolts to hopefullstop them from moving around in the future..

Good or bad idea.... or can someon think of an alternative?? my seats are just fibreglass mould with foam stuck to them and then the vinyl sewed to the shape of the foam and stapled underneath.


Also i have shaped cardboard to what i think i need just to enhance my dash a bit. I can't have it too high as would block the view from inside the windscreen ( which I need to see out of when caught in some rain)
So i measured up what i think would look best and plan to glass over this and then mount on the dash to see if it suits. If so I'll cut the dash to size and then glass in the piece and paint it to suit. I should then be able to put all my new guages ( yet to decide which ones) behind the wheel and so not have them in the middle of the dash where i plan to put a cd/radio in down the line.

View attachment 116024View attachment 116025


This just keeps rolling on and on as a project , the more i do the further away it seems to end. I'm now thinking when in this far why not over haul the trailer and paint that too to the colour scheme of the boat and add new poly rollers/ guide poles, etc...

at least I'm enjoying it still (really peed off with the amount of time i have sanded that hull though )

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

just a pic ot the "new dash " in place, measured it marked around it and then cut out. temp fixed it in with PB so if i ddn;t like it i could pull it out, next day was happy so glassed it in. It;s big enough to have 2 large guages (speedo and tach) and 2-3 small guages ( volt , trim and fuel/ water temp haven't decided yet) put in above the wheel. I now have rom to install a radio down the line in the middle of the dash so am pleased.
It needs to be sanded level and prob filled in places but should turn out ok .


View attachment 116886

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

Yours pics aren't working. There's a forum glitch right now that is killing pics. If you click the Go Advanced button when posting and upload your pictures from there, they should work (although I just use photobucket.com to avoid the whole mess).

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

thanks for the heads up ezmobee



may I just add that it is fully glassed around underneath and only glassed around an inch or two on top but i think it is held fast , unless you reckon that i need it tabbed more , although i am happy enough as is.

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

bit of a while since i gave an update so........

after moving I have discovered it's a real PITA not having my own garage to work in. I've now moved the boat to a friendly farmers hay shed ( thanks Liam ) due to lack of space at my folks yard. But now it's too late in the year and the temp is too cold for the flowcoat.

I think I'm gonna have to concede defeat and use Toplac all over the cap. I found it just too hard too make the trip most evenings to my folkks place ad I know if I had my own spot it would have been a completely different story.
Hull turned out ok but could be a slight bit better as there are a few high spots noticeable when the sun hits it in certain spots.
I hit it with aquabuff 2000 and BAM! it shone brilliantly and I kinda felt a bit proud... Will do all the hull when I;m finished as it'll just get dirty if I have to move it again due to our crap weather.


Now next question , do i need to prekote before using toplac and if so why??



Kinda peed off now as this is just dragging on and on , not what i had planned. I have just about everything arranged to go into the boat once finished so am real eager to get all this sanding and painting done over with.


guess i'll keep smiling and keep the head down and just get it done.

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

have pre-koted (interlux) the cap and the difference between the flo coat and normal paint stuff is huge. I rolled the pre kote and it goes on lighter and I then tipped it which when dried left such a remarkable difference compared to flow coat. There is an awful lot less work involved . I am sooooo looking forward to finishing the paint job now and getting this all behind me. after the few weeks I shold have all the paint done and now am looking to ordering the vinyl for the new upholstery.


roll on the end of sanding, oh another tool has bit the dust my DA SANDER decided that ti was time for the bearings to give way and throw the sanding disc into my chest at high speed. One very stern complaint later to the company and I shuold have a new one in the next few days.
A DA is a must imo for these tasks as they make light work of what would cause yo and arm or so

nothing to show but a white boat hull hence no pics i reckon once i start painting it you will be inundated with them but for now enjoy the drivel......

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

well have prekoted and added the first coat of white toplac. Very easy to use I rolled on with a foam roller and then tipped.I will have to thin out the final coat a bit as I am left with slight brush strokes but not too bad.




Oh did i mention that I riveted the cap back on ? It was stapled on but i couldn't get staples to go through it with the gun i had so i decided to go with the rivets. It's definetely held on well now, a layer of sikaflex was put on first then the 2 were joined and riveted. The bow needed to be pulled in on one side with 2 rachet straps before being riveted but I took a chance not doing this in a cradle but other than the bow every where else was fine thnak god, phew !!! i was really sweating through all this making sure that everything went back in as close to possible as what came out so any warping could be kept to a minimum.

So tomorrow i should get the final coat of white on and have the masking out done so next weekend I should be ready to put on the second colour ......rescue orange....

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

here's a pic of one of my new cleats , they are so much better than the bad plastic type ones that were on there imo.also i am using ss allen bolts to attach them as I think they look good with the cleats



Also here are the samples that the new seats etc will be covered with, there have been a few great threads up here on how to redo seats and stuff so we ( me and my mother) should be set to have a go at it. It'll be something new for my mother to turn her hand at , she has done dressmaking and repairs with a sewing machine but never upholstery so she eager to start , i'd better get in my materials for her before she loses the enthusiasm

 

[zopperman]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Make sure to use a backing plate for the cleats if they aren't already there.

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

yeah I've also got 316 ss backing plates for them as the previous ones only had small washers and the port side aft one was nearly pulled completely out one day after a strong wake crashed against the dock whne she was tied up. Gonna make sure they are held fast this time..

 

[registeroot]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

hey fishfeatures can i ask where did you get your cleats mate?

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Registeroot, i bought them locally at my chandlery down the road , but..... they are on flea bay and are exactly the same as these and I am raging now as these are half the price of what i paid but weren't up when i looked :facepalm::facepalm:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/2-X-4-STAINLESS-STEEL-316-ROUND-TOP-BOAT-CLEATS-/140580806136

oh man i wish i never checked them out now..... ah well ......

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

right a painting update;


I am not having much luck trying to get the Toplac to look good after rolling and tipping, firstly the brushmarks are hard to get rid of even when thinned to 5-6 % also the finish is not as good as direct from the can. It is a great finsh but I just can get it to go on even, so I'm going to resort to spraying the last two coats to see if they turn out ok. I don't have much experience in spraying which makes trying to learning how to on the boat a bit daunting but it is my project and and I won't have some one else do it for me ( stubborn I know). My brother does some work media blasting so he has a good spray guns and tips so I'm sure it can't be too bad.

Wish we had Rust-o- leum over here by all accounts it's great paint for finishing off boats.

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Right so,


Have finished with painting the hull, it's not a top rate job but I'm happy enough and it seems to have passed the family and friends inspection test. There are a few places that need a touch up as removing the masking lifted little pieces off the cap, but it's not a big job.Toplac seems to be better when sprayed, the orange left a lovely gloss finish but the white although applied the exact same way came out good just not as good as the orange.


so here it is, be honest when commenting. I am a grown up, and I can take take it...

Think i got the sizing wrong, and couldn't find the camera so the pics were taken with my phone so apologies if they don't look that great.

In the one below you can see the addition to the dash which should take a clock or two from the middle of the dash.

And my bump rail seems to have shrunk !!! unless some one cut some off but it'll never reach to ends.

Shine looks good in the sun but we don't see that much here ..... but we do get loads of rain around this time ....




Next step is to put in the rack steering system and mounts for the seats. Unfortunately one half of the windscreen fell from it was being stored and broke into 4 pieces so I'm trying to order up more tinted polycarbonate so I can cut a new windscreen

I will then "mothball" the project for the rest of the year whilst I get the new upholstery done and also start working on getting the motor for this fixed up. it's a 1990 60 hp johnson. It destroyed a piston so I'm getting all 3 cyclinders rebored, then putting in oversized piston (0.030) kits, new rod bearings, centre main bearings , top and bottom bearings. Then also 3 new carb kits, thermo was replaced a month before it broke down. Then with the whole engine being dismantled it's the perfect time to respay it so every thing but the powerhead will get a new coat which should bring it up lovely.


New year the motor will go on , upholstery will go in , windscreen will be attached and hopefully my hints of what i would like for christmas ( teleflex lido gauge set) will have not gone unnoticed with my other half and if I am nice to myself after all this I may get smart tabs in the new year also for her.

At some stage I will do a respray on the trailer and try to replace the rollers with non marking poly rollers.

Then break in the motor and HEY !!! it's spring and we can start enjoying the water on nice good sunny days...


Well all this is the plan , it works well in theory ,I'll see how it goes in practice...........

 

[registeroot]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

good job mate. paint is just ricky. i used toplac too. i just rolled it, didnt tip it and its ok. i started out mine as white but gave up affter 4 coats as it did showed up every little defect. i gave it 3 coats of bondi blue after that and it tidied up rightly. not perfrct but ok! im stalled at engine work at the minute too. you are going well keep it up and get use out of asap!

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

well Murphy's law has struck!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphys_law

Whilst walking around Woodie's ( DIY Store over here) I discovered that they are now selling a new paint brand from the tin. Yep you've guessed it RUST-O-LEUM !!! after hearing such good comments about this paint on this forum and having to go with Toplac on my resto as it wasn't available over here.Then I find it 1 week after finishing my painting , come on ,,,, how cr~p is that.

Anyway just thought I'd let you all know that Murphy is alive and kicking

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

good job mate. paint is just ricky. i used toplac too. i just rolled it, didnt tip it and its ok. i started out mine as white but gave up affter 4 coats as it did showed up every little defect. i gave it 3 coats of bondi blue after that and it tidied up rightly. not perfrct but ok! im stalled at engine work at the minute too. you are going well keep it up and get use out of asap!

thanks man ,you're coming along well also i see. Have you got that engine runing yet?

 

[registeroot]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat (fletcher)

hey fish thanks for looking. engine resto is till underway. i havent been at it lately, busy with work and all that. interesteing you found rustoleum! everybody rants and raves about it on here! curiosity has me too, but im already invested in toplac too!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1st restore on a 14ft ski boat

Howdy fishfeatures,

Just came aboard to start through reading through your resto. Great work so far.

Nice sporty little runabout.

I like the color combo.

Just a thought on your bump rail, try warming it from the front to the back, a little at a time, with a heat gun or a hair dryer, while at the same time, giving it a bit of a stretch...you will be amazed at how much you can get it to "grow"...remember, not too much heat, just enough to get a bit of give, and a little at a time.
If you can get an assistant to warm the rub rail ahead of you while you "stretch" it. it will go a smoother.

Best Regards,
GT1M