'63 Duratech aluminum runabout boat restoration

[JoeMan]

Here is a video compilation of my part-custom full restoration of a junked 1963 Duratech Neptune aluminum runabout in 2006. It was my first project, a TON of work, but also a lot of fun along the way. I ate meals in the garage half the time, and did not get much else done over a 3 month period - except work the day job, sleep, and work on the boat. Just ask my family. We were only able to use it for a month or so after the engine challenges were worked out last fall, so I'm really looking forward to the 12 inches of ice on the local lakes in Michigan thawing, hopefully soon!

Turn your speakers up, the music is soft at first. Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMy_XDNVBEo

My boat is also shown in the gallery at the Duratech site:

http://www.duratechboats.com

 

[Saskatoon2005]

Re: '63 Duratech aluminum runabout boat restoration

Very nice work there. I like the style of the boat, looks awesome.

 

[Mark42]

Re: '63 Duratech aluminum runabout boat restoration

Well worth the effort! Beautiful.

 

[Laddies]

Re: '63 Duratech aluminum runabout boat restoration

Joeman, I have a freind that restored his dads Duratech I/O it's a great boat. He even recast the Duratech step pads and side emblems. Yours look great also--Bob

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: '63 Duratech aluminum runabout boat restoration

super job, the horn was the perfect touch.

 

[NealLauderman]

Re: '63 Duratech aluminum runabout boat restoration

Very nice! I really liked it!

 

[JoeMan]

Re: '63 Duratech aluminum runabout boat restoration

Thanks for the kind words guys. One point about the sandblasting you can see going on in 2 of my images in the video.

If you have an aluminum boat with several coats of sprayed and/or rolled on paint...and the paint is too far gone to sand up and paint over...and you've tried all the strip chemicals known to man as I did...you CAN sandblast aluminum boats to remove old layers of paint if necessary...however!! Three pointers. It MUST be a sand venturi device used with a minimum 2000 psi water power wash unit, (water cooling keeps metal from waving), you need the correct media, and you need to know what you're doing. It is not a quick process, it takes several steps and a lot of sand since you do not want to 'attack' the surface with rough media to get finished quicker; you want a lesser media which gradually takes off the paint and yet does very little to the metal. The process I use leaves the surface free of paint with a velvety finish prepped for receiving the appropriate primer - and not a single wave yet after several boats. This unit is designed for water-sand masonry blasting, but after much testing on aluminum boats and having done several restos (mostly my brother's projects since he does boat resto for a living), there has been ZERO damage done.

Keep in mind, it's the last resort. The preferred way is to either sand up the existing paint if it's adhering well to the boat and in good enough condition, and if not, to try stripping if necessary to take off the existing paint. There are paint-strip sprays out there made for airplane finishes which will remove nearly anything you've got. In my case, strip-spray worked great, but some of the coats added over the years were some pretty nasty paints, there were cracks and bumps all throughout the paint, and the best stripper would not take it all off.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: '63 Duratech aluminum runabout boat restoration

good info.

 

[JoeMan]

Re: '63 Duratech aluminum runabout boat restoration

Well worth the effort! Beautiful.

Mark, I hit your links, looked at your MFG restoration, your pics, video. Good job! I guess you can see my boat was actually in much worse shape than yours, but you can appreciate my "pain" which I experienced from February - May of last year. I need to get some digital vid of my boat getting up and on plane. The aluminum 16 footer really goes with the '95 Merc 60.