A restore coming to life

[Tail_Gunner]

This boat was lost in inventory and bubbled wrapped for 5yr's. I was well into a project already (major recon) when i bumped into this neglected little lady.

You may notice most all of the graphic's are gone, they had curled over time along with the gel coat which had become sheetrock flat white. So with a heat gun they were all removed.

Now to the interior.....

As you can see those pink spot's have stained the vinyl, it was due to a certain type of fungus that occurs in all 50 state's but the at the time of construction most mfgs had no idea it would or could grow in a environment of plastic...so some interior work was needed here. Ahh

Actually I am not one for posting pics and documenting a story, so there are some gap's plz forgive , but most of the boat had just sat and fallen apart........

So i first started with the dash, the burlwood look reminded me of a 95 Taurus so I went on a hunt and ended up at TAP plastic's and found a very inexpensive carbon fiber look alike. Simply traced the old facia onto the new, cut it our with a jig saw and blade made for cutting plastic. Up dated the electronics with a Garmin 178 and moved a few thing's around more to my liking....Really it is quite simple once you get the courage to go on...

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

There I am somewhat satisfied with the dash lay out. Some may notice that the I have sanded out the edges of the carbon look alike plastic ...it's very easy Just use a 200 grit paper and take your time...then polish with any abrasive car cleaning wax.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

After reading a tremendous amount of info in the archive's here at iboats and a good amount of interaction with some of the member's...I decided to do a little painting rather than gel coating...(thank you Ondarvr) I decided to accent the boat a little, it did have some graceful lines.

The paint used was Interlux, I decided to use a two part paint based on the many recommendations from forum members.

Spraying paint is generally thought of as the best way to go in most circle's so that was the way I started. I used there prime kote as a primer and sprayed it with a the average joe type of sprayer..

Taped out my lines and wrapped out the rest and let it rip

You can see in that pic that I tried to tape off the moldings, a very bad idea. Prime-Kote dries extremely hard, so hard you cannot pull the tape off. It breaks up every foot or so making for a very tedious job of peeling it off adding hours to the job...I would highly recommend pulling any hardware or rub rail off prior to any painting it will save you a lot of aggravation.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

Now comes the final painting process. a few things I learned along the way was to dewax the boat prior to any type of sanding, sanding without doing that will only spread wax or impurities around which will show up sooner or later. As to solvent's the only reliable one was xylene acetone just doesn't get the job done.

That was the second coat, while it may look decent in these pic's, there
were sags and imperfections, so I did the usual and tried to sand them out...

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

As you can see I did make the attempt to finish out what I had started, but in the second pic one can see the waves of sagging that occurred from trying to get too much coverage in one or two shot's. I did my best to level it all out with 2000 grit wet paper and following up with 3m super compound and a glazing compound, but as you can see the finish or gloss is somewhat lack luster.. Looking back I can say for myself only a very skilled painter and very experienced in using perfection should attempt spraying...but do what you must..

I started back over and using 220 grit and carefully cut off imperfection's or sag's. This time I used a method as recommended by Interlux....well almost.
I used a closed cell foam roller that can be found at Home depot. Just as one would use latex take in there home, I rolled out the paint making sure that is was level and no runs occurred. I rolled it our for about 3 mins then went back with a another dry foam roller and flattened what ever stippling or bubbling was left, this left a very fine nap on the paint which leveled
out like glass.

Here are a few link's on the process......you have the option of watching in high res. It can be found in the lower right hand corner....it will allow you to see just how much bubbling occurs and how it lays itself down..darned amazing paint..

watch in standard quality watch in high quality


Rolling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MekW6qu_HT4

Flattening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0nH-GWNYBM

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

And the results:

No sanding, no buffing just boom!, done. But I will tell you this it takes about 4-5 coats to build to a final finish. In between coats you just take the shine off the paint using a 320 grit paper to create a surface that the new paint will adhere to and along the way you learn just just how to apply Perfection each time resulting in a better job

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

Back to the interior, I purchased the carpet from Lowe's in/outdoor stuff. It was by far a thicker pile than the original...making for a very difficult fit. I could only get a bend around the corner along with many cut's to get any kind of fit. I ended up trimming it to a 1/2" inch length on the back side and the using Noutlex to finish the back side..in the end it worked out to my satisfaction..

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

To many pics to post so this will work better...I know carpet is looked down on ...but I am a old man..and thick headed...

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l284/Tail_Gunner_2006/?action=view&current=574d493f.pbw

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

Removing the carpet was a god awful dirty job. Repriator on it was as simple as tearing it out and taking a angle grinder with a 8" adapter slapping on some 36 grit paper...starting in one corner and grind away..it took hour's.

After all of that work I used a two part urethane glue to attach the Nautolex flooring, the stuff was not temp sensitive as most outdoor glues, I found.....and dried within hours. Job done which i will never do again.

I also cut down those pedestal's two inches...now when I am on the water we're below the wind line...much nicer and Ms Gunner allows faster speed's...doesn't mess up her "Do" as much............. I'm not going to say a thing.

New wheel there...it's an automotive type....about 1/2 of the price of the marine version....the gauge trim will be chromed in time I've just had a bit too much for now...

Ahh some new tunes.....:redface: went with the kids. darn hard to say no sometimes....

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

The upholstery was a bit out of my hands, but there are things one can do to control costs...Dismount all of the hardware, buy your own vinyl and know just what you want to do. Give the vendor time to complete the project ....in my case it was 45 day's...plenty of time to use the job as a filler. Pack her all up and go get some bid's...very much the same as getting an estimate for autobody work......In this case the material's were $180.00 and $500.00 labor....believe me bids were wild. And the job they did was excellent i was very pleased.

Oops almost forgot the boat was propped with a 19 pitch 3 blade aluminum...with lots of reading and some expert guidance from WH in the prop forums I picked a 20 pitch 4 blade Stilletto...she pulls like a tractor now smooth as silk and went from 49 mph to 56.....

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: A restore coming to life

From a Pm

I have an 18ft. fiberglass ski boat that I would like to paint.I have read your post regarding the repainting of your boat (which I must say looks very nice on my "screen").There is one question that I have regarding the sanding between coats, you stress that you should sand before the paint "cures or sets up".How does one get rid of the "dust" and lose paint particles before applying the subsequent coats, did you use a "tack cloth" or some kind of solvent/cleaner and if so did it have any adverse effect on the paint coating itself?


I tried not to get to deep into method's.....for a reason i simply do not have the time to make a thourgh posting. But questions' can be quickly answered if they arise.


1. was to soak the garge floor with water.

2. hours later i would start with a Xylene wipe down....Acetone just doesnt get it.

3. wipe down with a tac cloth.

4. paint

5. sand within 24 hour's with 320 dry just lighty enough to dull the finish....and yes the paint is somewhat fresh but it flake's off....and makes for very easy work......take your time and make it easy it works just fine and if you call Interlux support they will as much tell you the same..Perfection dry's to a incredibley hard finish....hardest paint i have ever worked with.......Now why do that that to yourself..........making it harder than it should be.... That is letting it dry to a hard finsih