Crestliner Sportfish Project

[McGR]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

EZ -

I'll let you know on the pedestals, I'm still questioning if they will look OK or not. Give me a little time, like a couple of weeks. If I decide I'm not going to use them, I'll gladly sell them at cost.

I just used contact cement. It took about 2 quarts to do the three sections. The contact cement costs about $7 a quart. I think this compares favorably with the "proper" type carpet adhesives. I much prefer working with contact cement anyway. I just brush it on both sides with a cheap paint brush and let it get tacky. To me, this is a little easier than messing around with a trowl.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Hey McGR, How did you attach the Nautolex to the underside of the decks, staple it? I used vinyl too (think mine was Marideck, don't know got it off Ebay) and stapled it to the underside of the panels, every 3" or so. After some time the edges started peeling between the staples so I removed the hatches, re contact cemented and stapled it back down close to the edge of the vinyl, staples spaced about 1" apart. If you don't have any hatches, I wouldn't worry about stapling it every 1", but would staple it every 3" or so so it doesn't come completely loose. My vinyl looked well stuck for a while, but 6 month - a year later it was coming loose at the edges, I used contact cement also. From what I saw, the failure was how well the contact cement bonded was slick paint or treated plywood, the contact cement wasn't able to soak into the wood and it was only bonding on the surface, and the vinyl slowwwwwly peeled away where it was not mechanically attached.

I didn't epoxy my decks as I didn't want all the staple and screw holes allowing water into the wood and not being able to dry again, I just treated the raw plywood with Jasco Termin-8 wood preserver. 6 of 1, half dozen of another, just my choice not to epoxy the decks.

Oh yeah, I used 5/16" Monel staples for 90% of my project and used every 4 letter word in the book as about 20% of them bent, had to pull them and re-shoot. At the tail end I swapped to 1/4" SS staples and had about 1% of them bend. I'm not sure if the 5/16 staples Monel were too long or if the SS staples are harder, but I'll never use Monel staples again. (5/16" were the shortest Monelstaples I could get locally)

I used the Springfield Marine Plug-In pedestal/bases in my rebuild, I'm pretty sure they are the same as the Swivl'eze 238 series as they are both 2 3/8". I think I even used a few Swivl'eze parts with the Plug-in series.

Check your PM's

 

[McGR]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Dan - I used 5/16" stainless staples. Some of mine were jamming in my stapler yesterday. I think the longer staples may tend to bend and bind in the gun, perhaps the Monel is a little softer too. My Arrow electric gun also had trouble driving these staples in all the way. I had to finish driving them in with a hammer.

My guess is that that I spaced the staples about 1.5" apart. I haven't secured down the boards yet, maybe I'll drive a few more in there just to be safe. Thanks for your insights.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

1.5" apart for the decks (not hatches) is plenty good. Even if the vinyl starts to peel, it won't go past the staples. The problem I notice was in the hatches and I had to fix that so it looked good.

I was using an Arrow electric stapler too and having royal fits with the 5/16" Monel staples, even my beat-up cheap $10 Harbor freight stapler was working about as well as the $40 Arrow stapler. The 1/4" staples were cut different, so maybe that was the difference, the bevel was on the outside of the 1/4" staples instead of having a needle point like the 5/16" staples. You'd think a needle point would work better for penetration....

I had to finish up some staples with a hammer too. If I press really hard to seat the staple, it would blow through the vinyl some times... Ahhhh the fun or doing a resto

 

[McGR]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Yet another progress report...

I tore into the bow of the boat last weekend. I now have all of the bad wood removed from the boat. I thought that I may be able to re-use some of the wood on this boat - no such luck. Every board had damage, even the board over the small storage area in the very front.

Today I replaced the final peice of the main deck. I'm now ready to start on the console. Things are moving along...

 

[McGR]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Latest update...

All of the rotton wood on the console has now been replaced. Last weekend I cut the new boards. During the week I sealed off the wood and on Friday my vinyl arrived. I spent yesterday fitting the vinyl to the wood and today I did the installation.

Overall I'm satisfied, though I'd probably a few things different if I were to do it again. The vinyl is OK but, given the choice, I probably would have chosen something slightly different. It doesn't look bad, it just seems a bit soft and delicate. I managed to hack it a couple of times while installing the boards today. Unfortunately, when you buy things sight unseen, this is the risk you take. Nonetheless, as said, I'm satisfied with the job.

I'm glad that I finally get to see the nice winshield on this boat as it was meant to be. To this point, the underlying wood was so rotton that it wouldn't close or align properly. This is all taken care of now. It was a bit of a trick to get the glass to align properly. But with a little twisting and shimming I eventually got it where it needed to be. Though I did have to compormise somewhat - the left side of the console is probably sitting 3/8" higher than the right. I don't think it's a big deal.

Who knows - I just may have this thing ready in time for the fishing season.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Lookin' good!

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

McGR,
Really nice work.
Just think going across the lake at 40 MPH, nobody will notice one side a little higher then the other.
Great job.
Bob

 

[McGR]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Yet another update...

This weekend I got most of the front of the boat finished off. I got my carpet during the week and got it installed over the last couple of days. Overall, I'm happy with the fit of the deck. I was concerned about how well my board was going to fit and if the hatches would close properly. Fortunatly, no major concerns. The storage hatches are kinda thight, but it won't be a problem. I actually surprised myself, after cutting the deck, I thought of a few things that I should of taken a closer look at before cutting. Nontheless, I got lucky and everything worked fine. The only real problem with my workmanship I noticed when I was downloading from my camera - I left out a mounting screw on the livewell. No big deal - I'll put it in next time I work on the boat.

The only real disappointment are the colors. Though I like the color of the carpet (Gunmetal), it doesn't work terribly well with the colors I had going already. I think I'll need to make some adjustments in my color plans to make the carpet work. That's the problem with buying online, sometimes colors aren't exactly what you thought they might be when thy arrive. Oh well, I think with some adjustments to the scheme, I can make this color work.

One question... Any recommendations regarding the exposed edges of the carpet around the hatches. I was thinking a glue, possibly epoxy or silicone, carfully applied around the edge would keep the edges from fraying out and getting ragged. Any suggestions?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

How about having the edges bound, trim sewn on by an upholstery shop, about $1/foot from what I've heard.

Were the hatch openings too tight to wrap the carpet around the side lips of the hatch covers? CL had the hatches finished like that on my boat.

 

[McGR]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Yes, I'm sure if I had wrapped the carpet on the hatches that I would have had fit issues. My boat was originally all vinyl so perhaps the openings on the deck were cut a little tighter. Because of this, I just cut the carpet flush on the hatches. It looks fine, I just don't want it fraying over time. That is why I'm thinking some sort of adhesive should do the trick.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

What if you carefully brushed just a little bit of epoxy on the edges. That should help.

 

[McGR]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

EZ - That's kinda what I'm thinking. Some careful application of adhesive should do the trick. I just want to make sure I pick an adhesive that doesn't ugly up over time. Epoxy would probably be a pretty good choice.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Those hatches look great, nice work

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

EZ - That's kinda what I'm thinking. Some careful application of adhesive should do the trick. I just want to make sure I pick an adhesive that doesn't ugly up over time. Epoxy would probably be a pretty good choice.

Now that I think about it, maybe it wouldn't. Epoxy apparently doesn't like UV....

 

[gypsysoul]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Just sat and read your thread, the job looks great. You have to love ebay, the wife and I spotted a 34' houseboat in Texas (quite a trip from southern california) we decided to put a 1,000.00 dollar bid on it.........whoops we won the bid! So I had to build a trailer in two weeks and take time off work (couple of years ago) and make a mad dash to Texas City, Texas. I need to start a thread on the build progress. Had to unfasten the house from the deck and pull it to one end to put a new deck under it. and then pull if over the new deck (rolled on pipes) to the other end to redeck the back. it has been a project, then the wife decided we needed to do a room addition, no kidding we added a bedroom on the back. but enough about that great job on the boat. I will enjoy seeing it done.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

I'm not sure I would use epoxy for the UV yellowing and if it sucks up into the fibers it could cause sharp spikes,,, like when doing fiberglass work.

Check out a product called "Seal All" I bought a tube of it and it came in handy as a general sealer/adhesive. It's white, but dries clear and shrinks down in size. I'm thinking you could squeeze it into the base of the carpet fibers and down onto the sides of the hatches, let it dry and it should be a thin film, yet still a bit flexible. Even if you did get a bit sloppy, I don't think it would be too noticeable. It won't wick like epoxy though, it has the consistency of silicone sealer.

 

[McGR]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Another update...

I made some nice progress over the past few weeks. The warmer weather
we've had over the past week made things much more tolerable in the
garage. The new sides are now installed along with the control handle
and new speakers. Dare I say that the end of the project is slowly
coming into view?

Next week I hope to have the rear deck complete. At that point, all
that should be left are some interior details such as painting the
consoles and fitting doors on the side storage areas. After that, I
slap a coat of paint on the sides of the hull, hang the motor and
we're ready for fishing season. I'm beginning to get psyched about the
prospect of this thing actually seeing water... can't wait.

 

[McGR]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Update...

I'd hoped to have the rear deck complete this weekend. As usual, things didn't move along as fast as anticipated. Nonetheless, I've got the most of the wood cut, so I should be in good shape to finish it off next weekend.

I basically doubled the size of the original rear deck. I think it's going to work out great. There will be lots of storage room under there. I'll probably eventually put a pedestal and seat in the middle. For now that can wait, I can always put it in later.

The lakes around here are just beginning to thaw out. It's time to get this thing in high gear. Won't be long now.

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: Crestliner Sportfish Project

Looking good,
It appears that you are on the home stretch now.
Great job.
Bob