Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

[mr 88]

Well my quest for the right MFG continues. Looking at a 1965 Edinboro and my big issue is a few random spots where the color is off. It goes from white to a off color greyish white. Most notable is where the transom and side of boat meet, a spot high on the bow line and just below the rub rail midship.These are from photos as the boat is a 2 hour drive from me,so I have not seen them in person. The owner says everything seems sounds and appears not to be a bodymans doing as it is all factory flush. He bought the boat that way and never got it in the water as his wife demanded a tri- hull for stability,, as she sunbathes no doubt.. I do not want to put a thousand into it to have it repainted, but I might be able to blend it.Anyone seen this or have suggestions as to what I might have to do to get it all the same correct color.
Of course on CL there is a beautiful looking Westfield with a blown engine. The seller has not returned my 2 emails and no Phone # is listed, yet it had been on there for over a month. Please delete or respond one way or another all you CListers. Had to get that off my chest.

 

[mr 88]

Re: Discoloration of "paint"gelcoat or how I got lucky!

Re: Discoloration of "paint"gelcoat or how I got lucky!

Allright! the guy responded after my 3rd try at contacting him,he thought I was a spammer because of my phone # area code.So forget about the previous post. This is my fourth and final 200 mile jaunt to look for a new mistress. 1967 Westfield with the Sun-n-Fun seats.He thinks its the original material ,has the convertible top and YES it has the small ventilated windshield. Mooring cover is included and no downrigger holes in the gunwales.Missing engine but I have a 73 4 banger 50 merc to throw on her.I might start searching for a period correct larger engine but I am in no hurry. She may be a little underpowered but it fits into the 70% formula. I am buying it to just cruise around in,so speed is not a issue. I already have a fish and ski boat for that.Since I am going Sat to pick her up and feel no one from here will steal her from me, you can "view" her on Syracuse NY Craigs just pop in mfg in the search icon.Hopefully those pictures don't lie.

 

[*EdC*]

Re: Discoloration of "paint"gelcoat

Re: Discoloration of "paint"gelcoat

I had a look.....
Seems like a good deal. Having the canvas is a plus too. Make sure to check out the transom.

 

[mr 88]

Re: Discoloration of "paint"gelcoat

Re: Discoloration of "paint"gelcoat

We agreed on 550$ He was okay with that as I was, that makes a good transaction.It is not easy to negotiate on the phone but he knew I had a 300+ mile round trip to make and took that into consideration. I knew that I would have no negotiating power once there. What am I going to do, throw a lowball price at him and drive away? Easy to play that if it is a short drive, but I knew he knew that, so the phone was the only option for me.The 2 Niagara's I looked at were both negotiated before I drove there , 500$ with a 40 hp that needed 250$ in repairs and no windshield.The other was 600$ that had the mega 60hp on it.Neither boat had canvas,seats were junk,not even bolted down,looked like the owners did not give a crap about them.This one does look like it was well cared for. I paid 100$ for a lightly used motor, so that puts me at 650 with mooring canvas,sun-n-fun seats,convert top,venting windshield and bow rail. I feel I am well ahead of the Niagara's.The Eddy was 300 and 1000+ to clean it up.Westfield #1 was 900 and full of holes from fishing equip along with a ton of hours on the motor and only two pedestal seats.Eddy #2 was the one with the gelcoat issues, so i was looking at 1000-1500 alone for a paint job, need I say more.Got the truck filled up and pointing East for my Saturday jaunt.Hopefully the pictures do it justice, otherwise I will throw the towel in for the winter.

 

[mr 88]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or why I bought a Westsfield

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or why I bought a Westsfield

Well I am now the proud owner of a MFG Westfield. Inspection of hull reveals a transom repair job awaiting .I was semi discouraged upon seeing that, after another long drive, but deep down pretty much knew most boats of this era will need it.So I deviated from my "agreed" price and told him 350 he countered after thinking for a while and said 400. Told him 375 was it and he accepted,I took a chance as I have had enough boatless return trips.The seats with original vinyl were in excellent cond.The windshield had a small sliver broken where it attaches to the deck hardware, the mldg just about covers it up, the broken piece was still in the mldg, so I should be able to epxoy that back like new.Missing one logo on starboard side the other one is in great shape as well as the decal on the dash, enlay on floor and step pad. Still had the factory panels on the dash where you might put ignition,gauges etc.Steering wheel also excellent.Does not look like it will take a lot to get it shinning again compared to the other ones I looked at. I am no expert but I would give her a 8 out of 10 after the transom job and a few replacement pieces of hardware and some stupid steel screws/bolts that were cobbed in.
I am amazed at some peoples thought process,a nice way of saying how stupid they are.This boat was covered up for the winter and he had the convertible top up, that was his only support of the two covers. Now this boat was a few miles from Tug Hill that gets like 400 inches of snow a year.How long before that aluminum structure was crushed into a pretzel shaped piece of scrap? He had his "new" open bow boat next to it with the canvas in the bow touching the floor from rain water.Maybe he was making a ice rink for the animals in the area.I bet the Westy handles better than the bowrider, his loss my gain.

 

[pduquette]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

Sounds like a good start ! Bummer 'bout the transom - but like you said with a boat this age if it hasn't been done yet it probably needs to be done. Keep us updated on your progress . peter

 

[*EdC*]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

How' about some photos... We Love photos

 

[mr 88]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

I'm lucky I know how to turn on the laptop and now you want pics? I will have to get somone to show me the drill. Took the 1970 18'Starcraft out today on the mighty Niagara,previous ride it was overheating,changed the thermo, still doing it, ran without it and it was fine, of course the water temp is about 48 and it never got above 100.Exhaust header was hitting 290 though.Damaged the trailer on the drop off as the water level was way down.Anyway its not the head $$$ or waterpump ,maybe the new thermo was bad. Buttoned that up for the winter now that the problem is semi solved and I don't have to think about it all winter. Put the kids hunting boat away as well,while he was out deer hunting, go figure. NOW I can put my efforts back into my new ride.
I am not sure if I will go with SeaCast or Nida Core.Anyone know how much I need to order of either product. Pro/Con to either product? I was tossing around removing inner skin but I want to keep the inside looking as close to original so I will go with the poured transom.Have to find a heated workspace for it, may just put in garage,put some drop cutains in and heat transom area with propane, not torpedo heater as they heat extremley dirty.

 

[vintageglass]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

What year and color is the 'new' Westfield?

I just picked up a really nice looking 1967 today, it's missing the seats and motor but the transom and deck are rock solid. The boat isn't even faded.
The guy I bought it from bought it for it's motor and seats.
Even the windshield and all the trim is perfect. The trailer leaves a little to be desired but I plan to replace that first, then get to work fitting seats and the motor.
I'm debating on how much motor, I've got a really clean used Johnson 50hp here but was curious as to what to expect for top speed. I think the seller removed a 70hp from it.

One thing I noticed right away in my search for one of these is that the Westfield and the Edinboro both have curved transoms, which no doubt makes for a really tough repair unless you do a poured transom. I passed on several Edinboros due to really bad transoms, if they were straight transoms, I'd probably have dove right in, but I'm not up for the expense of a poured transom right now.

Since I don't have the factory seats for mine, I have to figure out how and what seats to use and how to mount them to the all fiberglass deck.

 

[mr 88]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

She is a 1967 with blue topsides.It will take a mininmum of elbow grease to get the gel back to new condition. Fiberglassics has a excellent write up on restoring gel/trans etc.As far as the HP goes I am sticking a 73 merc 50 on it and I am sure it will be more than enough for cruising.They are light boats. If you are using it for skiing and plan on having 3 or 4 on board then you may need a bigger motor.Not sure on top speed, I would guess 30 tops, maybe somone else can help us out there. Better double check that transom and probe one of the holes in it with a pick.

 

[*EdC*]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

My '68 Edinboro originally had a 50 H.P. Evinrude on it. Did about 27 mph with two people on board. No race boat for sure, but plenty of uummfff for the wife and kids .

 

[mr 88]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

Thanks for the "speedy" reply. The Eddy has a wider beam is heavier and aprox. a foot longer. So with all that, I think 30 is where we should be at. I will also travel as light as possible as this boat is going to be just for cruising in.FYI Nida bond and Arjay are the same, this info from a email I received from Arjay. Any suggestions on removing the drain tube from the splashwell seeing that is flanged on both side.Cut it in the middle and reinstall after the pour or just drill a hole and leave it at that?

 

[*EdC*]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

Mr 88
When I did my transom, I accidently nicked the drain tube putting a hole in it. I installed a new one, before the pour. Here is a link to the tool you'll need. Hope that helps
http://www.moellermarine.com/aftermarket/livewell_baitwell/flanging_tools

 

[mr 88]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

Thanks for the info. Not sure if I will go that route seeing that the synthetic pour will eliminate any water entering the transom and be stronger than the brass drain tube. Although the tube will eliminate the rough edges on the glass both inside and out.Will let you know as I hit that stage of the rebuild.

 

[vintageglass]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

Thanks for the info. Not sure if I will go that route seeing that the synthetic pour will eliminate any water entering the transom and be stronger than the brass drain tube. Although the tube will eliminate the rough edges on the glass both inside and out.Will let you know as I hit that stage of the rebuild.

I would think you would need the brass tube in there so the rubber on the drain plug had something to seal against. If not, you could smooth the hole and add a garboard style threaded drain plug and plate.

The first thing I did to mine was to hang a motor on the transom and stand on it, there's no sign of flex anywhere. There are no drilled holes in the transom on mine.
In fact, there's no non factory drilled holes anywhere. I plan on uncovering it this weekend and pulling it in the garage for a good buff and wax and to rig a motor on it. I plan to use a pair of plates which are curved on one side to match the curved transom. They came with the boat. I'm leaning towards just hanging the 55hp motor on it for now, it's a motor that I know and trust.
I guess I get to drill out a virgin transom after 44 years to mount my motor.
It's got a glued on clamp plate on it now where the last motor was just clamped on. Mine is the same boat shown in the 1967 MFG brochure. Sort of a mustard brown color top with white hull and a fiberglass deck.

 

[mr 88]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

The drain in questions is for the splashwell that i will not plug.When you drill the hole for the motor mount bolts that will be when you know for sure that no water has seeped in through the cap, I hope not in your case. You may want to oversize those holes so that you can epoxy them or sleeve them before you install the bolts with the sealent on them. There is a boat listed on CL in Pittsburgh with the same color scheme , even has a white stripe down the center of the deck, looks to be in mint condition like yours. After you decide what kind of seats you are going with just do a search on this forum for bolting or screwing them to the floor as there are write ups on this, of course with different opinions. How about some pics? I will get some up when my son shows me how,[ good luck with that as it is hunting season LOL] As I mentioned before there is a great atricle on refinishing your gel and hull on fiberglassics.com you may want to read that before you start your project.

 

[vintageglass]

Re: Discoloration of gelcoat or how I bought a Westfield

I'm still working on the picture thing, I have no problem getting pics on here, I just need a camera to take them that gives me something worth posting. Since I'm not often around at night, and every day since I've had mine in which I was home during the day has been raining, I just haven't gotten to take any good pics. I like to take pics of a boat when I first get it, then again after I clean it up. This one won't take much cleaning up. The gelcoat still shines, it's just dirty. A good buffing with some polish then a good wax job will bring it back to a really nice gloss.

The one on the Pittsburgh, PA CL is similar, mine does not have the same pattern on the bow deck, my floor is a linear lined pattern, but the bow deck is just sort of rough textured. My windshield has a chromed cast aluminum frame around the center opening. The one on CL also has some sort of black dash plate while mine has all chrome round gauges mounted right through the fiberglass. I assume mine had those same seats, but since I use my boats solely for fishing, they wouldn't have been my first choice of seating styles anyhow.
I could live with back to back seats, and have a good pair here I can use, but a pair of aluminum pedestals would be nice too.
The color may make finding a good used enclosure tough, I was thinking of a windshield attached bimini top with a slight rise over the windshield frame. I have one that will fit perfect but it's in dark blue Sunbrella material.

I marked and drilled the transom holes today, I drilled them out first with a smaller bit and got nothing but dry wood. I then oversized them and refilled them with epoxy resin, then drilled out the bolt holes once they dried. I put the bolts through with 5200 sealer, installed the beveled adapter plate. I didn't hang the motor permanently yet, I just got it ready. Since this boat won't see the water till next year, I figured it would be easier to store with the motor still off the boat. I can tuck it farther back in the shed and get the whole trailer inside.

When I found mine, It was by accident, I really wasn't looking for another boat. I went to look at a motor that a buddy wanted to buy, it was on another boat that the same seller had. The motor was in fair shape and we bought that, but the MFG caught my eye. The guy kept on about how he had to find a way to get rid of junk hulls. I asked which boats he had to get rid of, and his reply was "Anything that doesn't have a motor on it or a galvanized trailer". I told the guy I'd get rid of the MFG for him if he had a title and left it as it sat. It followed me out of there that day. It sat for a week at a buddies place since I had no place to park it inside right away. Its still sitting at work, inside a back warehouse.
My intention now is to move it ahead of another project I'm working on and hang a motor on it for immediate use. I had a near new roller trailer here, so I have a trailer to sell off which will put this project into the black and cover some of the freshen up work I need to do on the 55hp that's been sitting for two years in the basement.