stuartboater
Seaman
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2008
- Messages
- 62
Restoring a 2003 23 ft Wellcraft Excalibur
Bought if from a person that did not use it and kept it out in the sun without a cover. Great boat, less than 50 hours on the engine, sound hull and engine.. >lucky me
Everything needed was all maintainence and cosmetics.
The Seats all around were faded and some dry rotted due to exposure
I took all the vinyl out and took them to an upholstery shop in Jensen Beach that is run by an older couple (a1canvas)
She looked at all of my vinyl and advised me that I really only needed to re cover the worst of them. The rest were really just faded and discolored and the seams and covers were in good shape.
We talked about it for a bit and she said try cleanning them with some tire cleaner for cars. We tried that in her shop on a piece but it did not work really well. Faded too much.
She then remembered a product called "SEM Color Coat" for Vinyl. She had one spray can in her shop that she had but had never used. It happened to be a close match to my color
We cleanned 1 seat cushion with soaps and then an alchol based product and let it dry.
After it was completly dry we applied 2 coats to the cushion. allowing 30 minutes to dry.
I took the cushion home and tortured it. left it in the sun, rain etc.. stepped on it, sat on it in a wet suit etc... even took it to the beach and exposed it to salt water. Tortured it for 3 weeks.
Darn stuff hold up better than the cushions new. Cleans well, no cracks, no fade no chipping.
Researched the stuff. Says that it does not dye the vinly but adds a new coat of vinyl to the surface (in short)
So I decided to use it on the boat.
I have different colors if vinly in my seats so I had to find a way to protect the different colors while spraying this stuff on.
I decided to use duct tape. Tried standard duct tape at first on one area, but when removing the small area of tape it left residual. Not good.
I then tried blue painters tape. No good. It did not seal the area well enough.
I went to lowes here and found a white vinyl painters tape. Used than and then no problems. Sealed well, no residual tape glue.
I taped off the white area and then sprayed the color areas. (Blue in my boat)
Let it dry for 30 minutes, took off the tape, then let dry for another 24 hours.
I then tapped off the color areas and sprayed all of the white.
Same thing remove and let stand.
Gotta say, this stuff looks great, wears well. Its a pain to use as it takes a long time to put on if you are doing it right. You have to go slow as you can only put on one light coat at a time or you will get drips, but done right it seems to hold up as well as being new.
It saved me over 1000 bucks in re cover cost and I would use it again for sure.
Its called "SEM Color Coat" Its made for auto seat restoration, but seems to be a good choice if you want to try it.
Bought if from a person that did not use it and kept it out in the sun without a cover. Great boat, less than 50 hours on the engine, sound hull and engine.. >lucky me
Everything needed was all maintainence and cosmetics.
The Seats all around were faded and some dry rotted due to exposure
I took all the vinyl out and took them to an upholstery shop in Jensen Beach that is run by an older couple (a1canvas)
She looked at all of my vinyl and advised me that I really only needed to re cover the worst of them. The rest were really just faded and discolored and the seams and covers were in good shape.
We talked about it for a bit and she said try cleanning them with some tire cleaner for cars. We tried that in her shop on a piece but it did not work really well. Faded too much.
She then remembered a product called "SEM Color Coat" for Vinyl. She had one spray can in her shop that she had but had never used. It happened to be a close match to my color
We cleanned 1 seat cushion with soaps and then an alchol based product and let it dry.
After it was completly dry we applied 2 coats to the cushion. allowing 30 minutes to dry.
I took the cushion home and tortured it. left it in the sun, rain etc.. stepped on it, sat on it in a wet suit etc... even took it to the beach and exposed it to salt water. Tortured it for 3 weeks.
Darn stuff hold up better than the cushions new. Cleans well, no cracks, no fade no chipping.
Researched the stuff. Says that it does not dye the vinly but adds a new coat of vinyl to the surface (in short)
So I decided to use it on the boat.
I have different colors if vinly in my seats so I had to find a way to protect the different colors while spraying this stuff on.
I decided to use duct tape. Tried standard duct tape at first on one area, but when removing the small area of tape it left residual. Not good.
I then tried blue painters tape. No good. It did not seal the area well enough.
I went to lowes here and found a white vinyl painters tape. Used than and then no problems. Sealed well, no residual tape glue.
I taped off the white area and then sprayed the color areas. (Blue in my boat)
Let it dry for 30 minutes, took off the tape, then let dry for another 24 hours.
I then tapped off the color areas and sprayed all of the white.
Same thing remove and let stand.
Gotta say, this stuff looks great, wears well. Its a pain to use as it takes a long time to put on if you are doing it right. You have to go slow as you can only put on one light coat at a time or you will get drips, but done right it seems to hold up as well as being new.
It saved me over 1000 bucks in re cover cost and I would use it again for sure.
Its called "SEM Color Coat" Its made for auto seat restoration, but seems to be a good choice if you want to try it.
