My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

[denlou]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Your going to love your Airslot, it's a well made stable boat.
I bought mine because at the time it was cheap and figured I could fix it up, use it for awhile then trade up.
That was abt. 15 years ago and I've still got it, just repowered and added some other improvements.

Your doing a beautiful job on it, Enjoy !

 

[sprintst]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

You found the right guy to do your engine.

That guys probably knows everything about them including their quirks and nuances.

Nice work Looking good.

 

[saxrulez]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Your going to love your Airslot, it's a well made stable boat.
I bought mine because at the time it was cheap and figured I could fix it up, use it for awhile then trade up.
That was abt. 15 years ago and I've still got it, just repowered and added some other improvements.

Your doing a beautiful job on it, Enjoy !

My first day with the family out on the lake! I should have a few action pictures later, but it went flawlessly! The boat ran great! I do need to get a good swim ladder installed, so that will be my next project.

By saxrulez at 2010-06-19

By saxrulez at 2010-06-19

 

[saxrulez]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Your going to love your Airslot, it's a well made stable boat.
I bought mine because at the time it was cheap and figured I could fix it up, use it for awhile then trade up.
That was abt. 15 years ago and I've still got it, just repowered and added some other improvements.

Your doing a beautiful job on it, Enjoy !

Do you mind posting some pictures? I'm looking for ideas on improvements as well.

If you have any form of a swim ladder installed on the transom or anywhere in the boat, I'd love to see pictures of it. I'm just trying to get ideas of what I want for a ladder.

 

[langeruds]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Nice thread thanks or sharing your experiences and pics of your journey with us.

I am trying to decide what to do with my rotted transom that I just discovered. My research brought me to this thread.

It looks like you have done a great job.

Enjoy It!

 

[saxrulez]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Nice thread thanks or sharing your experiences and pics of your journey with us.

I am trying to decide what to do with my rotted transom that I just discovered. My research brought me to this thread.

It looks like you have done a great job.

Enjoy It!

It won't be easy and it won't be cheap, but it will be worth it.

 

[langeruds]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

It won't be easy and it won't be cheap, but it will be worth it.

Sorry a little late getting back to your reply..:redface:

I had some professionals come by to check out my transom after I had removed the motor from the transom and drilled all the holes that were required for me to add a motor mount extension and hydraulic transom jack assy. They were surprised to see why I was concerned. LOL There was some soft wood around my mount holes that they called normal.
IMO softwood wasn't an option since I was adding almost 100+ lbs to that transom.

I ended up drilling about 10 holes at the top of the transom and used a qt. of dry rot repair just to be on the safe side. I will say that it did a great job of hardening up the transom. I took my time and filled each hole, tapping the side with a rubber mallet as I went along. I then took a clothes hanger wire and packed in the resin and tapped some more. I did this each time the resin settled.
I did drill some deep holes (too deep ), so it took me over a week to get all the holes filled to the top. Even then it seemed like some of it would never cure. Finally it all did harden as hard as a rock.
I don't regret doing this because I am at least sure that the transom is solid.

 

[saxrulez]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Boat is running fantastic! Best $1500 I've ever spent! (If only that included everything I had to do after I bought it!)

Next up on my future project list is painting the hull. I'm still not 100% on tackling this, but I would really really like to.

Has anyone here painted their hull WITHOUT flipping the boat? I'm not looking for show quality finish, just a large improvement over the 36 year old hulls finish now.

I don't think I have the time and patience to remove all the hardware and engine and flip the hull to paint it.

If anyone here has done this, I would love some pictures/instructions of how you went about it.

 

[saxrulez]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Well today I started removing the decals.

That sucked!

I finished one side. I'm going to have to tackle the other side later this week when I get some more free time.

I also started sanding the floor some more to get it super smooth before I buy the Nautolex later this month.

The wellcraft logo was by far the worst part for some reason. It was really really stubborn.

I ended up using a paint scraper to get most of the decals off and going over it with acetone to get the residue that remained. Came off pretty cleanly over all. You can slightly make out Airslot 165 if you look close still. Hopefully get the whole thing painted this winter.

Just BARELY getting started sanding the floor. Going to get the majority of it done with the seats in until I actually have the money to buy the vinyl. I like to keep it in useable condition until its time to put the vinyl down.

 

[saxrulez]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

New Bimini!

Still getting around to putting in nautolex on the floor. Maybe get it done this winter. 2 new trailer tires this week after losing both on the same trip :facepalm:

 

[saxrulez]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Got both of my new tires on the trailer. I now have 2 spares as well, although one is kind of rough the other is brand new.

I got to take the boat out with the bimini top today for the first time. Wow. I should have bought a top for this boat a long long time ago. What a difference it makes being able to hang out in the shade on the water all day! I also got to take the boat out last weekend on Saint Andrews Bay. I was VERY worried about how it would handle the bay/around the inlet. The boat did absolutely fantastic. It actually rode MUCH better than my friend's 19 foot Sunbird Bowrider, especially in the light-moderate chop.

I bought the bimini top from safeguard covers on ebay after seeing EZmobee's install. I definitely would recommend it so far. I will update months down the road on how it holds up. I cruised around today up to about 30-35 mph and it was quite sturdy. I probably wouldn't do 40+mph with it up, but it handles cruising without a problem!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Glad you're happy with the bimini. It looks great!

If I was you and looking to paint it right side up just to update it a bit, I'd just paint from the chines up. Same as I did on my Jupiter. Perhaps go with a color instead of white. That way the visible white on the bottom won't look dingy.

 

[alligatorgars]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Is the deck above the water line in the stern? I ask because that boat is not self bailing. Would the floor need to be raised above the water line in order to drill the self bail holes through the transom and add brass through hull? If so I would assume the cap at the front and rear would have to be trimmed to accommidate the new floor height. WHat do you think?

 

[dfosterh]

Re: My first boat 1975 Wellcraft Airslot 165! So excited! Hm transom flexes...oh....

Saxrules, I just wrote a PM from another thread and did not realize you were the same guy with this story. I'd read it earlier and it is one of the reasons I decided to take a drive out to look at a 1974 165 bowrider today. I'm tempted but a bit hesitant - which, when mixed with my wife's firm disapproval makes for a tough decision.

The boat I'm looking at has a rotted floor, and I assume rotted stringers to go with it. The transom feels solid and all the screws and bolts in it feel secure (to my hand) but there is a visible crack off one corner and the whole thing's been reinforced with an sturdy looking aluminum plate on across the inside of the boat.

So, basically, if I'm in, I think I'm in for a project. However, while I greatly admire your beautification project, I'll always miss my 1967 Datsun pickup that I bought for $150 when I was 19. It looked like hell, but when a lady backed into me in a parking lot one day, I just laughed, smiled, waved and drove on. When it stopped running after a couple years, I took it to the junkyard. I wish the rest of life were that carefree and would be fine with a boat that looks rough, floats dry, and runs strong.

Now, as I just realized I'm at risk of hijacking your thread, let me get back to questions for you and away from nostalgia about me.

Do you mind balparking the effort and cost of your stringer and transom work? It seems like this is pretty simple boat with few hidden cavities for rot to hide, and plenty of access to electrical and cable runs. Is that what you found once you dug in?

Other questions about this model in general that I hope you've discovered the answers to: what is its capacity? It's so roomy for a 16' that I could see overweighing if before running out of seating. Also, how is the draft? One of my primary uses, when not shuttling the family to remote beaches, will be to fish skinny marsh water. It seems like the relatively flat stern would cause a pretty shallow displacement.

I think that's it for now. I'd love to hear what any of you folks think.

 

[saxrulez]

More progress! Finally got around to painting and switched up the paint scheme.

Well after 4 or 5 years of saying I wanted to do this, I finally buckled down and got it done this past week. I used Rustoleum Marine Paint. I would still like to do the rest of the hull above the waterline in their white, but haven't yet.

First I repaired all of the dings and scratches with Marine tex. I then sanded with 120 grit on my DA sander until smoothe. Wiped off all dust with acetone.

I painted the bottom of the hull with their semi-gloss white and the side with gloss navy blue.

I painted the first coat, let it dry 24h, and then sanded with 220. The 3rd coat I followed with 400 grit. I applied the 4th coat with no sanding between. All in all I'm really pleased with the results.

Here is the Imgur album of the process!

http://imgur.com/a/Iatjy#UO8MMMU

 

[Woodonglass]

Did you use the Hardener additive?

 

[saxrulez]

Did you use the Hardener additive?

I did not.
Well it's a bit late now. I still don't see anything manufacturer recommended, but I did some reading on here and see some variations to the process. I really hope this holds up well, but if not, the worst part of the prep is taken care of with all the hull repairs being done.

 

[Woodonglass]

Yeah, Rustoleum won't recommend using any hardener, but...You can use any acrylic enamel hardener and it works great. Helps make the paint much more resistant to scratching and much more glossy. For $20 bucks I think it's well worth it!!

 

[saxrulez]

No Title

The paint looks great in the sun! Only 1 fish, but we looked great doing it!