New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptcd

[ezmobee]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

I second the no carpet thing. I had it in my last boat and hated it. It was always filthy. After vacuuming all you had to do was step into the boat from the ground once and it looked dirty again. I'm still deciding between marine vinyl and a Durabak type product for my current project. I'll still use carpet on the front and rear casting decks but the main deck will be one of those two. If you do go with carpet, definitely go with a color that won't show dirt as much. Mine was navy....FAIL.

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

it's been a while since I posted...

The boat is out back wrapped up with the motor basically just sitting in place, but winterized. Sub-freezing here, with at leat 8" of snow today.

I've been working on the floor/decks.

All the floor pieces have been cut using the originals as a template.
Edges are slighly rounded w/a belt sander.
Coated with epoxy and 6 oz glass on both sides. Couldn't get the glass to wrap around such a tight radius, so I'll be sanding, then "painting" the edges with epoxy to seal.

I hope to get the boat back in the heated shop next weekend, for a cleaning of the seams, followed by Gluvit of the seams and all interior rivet heads.

Followed by pink insulation on the bottom, which I'm planning to use some kind of construciton adhesive to stick in place between the ribs.

My wife is not going to be persuaded away from carpet, so I'll check HD/Lowes for indoor/outdoor, and if that doesn't fly, bassboatcarpet.com for a 20' x 6' piece of carpet which will be glued down to the new decks with the edges wrapped as was originally done. That will let me pull up sections of the deck in the future should I ever have to.

Strange, but I actually am enjoying this work - guess my wife was right, I needed a project....

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

...and in this episode, we talk decks and seams....

My decks were good enough to use as templates. I bought 1/2 inch AC ply at the local lumber yard because the same quality material was not available at HD or Lowes.

I was lucky enough to just trace and cut the pieces.
I then slightly rounded the edges, and put 6 oz glass on both sides with the sytem 3 epoxy I used for the transom. I block sanded the edges to "cut" the overhanging glass off. I brushed resin on all the edges to finish the encapsulation of the deck pieces.

under the consoles piece
(the small pieces are for the flip on tops on the seats in the bow rider area, and the ski locker top)

open part of the rear deck

just in front of the engine

forward deck (that little compressor is just for brad work around the house, I used my 3HP compressor for the wire brushing)

The wood with the glass is beautiful. It's a shame its going to be covered up.
It's very stiff with the glass on both sides and the resin impregnating. I considered going thicker on the decks to make them stiffer, but with the number of stringers, I thought the deck should be stiff enough with the 1/2 inch. I'm sure they will be based on how they feel now.

For the seams I soaked them with 3M adhesive cleaner and remover because of the carpet glue on the seams between the bottom and sides of the hull. I then wire brushed them with a SS wire brush on a gear drive air powered die grinder. The gear drive is important because the free running units will overspeed the wire brush and can cause the wires to fly out, doing some serious damage to you. I did all along the seams like this, and around every rivet in the whole boat, top and bottom. Ran my compressor to near death...
Then I painted all the rivet heads and seams with Gluvit. Went on easy, went a long way, pooled around the heads and seams, seems to do exactly what you would want.

typical seam

front area, covered with gluvit.

 

[system-f]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Awesome work.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Really top notch work!

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

mikezohsix
Looks great, I agree with it's a shame to cover that nice wood up.
Bob

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I've visited my own post.

Decks are carpeted and stacked in the basement to keep them away from any critters in one of the sheds. The carpet is going to be a mistake from a dirt and dog hair standpoint, but they are BEAUTIFUL. So plush and rich looking, and they're so much thicker than the crushed down original carpets they feel great under bare feet, yes we took our shoes off, closed our eyes, and pretended. We had a beer in hand just to make it more realistic.

The boat is wrapped up and frozen solid.

I did work on the gas tank today, put in a new fuel sender - no biggie.
Also moved all the rest of the boat parts out to the shed to get more room in the basement and garage for other winter projects (Putting an LS1 in a V90 Volvo wagon).

come on summer...or at least spring,,,, or at least a thaw.

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

I'm back......

Things have thawed out and it was time to think boat again.

I put the carpeted floors in with 1.25 inch pop rivets, went in nice with no issues. Re-riveted the left console back in the boat, and screwed both consoles to the floor. Reinstalled the front seat framing. Placed the two back to back seats where I thought they should be and put them in with just two screws in case I want to move them later.

The carpet is beautiful, but shows everything. Time will tell how big a mistake it was, but for now, it's plush and rich looking.

Here's some interior shots,

I've reinstaled the glove box cover which need the hinge re-epoxied to cover itself

bow with, and with out cushions in place (all upholstry is original)

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

I've also compounded/polished the sides of the boat, and have sanded the transom, filled all the holes, applied two coats of two part epoxy primer, and am starting the paintin process now.

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

I brought the top, and aft cover to my upholstry guy today to talk about remaking them. the material is still in amazing shape as far as being flexible, but it's stained, and very heavy. The aft cover is mouse eaten. The top isn't bad, but didn't want to just replace one piece with cheap vinyl. Am thinking a light grey Sunbrella type fabric. Not cheap for sure.

I still haven't run the boat yet. I've fixed the starting problem after finally figuring out the the issue wasn't points or old wiring, it was the battery cables weren't passing enough current and the voltage drop wasn't letting a good spark out of the coil. $20 in NAPa cables, and it starts like a fuel injected car.

We were headed to the local puddle lake this weekend, but it was closed because of high water. Have to wait until the water goes down and they let boats on it to see what I have.

May wait on the top decision until after I'm sure that the engine and OD are really ok.

Oh, and I'm having a problem registering the trailer because the bill of sale from the dead guy's estate (original owner) has "unknown" for a trailer VIN. Not sure what's going to go on there, but need plates to go to get those G78-14 tires replaced - yup, 24 year old tires - not going far on them.

 

[SnowHunter]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

WOW!! What an awesome job! The carpet is absolutely beautiful, and goes well with the upholstrey!!!

Even though it turned out to be more then ya bargained for, you've done a terrific job!!!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Great work and looks fantastic. However, as a former owner of a boat with navy carpet.....I'll tell you, you've made a grave mistake

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Great work and looks fantastic. However, as a former owner of a boat with navy carpet.....I'll tell you, you've made a grave mistake

gotta admit, the carpet is way darker than what I expected.

does it get too hot, show too much dirt, or both?

 

[86RajunCajun]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

gotta admit, the carpet is way darker than what I expected.

does it get too hot, show too much dirt, or both?

Its gonna be hot and will likely REALLY enjoy displaying every blessed thing that gets on it. It will most likely end up looking like a gray carpet after time, because all the dirt and dust etc will build up in it. This is what happened to the navy blue carpet in my dads 25 ft Trojan, and it was inside in teh galley. Over time it faded and collected a lot of dirt and debris tracked it and actually turned from dark blue to light blueish gray. If it wouldnt be too much trouble, i think a charcoal gray carpet would look better and ware better in your boat. It does look really good tho bud and i applaud your work!

Good luck!
RC

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 4/6 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Re: New pics added 4/6 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

I'm just 50 miles south of Canada, maybe it won't be as bad up there heat wise, but I know dirt is going to be an issue.

not to mention we have a golden retriever....

the carpet didn't end up being a problem with dirt, yes it doesn't look perfect like just vacuumed for long, but it doesn't look any worse than the light greenish carpet in my SeaRay after a couple of weeks of use. Grey would be best for dirt, like my old tracker had, but the blue looks great with the upholstry.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: New pics added 4/6 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Re: New pics added 4/6 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

I didn't at all have a heat issue but the dirt was horrendous. I'd get the boat all cleaned up and the first time you stepped in it from the ground....trashed. It sure looked nice when it was clean though! I went with vinyl for my current project.

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: New pics added 4/6 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Re: New pics added 4/6 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

I'm just 50 miles south of Canada, maybe it won't be as bad up there heat wise, but I know dirt is going to be an issue.

not to mention we have a golden retriever....

where are you? where do you boat? im right near the canadian border...

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 4/6 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Re: New pics added 4/6 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

where are you? where do you boat? im right near the canadian border...

I live, and the boat is currently in western mass.

We have a camp on Tupper Lake, which is SW of Saranac and Lake Placid.
We're on an island, and bought this boat as an economical to run - back and forth to the dock boat.

Our other boat is a 21 Sea Ray BR that is not too economical to run, but a real nice boat.

you anywhere near by?

mk

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: New pics added 11/30 - 86 Grumman 184 turned out to be more of a pjt than exptc

Well, some months later the boat is all thru the shake down and really runs great. It gets up on a plane in a heart beat, and will cruise at 25-30 mph at 2700 rpm. Very comfortable, quiet, and nice. We're using the original top which tho not beatiful, works fine. We've put almost 10 hours on the boat and after some initial odds and ends has been great.

I have to put up some in the water pictures.

But, "it's too much boat" says my wife, who really wants another tin 17 foot bass boat. So, it's up for sale, not sure how much yet, but it will be listed soon.

And then comes the next project....