I am currently in the process of restoring a SeaStar Wildcat. I obtained it for free, and it was a total mess when I got it. I will update this forum post once further progress is made.
Here are some pictures of how I received the boat. You can see how bad of condition it was in:
After about a day of scrubbing it clean and vacuuming all the dirt and stuff out of it, this is what it looks like now (Notice the difference just in the exterior of it alone and how much cleaner it looks):
You can see that somebody started to repair the floor, but didn't finish. They cut the cap, replaced the stringers, and than they proceeded to fill the cap over with untreated plywood (screwed into the boat should I add), so before I can do anything i'll have to remove all the screws, patch the holes, and do a bit of work on a couple of the stringers that they missed. One question I do have though, is what type of matt do I use? Will automotive matt work, or is it a special strand? Also, is it marine resin, or any kind? I was at the local paint supply store the other day and seen they sold gallon cans of fibreglass resin epoxy, and was wondering if that would work, or if I could get some of that 'bondo marine fibreglass repair' tub, that was like $20 for the tub of it.
Since they didn't keep the cap that they cut, I am going to have to wedge the plywood under the existing lip of the cap and rest it on the strings (I am going to treat it first), than coat over the top of it, overlapping the current cap, with new mesh and fibreglass resin. I am thinking two coats should do fine since the plywood is under it to support it, too. I will post pictures as I do it and when it's done so everyone can see, but until than i'll just describe what I am going to do.
Once it's all done I am going to top-coat it with a couple of coats of rustoleum truck liner just to make sure it stays water-proof, and than I can start reconstruction of the interior, which it didn't come with, so will have to be a custom job.
if anyone has spare parts, let me know, I am going to replace the steering wheel, the compass, and pretty much all the other electrical equipment. I have never owned a boat before, so I am not sure what is required to be on it, but I do know i had to cut and remove ALL the wires and cables inside as they were tore up, so i'll have to replace all of it, which isn't a big deal as I wanted to anyways so I can wire in a radio.
Here are some pictures of how I received the boat. You can see how bad of condition it was in:
After about a day of scrubbing it clean and vacuuming all the dirt and stuff out of it, this is what it looks like now (Notice the difference just in the exterior of it alone and how much cleaner it looks):
You can see that somebody started to repair the floor, but didn't finish. They cut the cap, replaced the stringers, and than they proceeded to fill the cap over with untreated plywood (screwed into the boat should I add), so before I can do anything i'll have to remove all the screws, patch the holes, and do a bit of work on a couple of the stringers that they missed. One question I do have though, is what type of matt do I use? Will automotive matt work, or is it a special strand? Also, is it marine resin, or any kind? I was at the local paint supply store the other day and seen they sold gallon cans of fibreglass resin epoxy, and was wondering if that would work, or if I could get some of that 'bondo marine fibreglass repair' tub, that was like $20 for the tub of it.
Since they didn't keep the cap that they cut, I am going to have to wedge the plywood under the existing lip of the cap and rest it on the strings (I am going to treat it first), than coat over the top of it, overlapping the current cap, with new mesh and fibreglass resin. I am thinking two coats should do fine since the plywood is under it to support it, too. I will post pictures as I do it and when it's done so everyone can see, but until than i'll just describe what I am going to do.
Once it's all done I am going to top-coat it with a couple of coats of rustoleum truck liner just to make sure it stays water-proof, and than I can start reconstruction of the interior, which it didn't come with, so will have to be a custom job.
if anyone has spare parts, let me know, I am going to replace the steering wheel, the compass, and pretty much all the other electrical equipment. I have never owned a boat before, so I am not sure what is required to be on it, but I do know i had to cut and remove ALL the wires and cables inside as they were tore up, so i'll have to replace all of it, which isn't a big deal as I wanted to anyways so I can wire in a radio.