I don't believe I have ever seen one of these on our forum here, but I'll go ahead and blaze the trail. I'm sure there will be some useful information for someone down the road here.

Background:
I purchased this boat (my first boat!) in May of this year for $1000 after a trial run on the lake. It's a 1984 Skeeter "Champ" with an '85 Mariner 70HP on the back. I checked all of the important stuff (or what I thought was important at the time): the transom, the motor, the bilge, the electronics, the trailer/bearings/tires. Everything was good enough for me to feel safe in spending the $1000. The boat ran pretty good, but after each time out, I found a little something that needed attention.

Fast forward to July 4th. The lakes are starting to drop and while doing some checking of various things, I find some mushy wood. My first thought was to just replace the rot, but the more I dug around, the more rot I found. Around the first of August I decided that the boat would get a full blown restoration and makeover.

On the list for the project (at a high level), we have the following:
- new transom
- new stringers
- new deck
- revamped storage
- new paint job
- new carpet
- new seats
The following will be done, but probably not until a few months after the boat is "sea worthy" again
- new electronics
- new lighting
- marine radio
- updated hardware (rub rail, cleats, trailer hardware, etc)

Here's the boat the day I purchased it...


and the boat the first day I started to dig in to the project

Moving on to the bilge, you can see the rotted wood:


The foam was absolutely saturated with years of water and gasoline! The floor pulled up by hand in a pile of mush:


The bilge is just about cleaned out


Another shot of the bilge


Damage at the bow that the previous owner "repaired"


And the boat as it sat after this day

It was now time to put the ugly duckling on a diet. The engine bolts were a PITA to get out (they used a ton of sealant on both sides). The transom still appeared to be partially decent, but I wouldn't know for certain until I got the top cap off. Don't mind the messy garage, btw.

With the motor off, and everything else off (the TM, the steering, the control box, cleats, etc), it was finally time to pop the cap. I pulled the rubrail and went to town popping out the 100's of rivets holding the cap to the hull. Adding insult to injury, they had also used a strong silicone between the two! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of this process (not sure why). For those that don't know, though, most [smaller] boats are built in two main pieces; the hull and the cap. The two are usually riveted or screwed together. By taking the cap off, you have full [EASY!] access to the transom, deck, stringers, and floatation foam.

Anyway, it was at this point that I fully realized that my transom was in need of a replacement (up to this point, I wasn't sure if it would be on my "to-do" list).

All of this pink resin was a pain to chip away!


What a mess!


BAD TRANSOM!


Wonder how old this beer can is...

After a good chunk of time pulling foam and cleaning out the hull, things were starting to look better

I took a couple of weeks break from the boat and had my brothers in town so we decided to pull the hull from the trailer, flip it over, and get ready to fix the hull and paint.

Here you can really see the extent of the damage to the keel that the previous owner "fixed"



And here is the damage that was hidden to me until now. It was "repaired" enough to be fully working, but it was a carp job; total carp!




There were a ton of these nicks and scratches and gouges that needed to be filled and faired

keep posting pics, boat restorations are great to look at. I did a refurb on my 82 champion, not near as extensive as yours but am proud of the way it looks.

After griding down the fiberglass on the two "repair" patches, I started to build it back up and fair it with the rest of the hull. I used a waterproof marine filler with very fine fiberglass fibers. Very easy to sand. It doesn't look too good right now, but it's a start and have a little faith.

A bit more work on the fairing of the hull. Still not looking good to the untrained eye, but it's getting there...





... and once you look down the keel, you can really start to see it come together


There still some "dents", but I don't believe I am going to concern myself much with them. I'm not a professional nor am I doing this for anyone by myself, so "close enough" works for me

While the filler was drying, I started working on the trailer. After stripping everything off of it, I found some areas that needed to be welded up.

Luckily, fellow TFF member zuma72 was nice enough to set me up with his brother-in-law locally whom came to my house and welded my trailer up for me for a very fair price (actually, I felt it was too low and gave him a little extra).

He did most of the grinding and prep work for me but left a little slag for me to put the "finishing touches" up on. I'm not sure if zuma72 will catch wind of this thread, but thanks again for setting me up with your brother-in-law!



Due to the location, we didn't grind these ones down. The 4 1/2" grinder wouldn't fit!

Now that I was "close enough" on the hull, it was time for my least favorite past-time ever... SANDING! Even with a DA sander and the RO sander, this was a PAIN! Since I decided to go with a marine paint instead of gelcoat, I had to sand off all of the "shine" of the gelcoat. Luckily, I didn't need to go too far, though. I first used 40 grit on the DA, then a progression of 60 grit and 150 grit on the RO, and finally I used 220 grit by hand.

I didn't realize it before, but my transom was about to fail in a major way. I forgot to take pictures before I repaired, but the vertical brown lines you see are stress indentions in the outer skin on the transom where the motor mounts. It wouldn't have been long before these dents became cracks and then a full blown transom failure!



Half way through my day of sanding. Dang, I HATE sanding!



The "repair" at the bow still looks pretty bad at this point, but overall it feels nice and smoother. Sure, it could have been better, but again, "close enough"

At the end of the day, this is what it was looking like

With the hull in good shape, it was time to turn back to the trailer. I removed the remaining hardware and got it ready for paint. I didn't take any pictures, but I used a 40 grit sanding disc on the grinder to remove all of the old paint/rust. I'm using the Rustoleum "clean metal" primer thinned with 10% acetone. My gun is a 1.4mm HVLP set at 35PSI at the gun and 120PSI at the compressor. 2 coats outta do! Here's the first coat.

And here we are after the second coat. I had two "goof ups" that I will need to fix.


This is the first goof


And this is the second


No, the vehicle was NOT parked there while I was spraying!

The trailer is ready for paint... and so is my driveway...


... and so are my jackstands! HA!


Not too shabby


And here is a close-up. Another "close enough" for me!

So with the trailer ready for paint (I just realized I didn't take any pictures of the fenders, bunk supports, or winch support but they are all done as well), it was time to move back to the hull.

I am using the exact same setup for shooting the hull as I did with the trailer. I thought I had more primer than I actually did, so I was only able to get about 1/4 of the hull shot at once.


The primer doesn't hide anything. All of the "dents" that I decided not to concern myself with while fairing are obvious... but I'm still not going to concern myself with them. Ha!

And now we are all caught up with where I am at as of 11/18/2011. I picked up the last two quarts of primer that I will need as well as a gallon of red paint and a gallon of white paint. I'm using Rustoleum Professional Oil-Based with an Enamel Hardener I picked up for Tractor Supply. There will be NO clear coat (it doesn't seem to like to play well with this paint). I also picked up some Blue and Black "artists oil paint" from Hobby Lobby. The red paint will soon become maroon!

If you look back on the original pictures, than plan is that anything dark brown will become maroon and anything in the light tan will become white. My wife wants to put camo seats in it, but I'm looking at a white/maroon set. We'll see who wins out over the next few months.

Anyway, here is where I ended my night last night:

So with all that posted now, I know I didn't give too much detail. If anyone would like specific details on anything, I would be more than glad to share.

Nice, I would'nt have the guts to do a fiberglass restoration, nice start. I am fixing up a Lowe 1648 jonboat that will be redone but still you are "THE MAN" to do this.

Thanks Sir, but for a boat of this size (it's only 16'), there's not much needed in the line of guts. Some might argue it would actually take a lack of smarts: sinking $1500-2000 on the full project, plus the $1000 purchase price, can be argued that boat isn't worth it... but I needed something to keep me busy and give me a challenge. Plus, I like the boat! And besides, when I am done it will be better than it was from the factory and I will KNOW that it will easily last another 30+ years!

I know we have questions come up on the forum time to time about soft floors and new carpet so hopefully, if nothing else, this thread can be used to show how to properly get it done

That is a large job! I did a very similiar work on my Cajun. I didn't need all the stringer work but after you seperate the two halves its not too bad. My problem is when you state it will be better than factory. Is some aspects I would agree but when you dont go back with Gelcoat you lose me there. There is no paint that will be as durable as the gelcoat was.

When I say "better than factory", I am mainly talking about the guts. The factory foam, for example, was an open cell foam. It soaked up water like a sponge. The closed cell I will be using will NOT absorb water. Also, the factory only gave this boat a half-azzed 'glass job on the stringers (I found areas that had NO glass on them at all). It was a "production boat" and there were shortcuts taken, no doubt about it (nor would I expect any different).

In terms of paint vs gelcoat, that could be left for debate (and actually is a pretty big debate amongst boat restorers). In terms of durability, hands down gelcoat wins. However, the main reason why Gelcoat is used by manufactures is because of the way a hull is built (from the outside in). Gelcoat is really just a glorified resin that the laid up fiberglass can bond to. You can't exactly paint a mold and then lay up fiberglass on it. For a beginner or backyard restorer (which I am both!), the cost, complexity, effort required, experience needed, equipment needed, etc for gelcoat is pretty much out of reach. When I first started, I had intended on doing gelcoat, but it was going to cost just as much for everything I needed to do it as it was going to cost for the entire rest of the restoration. For $100, this paint job will be tough enough (with the enamel hardener) and last long enough for me to accept it. There's a lot of information out there regarding using the Rustoleum with hardener on boat restorations. Even if I have to touch-up or repaint the boat every 5 years or so, I'm still ahead of the curve.

Trust me, I'm not going in to this blind and I'm not doing anything revolutionary. Everything I am doing has been well documented by many people.

My hats off to you. I've done several of what you're doing and can safely say that I was more proud of my restro project than my other "just bought" boats. My question is.....Why Rustoleum paint with a hardner instead of using the Easy Poxy by Petit or the Brightside by Interlux, or the one part poly paint by Top Secret. The Rustoleum is an enamal, so does the hardner make it fuel/oil proof? Because Rustoleum by itself on a motor will turn to chewing gum if exposed to fuel. Enquiring minds needing to know how you came up with the research information to use that combination.

The enamel hardener will just about make it bullet proof and it will be impervious to oil and gasoline. The hardener is the same stuff used on heavy duty equipment (CAT's, tractors, ets). The number one driving factor for Rustoleum was price and price alone. There is plenty of information on the net about using this method on boats so it was as simple as typing it in to Google and reading... and reading... and reading. I also made a call to both Rustoleum and Valspar to ask them about their products.

I understand that you are more familiar and comfortable spraying paint. But your information is inacurate on the Gelcoat. It can and I have sprayed Gelcoat in my garage at my home on my Cajun. It is quite easy and not expensive. You can get an additive so that it will harden and also you can spray PVA on it to keep the air from letting it harden.

But good luck with the paint.

http://www.bottompaintstore.com/gelcoat-colors-p-10818.html



http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/010734.html

Well, maybe the actual spraying is easy, but you can't argue the cost. Nor can you argue all of the sanding you have to do to get rid of the orange peel. And what about the mixing ratio of MEKP based on current conditions or how fast I want it to kick? And what about wax or surfacing agents? Uh oh, I mixed too much and took too long spraying it and now it's hard as a rock and still in my gun. Oops, I forgot the wax in my final coat and now I ruined it trying to cover it with plastic wrap.

From start to finish, gelcoat is NOT cheap or easy for a first-timer. I don't have money to blow, I HATE sanding, and this is not the project I would want to cut my teeth on gelcoat with.

STAY ON IT!!GREAT JOB You will have great satisfaction bringing the boat back to life!!!!

Well, it's been a while since I've had time to work on the project for more than a few minutes, but I did get a few good days of work.

I had mixed up a custom color of paint using Rustoleum and it looked great indoors. However, as soon as I started to shoot it on the trailer, I quickly realized that it was less maroon and more brown. I cut my losses with Rustoleum and heading to Sherwin Williams. The guy helping me mixed up a nice custom color that was real close to what I wanted (and even saved the mix into his computer, in case I needed to come back for more later!). The paint he pulled for me is an Industrial & Marine deep alkyd base paint. We also got to talking about his own boat project that he did about 5 years ago. He used the same paint and the same enamel hardener and said that it still looks as good as the day he sprayed it on and that it is tough as nails. That at least gives me a little hope...

I've laid down two coats of white onto the hull now. I've since given it a wetsand with 320 grit paper in preparation for the 3rd coat (I'll be putting on 4-6 coats). After the 3rd coat, it will get hit again with 320. After the 4th and 5th, it will be 600. Finally, before I buff it up, it will get 1000 or 1200 grit. Here are the pictures before the wetsanding. You can also see some of the 'not-so-maroon-but-more-brown' paint on the trailer. This WILL be corrected!

With the hull now in fairly good shape paint-wise, I decided to hoist it off the trailer and lay down the new paint that Sherwin Williams brewed up for me. I wasn't sure what to expected with this paint. They told me it didn't need to be thinned, but they were wrong. It still needed about 10% acetone. I also had to increase the pressure on the gun by about 10 psi. But once I figured that out, it flowed out of the gun MUCH smoother than the Rustoleum. It laid up better and covered better. Absolutely night and between between this stuff and the Rustoleum. So far I am extremely pleased!

These pictures are after just a single light coat. I've since laid down another 2 coats and I'm extremely pleased. There's a few flaws caused by my rushing it, but nothing major. I MAY knock it down with a ScotchBrite pad and put on a final light coat, but I may also just leave it as-is and call it good.

More progress on the paint job. This is my first time ever spraying paint (not including normal rattle cans, of course) so it's a "learn as you go" type of thing for me.

With each use of the gun, I get a little more confident and seem to improve overall. With each improvement, though, I also experience new problems. I was previously having a problem with orange peel and after some research and re-adjusting the gun, I seem to have fixed that problem... only to come up with the problem of "streaks" (which I'm pretty sure have something do with my fan and that I'm not overlapping each pass correctly). After the paint dries, you can't really see this problem, though, so it's not a huge issue. I'm thinking another 2 coats will yield me a thick enough finish that I can wetsand it smooth and glossy. I still have over 1/2 a gallon of white paint and with my skill improving with each coat, maybe I'll go up to 8 coats. At some point I have to tell myself enough is enough, right?

Anyway, here are the pictures after the 4th coat. You can see that some gloss is starting to build up... and you can also see my "streaking" problem up at the bow. I still have slight orange peel, but nothing that a quick wetsand can't fix.

I figured that the paint job was "good enough". The orange peel was absolutely minimal and I doubt I could do much better with my [lack of] experience and my cheap tools. The streaking can be partially sanded out, and it's only the bottom of the hull, so it's not a big deal. It was now time to add my color stripe to the sides.


I decided to "roll-and-tip" the stripes so that I wouldn't have to prep the entire hull just to spray two stripes. I started by just putting down a line of frog tape...


And I rolled on the first coat...




WHOA! That is NOT pretty! I needed to step back and figure out what went wrong. 1) I didn't thin the paint. 2) I laid on the paint too thick. 3) I didn't have the right tools for the roll-and-tip method. So I wetsanded most of the color off and started again.

I thinned the paint with 10% acetone and used a better foam roller. This was MUCH better, but still wasn't good enough. I stepped back again and realized that the paint was still too thick to self-level properly. For the next coat I thinned it at 20% acetone and that proved to be the right move. It laid down nicely and evenly. For the final coat, I thinned it further at 25%. BINGO!

I removed my masking and wheeled it out to the driveway to check it out in natural light. It gets my seal of approval! The green frog tape has a really weak adhesive and the top masking allowed some leaking. I'll wetsand it off, plus it's on the underside of the ledge that likely won't be visible when the hull is right-side-up, so no big deal. Thankfully the lower tape line (which will be visible when right-side-up) held great and produced a crisp line. I also have a few drips of paint that came off the roller so I'll have to sand those down and touch it up with an artists brush, but no big deal.

Once the stripes finish curing, it will get a progressive 320, 600, 1000, 1500 wetsand and I will finish it up with a high quality glaze and wax. This paint (with the added hardener) is TOUGH! I can run a nail across it and not even produce a scratch. Overall, I'm very pleased with how it has turned out!

I wish you well on your rebuild. Hope your paint don't wash off after all the hard work. Looking great.Keep u

My bad.Keep us posted.

Thanks Freeman Clark. No worry about the paint washing off. It's an industrial oil based paint with an enamel hardener mixed in. It's tried and true in the marine realm. The maroon paint is even specifically for marine use. It won't be as durable as gelcoat, but it's close.

I'll keep updating my progress, but it's still going to be quite a bit of work (and time!). I ordered my bunk carpet today so within the next two weeks, the trailer will be reassembled and the hull flipped back over. Next on the list is to work on the cap. I've got some minor fiberglass work to do on it and I'm going to be upgrading the front deck storage. Then it's on to prep and paint. That will probably take another month or two to complete. After that, I have the following still on the list (and probably some other things I have forgot):
- new transom
- new stringers
- new deck
- finish the wiring
- new carpet
- new seats
- reinstall everything else

lookin good, what color is the trailer gonna be?

Great job, keep us posted!

Thanks guys. The trailer is already done (that's why it is wrapped in plastic underneath the hull). It is currently doing double-duty as a "cradle" for the upside-down hull to sit on. It is the same color as the stripes on the hull (maroon). The bunk carpet is burgundy. We tried to match the paint color as close as possible to the carpet color, since it's easier to get custom paint than it is to get custom carpet.

I dont think enamal has much uv protection and the gloss is not too good. With all the work it takes to do a project likes this a good polyurathane basecpat clearcoat would have looked and held up much better. Plus you would have too cut and buff iy so much. Just my 2 cents....

That is a bunch of work but the glassing will go a lot smoother because it will not be visable so as long as it bonds well it's good to go.

Looking good so far keep up the good work.

shew! that is for sure a restoration! I'm very impressed with your work and determination!
I fixed my norris craft up this last year with some extended composite decking and compartments, new seats (and seat mounts), vinyl bottom floor. As far as the exterior, I just spent several days working my way up from rubbing compound to polish. It still has some cracks in the gel coat which were there when I got it 4 years ago. They had not gotten any worse since then and I was told that the physical structure of the boat was sound... So some hardcore polishing was the more economic option.

What I will say, is that took me 3 hard months for a mild restoration. I learned a few tricks along the way. But the most important thing I learned was never again will I work with fiberglass! You can do cool stuff with it, but man that is some toxic horrible stuff... and man does it make a mess. Let alone the fact that you don't stop itching for months after its all done. It also gets embarrassing when you cant stand to not go fishing any longer and are riding around on a bucket seat in a gutted sparkle boat come tourney day!

Good luck... appreciate the pics!

Ok, update time again.

I pulled the boat out and finished wetsanding it with 1200 grit and gave her a good bath. I'm going to have to rework the maroon stripes (I think I applied it too thick as it still hasn't cured entirely, thus why it appears "hazy". I'm still evaluating it, but I'll tackle that later). It's nice and smooth and ready to be buffed up.




The bunk carpet was ordered and en route. Trailer reassembly will soon commence!

In the meantime, I started work on the seat design. I'll be doing the seats entirely myself (well, with my mothers help; whom is a whiz at upholstery!).

All 3 bases will be identical. The driver and passenger backs will also be identical. The middle back will be a lower to allow easy step-over access to the back. In terms of dimensions, the bases are pretty much 16" by 16". I'm going to use 4" foam for all bases and backs (and the wife has started the lookout for donor couches to use for foam). All of the backs will be 16" wide. The driver/passenger backs will be 16" tall from the base... well, actually closer to 20" with the lower point that will merge with the base. The middle back will be 8" tall, or closer to 12" with the lower point. The wife picked the color scheme, but I really don't know if I like the idea. It may be too much maroon (the top cap will be maroon and the carpet also maroon).

The hull has been buffed up and waxed. It has a good shine to it and feels great! I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

fastoldskeeter - I'm sure a 2-part poly and clearcoat would have been a better choice, but if I was going to invest that kind of money and time, I probably would have went with gelcoat. This paintjob is much less than $100 and, as I have already stated, and very much tried and true in the boat restoration community. If it lasts 2-3 years before I have to cut it, then I have easily got my money's worth (and if in 2-3 years it has gone to complete carp, then I may go ahead and reinvest in a better coating... but for now, we'll see how this does).

The bunk carpet came in and I started reworking the boards. Old is on the left and new is on the right.

Yesterday I pulled the trailer out of the garage and got to work. I quickly realized just how un-ready I was to put it back together, but I had to manage for now. For example, the trailer rollers and bow stop need to be replaced. The front roller and rear roller were so corroded that when I pulled the pin, a steady stream of rust flowed out like sand. They were also beat up and discolored pretty bad. For now, I put them back on, but I will replace them all with new ones in the near future. Also, I need a new winch up front for the same reasons, but again I will replace it later.

Anyway, I started by lightly attaching the bunk supports on the trailer and just sitting the boards on them. Looks good to me! I put the hull back on it and finished the positioning. Once done, I screwed the boards down and tightened up the supports. Some of these pictures are BEFORE the boards were secured and some are from AFTER the boards are secured.

And today I started to re-wire the trailer and get the remaining hardware put on.

First, the winch tower (and also having to reposition the trailer jack)


Then, the fenders and the step boards (I had to run in to town for some new bolts, screws, etc so that ended up taking a lot of daylight). By the time I got the fenders and step boards on, it was dark.


Shortly after the above picture, it began to rain so I had to quickly roll back in to the garage. I started working on the side boards, but I ended up calling it quits for the night so I'll stop my progress here for now. I still have to wire the left side of the trailer (I need to solder and crimp a wire that I had to cut during tear-down). I'll finish up the side boards and wrap it up by reinstalling the license plate and rear lights. It's close!!!!

Yeah, the 'glassing should be a breeze. I will be grinding down to "fresh" fiberglass to ensure the bond will be the best it can be. The manufacturer used poly resin so that's what I will be using as well (plus, it's cheaper than epoxy resin!). The transom and stringers will be bedded with PL adhesive and filleted with "peanut butter" (resin and cabosil mix). For cloth, I'll be using a mixture of CSM and 1708 biax cloth. No worries about the bonding or strength.

Did you use that small air compressor with the paint gun? I've thought about using one with mine but always thought the tank was too small.

Yes, but no. I actually have 2 small compressors that are plumbed together. I've had that pancake compressor shown in the picture for a while, but I knew it wasn't going to be enough. I ended up going out and buying a small 3HP to help it out (I wanted to buy a single LARGE rig, but the wife didn't agree. HA!). You can just see the edge of it in the picture and the yellow coil is the line that is plumbing them together.

The setup still wasn't ideal, but it worked (obviously). The CFM supplied was perfect but I wished I had more stored air. I never had a problem running out of air, but the compressors were definitely working harder than they should have (and thus my water traps were as well!). If you're thinking about it, check how much air your compressor can supply (the CFM rating, not the HP or gallons) and see if you can match a gun to it. I bought the HVLP gun with the lowest CFM requirement and it still wasn't low enough for just the pancake to be able to supply it properly.


*EDIT* - I just noticed that the last picture shows both of the compressors.

Awesome read so far. I'm enjoying it and looking forward to the next update!

It's been a while since the last update here, but I have been working slowly on the boat. I just made a large purchase of fiberglassing supplies, so I'm back in overdrive working on it.

I put the top cap back on during my extended break. It was nice seeing the boat look like, well, a boat again.

During the break from the boat, a fellow memeber (thanks a million stick steering!!!) made me a killer wire harness for the boat (no pictures of it... yet). I also dropped my prop of at Steve's.

I started back up on the boat a while later by re-evaluation the front storage situation. The factory hatch was far too small to be usable. A battery just barely fit through the hatch. I decided that I wanted to expand the usable storage and made a larger lid. I didn't want to spend a ton of money on it, so I decided to do it myself.

The black bar kind of represents where I wanted to extend the hatch lid. I also went ahead and cut out the casting deck so that I didn't have to work on it while connected to the boat (plus, it was rotted so it needed to be replaced anyway)

I cut out the new hatch and checked the new open space...

Now, to "fix" the new lid, I had to fiberglass the old hatch in the cutout (I wasn't going to fabricate a new lid from scratch). I rushed this a bit too much and ended up with quite a few wrinkles (from the plastic wrap). Not a big deal since it will be filled/faired, but still sup-par.

The next day, I got a phone call from my dad. He found a bunch of boat stuff at a house he was working on and it was just going to be thrown away. There was 3 seats and some dock bumpers. He told me they were maroon, but not an exact match on my color. I told him I would take them anyway! This is the picture he sent me.


And this is what they looked like in my boat. Not an exact color match, but for FREE, it's close enough!

Moving right along, it was now time to get serious about finishing the top cap. I pulled it back off the hull and built some stands to place it on.

Once the top cap was on the stands, it was time to start fiberglassing/filling the large holes and body filling the screw holes. There were 3 especially large holes up front that I paid special attention to, along with the TM mount holes and the holes at the console.






After filling the holes and fairing them smooth, it was time to sand the hull in preparation for primer. After an 8-pack of 60 grit sandpaper, this is what I was looking at.

With the top cap all sanded down, I cleaned it up and shot a first coat of primer

And today I shot the 2nd and 3rd coats of primer. The top cap is now ready for paint (which will be done in the next few days).

I like the matching grill in the background!

LOL! I had some primer left in the cup after I was done shooting and the old rusty smoker was right there so I figured 'why not?' and shot it just for kicks.

nax a suggestion, where your going to mount the trolling motor, get some 1/8" aluminum and glass it in to the underside. you can even predrill the holes if you already have the motor and mount stainless nylock nuts with jb weld (leave the screws or bolts in while it cures). to glass in aluminum rough sand it, drill some 3/8-1/2" holes and glass through these (set the aluminum in some wet resin and then glass over making sure the holes are filled and glassed to the deck well). do this before drilling for the motor mount.
this will take out the stress on the glass deck for ya.

Excellent idea hop! Thank you!

The boat is looking very nice. Can't wait to see more updates.

I have to kick it in to overdrive now. I wasn't expecting my fiberglass shipment until Monday or Tuesday, but I got the tracking number today and it is on target to be here by the time I get home from work Friday night.

So after baseball and softball, I headed out to the boat. There wasn't much I could do in the dark, but I decided to go ahead and pull the transom. If anyone has done this before, you know that it's a pain in the rear (unless it is so rotten that it just falls apart). I large flathead screwdriver, a pry bar, a hand saw, a garden spade, and an hour later, I had the transom out of the boat and in one piece (which was the goal, so that I could use it as a template for the new one). It actually wasn't rotted as badly as I thought it would be, which I'm sure added to the difficulty of pulling it.

Put a couple of coats of color on the top cap today. The first three pictures are after the first light coat (thus why it's not entirely covered). The last picture is after the second coat, but it was already starting to get dark so the picture didn't turn out too well (the next update will have better pictures). It is officially all maroon now and after another coat or two... or three, it will be done!

Looking good... are you possibly an Aggie fan???

You got it!!! It's my Aggie boat!

Ok, I didn't take any better pictures of the paint job today... but that is because I was busy working on something else. Last night I built the new transom, glued the pieces together, and clamped it up to dry. I didn't take any pictures of the process as it was late and dark, but basically I traced two templates of the old transom on a sheet of 3/4" exterior plywood. I cut them out and dry-fit them to the hull. Once I was ok with the fit, I applied a thick layer of PL Premium glue, spread evenly with a tile trowel. I joined the two pieces, tack nailed the corners (so it wouldn't slide), and applied about 200 pounds of weight to the center and started clamping from the center to the edges (to help move any air voids to the edges). When it just started to ooze out the sides, I evenly distributed more weight. There I let it sit overnight/today.

I got my shipment of fiberglass and other supplies in today, so I started grinding away at the hull in preparation to install the new transom. I didn't take too many pictures, but here are two. The first picture shows the hull after 3 hours of grinding down to clean fiberglass. The second picture shows the new transom dry-fitted to make sure everything was still good.

Great looking referb project so far, congrats you have put a lot of elbow grease into that hull man. Do you plan on coating the plywood with a couple of coats of resin to seal it before adding the glass mat/ fabric to the transom?

Thanks Bazz!

Yes, that is in the plans. I will give it a good coat of resin today. I will mix up some PB (thickened resin) to use as my glue and fillets. I am going to use 1708 to tab it to the hull. It will then get a couple layers of 1.5oz CSM and then another layer of 1708 to complete it.

Good deal Nax, it should last a long time and be better than original when you're done. I would also coat the inside of the bilge area feed thru holes where your livewell and drain fittings are located with resin for extra protection.

I got the transom all installed (no pictures uploaded yet). I haven't cut the thru-hulls yet, but I do plan on coating with resin. I will also seal it all up good with some 5200. If I didn't everything correctly, it should easily hold up for another 30+ years.

I've done quite a bit of work the last week, but I was an idiot and didn't take many pictures.

I cut the stringers with the the jigsaw (and broke my last blade as I was about 95% done!). I dug out the existing wood from the "channels" so that I could try and use it as a temporary tab while I fabricate the new stringers. As I was doing this, I noticed something odd on the center stringer back towards the bilge area. There was a hard black coating and a filling in the keel. It was cracked and as I started to chip away at it, it looks like it was just resin (a yellow-ish hard, yet brittle, substance that kind of resembled glass). Upon further inspection as I was chipping it all out, it looks like someone had replaced the stringers at some point in the past (or did a patch job). As I chipped away the resin, I found a stringer that was cut down and capped with this resin. I also noticed that the existing center stringer was off-center from this newly discovered stringer. That very well may explain why these stringers appeared so poorly fabricated!

In the second picture, you can kind of see the stuff that was filling the keel. The old stringer I found extended back another 6" or so underneath this resin.

Anyway, I spent a solid 8 hours chipping out all of this resin from the keel and still didn't quite get it all out!

With the hull all cleaned up, I started to get ready for the new transom. I shaped the new transom to better fit the hull and I fabricated the "2x4 clamps" that would be used to hold it while the peanut butter set up. Here's a test fit with the clamps. Looks pretty good!

... but then things went South in a hurry! I initially took my time and tried to make sure I had everything in order and at hand. I had a bucket of acetone, extra gloves, scissors, my brushes, squeegees, and roller. The setup was perfect (or so I thought). I laid out the new transom and cut two pieces of CSM. Here is where the problems started.

When I cut the CSM, I cut it with a little extra on all sides thinking I would just fold it over. I didn't have a second thought about it. After cutting the two pieces, I set them aside and mixed up about 20oz of resin and began coating the wood. No problems here! I let it sit for a few minutes and then put the first piece of CSM on it. I mixed up another 16oz of resin, wet it out, and rolled it smooth. At this point I thought everything was going smoothly...

I let everything set up for a while and then flipped the transom over to start on the other side. I took the same approach; soaked the wood, laid out the CSM... oh [censored]! I now had CSM overhang on BOTH sides of the transom. Folding it over was out of the question now. No problem, I thought. I would just cut it off after it has set up a bit.

I let everything set up for a while again and said "oh [censored]" again! I had flipped the transom and the semi-cured side was directly on top of my table saw. Afraid it was going to cure and be forever stuck on my table saw, I started to scramble trying to think of where I could stand it up. If things were already bad, they were soon going to be worse!

I rigged up a couple of posts to lean the transom up against and put some wax paper around it so that it wouldn't stick to the posts. I went to pick up the transom... and fibers started sliding everywhere. I had to kind of squeeze it between my forearms (which meant resin all down my arms!). Then, as I started to set the transom down, I remembered all of the extra overhang CSM. [censored]! I was already committed at this point and just sat it down and told myself I would fix it later.

After I had sat the transom down, my gloves stuck and pulled up fibers. I grabbed my roller and tried to lay them back down as best I could. I then rushed off the get some acetone on my arms before the resin cured on my arms. I also decided to go ahead and eat dinner.

After dinner, I went out to assess the damage. I ended up with some bubbles around the edges, but the for the most part the transom was ok. I let it cure up the rest of the way and then put it back on the table to try and take care of the edges. I cut off all the excess CSM and as much of the bubbles/delamination as possible. I ended up with about a 1/2" edge around the visible side of the transom that had no glass (luckily, the contact side with the hull was 100% covered!). The wood was still soaked with resin so I'm hoping I can get by with the tabbing (let me know if you think otherwise, please!).

Ok, so with that major headache over, I mixed up 32oz of resin and mixed in enough cabosil to make PB (not sure how much cabosil it took; I used a plastic spoon and just added 4 scoops at a time until it was right). I slopped it down, pressed in the transom, and installed the clamps until it just started to ooze out. I was going to use the excess to make the fillets, but there just wasn't enough to it (I should have mixed at least 40oz, but that's hindsight).

At this point, I still need to fillet the transom, tab it to the hull, and lay the 1708.

Here is the aftermath of the screw up. Here's what it looks like (as embarrassed as I am to post them!). The top of the transom is fine. The excess I can grind/cut off. The sides are ok. The side bonded to the hull skin is absolutely perfect (through all the mess, I made absolutely sure not to mess that side up). The problem I have is on the visible side. On average, I have about a 1/2" edge all the way around that doesn't have CSM on it (the wood is still resin-soaked, though). Other than that, it looks good to me.

This is the left side. There was a bubble up top that I had to grind down. The rest is the edge I was talking about.

This is the right side. It's not as bad as the left side, but still have the edge problem. You can see the excess CSM above the top that can be cut/ground down.

Finally, this is the center. It looks good... except for the edge problem.

And at this point, I quit taking pictures for one reason or another (was too busy worrying about fiberglass, or my phone was dead, or I forgot). However, I still did quite a bit of work that I will at least report on.

I fixed the transom problem by tearing pieces of CSM and patching the areas I had to grind off. This went off without a hitch so I then cut some 1708, made my fillets, and tabbed the transom to the hull. Finally, I cut a couple large sheets of 1708 to entirely fit the transom. The transom is officially done and is strong as steel.

With the transom complete, I moved on to the stringers. I got them all cut and bedded and started to fillet and glass them in. I finished them up Sunday evening.

I picked up some of this stuff yesterday and began cutting it to fit. This is the foam I decided to use (as opposed to using a 2-part pour foam). This is a closed cell water-resistant foam and is leaps and bounds better than the stuff Skeeter originally used (and that many boat manufacturers still use). I'll use some 2-part or some foam in a can to fill any voids.


And finally, tonight I finished about 90% of the foaming and started to cut the new deck. If the rain holds off for me tomorrow evening, I will start glassing the new deck and should be ready to install it later this week. I'll try and take some new pictures of how it looks tomorrow before I start messing with the saws and fiberglass.

I had to go put the 4-wheeler away so I figured I would see if I could get a couple teaser pictures, just in case I don't take any tomorrow.

The foam that appears to be sticking above the stringers/braces won't be that way once the deck is installed. It will compress down to help add a small bit of structural support as well as to remove void space.

Nothing special; just a shot of the stern


And a shot of the bow. Notice the curve in the center stringer. I had a sheet of plywood that had a nasty curve to it. Go figure!

looks good, you did remember to drill the stringers so they will drain moisture didn't ya? one suggestion, go to academy and in the boat parts section they have a qt 2 part epoxy, 19.95, get some and use it to "paint" the new glass at the transom and hull joint. this will super water proof the area and help strengthen it some. will take 2-3 coats, then whats left over you can use to paint the holes for the engine to seal the wood etc. this is some great stuff and you can set glass with it as its an epoxy resin/graphite mix. will post a pic of the cans tonight, gotta work on mine some.

Thanks for the suggestion Hop! I knew I wanted to put something down, but I just couldn't figure out what. I know gelcoat is a fairly popular coating of choice, but I think I'll go with the epoxy paint for sure! I'll likely go ahead and paint the entire bilge with it.

The foam.....Did you test a piece to see if it is gasoliine proof? If not, it may melt like a styrofoam cup. The rattle can foam cannot stand gasoline. The reason I ask is both oil and gas will give off fumes and those fumes will penitrate the smallest of holes. I learned this the hard way back in the 70's when I did my floor in my offshore boat. Three years later, I had to remove the fuel tank and low and behold there was nothing but a black tar left of the block styrofoam and the rattle can foam. Also just because it is closed cell does not mean it will not absorb and retain water.

Im ready for more pictures, loods great so far man, you got any more updates?

I hope your keeping a total cost log of what your have into it, I would be interested in finding out.

Great work, keep it up!

matt

Mike:
In the presence of vapors, the foam is unaffected. Direct contact with gasoline is a no-no, though. The plan is to drape some plastic between the deck and the foam for the back two compartments. It's still not a 100% solution, but XPS sheet foam is a very popular product in boat restorations so it can't possibly be that big of a deal. Besides, if there is that much gas/oil floating around under the deck, then I probably don't want to be on the boat in the first place.

You are correct, it will still absorb water. ANY foam will (which is why I stated it is water-resistent, not water-proof). This XPS is rated to absorb no more than 0.70% of water. When I was scouting the product out, I took a small piece and submerged it in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks. When I pulled it out, wiped off the outside, and gave it a good squeeze, not a single drop came out of it. Again, it's leaps and bounds better than the old stuff!

redchevy:
I don't have any more progress... yet. I'll finish foaming the hull tonight and start cutting/dry fitting the decking. If time permits, I'll also begin fiberglassing the deck pieces. I've got to put a layer of CSM on the bottom and a layer of CSM and 1708 on the top before I can secure it into the boat. I'll have some updates tonight, for sure.

In terms of cost, I haven't kept an exact figure, but I have kept a figure within a couple hundred. I'm currently sitting at about $1,200. I still have to purchase my carpet and glue, rivets, thru-hulls, 3M 5200, SS screws/nuts/bolts, maybe another gallon or two of resin, and maybe some other various items. In the end, I figure I will be right at the $1,500 mark; give or take a couple hundred.

nax the epoxy is called, goop coat it, blue and yellow cans (2 of em) and its some great stuff. I have set glass with it and its almost bulletproof. forgot the phone so no pics but academy has it where the adhesives and boat parts are.

here ya go found it on another site. good description too.

http://www.amazon.com/Eclectic-5400040-Waterproof-Sealer-Protector/dp/B004IPC28G

Thanks hop! I'll definitely pick some up.

Tonight I finished cutting the foam I needed and also finished cutting the new deck pieces. I gave them a dry fit and all looks good to go.

Here we are looking towards the bow. The unevenness will be alleviated when the deck get secured down for good and when I start laying the 1708 over the top.


Here is a look towards the stern. As you can see, I need to add some more reinforcement blocks around the livewell cutout. It's a bit saggy.


After all the pieces were cut and I was satisfied with the fit, I started to cut some CSM and start glassing the bottom side (the top side will get CSM and 1708 when installed). I'm down to about 3/4 gallon of resin, so I guess I'll be making another 5 gallon order.



On a side note, when stick steering made me my new wire harness, he gave me a Marinco plug for the trolling motor. I can't figure it out, though. What is this thing used for and how to I use/install it? My trolling motor is just a 12v, but I plan on upgrading to a 24v within the next year; if that matters any.

if anyone is interested in a project for hire to help me with some work on a boat I have and want to 'fix up', please drop me a line.

Well, I figured I would report progress, even though I don't have any pictures. I've been doing most of my work late at night and it's not too cooperative with the camera. I've done quite a bit of work the last few days.

All of the deck pieces were cut and the undersides covered with CSM.

I put the deck pieces in their place and I pulled apart pieces of CSM to kind of act as a joint glue between each piece. I also cut my 1708 tabbing and rolled out a single length of 1708 and cut it to fit. It just so happens that the beam of my boat at the deck was just right for this to happen.

I decided I wasn't going to screw the deck into the stringers. My stringers are only 1/2" without "cleats" (just as it was done by Skeeter back in '84) and I didn't want to run the risk of splitting out. I pulled the deck pieces back and and I mixed up a small bit of extra thick PB (ok, 40 oz of it, but still...). I put a good bead of the PB down on top of the stringers/braces and gently put the deck pieces back in. I strategically sat weights on the deck sections to try and keep everything flush. For the most part it worked, but there are still some small elevation differences here and there. Nothing too bad, though.

After I felt it had set up enough, I "glued" the pieces together with the pulled CSM and let it set up just a bit. I put down the tabbing and went to work. When it was done and still slightly tacky, I unfolded my large sheet of 1708 and started mixing up quart batches of resin.

I plopped it down a bucket at a time and started to work it in.

A couple of gallons of resin later, I had the entire deck saturated and covered with my 1708. I rolled out all of the air bubbles with the exception of the front left corner. I kind of centralized all my bubbles there but couldn't quite work them all out. I'll have to grind this down and fix it, but no big deal.

I also started prepping the foam "saddle bags" that go back in the bilge area. I'm not sure why Skeeter put these in and I wish I knew I could do without them (it would allow me more space back in the bilge), but I'm going to play it safe and put them back in. I had to dig all the old expanding foam out of them and clean them up. I'll replace the old foam with my pink foam and glass the boxes back in.

Today I cut out the new casting deck up front, fit it in to place on the top cap, clamped it in, and mixed up some PB to glue the fiberglass "cover" onto it. It is currently curing, so I will fiberglass the entire thing in tonight or tomorrow.

I'll update the thread with pictures of the progress tomorrow.

With the deck is in and completed, I started working on the foam boxes. I've got one cleaned up, filled with pink foam, and tabbed in. I need to do the same with the other one still.


The new casting deck is cut and tabbed in to the cap. The new hatch opening supports are cut and 2 of the 4 are tabbed in. The new hatch lid is fabricated and dry-fit. I was going to clean up and shoot some more color today, but we have some intermittent rain tonight so that is put off until Thursday. I need to mix up some PB and "glue" the fiberglass part of the new lid to the wood core. It's spot-glued right now, thus why the corners are higher than the deck. Again, don't mind the mess. It's still a work in progress.


Unfortunately, even though I've been making great progress, my goal of being back on the lake for Memorial Day is no longer in the picture. My truck crapped out on me a few weeks ago so I had to ditch it. We've been down to 1 vehicle for the last 3 weeks and it just isn't manageable with our daily routine. I had to go and get me a new truck, and that meant that the "boat fund" was used as a down payment. I can't complain; a new ride is more important than finishing the boat. I was so close, though!!!

Here's a picture of where the rest of my "boat fund" went. I really can't complain!

Nice truck!