Hey guys I'm returning home from beautiful Mogadishu, Somalia in less than 2 weeks. There are only two things to do here to pass the off time, drink yourself silly or day dream about what you're going to do when you get home. That said, I haven't been doing much drinking.

I have a 87 Skeeter Strada F80 with a 87, 75horse Suzuki that is in great mechanical shape, everything else about it could use some work though.

I have a HDS7 w/sidescan sourced, and I put new seats in it last time I was home. This is a tiny boat @ 15.3 feet and can be a little irritating to fish out of at times, and that is one of the issues I am hoping to resolve. The boat has a homemade front deck extension with storage that I am going to replace due to the wood rotting. It is a necessity due to the boats size and lack of storage. I am also looking to add a tackle hatch because fishing out of my bag takes up a lot of space on the tiny deck.

Here are some questions...
I am going to replace the carpet in it myself, any recommendations on carpet brands, and adhesive?

I am also going to buff this thing out, the hull is smoothed fiberglass (no paint to worry about). The oxidation is not horrible but as the boat sits now it doesn't shine at all.
Any recommendations on a product or technique to restore the factory shine?

I was also thinking about adding some lighting, it has nothing right now. Finding anything on the boat in the dark is next to impossible.
Any recommendations on lighting? Strip led's, bulb set ups? I want to put lights in all storage locations and maybe a few up top to help light the deck.

The trailer is in need of some attention as well. It just rust and looks terrible. I plan on sanding,painting it,d.i.y. bedlining all stepping surfaces, possibly replace if not paint the wheels, and replacing the boards.
Any pointers on the materials? What kind of lumber have y'all used for yours, just pressure treated? Should I seal them before covering them? Any special way to carpet the boards?

I was also wanting to replace the bumper. It looks every bit of it's age. I have no idea where to find something like that locally or for a decent price, any ideas?

Has anyone ever painted their lower unit? Anything special I need to know other than not to clog any holes? Have you guys done anything to your outdated engine covers to dress them up a little?

I was also looking to add a couple of internal rod holders, the kind you put your rod into while striper fishing, not storage holders. These would require taking a hole saw to the deck....any issues there?

It also wouldn't hurt to rewire the whole boat. Everything works believe it or not, but it looks like a snake pit in my battery storage. Can anyone recommend someone to do this? I'm only home for two weeks, and rewiring this boat is not on the list of "things I want to do". I can, no problem, I just don't want to.

I think I've covered everything I was going to try to fix. Please let me know if there is anything I missed. I am completely open to new ideas.

My end goal with this is a total restoration, so I want to do everything with attention to quality. That said I'm not looking to spend a fortune, but I'm willing to spend what has to be spent to bring this thing up to snuff.

I know some of you are thinking why bother? The boat is paid for and does everything I need it to do (but could be improved a little).I'm home maybe 30 days a year so buying a new boat and having it depreciate while I'm away isn't an option. I'm not doing this for resale value, I'm doing it for longevity.

Please post ANY questions, comments, concerns..I wanna hear what y'all think.

Yes sir you do have a project on your hands! Unfortunately I don't have any tips for you but sure like your vision you have going on for your boat. The only thing I can think of is if you do indeed use p.t. wood it will add an awful lot of weight to your little boat. When you go to the store pick up a peice of p.t. and then a piece of whitewood, big difference. Yes the p.t. will last forever but if the boat stays covered the whitewood will last a long time. For a few lines I thought you might have had my old boat, it sounded just like yours and I loved to tinker with it. Good luck on your project!

Look at bass boat central the give all the info you will need for restoring. That's what I did. Good luck

Yes sir, it might be a little too ambitious for my 2 week time frame but I'll see what I can do. I plan on taking a few before and after shots of it, for those who care.

Bass Boat Central...thank you sir!


I just checked that place out, I'm adding a keel guard to the list.

for buffing it out go to a truck stop and find the metal polish, get a bottle of the green. mix this with an equal amount of mineral spirits/carnuba wax and use a random orbit buffer to apply. you will be amazed at what it will do.
lights can be had for the deck area by using led commercial trailer marker lights, I used red due to it not messing up my night vision, they also come in white for compartments.
carpet: I bought mine at lowes for 75 cents a sf, had it in for over 2 yrs now and it still looks great, strip the old and use weldwood contact cement to apply the new. use butcher paper or cardboard sheets to seperate the carpet and deck after its glued so you "lay" the carpet so you can work a small area at a time,
paint for the lower unit, I used epoxy appliance paint from lowes, sand and prime with red oxide then paint, I used the stainless steel color paint and it works excellent.
you won't find rub rail cheap, been looking at doing mine and for an 18'8" champion it will run about 500.00 for the rope insert style.
use pressure treated for the deck extension with aluminum angle, done this many many times and the weight it adds is minimum, use 5/8" for up to a 2'x2' area without support, more than that and use a veritcal pce of 1/2" as a wall support, you can carpet over the wood using contact cement.
that should hold ya for a coupla weeks.

Thank you sir, that was great. It's going to be a race no doubt about it, Im getting pretty excited about getting started on it. I never thought about using trailer lights...flush mount, sealed...that's a pretty good idea!

Just so I understand the recipe the green metal polish and mineral spirits are mixed @ equal parts. Then apply carnuba to seal it back up? Or mix carnuba, polish and mineral spirits all together?

I would like to know also. Getting ready to start on my boat.

TTT

ttt

I can't believe anyone hasn't sent you here yet. These guys have it going on and can help you with any aspect of your restoration project. Some of the restorations the guys have done on this forum are just mind blowing....
http://www.bbcboards.net/zeroforum?id=19

I have that site saved on favorites. It has a lot of great information.

We were just trying to get some clarification from hopalong123 on the process using the green metal polish he was talking about.

i restored my norris craft this last winter w/ new seats, carpet on top deck, vinyl on the bottom, and deck extensions using coosa composite and some fiberglass work. i was expecting 1 month and about 1k to do it. in the end, it took 3.5 months and about 1600... just as an fyi. of course, it doesn't sound like you will be creating new compartments. that was the timely part on mine, not a right angle on any part of it! i got my carpet from theboatseatstore.com. i got the better quality carpet (which was better priced than most competitors) and it was free shipping (making it way cheaper than others). I also got some wicked looking bucket seats for half the price of other places. warranties were just as good or better than everyone else too. i forgot where i got the vinyl from. i saw this when i was in oregon in the salmon boats. its very nice as a bottom deck to just be able to hose it out, especially since thats were most of the dirt and junk ends up.
i used some 3m rubbing compound followed by some good quality polish using a buffer. be careful to not burn your finish. it took me 3 days to do the top half of mine (mine had no shine to it and had some heavy oxidation). it shined it right up, but it took a hell of a lot of patience and will power. WEAR A GOOD MASK TOO! that dust gets everywhere and its not good for you.

GOOD LUCK! you will really appreciate it when your done... and be sure to take some before and after pics.

As far as dressing the motor up. ...look at getting a wrap. They are not that expensive and your imagination is the only limit. I would use a quality sealer and finish for the lower unit though and be sure to prepare the metal correctly for aluminum areas. Maybe a drink would be good every now and then to take your mind off of all you have to do when you get home...JK...As far as lighting LED is the ONLY way to go. less energy, individually sealed...Strip or not it's the best. I have seen some of the tube lighting and that is cool too but what I have seen has been part of the boat design. Not sure on the topcoat of the boat...just depends on how much of the clear has been oxidized. Very aggressive schedule and good luck to you. Welcome back home!!!!!!