1989 Cheetah 210es restore - not looking forward to this

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
I've been reading up on here for a few weeks now at everybody's restore projects etc. and figured i would go ahead and get mine started since im starting to order my products to get more into it to get it ready for next season.

Guess ill start off with a story of how i came about this boat, Me and my wife have been searching local forums, craigslist etc. trying to find deals on projects needing a new block, blown head gasket, etc. For about a year or so now we've been searching but im really picky after growing up with a 24ft baja; i knew i wanted at least something 20ft and with at least a 350 and nothing Volvo powered. After loosing out on a few that we couldn't get off work for etc. I started searching farther away for boats and came across this one and got a hold of the son of the owner, and his dad was a boat mechanic and bought the boat from a customer to redo the interior etc. The man had pulled the engine and out drive then before he was able to get it all back together he had three strokes and was unable to follow through with the project. The boat sat for 6 years apart before i picked it up for $1000 but had to drive 430 miles round trip. It needs stringers, transom, and a floor, and fix a few stress cracks and get a new gel-coat job, and while its apart im going to go through the engine and out drive because who wants to install the unknown and chance it? plus my dad owns a machine shop so my assembly and machine work is free just pay for parts.

my plans are as follows:
*replace the stringers
*replace the transom
*replace the floor
*gel-coat the floor and get snap in carpet made
*redo all the interior including making a new gauge panel and glove box area out of fiberglass with new gauges and toggles etc.
*rebuild the engine and go through the out drive and clean it up and replace any worn parts
*have the entire hull gel-coated after fixing all stress cracks etc.
*paint the trailer and replace the bunks and probably replace the drums with disks and get new tires for it
*install keel guard because some of the lakes i go to don't have docks
*enjoy it with my wife and friends


I will have questions along the way as I've read a lot but still have questions since im uncertain of some things due to so many different answers... it becomes confusing. I will try to keep the questions to a minimum as i know how common questions get annoying I always search first to try to get my answer, which is why i joined here. There is a lot of knowledge around here compared to other forums Ive lurked around on.

And if any of this doesn't make any sense ... im sorry its my birthday and Ive been drinking.

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Luhrs28

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Messages
423
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

I like that boat! It's literally crying out for a diesel repower but I'm not going to say anything about that.
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

lol yea for being an 89 it has really good lines for the age which is why i jumped on it, and believe me if i could fit a 6bt in it without loosing all the floor space etc. i would probably do it other than it would rip the boat apart once done from all the pump work etc. i would do, way too much torque ill just leave that to the tow pig
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

I finally found a local place to purchase marine plywood so if their open this weekend i will probably go pick all of that up if not saturday sometime next week. But now im to the point of epoxy or polyester i know 90% of you go epoxy but i dont have that deep of pockets and i dont want to live on ramen noodles for a while, so why do you all do epoxy over the polyester? easier, stronger, etc.? if done correctly the polyester will be just as strong correct?

Other than that i originally planned to do this project at my dads shop but that would in the long run just take me longer to complete between getting off work then running home and then to my dads etc. so i did some measuring today and looks like if i move some things around in the garage the boat will fit at an angle so hopefully i can do it all at my house then i will also have more of my wife and neighbors help.

And now onto some newer pics, went ahead and took off the glass and gauges and glove box since we plan to redo it all figured id get it off now to help make the cap lighter for when it gets removed.

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ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Your boat was made with poly. It will be fine for the job.
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Your boat was made with poly. It will be fine for the job.

thats what i was thinking most of the boats on here that are restored are poly originally so why spend 4x the amount on epoxy and mix them together at the bottom of the hull
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

got a little bit done yesterday after work, its crazy how much the foam weighs when it soaks up all the water

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Friscoboater

Captain
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
3,095
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Check out my restoration on my 22ft Sea ray. It will help you with alot of your questions about how to rebuild and what to use.
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

thanks frisco I usually don't have alot of time to read long threads, but I've slowly been going through yours and ill eventually 100% finish it.

But its now labor day weekend and while most of you are out on the water im laboring away on my boat so here's the progress so far

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DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

I was able to get a little more done yesterday afternoon before the rain came, so here it is as of now, im hoping to get the stringers up to the consoles cut out today since i cant go any further until i pop the cap off.

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Friscoboater

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Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
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Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Nice work so far. Looks very similar to my sea ray in construction. Bringing back bad memories.
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Thanks i figured if me and my wife can tear our only bathroom down to studs and joist and completely remodel, plumb, etc. in a week surely i can deal with a boat through the winter months. I've never touched fiberglass yet so it will be a major learning curve for me though, but a good friends dad has done a transom and quite a few jetski and boat repairs at the marina his houseboat is at and he is willing to give me a hand when i need it.
 

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Great work on the tear out and clean up. Soon time to be building instead of demoing!
 

archbuilder

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Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
5,697
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Nice boat, looks like you are making quick work on the demo! That is the hard part, after that you get to the fun stuff putting it back together. Looking forward to seeing your build. Go with poly, if done properly it will work just fine. Let us know if you have any questions, we will be glad to help. One word on the poly, make sure you used unwaxed, it will work for 95% of what you are doing.
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

thanks guys i knocked out as much as i could on labor day weekend now im at a stand still until i get the cap removed and get it in the garage. since the cooler weather and rain has started rolling in. and i have a few cars at the shop i really need to get done for the money to put towards this project. and i have a few questions ill post later tonight or tomorrow afternoon.
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Aug 13, 2011
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Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Ok here are some of my questions so far. when i cut the engine mounts away there was nothing left at all to see how they were built and I've seen some people layer together a ton of 3/4 plywood and some use 2x4's etc. what is the correct way or best way to build them? Also it had 2 2x4's over the gas tank under the floor but they didn't have any fiberglass over them other than the floor, should i wrap the new ones in some csm? Also the stringers were so rotted they crumbled once i cut the glass from one side so i have no template now, does anybody have any easy tips on how to make templates for the stringer to fit the bottom hull shape and give me the correct height? And the last question for now what about the keel beam mine looks to be 2x2 so im guessing that's the best thing to put back in but what king of wood should i use for it?
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Aug 13, 2011
Messages
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Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

I almost forgot what kind of estimate would you say of poly resin and 1.5 csm and 1708 would i need? Because i would like a close estimate from others that have done a boat about the same size so i can hopefully just place one order from us composites and not multiple and have to wait on supplies.
 

relocyo

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Apr 14, 2010
Messages
446
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Use a compass and some carboard to the shape of the hull, pointy end on the hull pencil on the cardboard and trace down the hull tip to tail, you only need the bottom curves as the tops can be adjusted after tabbed in... I could comment on the amount of materials but I think I would be over stating my experience with that... Fwiw I think last estimate o saw was 25 yds csm, 15 yds 1708 15 galls of poly and a pound of cabosil, but I dont quite recall what size that estimate was for... So wait on the experts on that, but maybe that will give you at least a starting idea... Good luck!
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

thanks i didn't even think of the compass ill definitely give that a shot when time comes

and yesterday i wasn't planning on getting the cap off as i didn't have any help except my neighbor but i got bored so started pulling off the rubrail and removing all the screws etc. Then got the front pulled up then me and the neighbor had a hell of a time getting the swim platform to come free, due to them using some kind of liquid gluing the hull and cap together back there, a sawzall demo blade didn't even faze whatever the stuff is. But we slowly started hammering a thin crowbar in and wedging the platform up a bit at a i time until we eventually got all the way through it and freed it up.
Then i was lucky enough to get ahold of a few friends that were close by and had 6 people here within minutes and pulled it off, now i can get the rest of the floor and the stringers cut out and start the grinding since i went and bought some tyvek suits and a respirator yesterday as well, thats it for now heres the pics

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ready to pull off
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i just laugh every time i walk onto the deck cause it just looks funny sitting there like this
capoff.jpg

me talking to my neighbor about how were going to put the stringers all back in and make the curve of the outer stringers
 

DustinJean

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Aug 13, 2011
Messages
144
Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

Re: 1989 Cheetah 210es complete rebuild - project blood sweat & beers

a001c3db.jpg


finally have all of the stringers cut out, hopefully ill have some time this weekend to start grinding before i get the boat into the garage
 
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