1980's Blue Fin What was I thinking?

Hello, just getting started here like many others have. I just picked up a 80's Blue Fin 16 footer because I am glutton for punishment. I have never messed with boats before but I figured my kids are young and they will enjoy it. It is a project to say the least. I need to completely replace the deck, seats, and all of the trim. Who knows what else I will need to do. I have been reading many post on redoing to decking on these types of boats, pretty neat stuff. I am handy and have restored quite a few odd projects so I hope this one isn?t too bad. I see lots of advice on carpet vs. vinyl flooring. Is carpeting just something I should avoid? I want something my kids will be comfortable on so that why I am inquiring. Any tips on replacing the deck? I see that glassing the deck is the way to go, I just hope I understand how to do it. I am leaving to back to Iraq this fall so the goal is to get this old girl back in the water before I leave. It will be a challenge but I am looking forward to it. Thanks for any advice and help!

Jason E. Welch
Tioga Pa

Re: 1980's Blue Fin What was I thinking?

Welcome to iboats mountain38, looks like a nice project you've got

I have a 16' Starcraft that's very similar, aluminum boats are pretty easy to restore.

You will want to check for leaky rivets once she's stripped to bare metal.

Then use Gluvit to seal rivets and seams. I prefer marine vinyl(Nautolex) to carpet personally.

Good luck to ya!

Re: 1980's Blue Fin What was I thinking?

You were thinking just fine. An outboard power aluminum hull is a great restore project. I won't comment on the Force and that trailer looks a little short though. Check out any of the Starcraft restorations for ideas as they will be similar.

Re: 1980's Blue Fin What was I thinking?

Can I replace the rivets with screws to hold down the aluminum trim pieces? I am going to have to pull all of those to put the new carpet on the top of the boat and it would be so much easier than putting rivets back in. Just thinking about it, any thoughts?

Re: 1980's Blue Fin What was I thinking?

It sure seems like I am seeing more-and-more of these BlueFins showing up on here.

Whether or not you can get this done by fall will depend on 3 things. 1.) How much time you have. 2.) How much money you have. 3.) How "nice" you want it to be.

Carpet / Vinyl - Many will say that carpet holds moisture and will increase chances of rot. I chose carpet because I like to go barefoot on my boat and it feels nicer underfoot. Vinyl will shed the water better, but might be slicker when wet.

I used pop rivets on all of my trim pieces. Seemed to work fine.

You can glass the floor or you can just put a couple coats of epoxy. In my opinion, if you use 1/2 inch or 5/8 inch plywood for the deck, you shouldn't need the extra strength of glass. Although, I did put down a 4 inch piece of cloth on the joints.

From the pictures, it looks like you are headed for a complete restore. The first thing is to remove everything out of the hull and get it down to bare aluminum. From there you can begin the process of rebuilding.

Feel free to look at my BlueFin restore thread below and ask any questions.

Re: 1980's Blue Fin What was I thinking?

I also used pop rivets for my trim. Got a super cheap riveter at Harbor Freight that worked great. Make sure you get aluminum rivets. I used marine vinyl for my deck and carpet for the side panels. I'm very pleased with it. The vinyl has a deep texture so it is very non-slip.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w200/ezmobee/New Boat/DSCF2502.jpg