CHRIS CRAFT "Viking" 1982 Cabin Cruiser Restoration (With Pics & Video!!!)

[ondarvr]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

You can colour the West System Epoxy to match the boat. Don't paint it, if you want a 'permanent' fix, go to West Marine and pick up the necessary supplies. Good luck.

Tinted epoxies don't hold up well, they tend to yellow rapidly if exposed to any UV light.

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Well, with all the opinions, and my own research done, I'm thinking paint. *** PAINT IT I SAID *** So I will be moving forward from here with paint in mind. I sat around here late into last night reading Archbuilder's "16' Nescher Ski Boat complete Restore" thread and decided if paint would work in that application, then it will work for mine. Granted, I can't flip this puppy upside down and build a paint booth in my garage, but I have to work with what I've got...

*THE PLAN*

1. I will finish opening and grinding away all of the blisters that are on the hull.

2. I will sand/grind smooth all of the hull to just above the water line.

3. I will use EPOXY to fill any recesses, and if I run into any depth worth mentioning in the blisters, I will fill those with glass and resin.

4. I will fair and sand the filled hull to "smooth as a baby's butt" specifications, or as close as possible laying on my back underneath the boat. "Out comes the creeper."

5. I will prep, prime, sand and then prep and paint the hull with 3 to 4 coats of whatever paint I decide to go with & most likely clearcoat after that.

*** NOW *** What I need from you guys is EPOXY, PRIMER, PAINT and CLEARCOAT suggestions. I don't think I need high dollar "House of Color" custom paints, as I will probably try to match the current color, which is very close to RUSTOLEUM "antique white", ask me how I know...

By the way... Time is my friend... I don't plan on having her back in the water until next year. When the hull is done, I'm doing the Outdrive, Steering, Throttle and Trim controls, cleaning the fuel tanks as best as I can, re-doing all the fuel lines, water seperator and so forth, reconfiguring the cockpit seating and building a foldable sunpad for the rear bench area, along with a full re-upholstery of the interior and some mods to the swim platform... Whewww... It didn't seem like that much work in my head... LOL...

Thanks to all who have chimed in, and I'm looking forward to more advice...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Believe it or not, you can Paint with Rutsoleum now. It has a Hardener now. Valspar Acrylic enamel Oil Based Hardener.

Works GREAT. Makes the Paint Extremely Glossy and HARD AS Nails. Speeds the cure time by 40% and makes is very durable. I Highly recommend you look into it.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Well, with all the opinions, and my own research done, I'm thinking paint. *** PAINT IT I SAID *** So I will be moving forward from here with paint in mind.

Thanks to all who have chimed in, and I'm looking forward to more advice...

Well If you have that much time..then research some more before you blow on your topcoat ..

Duratec or Rusto..or Awlgrip..or Imron.. its All in the prep and the primers used....

Or Gel ..

I dont know why your thinking "paint" although its an option...you have to consider the pros and cons of that process..

Gel is still an option given the time frame your talking about ( not going to get in the water this season ) ..

All options are open at this point..its HOW and Process do Any topcoating you can dream of atm ..

Its all the same IMO at this point ..Gel..Paint... Pros .. Cons of each ..you have time to research some more ..

YD.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Somehow I KNEW YD was gunna recommend Awlgrip! I think it would be a GREAT choice to for your boat.

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

That's the second time I've seen mention of Rustoleum, and the Valspar Acrylic Hardener. I will definitely look into it.

Here is some of the work completed today: Mostly sanding and blister removal. I did finally locate one blister on a strake that when fully removed exposed a tiny, (no thicker than a dime's width, and less than 1/8 inch in length) hole into the strake itself. Since the glass was completely compromised in this spot. I will definitely re-glass this area. My question is: Should I inject something into the strake to fill in the backside on this hole first?

1. A shot of some sanding work, which exposed an old repair. I knew the gouge was there when I bought the boat, but it's interesting when you see the filler, I assume it's Epoxy filling in the groove.

2. A straight on sideview of some of the blister removal on the strakes, and some sanding and blister removal on the side of the hull.

3. A shot of the sanding higher up on the side, towards the bow which shows sanded and then un-sanded gelcoat.

4. And the last shot is of some blister removal on the flat, underside of the hull, along with a couple of blister removal spots on the strakes in the background.

Til I get this figured out I'm going to quit labeling my pics in order, cause the forum doesn't seem to upload them in order, but I'm sure y'all can figure out which pics go to which labels above.

My next question is: Do I have to sand all the gelcoat down to raw fiberglass, or is roughing it up sufficient to get my primer and paint to stick?

Oh yeah, for Woodonglass: How do I post pictures that will just show up in between various lines of text, like your Valspar pic. I'd rather do that than have them all show up as thumbnails at the bottom of my posts.

Thanks again guys...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Where are you posting your pics from?

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Just uploading them from my computer... Wait, Wait, Wait... Now I'm reading the link to the thread in your signature... I might have this in a moment...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Using the Go Advance button?

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

See above edit... Hang on... I think I got this...

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Does this method work with Internet Explorer 9, because it simply won't let me drag the pictures into the lower box.

 

[BWT]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

call me crazy, but I'm not seeing what I would call "blisters"; I'm seeing alot of dry layup's and voids (which tend to go hand in hand). If it were me, I would open up each of the voids, seal the dry glass with epoxy resin, fare it in with thickened epoxy and give the whole hull (waterline down) either a barrier coat, or a couple coats of bottom paint. IMHO, personally I don't believe that topside paints have any place below the waterline, even if it's only for short periods of time. Who knows how the next owner is going to use the boat.

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Ok, so apparantly you cannot utilize this method of uploading pictures if you are using Internet Explorer 9. I went back to I.E. 8 and voila here are the pics and I can allegedly move them around within the post. Let's see how this works, so I can get back to refinishing the bottom of my boat and completing the myriad other tasks I have to accomplish.


So this picture should be of the Chris Craft Logo:



This picture should be of Miss Dimple Beached... By the previous owner I might add...


And last, but certainly not least... Here is Miss Dimple's namesake, and Me shortly before taking a swim:


Alrighty, it appears this works, and I definitely like being able to upload the pics in this manner. Thanks Woodonglass...

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

I would strongly recommend that you get the bottom moisture metered..

It does look like dry layups, undercured resin ... and voids. Do you have any issues above the waterline ?

And NO you dont have to sand the gel off to apply your primer.. just scuff it up with the recommended grit paper ( 120g is what I use for 545 primer and 80 grit for interprotect 2000 for bottom barrier coatings ).

Bwt has a point about doing the epoxy barrier ( or IP2000 ) and bottom paint .

How deep are those grind outs in the strakes ? If there too deep you should glass them.

YD.

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

There's virtually nothing above the water line in the way of blisters, or even any imperfections in the gelcoat.

The original owner bought this boat and dropped it in a local lake, then spent about 28 years hanging out on her decks and mixing margaritas while on shore power. Unfortunately, he didn't change his zincs appropriately, hence the pitting in the outdrive (discussed many moons ago in a different thread) So this boat most definitely suffers from osmosis. The engine only has 374 hours on it. In comparison, my Chevy Suburban with 148,000 miles on it has over 5000 hours and running strong.

In the one or two places where the blisters were deeper, I'm definitely going to lay on some glass and build back out, but even that will be minimal, depending on how thick each layer of glass cures up at???

Here's a picture of the side all the way towards the bow, and the gelcoat is smooth as glass. As recommended, and what I was planning anyway, the unblistered areas are being sanded with 120 before I decide to prime.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

They definitely look like blisters and I don't really see any sign of dry or seriously under cured gel coat, just the results of long term immersion. I'm not saying blisters don't start in voids, but the voids can be very small, not the huge voids (blisters) seen in the pics. Glass in a laminate frequently looks dry when it becomes wet, water wicks down each fiber turning it white, which makes it look like there was a lack of resin.

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint???

I had a motorcycle club meeting and ride planned today, and then I figured I'd get going on some more sanding this evening, but then the rains came. Got soaked on the ride home, and it's still sprinkling a bit, so no power tool usage in the rain.

So with no sanding in my future, I'll ask questions instead. I have heard once in this thread, and somewhere else on the forums about painting with rustoleum and the Valspar acrylic hardener. I copied the below from someone else's post, but can't seem to locate the post again for further research.

"Here's My recommendation. Sand her down with 180 grit. Use 3M Premium Filler to fill any gouges. (clean em with Acetone first) Prime With Rustoleum Oil Based Primer. The Paint with Rustoleum Professional High Gloss Oil Based Paint. Use this formula.

1 qt paint, 1/2 cup Acetone, 2oz of Valspar Acrylic Enamel Hardener.

Spray with a HVLP gun with a 1.8mm tip Or use a Foam Roller to roll it on and the Re-Roll it with a Roller with almost NO paint on it. Two coats and It'll look great. Tractor Supply Co. carries the Valspar Hardener, Lowe's and Home Depot carry the Rustoleum Paint. Two Quarts should be plenty. Harbor Freight Sells a HVLP gun for less than $50 bucks. You'll need a 60 gallon compressor to run it though."

The ratios's are what I'm concerned about, plus the primer. Can anyone be more specific on the primer to use and if you know, provide some ratio's from personal experience. I do want the end product to turn out looking decent, but I don't want to spend 2 grand making it happen. Prep work I will do and will do thouroughly, I just want to have the best primer/paint/hardener combination that I can get. I didn't even know rustoleum could be purchased in quarts, always thought it was rattle-can only...

My next post will deal with Fiberglass... I've never done it, but have seen it performed many times, and it doesn't look that difficult.

Thanks...

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? NEW TITLE "25' Chris Craft CC Partial Restoration"

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? NEW TITLE "25' Chris Craft CC Partial Restoration"

Diregard my previous post... While searching the forums, I found the thread I was looking for and Woodonglass was the original poster...

We need to discuss the ratios and application in more detail if you don't mind. I have decided this is the way I'm going with it...

Thanks...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? NEW TITLE "25' Chris Craft CC Partial Restoration"

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? NEW TITLE "25' Chris Craft CC Partial Restoration"

Check your private Messages

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? NEW TITLE "25' Chris Craft CC Partial Restoration"

Re: Repairing Hull Bubbles? NEW TITLE "25' Chris Craft CC Partial Restoration"

Woodonglass,

Nevermind, and sorry to bother you with all the questions. It appears they were all answered for me in the previous thread I had mentioned. I'm making more notes from all the posts there, and since I'm in Georgia in the summer, guess I'll be painting in the early am, or late at night. Temps and such. I'll probably test various amounts of hardener on a piece of fiberglass at different temps to see how it dries, or possibly more or less acetone?

Thanks...