transom and floor replacement

SKIBUM1M

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Jul 17, 2009
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604
Re: transom and floor replacement

Thanks Bob I agree I ment just to scuff the gellcoat to give the paint something to stick to. Just buffing the gelcoat brings it to a nice shine but the brown gelcoat will oxidize in a couple weeks where the white seems to stay shiny. So any paint scheme I use will have to cover the brown stripe at minimum.
 

BobsGlasstream

Commander
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Sep 11, 2009
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2,128
Re: transom and floor replacement

SKIBUM1M,
I have one more thought.
I was planning on repainting the blue on my boat and when I took a really good look at it I found that it wasn't paint. It was a vinyl wrap. I have been researching the wrap material and it is good for up to 10 years. Mine has been on my boat for 21 years.
Maybe worth looking at. The cost was real good under $150.
Just a thought.
Bob
 

SKIBUM1M

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Re: transom and floor replacement

I was thinking of vinyl decals when i was planning to paint the whold boat but I think a black stripe to cover the brown will work well since I have the paint and equipment from when I painted my thunderbird.
 

SKIBUM1M

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Re: transom and floor replacement

Wow I have done alot of prep work on the boat and have pics to upload tomorrow but, I juat gelcoated the transom and I think it came out pretty good but I will have to remove the mold release and see. I have 1 run but I figure I can remove it by sanding and buffing which I plan to do anyway to get rid of the orange peel. Spraying Gelcoat didnt seem too bad but the mold release made a mess of my gun. It took about twice as long to clean it as paint.
I am thinking of the interior and I think I have a plan. I want yellow vinyl with black piping and I also want to replace the seats with captains chairs on adjustible height swivel posts. the captains chairs are outragously expensive and I would have to reupholster them anyway to match the color scheme so I am looking into salvage yards or ebay for old worn out seats that I can recover.
 

SKIBUM1M

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Re: transom and floor replacement

My prep work began with removing the pinstriping. I have found there is only one easy way to do this and that is with an eraser wheel
IMG00088-20091202-2211.jpg

This is before:
IMG00085-20091202-2201.jpg

and about 3 minits later:
IMG00087-20091202-2211.jpg

Then I removed the boat from the trailer so I had more room to work around the boat. I built a quick stand out of 2x4's and some cheap casters which didnt stand up so it doesnt roll but it is centered in the garage. The boat looks so plain now without the decals and pinstriping.
IMG00090-20091202-2320.jpg

IMG00089-20091202-2320.jpg

I am now considdering gelcoating the whole boat to fix the spidercracks and change the color.
 

SKIBUM1M

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Re: transom and floor replacement

If anyone is good at photoshop I would love to see some paintschemes in yellow and purple of the boat.
 

PaulyV

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Sep 7, 2008
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525
Re: transom and floor replacement

wow..thats really an eraser like on the end of a pencil?? (more dense i'm sure)

never seen that before..it does a hell of a job!!! Great work.
 

SKIBUM1M

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Re: transom and floor replacement

It is more dense and sold at the auto paint stores as a pinstripe remover. The first time i saw one used i thought it would burn the paint but left it perfect. The best $10 tool i know of
 

archbuilder

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Sep 12, 2009
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5,697
Re: transom and floor replacement

wow haven't seen one of those before...very cool!
 

SKIBUM1M

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Re: transom and floor replacement

I got everything on the boat removed tonight except the gauges and boweye. Now lots of sanding and get some gelcoat. Has anyone done a 2 tone gelcoat or should I paint the second color on?
 

SKIBUM1M

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Re: transom and floor replacement

Ok I am at a point that I have some questions first is I dont have the ability to easily flip the boat but is there any problems with putting padding or carpet down and just rolling the boat onto its side to work on the bottom half at a time? Next there are snaps screwed into the cap for covers, should I remove these? if so how do I fill the holes? Also I would like to move the gas filler from the side to the top to make it easier to add oil so whats the best way top fill the old hole? Is there any preference in gelcoats? I have seen anywhere from $60 to $140 a gallon. and Lastly can I gelcoat over the edging for the bare fiberglass? I have included Pis of most of these areas. I appreciate any advice.
Here is a picture of one of the snap screw holes:
IMG00094-20091205-1440.jpg

Here is the gas filler hole:
IMG00098-20091205-1441.jpg

And here is the edging:
IMG00096-20091205-1441.jpg

and here are some pics of the current stage of the boat:
IMG00092-20091205-1439.jpg

IMG00093-20091205-1439.jpg

IMG00095-20091205-1440.jpg
 

archbuilder

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Messages
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Re: transom and floor replacement

Hey Ski, I rolled mine over in the yard with the help of some friends. That being said, I have a closed bow and a really light boat. Maybe someone else here has done it with a boat more like yours. What are you doing on the bottom?
 

SKIBUM1M

Chief Petty Officer
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Jul 17, 2009
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Re: transom and floor replacement

Sanding out all the scratches filling the area right under the drain plug where it was beached and worn flat, and gelcoating the whole boat.
I am just afraid that I could cause stresses by rolling it that could crack the gelcoat
 

BobsGlasstream

Commander
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Sep 11, 2009
Messages
2,128
Re: transom and floor replacement

SKIBUM1M,
This is just my opinion but, I would think rolling onto one side at a time would cause more stress on the boat.
Look at Opp's thread to see how he rolled his over. he has an index at the beginning of his thread that will save some search time. If you can't do it the way he did it may give you some ideas.
If I was closer, I'd come to help you. :)
Good luck
Bob
 
Last edited:

lowkee

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Messages
1,890
Re: transom and floor replacement

I wasn't able to roll mine over, either. I did exactly what you are considering.. I hooked up hoists to the bow and stern eyes and listed one side at a time. Worked out pretty well, but expect more sanding (runs, sagging, orange peel), as gravity will be working against you instead of for you. If at all possible, string it between two trees to get it off the ground and use a dolly to do the rotation. I gave up trying to figure out a decent means to flip mine, so I just went with your original idea of one side at a time.
 

erikgreen

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Jan 8, 2007
Messages
3,105
Re: transom and floor replacement

Are you re-gelcoating the whole thing?

If you are, I almost wouldn't bother specifically fixing those cracks first... you're going to end up re-sanding the whole hull anyway.

Check out Oops' hull extension thread to see what's necessary for re-gelcoating... it's not paint, it's more like applying bondo to a whole car. You'd need to sand and rough the hull, spray gelcoat, then fair and sand, fix any imperfections, sand, fix, sand, sand, and wet sand.

I'm guessing you probably want to do a spot gelcoat repair, or else paint the thing.

Erik
 

SKIBUM1M

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Re: transom and floor replacement

Nope I plan to gelcoat the whole thing. I am not stripping the whole thing to bare fiberglass but I will be roughing spraying, sanding, etc. There are just soo many little problems everywhere that I dont want patches everywhere.
Lowkey- Great thread. And yes Orange Peal is inevitable. Use a good quality urethane and you can sand it out afterwards.
I appreciate all the advice and am getting pretty excited about what it will look like when done. I have more pics I will post tioday.
 

SKIBUM1M

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Re: transom and floor replacement

Ok I have gotten alot done in the last few days. First I filled and sanded all the screw holes and the gas filler hole and the previous motor mount holes. Then tonight I finally got the guts to flip the boat. It was probably the scariest thing I have ever done. Seeing the hole boat suspended sideways It just looked alot bigger. Then the ski locker cover fell and I just about sh.. well you know. It turned out to be real easy the boat was perfectly balanced and rolled very easily. Well here are the pics.
IMG00105-20091206-0023.jpg

Here is 4 layers of cloth filling the gas filler hole
IMG00106-20091206-0023.jpg

4 layers of cloth filling the previous motor mount holes.
IMG00107-20091206-0024.jpg

I stripped the dash in prep for the gelcoat.
IMG00108-20091206-2317.jpg

Here Is filler on the screw holes. there are a ton of them and I think every one of them had a star crack in the gelcoat.
IMG00109-20091206-2317.jpg

More pics of screw holes filled.
 

SKIBUM1M

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Jul 17, 2009
Messages
604
Re: transom and floor replacement

IMG00110-20091207-2124.jpg

Here is the boat on it's side. If it was 6 inches wider it would not have fit between the floor and ceiling.
IMG00111-20091207-2125.jpg

This engine crane is the handiest tool you can buy. The rope is 1050 pound test
IMG00112-20091207-2125.jpg

Here is a shot of how I rigged the back. I hooked a chain between the transom eyes and used the 10,000 lb ratchet strap to raise the boat to hook the chain higher.
IMG00113-20091207-2147.jpg

Here it is safely setting on the floor. Phew
IMG00114-20091207-2147.jpg

And the front
 

SKIBUM1M

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Jul 17, 2009
Messages
604
Re: transom and floor replacement

IMG00115-20091207-2147.jpg

Here is a shot of the rear setup for the rear lift
IMG00116-20091207-2148.jpg

And a shot of the engine crane
IMG00118-20091207-2225.jpg

Under the keel guard I found there is no gelcoat. One more reason I am glad I dug a little deeper.
IMG00120-20091207-2226.jpg

And some chipped gelcoat on the edge.
IMG00121-20091207-2226.jpg

Here I started sanding and found the gelcoat was actually white. I have alot of scratches and chips to fill but I thik it is going alot smoother than I expected.
 
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