16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

lol, I'll polish aluminum any day.....but you can keep the stainless!

 

[Icyharp]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

lol, I'll polish aluminum any day.....but you can keep the stainless!

LOL, I know the frustration from trial and error over the years, but honestly once you have the right sources all is a cake walk.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

I finished polishing the brackets tonight, now I need to weld them up and touch up the polishing. I'm not real happy with the finish...but it will be under water.

I also discovered that somehow I manged to get the angle wrong on them ....I KNEW I should have built a mock up out of mild steel. Oh well they will still work, just not the way I had envisioned them. I think I can correct the angle with a taper shim where the bracket mates to the hull in stainless, or under the teak with a teak shim. I don't like that idea, but at this point in the summer I will probably settle for the teak shim. I'm guessing 95% of the world will never know.....but it still bugs me. And the angle I have been shooting for is an educated guess anyhow. So I'm going to finish them up, then rebuild the brackets if need be next winter. Icyharp gave me some info on specifying the raw material that will simplify the polishing process. So I guess I will move forward and see what happens. If anything I have learned a lot!

 

[Triton II]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Wow Arch, that looks like a LOT of elbow grease. Nice job and I'm sure you will solve your angles problem. She's looking better than new!

TII

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Thanks TII I will work it out one way or another. I didn't get a lot done tonight, but I did check the tank....fortunately I did a better job measuring it!

I will need to cut down the filler inlet and my deck filler fitting. Looks like if I take an 1" off of each one I will be good to go. I should also get the vent hose tomorrow. I still need to pick up some rubber for under the tank and between it at the straps. I'm planning on using 1/8" x 1" aluminum for the straps....need to get that picked up too. By the way does anyone know about grounding the tank and filler neck? I haven't dealt with one of these aluminum tanks before.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

I think they look great. But I know you. They have to be perfect.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

You have a lot of room to speak, lol!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

For what its worth I found this on the Net

How to Ground and Aluminum Fuel Tank

o 1
Connect a aluminum grounding wire to the fuel tank using one of the screw connectors on the fuel gauge fitting. Remove one with a screwdriver, insert the screw through the hole in the grounding strap and return the screw (and the grounding strap) to its hole.
o 2
Connect the grounding wire to your boat's common ground or grounding bus. The location of the common ground will be shown in your boat owner's manual.
o 3
Ground the tank's fuel filler -- where you insert the hose to pump fuel into the tank -- to the screw connector on the fuel gauge fitting by attaching an aluminum wire to the fuel gauge fitting and one of the screws on the fuel filler.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

That was what I was thinking would need to be done.....lol guess I need to write a section on the location of the "common ground" since I'm the one writing the owner's manual! I think I will just take it back to the ground buss since I have plenty of open holes. I have actually been working on rounding up a "owners manual"....mostly documenting things like the paint colors, wiring diagram etc....just need to find time to put it all together in one neat package.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

So I'm setting here itching, but I feel like I got more done tonight than the last week on the boat...its hard to fee like you are making progress sanding stainless! That should be some kind of prison sentence or integration method! I have the "hard point blocks about 95% done. I started out by finding the center on the back of each block, then setting up a hole saw in the drill press. The hole saw I went with was slightly larger than the fender washers that back up the threaded couplings I welded to them.

Next I set up my lamanite router with a small carbide trimming bit, set the cut depth slightly deeper than the thickness of the fender washer.

The hard part was securing such a small work piece. I drilled and counter sunk holds in the blocks, then screwed them to my build table to stabilize them.

Here is a shot with the washer test fit in the routed out hole.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Next I had to weld the fender washer to the coupling. My second tack weld looked a lot better after I remembered to turn on the gas, lol. I used a fire brick (used in fire places) to clamp my work to. Worked like a charm and had no issue with the heat.

After that I test fit each of the couplings in a block.

I used a 7/8" drill bit to counter bore the block to except the shoulder of the tack welds. The washers warped some in the heat, but I used vice grips to bend them back in place. Once I had a good fit, I put a registration mark on the block and washer with a sharpie.

(This shot was just before I put the sharpie mark on)

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Finally I put epoxy on both the back side of the hole and the "insert", pushed them in and aligned the registration points.

Tomorrow I will use the belt sander to remove the excess epoxy and have the finished product. By the way the top side of the coupling was taped off to keep out epoxy. I used west systems six-ten, great stuff!

 

[Triton II]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Wow Arch, this is becoming a real lesson in perfectionism. Love your work mate. And the tank is a work of art. Very cool.

TII

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Thanks TII, I just hope I can get the tank in and the swim platforms on this weekend. I also have to cut a tree down for a freind....my favorite thing to do, lol!

 

[ingalp01]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Arch, I started reading this thread last night and WOW, I am impressed by your work and your shop and your dedication to the craft. I have always loved to tinker, then it became obsessive when I built my Harley, and it has carried over to boating. Working on my hull now, but it's a little different job on a large cabin cruiser. I only wish I could flip her upside down and build a paint booth in the garage... LOL... Great work and great inspiration. I'm sure many of your ideas will get my brain spinning and help me come up with viable solutions when I run into problems. Awesome post!!!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Thanks ingalp01, hopefully something I have posted will help you out. It will be interesting to see how well may hard points work. Do you have a thread started on your boat?

 

[ingalp01]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Yes, the thread is in this section titled Repairing Hull Bubbles? Gelcoat or Paint??? *Check post #12*

Given that I'm actually going to end up replacing the outdrive, steering, throttle and trim controls, the entire fuel system and redoing the layout of the cockpit and reupholstery on the interior of the cabin, as well as some electrical work, I wonder if I should start a new Post and just call it a Partial Restore?

Anyways, I look forward to seeing more of yours and to gathering advice from everyone here on the forums.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Tonight I finished up the hard point blocks, ran a bottom tap through them and ground down the base. I will hit them with 24 grit before I glue them down, but the belt sander cleaned them up nicely. I think next time I will go deeper on the counter sink for the washer.

I also welded up the swim platform brackets. Good news, I didn't build them wrong! They just had drawn a lot when I welded them. I pulled them out of the jig while they were still hot, I guess they drew up while they were cooling. I clamped them in the jig and welded in the gusset plate. I put one on the transom, much better on the angle. Now I wish I had spent more time on the polishing! I spent a couple hours grinding the welds, there has to be a better way fabricating this stuff... but I'm starting to get addicted to working with it.....maybe next winter it may end up in some furniture pieces. You have to be careful with the grinder, I used my 4", but I'm wondering if a 90 degree die grinder would work better. I'm open for suggestions. I actually used my Dremel for the first time in years, for once it worked pretty well on the detailed stuff. Now hours of sanding

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

Arch,

Have you tried a Drill powered buffing wheel and Chromium Oxide buffing paste on the stainless??

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

no I haven't, I think...I have a lot of jewelers rouges but I'm not sure what the make up of the is exactly.