Boat Project

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Cliftonchr

Cadet
Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
6
Hello all,
I've been reading alot on here about restoring boats and appreciate all the info everyone has contributed. My uncle finally gave me his 72' cheetah jet boat, after I've been asking for years, which has set in his backyard and deteriorated. It has a 455 olds in it and used to be a pretty slick boat when I was a kid.

He kept thinking he was going to restore it as the interior had gotten damaged but he never got around to more than rebuilding the engine a couple of years ago.

In the meantime the topside has faded dramatically and the top of the bow has spider web cracks on the fiberglass. After reading here I know I have to sand out the cracks and use a filler (probably epoxy I think I read) and then repaint. The paint on the bottom is in pretty good shape and should buff out easy but the top is real rough and I'm not sure if it will, I played with the cracked area this weekend. The cracks weren't there before the boat was parked so they aren't stress cracks like I've read about, I believe they came about by having crap stacked on top of it for so long. Thoughts?

If I can revive the rest of the top I'm going to try to just paint the cracked area (shield shape) prob metallic silver. It's tough to figure out what could work with metallic gold. Any suggestions would be great as I'm not good at coordinating colors. If I can't revive the whole top area, please give me suggestions of what might match up with the lower gold. I might just have to paint the whole thing, of course cheaper is better but I do want it to look pretty good.

I'll tackle the interior after I get it painted. Please feel free to throw some suggestions at me. I think it's a gel coat with gold metallic flake, look at the pictures and let me know if that's correct please. From what I've read I will have to do some light sanding and then use a primer that will adhere to the gel coat and then paint it with a urethane paint? I will use the roll and tip method.

Thanks again for any suggestions.

boats001.jpg


boats002.jpg


Colorado005.jpg
 
92excel

92excel

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 6, 2008
Messages
477
Re: Boat Project

Resize your first photo.. keep them at or under 640 X 480...

if not you will cause a scroll bar and people wont read..
 
Mark42

Mark42

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
9,334
Re: Boat Project

Holy Cow! A 455 olds in that little hull? Thats going to be one wicked fast boat....

Anyway, I never had to deal with metal flake gel coat before, but from what I read here over the years, its best to just sand it out and paint or apply new gel. The spider cracks are probably just in the gel coat, but you won't know for sure until its sanded. I do know this: It can't be polished out or rejuvenated in that bad a condition.

Nice to see someone has spent time reading the forums before just jumping in with dozens of questions. Congratulations on getting your uncle's boat, and thank you for reading the forums!
 
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Cliftonchr

Cadet
Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
6
Re: Boat Project

Quick question guys about my gas tanks. I have to have new ones built or buy some already made. The current ones are rusted and were under the seats. They basically ran vertical in the boat (on each side) with a bench built over each one with seats on top, think they were around 12-15 gals each.

Seems like buying prefab ones would be cheaper? I've had a hard time finding anything in the same shape online so I was wondering if I could buy ones to put in the back sidewalls next to the engine? Would this mess up the balance of the boat? Cause problems coming out of the hole?

Your thoughts are appreciated.
 
erikgreen

erikgreen

Captain
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
3,105
Re: Boat Project

Cliftonchr said:
Seems like buying prefab ones would be cheaper? I've had a hard time finding anything in the same shape online so I was wondering if I could buy ones to put in the back sidewalls next to the engine? Would this mess up the balance of the boat? Cause problems coming out of the hole?

Your thoughts are appreciated.
Click to expand...

It'd be cheaper if you're getting poly (plastic) tanks. Aluminum custom tanks can be had for 20% more than prefab depending on how good a deal you cut with the welder.

Putting the weight elsewhere would change the balance, and you'd have to compensate. Most of the boat's weight is already near the engine. A full 12 gallon tank would weigh about 85 lbs, two of them you could figure the same balance shift as another person sitting at that point in the boat.

You can get tanks that'll fit vertically in the sidewalls if you want. You can also get a tank that'll fit in your bow, which is a better place to put weight. Check out ebay or sellers like GreatLakesSkipper to find oddball tanks that'll work.

If you check iboats or overtons you might be able to find something to fit your existing location.

Erik
 
proshadetree

proshadetree

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
1,887
Re: Boat Project

Looks like a sidewinder Go to sidewinderboats.com for info.I have a 75 winder Im going to do if I ever get this bayliner done.Also socaljetboats.com sometimes gas tanks are listed in used parts.
 
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Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,571
Re: Boat Project

Cliff, You might investigate whether the exterior is gel coat or paint. As for coordinating paint colors, I could not think of any color combinations with that gold, that struck me. Why not paint the entire boat? The silver metalflake sounds good, however, it will give the boat a 70s look, which you might like. A solid non-flake finish will give a more modern look.

Is the jet drive in good shape? You might look around for maintenance parts, to see if they are avail. A olds 455/Berkeley Jet drive was a popular combo, hopefully that is what you have.
 
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