keverdmann
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2009
- Messages
- 47
I purchased a 24 foot Grady white last September (09). It was in good structural shape and the engine ran great but the old man that owned it did not care to clean the boat or make it look good at all.
Here is a pic of what I started with:
Its not a great pic, but trust me, its dirty!
When I was going over the boat I made the mistake of stepping on the steering ram, It was the stock steering system that came with the boat. I damaged it creating a small leak which caused my steering to stop responding. I replaced the entire steering system with a sea star system, I lucked out and found one on Craig?s list NEW in the box for ? the original price! (I will take pics when the snow melts) This system is impossible to step on because it mounts directly in front of the engine and not to the side.
After I fixed the steering I power washed the entire boat. Some people may say that you don?t want to do that to gel coat but it was 100% necessary. This boat had not been cleaned in at least 6 years.
The graphics and lines on the boat were rather beat up and faded. So I took them off. I did this over the winter with a hair dryer and a spackle knife to lift the edge. Then I just peeled them slowly off keeping them warm as I did so. Without the hairdryer the vinyl would snap from being cold.
Also note the extreme chalkiness of the gel coat on the sides of the boat. This may concern some people, but I knew that Grady White boats are made of the best materials. So I borrowed my brother?s buffing wheel and compounded the sides with 3m super duty compounding paste. This got rid of the entire chalky gel coat and brought back the shine. See the before and after.
Before:
After:
Since the side was clean I cut a new Grady Logo with my vinyl cutter that I purchased from US cutter. I purchased the cutter specifically for recreating all the logos and stripes for my boat. They also sold a vinyl that is almost 100% the same as Grady White?s blue.
I was excited to use my cutter and here is the outcome of the cut. It?s the first of many logos and stripes to go back on the boat.
I also have already stripped the bottom paint off the boat. I wanted to do so because I just needed to see the bottom to inspect for cracks and such.
The bottom actually turned out fine. There was a few dings and nicks most likely from trailering. Nothing to be worried about? But what else did I really expect from a Grady.
The plan with the bottom is the following:
Step one:
Barrier coat (white)
Step two:
Hard bottom paint (black)
Step Three:
Micro CSC multi season bottom paint (blue)
Some people say you don?t need the barrier coat because fiberglass is waterproof, but I figured with all the small nicks and dings it would be good. Last thing I ever need is soft spots in the hull.
The idea behind the black under the blue is so I know when the Blue is warn away and I only need to touch up the bottom. Not fully repaint.
More to come, Once the bottom is painted and back on the trailer, the work topside will start.
Here is a pic of what I started with:
Its not a great pic, but trust me, its dirty!
When I was going over the boat I made the mistake of stepping on the steering ram, It was the stock steering system that came with the boat. I damaged it creating a small leak which caused my steering to stop responding. I replaced the entire steering system with a sea star system, I lucked out and found one on Craig?s list NEW in the box for ? the original price! (I will take pics when the snow melts) This system is impossible to step on because it mounts directly in front of the engine and not to the side.
After I fixed the steering I power washed the entire boat. Some people may say that you don?t want to do that to gel coat but it was 100% necessary. This boat had not been cleaned in at least 6 years.
The graphics and lines on the boat were rather beat up and faded. So I took them off. I did this over the winter with a hair dryer and a spackle knife to lift the edge. Then I just peeled them slowly off keeping them warm as I did so. Without the hairdryer the vinyl would snap from being cold.
Also note the extreme chalkiness of the gel coat on the sides of the boat. This may concern some people, but I knew that Grady White boats are made of the best materials. So I borrowed my brother?s buffing wheel and compounded the sides with 3m super duty compounding paste. This got rid of the entire chalky gel coat and brought back the shine. See the before and after.
Before:
After:
Since the side was clean I cut a new Grady Logo with my vinyl cutter that I purchased from US cutter. I purchased the cutter specifically for recreating all the logos and stripes for my boat. They also sold a vinyl that is almost 100% the same as Grady White?s blue.
I was excited to use my cutter and here is the outcome of the cut. It?s the first of many logos and stripes to go back on the boat.
I also have already stripped the bottom paint off the boat. I wanted to do so because I just needed to see the bottom to inspect for cracks and such.
The bottom actually turned out fine. There was a few dings and nicks most likely from trailering. Nothing to be worried about? But what else did I really expect from a Grady.
The plan with the bottom is the following:
Step one:
Barrier coat (white)
Step two:
Hard bottom paint (black)
Step Three:
Micro CSC multi season bottom paint (blue)
Some people say you don?t need the barrier coat because fiberglass is waterproof, but I figured with all the small nicks and dings it would be good. Last thing I ever need is soft spots in the hull.
The idea behind the black under the blue is so I know when the Blue is warn away and I only need to touch up the bottom. Not fully repaint.
More to come, Once the bottom is painted and back on the trailer, the work topside will start.
