18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

[Konacove]

I'm a newbie never owned a boat and know almost nothing about them and just recently acquired this boat. First I want to thank everyone for all the information i have already gotten just from browsing this forum. This boat has been sitting for i'm guessing 7 years since the tags say '03. The gel coat on the boat is oxidized pretty bad and the surface is very rough so i know that is going to be a huge step from what i read in these forums with the whole wetsanding process. I also found a soft spot in the floor so i ripped up the carpet. i am excited about this project and have been lookin at the iboats forums all week and decided i needed to take some pics and post em on here to share my project and for the wise words of fellow iboaters
well here is the boat

here is the crack in the floor that made the soft spot i was steppin on..i figure i am gonna have to rip it out and put new plywood down...

on the back of the boat it seems the cap and hull are offset by about .5" is that normal? am i going to have to fix this? how??

on the front of the bow we have some gouges where it sits on the trailer i am gonna have to work on...any advice?

and here is my O/B Merc i belive 150hp?

here is the gas tank i'm gonna clean

so far i'm about 5 days in to this thing don't have a set deadline goal because i don't know how funds are going to effect me down the line i'm trying to DIY the whole shibang....WISH ME LUCK! AND THANKS!

 

[Konacove]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

here is the inside...

 

[tschmidty]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

No real advice but looks like it could be a real cool boat. The outboard is a vy6 so should be at least 150hp. As far as the cap offset just take a look your guess is as good as most.

Crack in the floor, looks like you just need to tear it up and see. If nothing else you'll feel good about how it looks in the end.

Have fun.

 

[Konacove]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

thanks tschmidty! I am definately going to post pics with progress..this weekend I plan to get the deck pulled out and make my plan of attack.

 

[Konacove]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

started pulling up the deck yesterday and seen a lot of rot, the plywood is rotted and the stringers gonna work this week on getting the rest of the deck out and old stringers...took some pics of the rot gonna post them later...

 

[Konacove]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

so here are the pics of the rot...have to wait til trashday to continue...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

Welcome to iBoats!

You need to check out Archbuilders post. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=364284
His boat is very similar to yours and he is a master builder. You will find a lot of helpful info there.

Good luck.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

Arch's thread is awesome. It will help you out alot.

 

[KnightWolf]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

Hey it seems we are doing parrellel rebuilds I have a 73' kona that needs a transom and floor. Archbuilders does have a great rebuild going definately check his thread. Hard to find anyone else with kona outboards most are jetboats. Good luck with the rebuild we can suffer together.

 

[ogrealan]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

Hey Konacove, I'm going through the same trials that you are being new to boats and learning as I go. I have a 73 Marlin i'm tearing into doing floor, transom, the works. I noticed the same overlap on my cap to hull under the rub rail and asked around. It seems to be a pretty normal issue on the older boats where the manfacturer assembled them and fiberglassed them together under the gunalls. Hope to be able to follow your progress and see where you go with it.

Thanks
Alan.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

Your boat has some nice lines, she should be a lot of fun when you get her put back together. You should be able to figure out the HP of the motor from the serial number (I think). As far as I know the 150hp was the most powerful I6 made. There were also 115, 125,135 and 90's. Good luck with the restore....the demo and sanding are the hardest part...once you get past that it is very rewarding to see it going back together!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

One other note, you I and KnightWolf all have outboards from manufactures that specialized in jet boats. Almost all of the Nescher / Sleekcraft boats the same size as mine are jet drive. Personally I'm glad to have the outboard! I think you will like the way the Merc runs, sweet motors when tuned right!

 

[DieselDude]

Re: 18' '71 Kona Ski Restoration

I have a 1970 kona 16, looks just like yours except shorter and different OB. Did buff out the deck or did you sand and paint it? The paint on my boat is rough on the deck.