16' Nescher ski boat complete restore- SPLASHED!!

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

I will be painting Max....already priced the paint!

I also worked on the trailer yesterday. I need to drill some holes for the wiring clamps (I'm going with little black plastic ones), then strip the axle off. After that it should be ready for the sand blaster. According to the forecast (for what its worth....) its going to be clear towards the end of the week. Hopefully I can drop it off and get it back before the weekend. Then if it is warm enough outside, I'll get paint on it next weekend.

Here is what I'm planning, let me know what you guys think. I'm painting the trailer the same silver I used for the stripe. The fenders will be the red, and I'm thinking about a red stripe on the frame. More or less the reverse scheme of the boat. I'm planning on using a light gray / silver carpet on the boat. I don't think that will look really good on the steps, since the frame will be silver. How about black carpet for the bunks and steps? I wonder if it will get hot?

I also showed a friend of mine the site last night....think he may have boat restore fever now! His wife may kill me!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Here is the wiring fix on Max, heat shrink tubing works great for replacing insulation.

Before:

After:

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Here are a couple of shots of the sandblasted trailer. It looks a lot better! Now all I have to do is a little body work, drill some hole.....prime it....sand that out...and get some paint on it. Shouldn't take too long, but it doesn't look like the weather is going to co-operate anytime soon!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Well tonight I sanded down the outside frame rail to smooth things up. The original channel frame was pretty rough, so I decided it needed some botox! I did a little grinding, then smeared on the botox. I'm going to hit it with 120 on the DA tomorrow and then get some primer on it...I also need to sand down the axle. Here are a couple of shots from tonight.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

yeah yeah yeah...I'm just cleaning up things! Today I pulled out the trailer ( in the wonderful weather...hope old man is gone!) and worked on paint prep....making welds look clean and dressing ups some of the outside frame. I shot some etching primer, then followed up with some filling primer...looking good, hopefully I can get some paint on it tomorrow!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Tired...long day but the trailer is painted! I was painting away...just about done with the color coat...stepped back and took a look....hmmm that looks like a silver with a little red in it.....hmmm that looks like too much red! Sure enough they mixed the wrong color! Fortunatly I still had some silver from the boat, and it was enough to cover the exposed parts! Some of the stuff under the steps will be a little "pink". But unless you are laying upside down who cares?

Before

After

Now I need to figure out how much carpet I need and get it ordered.....

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

I made some progress on fitting out the trailer. I installed most of the wire management system....looks pretty messy huh ?

If you look close you can see little aluminum rivet heads. I found some 1/8" plastic clamps I riveted to the underside. I had to use a rivet backing washer, but once I figured out the rivet length it went smoothly. Here is a shot where the wire goes through the frame rail to the marker lamps. I still need to install the clamp on the left side, you can see the rivet where it goes. The grommets worked out pretty slick too.

Here is a shot from the opposite side.

Here is a shot of the back side of the tail light mount.

Here is where the wires come together at the tounge. I think I will look for a small piece of black tubing to go around the wires....it looks a little unfinished. I'm sure I can live with it....but I thought that might be a nice touch if I can find something.

I also need to lenghten the ground wire, naturally its 1' too short!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

I spent most of today helping a friend....so I didn't get to work on the boat till late this afternoon. I started out by putting the heat shrink tube on the wiring harness....but it was too small to fit in the ground wire...so it was wait till Monday or just go with it. The ground wire is white, so I figured it wouldn't look that bad zip tied to the heat shrink wires and ran with it. So I got all the wires feeded through the grommet....soddered up the terminal for the ground...hooked up the ground....then stepped back for a look.....I decided that the lead needed so slack, so I pulled on it....popped the grommet out! I couldn't get it back in.....so I stopped and ran to Ace, picked up a thin wall plastic grommet and started all over again! But it seemed to work out pretty good.

Here is a shot of the marker light connection before I heat shrinked it and clamped it down.

Here is a shot of the right rear tail light after it was wired up

I also got the rollers on....

Hopefully tomorrow I can get the bunks and steps on. I was working on mounting the winch, but had some hardware issues...back to Ace tomorrow!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

I didn't quite get done today, but got most of it except the bunk boards and fenders. I'm painting the fenders when I shoot the top of miss morgan....here is a shot from today.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Thanks for the comments guys! Bob I hope to flip her before next weekend....then get to work on the top. I'm debating cutting out all of the holes for lights, gauges, and the steering before I paint her top side. Hopefully I can get paint on her in the next week or so. I did order the gauges today, I got them through the same guy Mountainman bought his from. Next I need to order the steering, I'm looking at a Teleflex no feed back rack.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Thanks Frisco....I got the bunks on tonight....I hate stapling and trimming carpet by the way!

I have a video I will post later, headed out to get something to eat right now.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Finally got the video to upload, not sure what was going on with youtube last night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2uamA8RK-w

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Hey guys, I had to entertain the help after the flip....good news is she is on the trailer looking sexy....no damage! Sorry Mick no video.....someone forgot to charge the camera...sorry! Here a re a couple of pics from the flip. Here is David K sitting on the boat right before we flipped it.

Carpet padding works great for rolling over a boat by the way. Here is the flipping crew trying to look like a captian morgan ad or something.....

I wanted to get more pics of the flip, but we were one person short....and I was the one running the tractor and sweating bullets! Next project I'll set up a web cam...

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Another before / after shot.....not sure if I can sleep tonight, I may just go sand the top all night!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

The guages came in today....very happy with the way they look. I'm headed out to the shop to do some cleaning and figure out what to do next!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Thanks for all the input on the color scheme...I think I'm going to stick with my original scheme.

I have spent most of the day trying to round up parts and make list of stuff I need to get before I paint. I have about 3 zillion hole saws, but of course don't have the right sizes for the instruments! Looks like I will be adding a couple more to my collection!

I put on max's "tuxedo" today...and here is my latest debate.

His stickers are about on their last leg. I'm afraid if I tape them off and paint him, the stickers will come off with the paint..... I can't find an original set of stickers...

but I did find a place that reproduces them. I'm just a little concerned with how accurate they will be. To compound things, the finish on the towers isn't a high gloss as best as I can determine. If anyone knows otherwise please let me know. So I'm trying to figure out should I spend $50 on the reproduction stickers and see what they look like? Or just tape off the old ones and hope for the best? Need to go by the paint place next week and see what they have for finish options.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Today I got some of the holes drilled and some of the "layout work" done...plus some of the fender work. I wire brushed the fenders around the welds this morning. I had planned on putting seam filler on the joint to waterproof it....but I wasn't very happy with the welds. I had some west systems six-10 left over from the floor, so I decided to put it on the joint where I added the extensions. That should waterproof it and reinforce the welds. The galvanizing on the sheet metal really made clean welds hard.

Here is a shot after the epoxy, six-10 is great stuff!

Here is a shot of the neat cleats I bought, Attwoods brand. I picked them because they don't rattle....some of the other ones I have seen rattle, that would drive me nuts!

Here is a shot of the template I made for the cleat and a hole saw where the marker light goes. I also have a "arc" penciled in where I think the steering and throttle cable will be...hopeful thinking I'm sure....but might as well plan?

Here it is with the holes drilled

Here is a layout I have come up with for the gauges....not real happy with it at the moment. The blue tape is the edge of the steering wheel, which dictates where the first gauge goes. The speedo and tach are separated by the beam that splits the bow (penciled in lightly) then we have the other gauges. The problem is that you are looking at them sideways...so I'm pondering making angled gauge receivers or maybe hanging them below the dash.....now of course that is all driven by the seats...so back to that I guess!

I also have a debate on the front cleats that I will post next.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

once I got to the front cleats, I discovered that if I drilled a hole for the cleats, that they would hit the side of the hull below before they were recessed...at least where I wanted to mount them at the edge of the hull. Now I am thinking about mounting them on the sloping area right in front of the cockpit. What do you guys think? Right where I have the template located.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Here is the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAFxqdRr9Vo

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Re: 16' Nescher ski boat complete restore

Just got back from two days at Eufaula and Tenkiller. I helped David K with his house remodel and he helped me with spring chores at my place. We burned leaves today....still smell like smoke! The day was awesome...light breeze and high 60's, sunny sky....the lake was flat, can't wait to get Miss Morgan out on a day like that! While I was gone a bunch of parts showed up....now I have a stack, no excuses for not working on her this weekend! Especially since we are suppose to get SNOW! Sick of this! Only 10 weeks till summer and we are getting snow! Well here is a shot of my parts pile!