1972 15' Nova rebuild

[MNhunter1]

The floor is finally in. I'll hit the countersunk rivets with some Marine-Tex to level them out and probably wait to lay the vinyl until I get my dash all sorted out.



A little break from the boat work for most of the weekend. My 5 year old just finished his first season of wrestling and took 2nd place at a tournament on Saturday. It was a good weekend!

 

[MNhunter1]

Question for those of you with the HF air riveter... I was having some problems with the stems not breaking off, needing three or so pulls of the trigger before they'd finally break free. Was running at 90 psi which should have been okay. Maybe low on oil? I tried briefly to open it up to check, but she wasn't breaking free with anything I was willing to try tonight.

 

[Watermann]

Looking good on the decking and the lil rastler looks like one tough hombre. :thumb:

So the rivet mandrels won't one pull pop unless they're the exact length needed. If the rivet is too long then it has to grab again to pull the mandrel into the rivet shaft. Most times I have to double pull with my riveter using the long LF 3/16" rivets, the 5/32" pop instantly.

Don't need to open up the riveter to oil it, I add a couple drops into the air line nipple on mine.

 

[No-AH]

Mn, my experience with these air riveters is that the longer the grab length of the rivet the more pulls you'll need. Albeit, oil top up on these tools is crucial, I just don't think there a match for long rivets. I purchased Alcoa's IF-1 "one and done" rivet tool http://acerivet.com/if-1-rivet-tool/ with it's longer pull stroke, it breaks em off with one pull, properly, every time, especially those long SS structurals....although a tad expensive , it is truly a piece of mind acquisition in the toolbox. As Wm has said before "you don't add the cost of the tools in the tally that you acquire from doing these redos"

Congrats to the lil rastler!!

 

[MNhunter1]

Mn, my experience with these air riveters is that the longer the grab length of the rivet the more pulls you'll need. Albeit, oil top up on these tools is crucial, I just don't think there a match for long rivets. I purchased Alcoa's IF-1 "one and done" rivet tool http://acerivet.com/if-1-rivet-tool/ with it's longer pull stroke, it breaks em off with one pull, properly, every time, especially those long SS structurals....although a tad expensive , it is truly a peace of mind acquisition in the toolbox. As Wm has said before "you don't add the cost of the tools in the tally that you acquire from doing these redos"

Congrats to the lil rastler!!

Wowzer! I think my piece of mind would be better just knowing the savings of a few extra pulls...lol

 

[crankbait cowboy]

looking real good mn, and nice progress wondering what size t-nuts you used for base plates and then what size machine screws you will use to attach thru base to tnut?

 

[MNhunter1]

looking real good mn, and nice progress wondering what size t-nuts you used for base plates and then what size machine screws you will use to attach thru base to tnut?

I'm using stainless 1/4"-20 T-Nuts and 1/4"-20 machine screws. I went with 2" screws, but I could have gotten by with something closer to 1-1/2"

 

[MNhunter1]

Note to self - much easier and less time consuming to purchase a toggle switch panel than to make one yourself. Happy with how it is turning out, but a little tedious and I now have a garage covered in aluminum glitter.

 

[MNhunter1]

Mocked up the switch panel and steering to get the dash all lined up for cutting. Ready for some Spar and a wrap of vinyl. Trying to decide on whether to paint up the switch panel or leave it raw aluminum. Dash and rest of interior will be grey vinyl and grey Nautolex.

 

[ezmobee]

Looks cool!

 

[Watermann]

I think the switch panel would look nice in contrasting black paint.

 

[jbcurt00]

Yep ^^^

Unless the gray vinyl is fairly dark shade, WM and the Stones said it best:

 

[MNhunter1]

I think the switch panel would look nice in contrasting black paint.

Yep ^^^

Unless the gray vinyl is fairly dark shade, WM and the Stones said it best:

Can I just hit it with some Rusto Aluminum Primer and topcoat with the Pro, or do I need to use ZC?

 

[MNhunter1]

'Cause I know you all like pictures...

Spar drying...

 

[Tnstratofam]

Looks good. Another option on the switch panel would be to paint it the same dark green as the hull, although I think the black would be nice too.

 

[Watermann]

AL primer, SE primer, reg primer and paint makes for a nice build up of solid layers.

 

[MNhunter1]

Yeah, I keep going back and forth between using the same hulk paint or a matte black. Maybe I'll just wait until everything is in place, bow cap, gunnels, steering, dash vinyl, flooring, etc and then make the call.

 

[MNhunter1]

Update - got the Nautolex down, dash wrapped in vinyl and mounted, pedestal bases in, and the gunnels set with clecos and ready for some rivets.

 

[Watermann]

Hey that looks pretty darn good to me, that must feel great to have that behind you :thumb:

 

[Tnstratofam]

I agree that looks sharp. I'm really digging the contrast between the green and gray.:thumb: