Hello Gents,
Well it has been a while, mostly because I don't work in the winter (no heater in the garage). I do have some pictures of the vinyl going in from last fall that I forgot to post. All in all it went pretty good. Thanks to Budski for helping me out with the vinyl and carpet. I am confident that I have enough to do everything.
I went to store and picked up some brown shipping paper, bought about three rolls. I used it as templates for the decking and along the sides. Once I measured it out, I added an extra inch all the around just to be sure I didn't short change myself on the measurements. I want the deck vinyl to come up the sides about an inch so I could overlap the carpet on top. That should allow water to drain straight down and on to the deck vinyl vice under it.
As Classic recommended, I used epoxy filler for the joints on the deck boards. It was a power filler added to the epoxy mix, and then you spread it on and level it. After drying, I sanded it smooth, but I didn't get quite enough on the back seam so I ended up with a bit of a lip. You will see it in the first 2 photo, but it really isn't that bad.
I did one continuous section for the deck boards. After reading others' accounts of trying to install one continuous run, I decided to lay the vinyl out for fit. Once I was happy with the layout, I secured the front half with some weight, and then rolled the stern section into the middle of the boat. From there I laid 12 to 18 inches of contact cement from side to side and rolled the vinyl toward the stern. That seemed to work really well and the vinyl didn't shift on me. After I had the back half of the boat done, I repeat the process working from the center of the boat to the bow. I didn't have to worry about shifting as the rear half of the vinyl was already well anchored to the deck on the back half of the boat. It was a good thing I added the extra inch to the circumference of the deck vinyl as it came almost exactly one inch on the side.
and now some pictures:
The seam is visible in the next two shots, but the angle of the picture with the way the light is coming in the garage makes it look worse than it is. You can see that the vinyl just coming up the inside of the hull.
Better picture of the vinyl wrapping up the side.
A little front to back action.
The paper templates saved me a ton of hassles. I was quite happy with the way the carpet overlaid the vinyl. I threw the casting deck in for reference. I actually started on it first to make sure I knew what I was doing with the contact cement and vinyl. I was very happy with the results on that was well. I love the contrasting greys against the sapphire blue.
More of the same. While the lower deck is clear of rivets, the casting deck will be riveted in through the vinyl so...meh.
Above and the following some of my craft work to make the templates. This really did help me a lot.
I think I have some more carpet pictures somewhere. When I find them I will post them up. I did do the console fronts, not sure where I saved those pics??
I am almost at the point where I can get started on the wiring, but will have to install the supporting frame for the casting deck first. I cannot do that until I install the consoles, and dry fit the console front. The carpet adds a fair amount to the measurements. Once I do that I can dry fit the supporting frame with the casting deck on top. Once I am sure that everything fits correctly, then I can go ahead and anchor the supporting frame. Then I can run all the wiring, test it, and then secure the casting deck on top.
Spring and warmer temperatures can't come soon enough.
All the carpet and vinyl went in really well. Big shout out to Bud for helping get the goods! BTW Bud I might need some more contact cement. The good news is that I had just the right amount of carpet and vinyl with a little left over to spare. :joyous:
When I was measuring out the vinyl I decided to add an extra inch all the way around just to be sure. This turned out to be the right choice as I had enough vinyl on the sides that I was able to wrap it about an inch up on both sides. It should funnel water nicely to the back without running down the sides of the deck. Plus things dropped on the deck won't roll under it.
Poor picture quality, but you can see that the splash well, consoles and the side runners for the side panels are now all painted.
