1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

[artistwood]

Re: 1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

Carpet pics as of last fall. Installed over new marine 7 ply deck and very clean logs. Very cushy 28 oz.
Back to sanding and painting........

 

[artistwood]

Re: 1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

Starting to paint the fencing and rails. Using Brightside polyurethane Blu-Glo White, with a roller and tipping it off with a brush. Very cool paint. Only complaint is drying time and bugs. Cant control either so there is a small amount of buffing in my future. Was going to polish the rails but decided to paint them a light grey instead. I can use tiger hair and filler on some of the many holes to cover them up. We are only going to polish the upper and lower deck edging and corners. All the railing will be painted.
On a positive note, the semi trailer aluminum siding I got from ADE in indianapolis is great for boat fencing. Thicker than the origional but easy to work with and they cut it to the width i need. One side has a plastic film that helps with handling and scratch issues. It comes off before painting. You can get it in a lot of prepainted colors but I'm using white.
Lots of prep work involved in painting but only have 3 pcs left to prime.
We took the origional short party hut door and mated it with the lower part of a Harris pontoon door to make it taller for the new front fencing. A little body work and you wont be able to tell it isn't one piece. We used JB weld with a smaller tube slid inside the outer ones. Its hold with no issue as i threw it around the yard a few times to try to break it. It's holding great. Final sanding today then prime and paint. Only major problem was it was hinged on the wrong side so those holes got filled and new ones were drilled so it will look like it was always there.
We're also doing some engiine work. New water pump and a new trim solenoid. Also took the Quicksilver stainless prop in to have a nick welded and the prop redone. Lots cheaper than a new 400 dollar prop. Plan is to buy a new aluminum prop for a spare to keep on the boat. I have developed a great respect for all marine mechanics. I plan to take the boat in for a full diagnostic and tune up prior to hitting the water. Better the experts take care of it than a novice marine mechanic like me.
More pics soon.......Bear

 

[artistwood]

Re: 1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

Have been experimenting with the paint on the rear panel. Seems to work best when used with very little thinner. I roll it on then tip it off with a 3" badger brush. This leaves a very slight texture on the paint and looks great. The weather here was 99 yesterday, today and probably tomorrow. Above 85 degrees, the paint dries too quick and tipping becomes very difficult. I wait till evenings to paint but the risk of bugs is higher. On the up side, it's easy to remove them and touchups dont show. Brightside is very good paint.
I am using a gray Scotchbrite pad to scuff the Toplac white primer right before painting. It levels any slight bumps (read bugs). Then a quick wipe with the tack rag and painting begins. I paint the outside of the panels first, then the back. Being that the back is flat, the front can rest on the rails and wont mar the freshly painted surface. After the white paint dries, the rails will be masked off and painted a very light gray. Hope to be done with everything by next week.
After the painting and rail installation, it's time for the walls!
More pics soon......

 

[nikogto]

Re: 1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

How are you gong to do your walls and changing room?

 

[nikogto]

Re: 1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

I have a 96 party hut 30' that I'm thinking of re-buidling this winter, but as we all know the stock walls on these boats are just rotten messes. At least my floor is aluminum, so I'll have to see how hard the carpet comes off that. I believe the walls are 1" thick.

 

[cdnpartyhut]

Re: 1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

winter has set in here so time to start looking forparts. Di you ever find the name of the wreckers?

 

[luckyjr]

Re: 1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

How are you gong to do your walls and changing room?

I almost bought a party hut but when I saw the fiber board with vynal covering as the consruction, I backed off. I am using Dibold, aluminum both sides with a poly in the middle. That is what custom fabs uses for their skin for cabins and fence. $80 or so 4 x 8' 1/8thk. 30lbs per

 

[artistwood]

Re: 1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

I have 2 options at this point. One is to use aluminum semi trailer panels on the outside, foam in the middle and either wood panels or fiberglass reinforced plastic panels on the inside. The other option is to coat the foam with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin used for building cedar strip boats. even though i have the aluminum, i am leaning towards the fiberglass route. It would save a lot of weight, never rot or buckle and is easy to paint or attach panels to. This sandwitch type of construction is extremely strong. The fiberglass method is easy to do. You just need a flat surface big enough for the panels to lay flat while they dry. 4 coats of epoxy with a light sanding in between will give a glass smooth finish ready for primer and paint. I'll let you know how it goes and ill post some pics.

 

[artistwood]

Re: 1988 Party Hut 28' rebuild

cdnpartyhut,
the salvage yards i got some parts from are no longer in business according to their phones. I will help find another as i need a good source of used parts also. Ill post as soon as i find some party hut parts.