1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Thanks for stopping by Trooper congratulations on the new digs.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

I took a couple more in the daylight haven't put the cap back on yet as there are a couple of glassing things to do first. Also what the boat used to look like for comparison

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

An update and a couple of questions. I am working on some of the small stuff to get to a point that I can put the cap on. So far I have replaced the wooden rub rail screw strip, worked on a few spots that the fillets, glass was a bit rough etc.

Somewhere along the line, I decided that I would put gel coat on the sole of the boat and investigate some type of covering in the future (vinyl, seadeck, etc.) definitely don't want to go the carpet route again. Recently, I have been creeping on microskiff.com, they have some great custom work on that site. I have come to really like how they lay out gel and non skid on the soles of those boats. So of course, I have now decided that I want to take a run at that kind of finish. While this is not going to be a dedicated fishing boat there will be some fish slayed in it. And if not, it just looks bada** Something like this:

Areas that would be walked on, in front of seats etc. would get the non skid while the other spots would be gel only. So now for the questions.

1. What is the best way to eliminate print through of stands of CSM that was laid on the sole?
A. I tried to mix some fairing compound (gelcoat, 2 parts micro balloons and one part cabosil) and spread it with a plastic spreader, I guess it worked OK but will be expensive to do on the entire surface area. I didn't put wax in the compound, will surfacing agent make it easier to sand? Or should I not add it?

B. Could I do a skim coat of gel with a squeegee? Add wax and make it pretty thick and then sand to fair?

C. Should I just spray/roll the gel so thick that I mask the fibers? I don't honestly know how many coats that would take but I do know that it would be a lot.

2. How might I make my non-skid look like the picture above? I think the builder in this case used awlgrip but I know that YD or Ondarvr or one of the other heavy hitters has done this with gel. I guess the question should be what is the process? A couple of coats of gel, apply non-skid and then another coat of gel? Ideas on what brand of non-skid additive to use? Open to and appreciate all suggestions.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

If you want the non skid area to be surrounded by a smooth mold like finish (like in the pic) then you need to do a good deal of sanding and filling.

The nonskid surface can be rather easy depending on the exact look you want because the gel coat and grit can fill almost 100% of the glass pattern.

The pattern in the pic has a small amount of grit with space between each granule, which will show the substrate, covering it 100% with grit hides almost everything.

A fast and easy method to fill the pattern is to use a plastic bondo spreader and gel coat, just pour it on the surface and spread it around, this will fill the low spots and leave none on the high spots, if you do it right little or sanding is needed. Then apply a complete coat of gel coat and cover it 100% with your grit of choice, wait for this to harden and blow it off, this removes any excess grit that didn't stick. Now apply as many coats as need to achieve the texture and look you desire.

To tape off the pattern of the nonskid like in the pic, you need to tape it twice or more depending on how many coats are needed for the right look and texture, once for the first coat and grit, and then once for each of the next coats.

I always tape the first one about a 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch smaller than the rest, this gives a better edge around the grit. You need to pull the tape right after each coat is applied or you will have a very tough time removing it.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Here are 2 great examples of anti-skid done well IMHO:

1993 17' Center Console Complete Refurbish

Project log : Runabout to Fishing machine
Carp, it looks like Sleeper's 3rd party pix site went off line permanently, & he has not yet re-loaded his pix. He has lots of good pix & info, so if you have a specific question about the non-skid, PM him & ask him to send you some info/pix or post them in your thread for you. Include a link to your thread in the PM to make it easy.....

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Non skid is tricky mate .. especially when spraying. You Never let go of your trigger if your pointing at your project.

Never Use that Blue tape. You should use the Fine Line ( very expensive ) for your tape lines. Scotch bright them first before you spray so the tape has some Bite to it when you pull it.

You have to pull non skid tape when its gellin ( curing ).

You can roll or spray your nonskid to look like this as long as the substrate is evenly coated with the color that you want beforehand.

Griptex is what you want to use for your nonskid if your not going to pattern it.

Griptex mixed with two different sizes would help ... mix Xtra with medium until you get the right profile you want on a paint stick.. then roll or shoot it.

Again .. if your going to spray it .. never let your air go OFF until You spray away from your project if your using a pressure pot.

YD.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Ondarvr, thanks for checking this out. Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

JB, thanks for linking that you are always going out of your way to do this. I had actually seen that thread a while back and searched for it but was not able to find it. Thanks again.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

YD, as always thanks for the input. I know you probably have better things to do with your time and I know I speak for a bunch of us when I thank you. Of course it's your fault that I ever tried to gel at all. I guess the results aren't all that bad for a total noob. I will say that if I can pull this non-skid off I'm going to stop coming up with all these grand schemes. Well off to the races!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Thank you, you're welcome

for both ondarvr & YD, as well as others.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

YD, as always thanks for the input. I know you probably have better things to do with your time and I know I speak for a bunch of us when I thank you. Of course it's your fault that I ever tried to gel at all. I guess the results aren't all that bad for a total noob. I will say that if I can pull this non-skid off I'm going to stop coming up with all these grand schemes. Well off to the races!

My Money is on you man ..

Gel is easy once you get past the fear. You can Never mess it up enough to not be able to Cure it .

YD.

PS. Im glad it MY fault .. you will never regret it ( Other than you have already regreted it ) .

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Well,
Back up from the bottom! I thought I would post a bit of progress. Man, I have earned the dreaded red bar for inactivity. Time sure flies. I am approaching 2 years on my project; unreal.

I have been posting a bit here and here, mainly in the Mercruiser I/O section...Don S. and AChris are crazy knowledgeable and super helpful. Can't say enough times how amazing this community is.

So our last episode found me calling good, good enough on the sanding of the gel on exterior of the hull and making plans to tackle the interior. The interior was to get a few coats of gel before the cap going back on. Also in the plan was to apply non-skid to the areas that would be walked on and buff the areas of gel that would be visible but not walked on.

How I did it:
I needed to get rid of the print through caused by the 1708 that I laid and also the older weave that was original to the boat. For the actual sole area, I used a gel coat paste made with a bit of cabosil and glass bubbles to fill in the weave area and fair out low spots. I also intended to gel the gunwale area a contrasting color so I also faired them out but I have to admit I used it...the dreaded Bondo. I figured that there would rarely be standing water on the vertical surface and if there was, it would have to get through 20 or 30 mils of gel before it got the Bondo. We'll hope for the best.

After all was faired out, I prepped the entire area with the palm sander and 220 grit paper and gave it an acetone wash. I first taped the deck area around the gunwales that were to get color #1, fired up the compressor and hit it. 4 heavy coats later, finished, I then let that cure for an hour or so, retaped over color #1 and switched over to color #2. I hit the entire rest of the interior with three heavy coats of gel. And let it cure for two hours or so.

After two hours the fun began, I got in the boat, drew out lines for the areas that I wanted to be non-skid, then taped them off. I wanted a radius on the corners so I used assorted round objects to create both the inside and outside corners, and cut them off the tape with a razor blade. Took some time for sure but I was happy that I had at least done my best to set this up.

So after taping was complete I fired up the compressor and hit the non-skid areas with a another coat of gel, not as heavy but enough to give it some wetness. As soon as I finished the coat, I spread my non-skid, salt shaker style (put small holes in the container) I actually spread a quart, which I now know is way more than plenty but live and learn. After spreading the granules I let the gel kick for about 20 minutes. At that point I learned that I had used too much, I grabbed the leaf blower and let it fly, the non skid granules that did not settle into the cured gel looked like a snowstorm. I blew them all to the back and then shop vacced them up. After making sure I got them all, I hit the entire interior with another coat, just enough on the non skid areas to cover the granules and a little thicker on the non walking areas to allow for sanding. That was a full day of work. I just realized that either I didn't take pictures of the prep, or I lost them but I have some of the interior before sanding and buffing the non-walk areas down


The non skid is the kind of t shaped section. It is hard to see I think. The actual texture is just as it came from the factory I think I could have done better in the corner areas. It definitely is going to serve its purpose. I like the look in person but I will say the non skid gets incredibly dirty. I can scrub it like new with soft scrub but just walking on it once and its filthy again. I am planning on trying Woody wax to see if it is at least easier to clean. If not, will most likely look at sea deck or the deckadence floor covering. Sorry for the lack of pictures.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

So after the novel, some commentary on the interior.

The orange sections of the gunwales will be covered by the trim boards to create the storage area. My plan is to use blue vinyl to wrap them. I bought the cheap seats and am not too happy with the bases (plastic) and the color does not match. So they will not make the cut in the final product that will be given away in two years or so. I think the bases will be replaced by something I've fabricated and the actual seats may be a different color or style. But, I plan on running the heck out if it in the meantime, so it may not even make it to the transfer of ownership. Who knows?

The non-skid area toward the bow ends where the captain and first mate would have their feet while sitting in front positions. I measured a bit short and need to extend it, when the cap was replaced, this became evident. Not 100% sure how I missed the measurement by so much. Overall my plan for now is to get the boat in shape to do a water test (all function, no fashion) and then maybe learn to sew, replace some asthetic things I don't like etc. over the winter. These include
1. Making a new helm console with new gauges I have the old Knight Rider style set up now
2. Stereo system probably a sub woofer and 4 speakers, the original/current version has no stereo
3. LED lighting for courtesy and under gunwales
4. Second battery to power the above.
5. Seats bases as mentioned
6. Seats as mentioned- have considered going to a bench/sundeck in back want to see how roomy it is now
7. I currently have no bow area cushions, not sure when that will happen, need to learn to sew or find the boat seat fairy
8. The engine cover I made is a nightmare, saying I hate it is such an understatement, I am going to try to see if I can make it somewhat acceptable, and it will do for now but I forsee a short lifespan for it.
8. I plan to touch up several sections of the gel at some point I have some pretty bad scratches and a couple of places where it looks thin after sanding.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

One more post to hopefully bring things up to speed. I replaced all of the bellows, gimbal bearing etc in the transom assembly had a couple hiccups with the shift cable but as I said aChris and Don S. offer a ton of help.

Took the remote control apart, cleaned connections and new grease, it will be replaced at some point but for now it is good to go.

Drained out the last 1/2 gallon gas and cleaned up the exterior of the gas tank cleaned out the inside with phosphoric acid, some time and some agitation. Inside looked like new also. Installed a new sending unit ordered a new fill neck, vent and hoses.

Changed outdrive oil, installed a new impeller and water pump assembly. Changed oil in motor, still need to do a tune up got motor dropped in boat, had a couple of issues, first had a horrible time getting the last inch of the outdrive in the coupler, caused me to second guess my alignment, repeatedly, so that fiasco wound up taking two days. Got the drive mounted, fired the motor up and after three or four tries, bam motor was running. I let it idle on the muffs for about two minutes or so and cut it off, it absolutely would not start again drained the battery trying in fact. I got busy at work and needed to work on finding a new trim pump because the original was seized along with the trim cylinders, so I was not in big hurry to run the motor, following weekend I had received a new to me trim pump, installed it and also worked on trying to neaten up my wire runs.

For the first time in two weeks I thought I would try to start her up. First try she fired right up and idled relatively smoothly. This time she ran out of the actual gas tank although I was waiting on some parts still. But it idled for over 10 minutes so I was pretty happy. I tried again a few minutes after turning it off and the starter started to drag again, same issue as a couple of weeks ago. Finally got it to run again. Now, you got it, a crazy kind of grinding/flapping noise. Still not confident in my alignment effort, I pulled the drive to determine if the noise was my now shredded coupler. Ran the motor without the drive, noise still there. Had Don S and the guys over in the I/O section on high alert and I was trying things as fast as they gave me ideas. The noise became intermittent after about 17 tries to isolate it and it would never do it again. It sounded like it was coming from the back of the motor (coupler area) but now who knew? Long story short I finally realized it was the starter, the gear was not releasing all the way from the flywheel every time. Ordered a new starter, bolted it on and no more noise (hopefully permanently) and it starts in less than a second every time now.

So at this point the only thing keeping me from having a functional boat was the frozen trim cylinder issue. I ordered two new seal kits and stared to try dismantling my cylinders. They would not budge no matter what I did, removing the cap? No way. So I finally just stuck a breaker bar in the the round connector and started turning. It did not free the piston though but the cap came free. So now I can pull the piston but no matter what I did it wouldn't budge from the cap. I had to go to Advance Auto rent a three jaw puller and use my impact wrench to finally get the cap off the piston. When they finally came apart, I saw the issue, the cap was totally corroded and unusable in my opinion. So back on ebay, my housing and pistons looked great but I needed caps, that are bout $60 each.

Trying to be thrifty, I look for and find some used cylinders for parts, make a very long story short, buy them, wait forever to get them and when they finally arrive they are not the right ones and just as frozen as mine. So after wasting another week, I buck up and find a great deal on some actual new cylinders.

That brings me to today, still waiting on the cylinders to arrive need to install and test them, also waiting on the numbers for the registration. I have installed the gas tank permanently, completed all of the wiring organization, installed the seats, re-installed the outdrive and tested all systems, we are good to go. The boat will go in the water in the next 10 days for certain. I need some life vests and other safety gear (also a rider on my insurance.) Here is a picture of how the exterior looks today, I don't have any interior pictures but I will add some when I am on it next. Oh yeah also need to put the swim platform back, the teak came out nice though.

Before

Swim Platform after

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

The original

Still have the handrails to install already did the cleats, this picture is a little older so it doesn't show them.

This thread is now up to date. Thanks for looking.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Not sure if anyone has looked but I did get some more pictures as promised. I have not gotten in the water yet, my issues with ordered parts continue. I have never had any bad luck with Ebay in all the years I have bought and sold but got two dud sellers in a row. It has been a month since I first ordered the parts and every time I think the problem is resolved a new twist unfolds. Anyway, we are functionally ready to splash excluding what I'm waiting on from Ebay. I still need to put the reg. numbers on the boat. As I mentioned in the last post, really none of the trim and frills have been finished/installed but I want to make sure the boat is operational structurally before I put cash into bells and or whistles. I think my lens must have been dirty but the point is still pretty clear.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Yeah, not sure what the deal is with the color in the pictures, I guess it will do

Well, that's probably going to be it for my posting at Iboats, I may come back and post the final pictures but likely will work on it in one form or fashion until I pass it along in a year or so. So I guess it will never really be "done." So thanks for those of you that checked in on me. I especially appreciate all the support from those that provided their opinions and expertise.

 

[Gator1996]

Hello Iboaters.
Over a year since I made that post. Good news is that we used the boat all summer. Hit a couple of bumps along the way of course. I think I am lucky though that I never worry about the motor. It runs great and even when I was having a fuel delivery issue and it stalled, it always started right back up and got me where I needed to go. Top speed on the GPS is 40 with two on board. This was not WOT, but plenty fast enough for me. The boat handles well when under power, it wanders a good bit when at no wake speed but I understand this is normal for my I/O. I was always deathly afraid of a hook from the early stages of construction but I got lucky. When I check out new projects now, it is amazing to me that this boat ever made it this far. I just knew absolutely nothing and really still don't.

I do have some more things I would like to do when time permits. I still need to replace the instrument panel and gauges. Just didn't get around to it this summer. I also want to replace the steering system, new wheel and cable assembly. Plan on keeping the same general configuration, just want to update the gauges past the '80's Knight Rider style. I have a few trailer things to do also. Considering whether to replace the handrail too. The stanchions for the rail are pricey and I'm not really sure I want it there on the first place. I'm thinking about a floor covering also. I love the white but it does hold dirt, especially with the non-skid. I am trying out Woody wax on the skid right now to see if that makes it better. If not, I think I will do some Sea Dek or try to track down some Deckadence. It seems that they may be out of business.

My thoughts of keeping the boat set up as original and making it look kind of retro-cheesy was successful I think. There are a lot of things that I wish would have turned out better but overall I am pretty satisfied with her looks. Structurally, I have 100% confidence in her and am of the opinion that she will outlive me for sure.

I did take on the cushion project as some may have seen in a separate post. Honestly, I think the hard part for me was not knowing how to sew at all. I didn't and still don't understand the process or reasons tensions are set etc. Finishing my cushions was totally trial and error. I think I am going to maybe make a go at fixing some of the ones that look a little rough. The sewing part is not that hard to do but very difficult to do and look professional. I never really considered the importance of keeping the piping straight and what not. When I put it on the foam and plywood, it shows. My stuff looks like I did it. My machine gave out on me on the last cushion too. I had to kick her tail across the finish line. Think I'm gonna have to check in with someone to see if I can get some parts. I want to keep the old girl around now.

So I took a bunch of pictures. Maybe I'll catch this back up again after I do the panel etc. Then it will be officially done.

This was the engine cover that I pictured earlier and hated. I sanded out the old gel, filled in the CSM print and resprayed it. Much better than before but this is one of the cushions that won't make the cut.

Boat's filthy but you can see the cushions. I went with 3" foam. They turned out kind of puffy, but they are crazy comfortable. I didn't plan very well for the radius in the long back panels on the sides. They look kind of crumpled. You see what I mean about the piping having to be be very straight. Lack of sewing skills and installation on ply makes this a pretty tough order for me anyway.

New remote control. The cables were rusted into my old one so had to replace it all. I wish I had gone with the all black one now.

I caught a few pictures yesterday, I guess the light wasn't great. From the stern.

 

[Gator1996]

And a few more.

 

[Gator1996]

And the last ones.

That's all for now will check in again down the road. Thanks again to all that provided knowledge and opinions.