198x SS-150 rebuild

[Rasdiir]

Got the second and third coats of white rolled on Wed/Thur. I was contemplating doing a fourth coat, but the weather was garbage on Friday so I decided three was enough and I took Friday off so it could harden up a bit before I taped it to do the blue. Got the first coat of blue on today, I may be able to get away with two coats of blue, it's covering way better than the white.

https://imgur.com/a/i3sy8OP

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Got the second and third coats of white rolled on Wed/Thur. I was contemplating doing a fourth coat, but the weather was garbage on Friday so I decided three was enough and I took Friday off so it could harden up a bit before I taped it to do the blue. Got the first coat of blue on today, I may be able to get away with two coats of blue, it's covering way better than the white.

https://imgur.com/a/i3sy8OP

Looking great!!

 

[SHSU]

Such a pretty Turtle.

I like what you did with the stripe. Following original paint or you making your own design?

SHSU

 

[Rasdiir]

Such a pretty Turtle.

I like what you did with the stripe. Following original paint or you making your own design?

SHSU

That's my own version of the 1995 Superfisherman curve, but straight lines are easier to tape then a curve so I did that. I also want to run a grey pinstripe between the white and blue.

My previous post may have been early, I got excited after the blue covered so easily and I posted right away. An hour later when I went to look at it again I immediately hated my choice to change to the medium blue, it's too bright. Went back to the store and got the dark blue that I originally planned, and after 5 hours the medium was hardened enough to sand so I knocked off the high spots and did a coat of dark blue. Waste of a $40 can of medium blue paint that I can no longer return, but I'm much happier with the dark blue. Today I will be putting on the 2nd/3rd coats of the dark blue, then I'll let it all sit for a week before I flip it back onto the trailer.

 

[SHSU]

We all made similar "mistakes"/corrections. Just think of it as extra protection/coverage.

SHSU

 

[Rasdiir]

Got the 2nd and third coats of blue on and the tape peeled, almost no bleeding from the Frog Tape, that stuff really works great! I love the color, and although there is a decent amount of orange peel on the whole thing it is very glossy and looks great from a few feet away. I'm not sure how I would have lessened the orange peel, if I thinned the paint any further I would have needed 5-6 coats to cover properly. It'll never be mistaken for a pro spray job, but not horrible for a 40 year old boat painted in a dusty garage.

https://imgur.com/a/vNTXcDt

 

[ShoestringMariner]

That’s a sharp blue. I liked the light blue too but this is richer looking. Going to be a beautiful boat

 

[SHSU]

I like the blue. Looks similar to what we chose too.

As for the orange peel, nobody will ever notice but you. People will just be impressed when the find out you did it yourself.

SHSU

 

[Moserkr]

Nice work rasdiir!! Cant belive I missed two months of your build. Wasnt getting notifications for some reason. Paint is looking great!

 

[Rasdiir]

Took a week off to let the paint cure then flipped the hull over and got it back on the trailer. Two of us actually just rolled it on the grass, then lifted the bow and got a third person to shove the trailer under, worked great.

I got my 1/2" exterior plywood delivered and have the rear two floor pieces cut and fitted. I figured 1/2" would still be solid enough with all the extra floor bracing, and it seems not too bad when I walk on the loose pieces, plus they should also firm up a bit with the spar, vinyl, and being riveted down.

And I also got my first scratch already, bumped it with a sawhorse trying to get it out of my over full garage. Sucks that it happened this soon, but I'll touch it up when I finish painting the gunnels and consoles.

I've been looking at what pedestals to get since I need to mark that out on the floor to put in the backing plates, plus I want to drill the pedestal bolt holes before sealing. I had settled on getting the Swivl-ez 238 mounts and posts, but when I went and sat on a bucket I realized that I probably only need a 6" post, which should put the seat height at 10-11" with the mount and thickness of the seat itself. Unfortunately being in Canada strikes again and I can't find anywhere selling the 6" option for less than $100, which is crazy just for an aluminum post.

What height are all your seats at in your 16ft Supersports, and what length of post do you have to get that height? I measured the old head knockers that I pulled out and they were at 10" so I should probably stay around that.

 

[SHSU]

And I also got my first scratch already, bumped it with a sawhorse trying to get it out of my over full garage. Sucks that it happened this soon, but I'll touch it up when I finish painting the gunnels and consoles.

Sucks but was bound to happen. At least the paint correction will be easy with what you have on hand.

I had settled on getting the Swivl-ez 238 mounts and posts, but when I went and sat on a bucket I realized that I probably only need a 6" post, which should put the seat height at 10-11" with the mount and thickness of the seat itself.

I ran into the same issue. I decided to go the other way and get taller rather then shorter. The window is to short to be of much use unless you are really low, plus it removes so much of your view. Hence why I went up to get a better view over the windshield and Bow of boat.

Just remember to add an additional piece under where the seats will go for additional backing to the floor.

SHSU

 

[Rasdiir]

Sucks but was bound to happen. At least the paint correction will be easy with what you have on hand.


I ran into the same issue. I decided to go the other way and get taller rather then shorter. The window is to short to be of much use unless you are really low, plus it removes so much of your view. Hence why I went up to get a better view over the windshield and Bow of boat.

Just remember to add an additional piece under where the seats will go for additional backing to the floor.

SHSU

I was thinking about going taller, but my floor to top of gunnel height is only about 20", so any higher than 10" would make me feel like I'm about to fall out, plus I'm 6'2" so my knees would hit the wheel/dash. I might try to mock something up and see what is the highest comfortable height I can get away with.

For backing I was planning on laminating on two more pieces of 1/2" for a total of 1.5" under the floor mounts. I remember someone (maybe Watermann?) saying that the t-nuts can fall out if they are not locked in place, so I was going to glue on one of the 1/2" pieces, then install the nuts, then put another 1/2" piece under them so they are locked in by the second board. It would be impossible to replace them, but they will also never fall out!

 

[BWR1953]

I remember someone (maybe Watermann?) saying that the t-nuts can fall out if they are not locked in place, so I was going to glue on one of the 1/2" pieces, then install the nuts, then put another 1/2" piece under them so they are locked in by the second board. It would be impossible to replace them, but they will also never fall out!

That was me... because it happened to me!

 

[SHSU]

I am 6' 2" as well and can attest to hitting the dash/wheel. Didn't plan that out very well... lol I kind of "fixed" it by going to small steering wheel. Definitely have to muscle it around, but works for what I need.

As for the T- nuts, I epoxied mine in and ran a tap back through it to clean the threads. Once you get it installed, not very likely you will try and remove again,

SHSU

 

[Rasdiir]

Got the last two floor pieces cut, my trusty jigsaw made for a wobbly edge, but it will all be under the seats or side panels anyway so it will be good enough after sanding. I ended up getting with the Swivl-ez 238 permanent mount/post for the driver's side so I can mark out my seat placement and put on the backers. I got the 8" model, when it arrived I was surprised to see that it's actually only 6" off the deck, so I guess the seat mount must add 2" as well.

I found an old post in my notes where someone with a SS-16 measured their seat placement at 30" back from the console leg and 9.5" in from the starboard side. That looked good to me when I placed it since it places the mount right in the middle of the second floor piece, but I have a new problem: one of the extra 1/8" angle I put as floor bracing crosses right where two of the seat mount bolts go. This leaves me with two options, either put the two bolts through the angle without another backing piece (although I don't know how to secure them since I can't get a nut under there) or move the seat forward 3" to avoid the angle, which I will have to do with the backers anyway. If I move it forward then the two rearmost bolts will be only 1" away from the rear of the backers, will that cause an issue? I took a picture of the setup for reference.

https://imgur.com/a/XzT1bII

 

[SHSU]

30 inches to center of seat mount or front of mount? Mine is 30 inches to center and wish I had another ~8 inches. The steering wheel will jut out farther then you think and hit your knees.

As for the medal bracket in the way. Can you install a rivet nut where the bolts need to go on the bracket? Would take some careful measurements but should be possible.

SHSU

 

[Rasdiir]

30 inches to center of seat mount or front of mount? Mine is 30 inches to center and wish I had another ~8 inches. The steering wheel will jut out farther then you think and hit your knees.

As for the medal bracket in the way. Can you install a rivet nut where the bolts need to go on the bracket? Would take some careful measurements but should be possible.

SHSU

30" to the front. If I move it forward to clear the brace then it will be 27" to the front, or about 31.5" to the center. If I do end up moving it forward then I will probably get a sliding seat mount to get a few inches back. I'm not sure what a rivet nut is, I'll have to look it up, but I'm also not sure if I'm an accurate enough measurer for something like that, my cuts on the flooring say otherwise lol.

Do you see any issue with the bolts being near the edge of the backing plates?

 

[SHSU]

I have a sliding seat and still not enough. I even modified it to move the seat further back on it then it was designed. Still not enough.

As for the backing plate, not sure I follow what you mean. Can you use a bigger backing plate or move it?

SHSU

 

[Rasdiir]

I have a sliding seat and still not enough. I even modified it to move the seat further back on it then it was designed. Still not enough.

As for the backing plate, not sure I follow what you mean. Can you use a bigger backing plate or move it?

SHSU

Basically because the brace is in the way I can't move the backing plate further to the rear, and I don't want to move the seat any further forward, so two of the bolts will be within 1" of the rear edge of the backing plate. I was thinking of doing separate backing plates on either side of the 2" wide brace, but the spacing of the bolt holes on the seat mount means that four of the bolts would be near the edge of the backing plates, so that seemed even worse.

https://imgur.com/a/iadmwXo

 

[Rasdiir]

Went out today to finalize the placement of those backer plates and it turns out the starboard stringer runs directly beside the left side of the seat base, so now there will be a total of three bolts that are near the edge of the backer plate. I really don't see another way to mount these, so I went ahead and cut out the backers for the driver side and marked out the location to glue them on the bottom of the floor.

With the driver side decided I moved over to the passenger side, where I will have the same issues with the pedestal mount. My original plan was to have a removable pedestal on the passenger side as well as mounting locations for a back to back seat that would go right over top of the pedestal mount. To figure out the locations of the backers for the B2B seats I started looking at the available options and realized that there will not be enough room to fold them out. It seems all B2B seats now only fold out from one side, but due to the limited space in my 15' I have to place the base centered between the console and the rear storage boxes, which then means there is not enough room to fold the seat out. I went and looked at the original seats that I removed and it looks like they unfold from both ends.

Has anyone modified a modern B2B seat to unfold from both ends, or seen that as an option anywhere?