1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

[Outback Jack]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Jack, thanks for the kind words man. What kind of boat do you have? The cuddy would definately be fun for the wife and you. This one is just big enough to enjoy. Hopefully it will be even better once I'm done with the interior. Stay tuned, more projets to come.

Budd

Not a problem Budd as you are doing a fine job and doing it right. I myself just got into an 18 ft bowrider as I live inland and the waters that I have access to are actually pretty small. For me to hit any big waters I have a 2 hr drive. My wife is petrified of water and I thought I would never get her into a boat. I said let me look for something with high sides. So I found this boat and it needed work. I didn't want to spend a whole bunch on something and have to get rid of it if we all could not enjoy it .

The boat is a glasstream, some say not a good boat . I actually run it a season and I mean full days all weekends all summer and never had a problem and the family had a blast. When I am done with it it will be a fine boat. It was actually a solid boat but under the carpet it had 34 holes not sealed for pouring in the foam. I could not get the hull to dry out where I live to get paint or new gelcoat on it so I just said like any of my projects, Let's do it right. I ended up ripping it apart. It is the euro style with the bucket seats and a lounging deck over the motor with a bench seat and a built in swim platform. I could have just put the carpet down and run it 3-4 summers before the floor got soft, but i wanted it looking a little better all round. Actually after the restore I will get my money back out of it but not my labour, but that is ok and I learned alot. Basically the same thing I learned when bought my first rv.

The Best thing about the whole deal, it is my wife who comes home and wants to hook onto the boat. I don't even ask anymore. So I have her hooked and have her convinced we should be looking for something to stay on the waters. Actually I met a guy at the marina who has a 24ft with a fly bridge the season I run it. He just put a new motor in it last winter. It is his first boat and he finds it too big. I forget the name of it now. He paid big money 15 grand plus the new motor. He had the motor done at the dealer and if I rember right someone told me it cost him 7 grand. He dropped by last week and asked me if I would trade him he wants to downsize. He sees what I am doing and knows it will be done right. He said my boat and 7 grand for his. I never said nothing but will sit on it for a bit.

If I decide to upgrade I want to make sure I get what I want, so I am in no hurry yet and it gives me a chance to look at different styles.

He has a nice boat and all but I find it very confined and too much going on. That is like my new trailer I just bought it is 31 ft of actual trailer. People say why did you buy such a big one your kids are all grown up. If I am hauling a trailer I am going to haul one that I can enjoy and not feel we are on top of each other.

I like The lay out of your boat compared to his as he has to much going on.

I will definately be checking in on your work and new ideas.

Again doing a fine job

Jack

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Got some more grinding/sanding done. Moved the front pieces against the bump-in to allow more room for fiberglass layup. Probably start to resin everything and tab a few pieces in this coming week. The framing still needs to be rounded on all the top edges to allow fiberglass to roll over it ok.

Once the framing is installed, the spray in foam, "open Cell" will be applied to be even with the framing all the way around.

I have had suggestions on just coring the top and three sides, but I think this will be lighter weight and the framing will give the Foam something to hold on to and the framing will help me profile and sand the foam once set-up to the framing profile all the way around. And yes I realize all these pieces are going to be a PITA to glass in. :redface:

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Since the pink closed cell comes in 1", 1.5" & 2" sheets, is there a reason you want to spray open cell? And is the commercially available foam cans insulation contractors use to do crevices & cracks @doors/windows any different then the GreatStuff can? That stuff is a PITA when you try to build thickness with it. It stays unactivated forever, obviously until it's exposed to air.

The ply frame looks great. W/ some glass it should hold a bunch of weight! Well done.

Do you need to bed them in 1/4 of PB or PL? Have a great weekend...

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Since the pink closed cell comes in 1", 1.5" & 2" sheets, is there a reason you want to spray open cell? And is the commercially available foam cans insulation contractors use to do crevices & cracks @doors/windows any different then the GreatStuff can? That stuff is a PITA when you try to build thickness with it. It stays unactivated forever, obviously until it's exposed to air.

The ply frame looks great. W/ some glass it should hold a bunch of weight! Well done.

Do you need to bed them in 1/4 of PB or PL? Have a great weekend...

Thanks man, I am going to use open cell because the closed cell would just transfer the noise through. The open cell should provide some sound deadening. I am also considering different layers of other materials. The more different densities/materials used, the better for sound dampening. The different densities make it harder for the sound to get through. Basically makes the sound work harder to get through different layers of materials weakening the sound.

I really have no clue as to what kind of foam is in the canned stuff from lowes. The stuff my insulator uses cures in a couple hours and can be sanded/cut afterwords. There suppose to call when they have a foam job scheduled so I can show up with my cover in hand.

The plan for the framing is to resin everything. Including the cover to allow for a good fresh bond. I will then lay in the two main supports and glass them in. Then add the other pieces and glass them together, then glass everything again. The cover is a little bowed so when I glass the two main supports in, I will set the lid on the very edges on a set of horses, then add some weight to the supports and tab them in. Once they are set, I will come back and glass them in completely and go from there. This will be all wasted time if I don't get the bow out of the lid. Right now it holds a little water on top when installed.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Thanks man, I bought the led replacement lights for the step lights I installed on ebay. So far, so good. Will have to look for some red ones though, blue really isn't good for night vision.

Found and bought these on Ebay...item # 190613109609 ... go to ebay and copy and paste in the search box, $4.99 for 10 of them with free shipping, special ends tomorrow...figured I can't go wrong for 5 bucks, Includes the bulb and the socket...bought some other lights from them before and they were exactly what I expected...

Tried to PM you, but your inbox is full...

Regards,
GT1M

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Found and bought these on Ebay...item # 190613109609 ... go to ebay and copy and paste in the search box, $4.99 for 10 of them with free shipping, special ends tomorrow...figured I can't go wrong for 5 bucks, Includes the bulb and the socket...bought some other lights from them before and they were exactly what I expected...

Tried to PM you, but your inbox is full...

Regards,
GT1M

Thanks for the heads up. I am going to hold off, I may be replacing/upgrading the gauges this coming season.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Got the engine cover tabbed in, not the cleanest work because I was working in the cold and using left over material. Thats my excuse anyway. This worked perfectly. The engine cover is solid as a rock now, I managed to get the bow out of the top by adding about 200pounds on top of the framing and then tabbing everything in. I will clean it up with a grinder, then finish glassing everything in. I'm using Csm glass mat and polyester resin.

Also got started stripping the paint off the bottom of the boat:facepalm:

Makeshift tent to excell cure time and the heater I used.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

So the bottom paint work was basically a test. I have read and seen many different opinions on this and how and what is the best way to remove it. I decided to give the oven cleaner a try.

The oven/grill cleaner worked for the top coat, sprayed it on, let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Then using a freshly sharpened wide chisel, I scraped off the top layer of paint, no problem. I then applied a second coat of oven cleaner to the area. The bonding layer or primer layer was not effected much by the oven cleaner much, but I was able to scrape off the bottom layer right down to the gel coating using the freshly sharpened wide chisel. It worked great but definately took some man power to scrape it off with the chisel.

Once I was down to the gel coating, I could see that it had been sanded in prep for the bottom coating. I used 120 grit wet sand paper to get the rest of the scraches/paint off. Then wet sanded with 1200 grit to smooth everthing out. Anyone who doesn't believe in wet sanding, look for yourself. It is one of my favorite weapons for making gel coat look great.

This will obviously be alot of work, but I only have to strip it once! My arms may be two sizes bigger by the time I'm done but the bottom paint is coming off! Can't wait to see how she looks once its done. This was all done by hand, no machines.

After Second coat of oven cleaner and scraping

Third coat of oven cleaner applied.

After scraping and sanding

Check out how shiny it will be. Not even waxed yet. Wet sanding works!

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

This is the other test area on the stern. Above and below underwater light.

 

[Pmccraney]

Wow!

 

[sprintst]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Excellent work man.

I also never thought the bottom paint would come off that cleanly.

 

[cedarlattice]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Very nice thread and very nice work. You have given me tons of ideas for my boat.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Wow!

Lmao, thats what I think to!

Excellent work man.

I also never thought the bottom paint would come off that cleanly.

Thankyou sir, I am sure it all depends on how many layers, type of paint, how old it is etc etc etc. But, after starting to strip it off, I feel I have hit the lottery!!! The hull I think is going to look awesome. Can't wait to get some more done on it this week.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Cedarlattice, welcome aboard the thread. Thankyou and I am happy that you have gotten some ideas for your boat.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Well it's going to be a metric s%#tton of work but your hull is going to look awesome with all that bottom paint off!

 

[Outback Jack]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Nice work again...it is going to look real good when you are done. It is going to be alot of work, but it shows again you can accomplish anything if you get your mind into it and take your time. It will probably take some time but I think you will like the final product. I know I am liking what I see and am glad you are sharing this project with us.

Jack

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Well it's going to be a metric s%#tton of work but your hull is going to look awesome with all that bottom paint off!

Your not kidding, this is a Mother %&^$^%r!!! I figure I only have about 240 square feet more to go, and most of that is under the boat. Arggg

Nice work again...it is going to look real good when you are done. It is going to be alot of work, but it shows again you can accomplish anything if you get your mind into it and take your time. It will probably take some time but I think you will like the final product. I know I am liking what I see and am glad you are sharing this project with us.

Jack

Thanks jack, its definately going to be a huge undertaking, but like I said, only have to do it once. Looks like my hull is in great shape, so thats a plus. A few nicks on the lower reverse chines, but thats all so far. I have all winter to do this, if the weather stays mild like it has been I should be able to make good progress.

That being said, I am already sore. I would not recommend taking on this job if you have the funds to get it done right by a pro. I just don't trust anyone to do work the way I want it and don't want or have the funds to dish out. This professionally done is atleast 2 to 3k on this size boat.

Here is some progress pics.

 

[Adam76]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Boat is looking Awesome, what oven/grill cleaner are you using I want to do the same thing to my hull.

 

[sprintst]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

You did hit the lottery. That boat looks amazing with the cleaned up hull.

In the end you will be happier knowing that you did it right vs living with a job that didn't turn out as expected. Short term pain and long term gain.

You'll forget about the sore back in about a year

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Boat is looking Awesome, what oven/grill cleaner are you using I want to do the same thing to my hull.

Thankyou Adam. I am using the yellow can easy off, I have heard that the blue can works better, but have failed in trying to find it. I'm going to try different products while doing this to maybe be able to help someone else in the future.

You did hit the lottery. That boat looks amazing with the cleaned up hull.

In the end you will be happier knowing that you did it right vs living with a job that didn't turn out as expected. Short term pain and long term gain.

You'll forget about the sore back in about a year

Considering my back is always sore anyway, Its the arms that are getting me now,lol I think its really going to look good, but this is the easy parts I'm doing, the underneath is going to be tough. The bottom paint has really bothered me since I purchased the boat, it was time for it to go.