1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

[chriscraft254]

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

Also installed some new coast gaurd required placards. Still have one to install for waste. but that won't go under the engine compartment hood.

 

[lil buggy]

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

yeee haaaa!
you been busy, its all coming together nicely. great work and thanks for posting your progress.
not sure what anyone else thinks but you gota splash her this weekend(weather permitting) and give the audience the show. even if the teak aint done yet, you should be very proud of your work! at the very least you gota put in for the fireworks, and give em all a show. what would they do withot the patrol boat:facepalm: making an appearance,,lol

seriously, you gotta take the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. if nothing else it will give you a lift and renewed energy to keep at it.
take pops with you and enjoy the time.


did all go well today with pop?

 

[25thmustang]

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

Great to see some progress. You had to remove the varnish with the real mounted on the boat? That really sucks! Glad to see you got the color to match up. I'm dealing with goofy teak coloring and even found two trim pieces that weren't teak that I need to remake. I feel your pain, but glad to see you turned it around and will be varnishing it soon.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

yeee haaaa!
you been busy, its all coming together nicely. great work and thanks for posting your progress.
not sure what anyone else thinks but you gota splash her this weekend(weather permitting) and give the audience the show. even if the teak aint done yet, you should be very proud of your work! at the very least you gota put in for the fireworks, and give em all a show. what would they do withot the patrol boat:facepalm: making an appearance,,lol

seriously, you gotta take the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. if nothing else it will give you a lift and renewed energy to keep at it.
take pops with you and enjoy the time.


did all go well today with pop?

Thanks Lil Buggy, I will be sure to enjoy the boat this weekend. Wether it is in the driveway or on the water, I enjoy it all. More progress today in the right direction.

Dad is back home on his two story houseboat. He is doing really well. taking it easy for a few weeks, so no bouncing around in my little Chris Craft. He's quite comfortable where he is. And there boat cat is glad there home for sure.

Great to see some progress. You had to remove the varnish with the real mounted on the boat? That really sucks! Glad to see you got the color to match up. I'm dealing with goofy teak coloring and even found two trim pieces that weren't teak that I need to remake. I feel your pain, but glad to see you turned it around and will be varnishing it soon.

Yeah, not only did I have to strip it/sand it in place but also had to stain it and varnish it in place. I was expecting to have to do the varnish when the dowels were put in over the screws, but didn't know I was going to have to strip all the varnish to stain. I do think its teak, because it smells like it when sanding and sands like teak.

The golen mahogany stain was perfect and I was guessing while looking at about 20 different colors in the store. Just shows how much time I have spent doing teak work, I knew what color it was with out a sample with me,lol


Heres a note, acetone stepped up to the plate again. I took a chance staining the teak without taping off, well of coarse I got some stain on the fiberglass at the top edge. After the stain dried, I took a acetoned rag and just wiped the top edge where it had gotten on the fiberglass. Took the stain off the glass but didn't strip any stain from the wood. Awesome!

 

[chriscraft254]

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

We'll just call this the "marathon to splash" Worked all day then came home and worked until dark on the boat.

First Tackled the starboard side bow trim. Had to get it caught up to the other side. Sanded down to bare wood, stained and a coat of varnish applied.

Sanded down half the cabin entry trim and applied 2 coats of varnish.

Port side bow trim has 4 coats of varnish on it now. 6 more coats to go. Really starting to look good.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

I love the looks of this from the bow.

Did I mention I have a whole new array of different colors now!!!

This is like a sea foam green, it looks awesome!

Another bow pic.

I'd probably get a whole lot more done if i didn't take so many pics,lol:facepalm:

 

[chriscraft254]

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

Things still to do before saturday noon time. The countdown has begun!

- fix messed up led under bow trim. Got a new one coming but won't be here in time, so will have to splice the one that is there. Luckily the splice connectors should be here tomarrow.

- Finish all teak to finished varnish coat.

- Re-install cabin doors.

- Coat bottom of swim platform with varnish, atleast 8 coats.

- Install swim platform to stern brackets.

- Install port side trim tab beaded in 5200

- Tighten bow pulpit bolts and mount/install new fortress fx-16 anchor.

- Install new bow light and wire/test.

- Temperarily silocone side window that I removed the rubber from to find a replacement.

- Clean and polish prop.

- Clean wiring behind gauges and install trim rings and screws.

- Install hds-7s and test to make sure they are working after sitting all winter in the house.

- Check radar dome and make sure it works.

- Clean cabin and load all safety gear and food and frothy beverages. This means I have to go shopping to.:facepalm:

- Finish polishing the exterior of the cabin with 1000 grit film disks, them 3m compound. Striping and seahawk logo has already been removed.

- Start motor on muffs and check operation of outdrive/ linkage of throttle.

- Check operation of bilge pumps and rest of electrical systems.

- Clean entire boat.

- Compound all interior fiberglass and wax.

- Wax exterior hull including bottom.

- Woody coat non skid

- Clean and wax hardtop.

- Sand edge of electronics box logo cover where I got overspray on the edges of the starboard.

- Install rear seats and front helm seats.

- Load boat with whatever else I will need for a hell of an air show and fireworks. Grill W/propane, flagpoles with american flag and Marine Corp flag, boat rod, fenders, ditch bag, first aid kit, binoculars, camera, video camera, duck food, extra cloths, wet gear, warm gear, tools, cooler filled with ???. couple fishing rods and tackle box, music/cds, and last but not least toilet paper/portapoti and the boat plug. keys might be a good idea to.

Thats just what i can remember off the top of my head, ohh and sexy women,lol

So how much do you guys think I can get done by saturday at noon. keeping in mind I have to work all week and it is suppose to rain friday.



-

 

[lil buggy]

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

glad to hear pop is at home, what a relief that must be.
i know you mentioned his boat before, but, what no pics?

you are rockin on the "marathon to splash" for sure. impressive amount accomplished today, great work!
seeing that bow pic with the pulpit, makes me go against a previous thought of mine. i think a stained teak seat with a unstained dolphin inlay would be the icing on the cake up there! if you weren't whippin thru the workload i wouldn't be addin more work,,lol
do you allready have cushions for that front seat?

 

[lil buggy]

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

if the weather permits and you use the time wisely between coats of varnish, it's in the bag.
remember when you go all pink the ladies will be jumpin in like asian carp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfG4vsJ5_xI
,lol

 

[chriscraft254]

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

glad to hear pop is at home, what a relief that must be.
i know you mentioned his boat before, but, what no pics?

you are rockin on the "marathon to splash" for sure. impressive amount accomplished today, great work!
seeing that bow pic with the pulpit, makes me go against a previous thought of mine. i think a stained teak seat with a unstained dolphin inlay would be the icing on the cake up there! if you weren't whippin thru the workload i wouldn't be addin more work,,lol
do you allready have cushions for that front seat?

Lol, yes I do have a cushion but it need to be redone, probably just going with a white cushion.

Dads boat when the hull was being built. His design, we finished everything after the hull was built.

Dads boat when finished. lol

To give you a relative idea of how comfy mom and dad are when boating, this is my boat sitting next to theres.

if the weather permits and you use the time wisely between coats of varnish, it's in the bag
remember when you go all pink the ladies will be jumpin in like asian carp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfG4vsJ5_xI
,lol

Your link didn't work, needs a space between your sentence,lol I think I can get most of it done, but I am already exhausted. The bottom wax may just have to wait.

 

[jbcurt00]

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

Wakey Wakey, looks like you've got a full plate & then some for a Sat excursion.

So no sleep for you mister! Get batman involved. He can supervise & keep you on task... More work, less pix, to be able to make the big day that's just 3.5 days away.... Almost sounds against the iBoat rehab code....

BTW good news that your dad's home, doing well & comfortable. Hope the water side convalescence works wonders!

Good luck getting all that done & if your in the river this weekend, watch out for less capable & less prepared boaters & their guests.:facepalm:

Hope you & your guests enjoy it if you do make it out there.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

Wakey Wakey, looks like you've got a full plate & then some for a Sat excursion.

So no sleep for you mister! Get batman involved. He can supervise & keep you on task... More work, less pix, to be able to make the big day that's just 3.5 days away.... Almost sounds against the iBoat rehab code....

BTW good news that your dad's home, doing well & comfortable. Hope the water side convalescence works wonders!

Good luck getting all that done & if your in the river this weekend, watch out for less capable & less prepared boaters & their guests.:facepalm:

Hope you & your guests enjoy it if you do make it out there.

Thanks man, definately a full plate and batman refuses to help since he isn't invited for thunder. He likes to attack fireworks, so probably not a good idea,lol

I will definately be watching all the idiots and probably taking pictures as well. lol Its definately crazy out there but since afew years ago when a few people died by drowning/flipped boat etc. not as many people venture out there.

One good thing, if all systems are good, i have a very capable boat so the rough water or weather is really a non issue. The radar is great at night when you have a bunch of drunk idiots driving around you, I will be keeping tabs on them. By the way, i will be one of the sober ones, I may have 4 drinks a year, thats it.

Thanks for the best wishes for dad, he is home and doing great.

 

[lil buggy]

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

diggen the Dahl house, those double doors on the transom are sweet. great mother(or ahhh father) ship. and very cool you both finished it out, your way!

batman aint alone, all mine go BANANAS during the fireworks, they understand,,, once they get the scooby snacks,,lol

 

[BSnB]

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

whew...I'm exhausted just reading about what you've done. beautiful work on the teak CC and I love that sea foam green lighting.

 

[25thmustang]

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

Your list is pretty daunting for Saturday, but I'm sure you'll knock it out! Btw keep taking the photos, yours is usually the first post I click on to see pictures and progress!

Your using a spray on varnish you got at one of the big box stores right? I really want to see how it holds up. My system is a lot more $$ and time consuming and your results look as good if not better!

 

[chriscraft254]

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

diggen the Dahl house, those double doors on the transom are sweet. great mother(or ahhh father) ship. and very cool you both finished it out, your way!

batman aint alone, all mine go BANANAS during the fireworks, they understand,,, once they get the scooby snacks,,lol

Yeah, The boat is a one of kind for sure. The double doors lead into his workshop. i like the hurricane rated siding we used and it has a John Deer desiel motor in her. Its hard to see, but the stern has a set of lift up hatches that expose a stairaway to the waterline. I installed a all hickory kitchen also. basically there boat is nicer than my house,lol Makes a great mother ship and I get free docking because they own the slip next to theres also. To many other toys to actually raft to the dock though, I usually just tie up to them. It works out usually because they don't venture out on the weekends, and thats usually when when I boat.

whew...I'm exhausted just reading about what you've done. beautiful work on the teak CC and I love that sea foam green lighting.

Then just think how I feel,lol:facepalm:

Your list is pretty daunting for Saturday, but I'm sure you'll knock it out! Btw keep taking the photos, yours is usually the first post I click on to see pictures and progress!

Your using a spray on varnish you got at one of the big box stores right? I really want to see how it holds up. My system is a lot more $$ and time consuming and your results look as good if not better!

Thanks man, I appreciate the interest. I will keep them coming. The varnish Is Rustoleum brand. It is an exterior varnish with uv protectors. I have used the spray stuff, but they also sell it in quarts which is what I am using now on the boat. The quart is only like $13 bucks and it goes a very long way even with multiple coats. The spray cans are around $8 a can. expensive if you were to spray everything. Seems like good stuff, but time will only tell. I have left the gunwale pads on the boat for the last few months and they still look like I just sprayed them, so we'll see over the next season or two. I sure hope it lasts, it was alot of work.



Off to do more work on the boat, will check in later tonite.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

The marathon to thunder continues!!

You guys ready to see ....................................

Bahaha

 

[chriscraft254]

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

She sure is purdy!

Here is the specs on her. I got the size up because the size looks better with the boat imo and It can't hurt to be able to hold a boat 10 feet long than mine. still have to get the mud tabs that mount top and bottom where the holes are in the above pic. There on order, I got a killer deal on this anchor.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

Also got the other side of the hatch door trim sanded the rest of the way down and a few coats of varnish on it. Gonna really finish out the cockpit area.

This is what the quart can looks like from lowes. Rustoleum exterior varnish with uv protection. I also leave my foam brushes in a ziplock after use. This will keep them good until the next coat. If you were to put them in the fridge, they would last for months.

Port and starboard side bow trim got another coat of varnish after a 120 grit sanding.

For those that get a hard custy coating on there stainless prop every year like mine does, you HAVE TO TRY muratic acid. 50/50, wipe it on, let it sit for a couple minutes, then wipe with dobie pad and rinse. Did not get before pics, but it is amazing trust me!!!! I will never use anything else on my prop. I was wet sanding one blade for a half hour last night and gave up. The muratic acid literally had it clean in under ten minutes top!!

These are the essentials you will need also.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

This is the light strip i need to fix. You can see, it only lights up for about 8 inches, it has a short. new one is on its way but for this weekend, I will do some splicing.

I got the connectors in the mail today as expected. The should help with the splicing.

Here is a close up of the connector. you strip the resin/silocone off of the light strip about a half inch back. Then insert the light strip in the connector and close the cover.

Here is one of the light strips I stripped back simply using a razor knife.
.

Light strip installed to two connectors. I will clip one end off and shorten the other end but leave the connector so I can tie the strip into the bad section on the light strip that isn't working. I made it go one step past the bad connection/short. Will wire this up tomarrow.