1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

[chriscraft254]

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

Started the rip out of the interior today. Boy am I glad I did! Who ever thought up this idea of installing this moisture holding monkey fur in a cabin was an idiot! Anyway, demo has started. Definately mold smelling but the glass underneath looks pretty good. Not sure about the plan yet, wanted to get it stripped before I dicide what look/finish/layout will be. Going to cut into the raised seating and install some storage along the way to.

Pics of before the rip out.

This was the interior head door/wall inclosure, taking it out to.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

Pictures of interior demolition.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

Monkey fur mostly removed.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

Interior head inclosure is removed. Looks bigger in there now.

 

[jbcurt00]

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

As a contractor, you probably will but: Check the helm & decking before removing the walls around the head. The walls may have been supporting the deck above, if only slightly by default & location, rather then planning. I can't remember the thread (sleekcraft total redo, w cuddy cabin side windows removed) but when they started to prep before applying the gel-coat, the deck had sagged. Had to jack it up & install a header/bulkheads.

Good luck! I'm glad it wasn't the 2-3inch monkey fur I had envisioned.....But still eewwww....! Looking good, really great job!!!

We've been getting the same dreary drizzle since Sun @noon.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

As a contractor, you probably will but: Check the helm & decking before removing the walls around the head. The walls may have been supporting the deck above, if only slightly by default & location, rather then planning. I can't remember the thread (sleekcraft total redo, w cuddy cabin side windows removed) but when they started to prep before applying the gel-coat, the deck had sagged. Had to jack it up & install a header/bulkheads.

Good luck! I'm glad it wasn't the 2-3inch monkey fur I had envisioned.....But still eewwww....! Looking good, really great job!!!

We've been getting the same dreary drizzle since Sun @noon.

No problems removing the interior partitions. They had no weight one them. The way this boat is constructed is the hull, liner, then the top cap which includes all of the wa structure. been thinking about removing it for a while, just figured I would wait and do everything in the interior at one time.

 

[Pmccraney]

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

I don't know what is more impressive....your work on this boat or the fact that you can trailer it in the drive without hitting the brick wall that appears (in the pictures) about 4 inches away. Mad skills all around.

Given what you have done to the rest of this boat, can't wait to see the interior upgrades ("monkey fur"...lol).

Keep up the good work.


~rpm

 

[chriscraft254]

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

I don't know what is more impressive....your work on this boat or the fact that you can trailer it in the drive without hitting the brick wall that appears (in the pictures) about 4 inches away. Mad skills all around.

Given what you have done to the rest of this boat, can't wait to see the interior upgrades ("monkey fur"...lol).

Keep up the good work.


~rpm

Lol Thanks man, I have been trailering things around since I was a teenager. Nothing but a thing to back it up the drive. I got a few inches to play with.:redface:

I'm kinda interested to see how the interior comes out as well. I have no idea what I'm doing yet,lol I'll figure it out as I go I guess.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

Well, got some more done today. This boat has two small bunks that go under the helm area. The starboard side has a water tank that was hidden by a access panel. It will be coming out tomarrow because I don't use it. I carry bottled water. This can be used as storage in the future. Going to mount rod holders in one side and I have 3 coolers that fit perfectly back to back on the other for extra gear,food,tackle etc.

Got the rest of the monkey fur out today.

Starboard side

Port side

 

[jbcurt00]

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

Nice work, shedding the water tank will drop some weight, especially for towing. With the sink in the head, Mrs CC254 may not like using bottled water. Is it a chemical toilet? All for nothing, if your pulling the head too. Seems to be seriously rigged for fishing, in which case 'hang it over the side, WAY Over the side please!'

The last cabin cruiser I was on, 1964 Marionette, pulled lake water to rinse the head bowl, and an impeller before direct drain below the water line. Brought new meaning to swimming on the dark side of the boat in a cove. 76 Falls up from Girder dock at Lake Cumberland. Watched many a drunk jump from 50+ft up, and quite a few hauled out & into handcuffs. Got to be that we avoided holiday weekends. Arrival mon @ Memorial Day & stay through the week....

Will you be able to upload a rough or finished sketch of your proposed interior layout?

Good job on cleaning out the interior: Your Iboat friends know when to say no to monkey fur


Have a great holiday weekend....

 

[zm008]

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

That's one beautiful boat man. I hope to own one like it in the future, my starcraft will hopefully keep me satisfifor a while. Nice work on it also it looks completely different.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

Nice work, shedding the water tank will drop some weight, especially for towing. With the sink in the head, Mrs CC254 may not like using bottled water. Is it a chemical toilet? All for nothing, if your pulling the head too. Seems to be seriously rigged for fishing, in which case 'hang it over the side, WAY Over the side please!'

The last cabin cruiser I was on, 1964 Marionette, pulled lake water to rinse the head bowl, and an impeller before direct drain below the water line. Brought new meaning to swimming on the dark side of the boat in a cove. 76 Falls up from Girder dock at Lake Cumberland. Watched many a drunk jump from 50+ft up, and quite a few hauled out & into handcuffs. Got to be that we avoided holiday weekends. Arrival mon @ Memorial Day & stay through the week....

Will you be able to upload a rough or finished sketch of your proposed interior layout?

Good job on cleaning out the interior: Your Iboat friends know when to say no to monkey fur


Have a great holiday weekend....

Yes, chemical/portable head. It will stay on the boat but just not in a private inclosure. The main hatch will be the privacy door now. The water tank may go back in, but I want to pull it and check for corrosion and may relocate to the other side.

I will be drawing up some plans for the interior soon. I haven't been to cumberland yet, but it is on the short list. Want to get down there for some striper fishing.

That's one beautiful boat man. I hope to own one like it in the future, my starcraft will hopefully keep me satisfifor a while. Nice work on it also it looks completely different.

Thankyou Sir! Its been alot of fun upgrading her and cleaning her up. Keep your eyes peeled, there are deals to be had right now of boats similar to mine. Saw one the other day go for $3500 with twin outboards in great shape.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

Well fellas, hate to do it, but let the grinding beegin!! I got to work trying to smooth the interior walls down today. The grinder and layered sanding disks I am using work really well. Will grind everything down as much as needed to fair out and sand. Only spent an hour on it today and it is already looking better. I am seriously thinking about kiwi grip or similar material for the walls and cielings, will be a very light texture if I go that route. This should be a little bit of a sound barrier also. I see no need to dress up this interior with a bunch of vinyle panels and such.

Here is the grinder I am using, it is bad azz!!! Best grinder I have ever owned, and I have about 6 of them,lol

These are the disks I am using. They are layered sanding disks. They last forever it seems. They also have them in different grits. I'm using what I already had laying around. The way the pads are angled really helps while grinding, especially against corners.

You can see here where I have grinded the verticle sections on the right side and the left is untouched.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

More pics of right side compared to the left. Or starboard compared to port.

Prime example of how not to dress and protect while grinding fiberglass. Just couldn't wait!

 

[ezmobee]

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

I'll be interested to see what you decided to refinish the cabin walls with.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

I'll be interested to see what you decided to refinish the cabin walls with.

Yeah,me to!!! :redface: I have no idea and am open to suggestions. Right now, I will just grind/sand as smooth as I can without effecting the thickness/structure. Then fill/fair all the glass to be perfectly smooth. Would like something easy to apply but good looking and different from what you normally see in these interiors. Thats why I was thinking very light texture with kiwi grip or durabak or some other similar product. I know these are non skids, but think it would look kinda neat in there. Just don't want to have alot of issues cleaning, though these areas should not get that dirty anyway. Trying to avoid spraying gel coating if possible inside that cabin. May go that route anyway if need be.

Again, to everyone, open to ideas.

 

[herefishy]

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

I'm putting Nautalex on my deck, but it seems it would look nice on walls and ceiling.

 

[chriscraft254]

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

I'm putting Nautalex on my deck, but it seems it would look nice on walls and ceiling.

Thanks man, checked out there products, look like they have some interesting stuff.

 

[ezmobee]

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

Nautolex is great, I love it on my deck, however I hesitated to recommend it for this because I don't think it would work around corners and such on your cabin ceiling. Nautolex is glued down but they still recommend some sort of mechanical fastening on the edges. Something "painted" on is probably the best idea. The non-slip products should work great, just don't get something too rough that would skin your forehead! Maybe just some Rustoleum with sand added for texture would be the ticket. jasoutside did some tests with different things for his deck in his Islander thread you may want to check out. Photos too.

 

[herefishy]

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

According to my experience, if you use the Naulex adhesive you probably wouldn't get (anything) to stick to the walls. A proper adhesive selection would be the key in this application. I am turning corners as opposed to laying a flat sheet of material on a flat surface. A spray contact adhesive works better for my application (than the Nautalex glue). I am currently using Loc-Tite "300 heavy" aerosol contact adhesive - much better for my application than the Nautalex. By the time I need to re-do my deck, I'm certain that I will have an even better answer - probably a particular formulation of a 3m product.

I have found 3M to be very helpful in providing answers. I've called up local 3M distributors and discussed, "I am applying such-and-such to so-and-so for this purpose, and they help me out. Usually you can find a 3M store/distributor in any large Metro area and they will be happy to discuss your application, even if the recommendation is something your going to go to HD to get off the shelf, like #77 or something.

YMMV

~Fishy