1997 Bombadier Celebrity 200 Deck, Stringer and Transom Replacement

[kcassells]

Gel looks nice Oh My!

 

[FBCoach]

The gimble housing bolts are 3/8”. How big do you drill the holes? I tried 3/8. Ain’t gonna work! Don’t want to get them too big.

 

[JASinIL2006]

The specs on the transom template I have say 9/16" holes, so that's what I drilled.

 

[FBCoach]

Deck finally glassed in. Got the captains chair bases and bench seat braces PBed and 1708ed. Looks like tomorrow will be sanding and fairing.
Couple questions:
-can you fair it after the first coat of gelcoat?
-While experimenting with the gelcoat i noticed the wax really knocks the sheen off. Will wet sanding bring it back? Or do need to polish it? So much I’ve had to learn. Couldn’t do it without you all.

 

[Woodonglass]

Yes you can fair it afterwards. Trick is to thicken the gel just a bit and then spread it with a bondo spreader just like any fairing material. No worries on the wax you'll be doing a lot of sanding and then final buffing and polishing to get her to shine like a new penny

 

[FBCoach]

Thanks much! Got 5 coats on. Sanded and Faired three times. Will do final sanding and coat today after church. Will probably need another gallon of gelcoat to properly do ski locker and storage compartments. I’ll get to that later. All seals and gaskets in. Hope to install gimble housing and who knows what else today.

 

[kcassells]

Dang Coach. I think you did all this before! Looks Great!:joyous:

 

[FBCoach]

Got the gimble housing and y pipe on. Got the motor in and rear mounting bolts started. Will align and lock it down tomorrow.

 

[52FordF2]

Good read

 

[FBCoach]

Got the everything but the stern drive on and thermostat in. Motor aligned. Mounted. Wired. Gotta get a thermostat gasket.

Can you flush the exhaust/cooling system?

 

[FBCoach]

I knew you could flush it with the ear muffs, just didn’t know if you could with the thermostat housing off. Ok, got the thermostat housing cleaned really good. New thermostat and gaskets installed. New filters and fuel pump. Drained all the liquids. Put final coat of gel on the floor. Added medium texture to the final floor coat. On the way to put the stern drive on, refill her, muff her and flush her. Bouncing between excitement and prayer!

 

[FBCoach]

Need help. Everything is hooked up and filled up. Hooked the muffs to it and it started right up. No water is coming from the exhaust only a lot of smoke. Is this normal? Boats sat over a year.

 

[Chris51280]

Follow the water flow from incoming

 

[Chris51280]

Was your alignment a pita. I have to fight the rubber on the exhaust bellows at the y pipe and the rear bolts just didn't want to align

 

[FBCoach]

Ok. Water seams to be flowing correctly. Ran her for about 3-4 minutes at about 1200 RPMs and all seemed great. Then she choked down. About to rebuild the Carb. Pray that’s it!

 

[FBCoach]

Guess what:
Rebuilt carb. Got throttle adjusted. It seems to run well. Been out about 20 mins on the water today. That was awesome. Yet, i Think my lower shift cable is bad. Choked out when trying to put in reverse 8-10 times.

 

[kcassells]

Congrats on the splash Coach!

 

[FBCoach]

Thanks for all your help - all of you! Still some details and tweaks to work out, but what a stress relief.

 

[Woodonglass]

Sorry I'm late but here ya go!!!!

Congrats on your Recent Splash!!!

 

[FBCoach]

Two months later all is still good. Had to replace the oil sensor buts that’s it!