86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

[jfw432]

I just bought a Dixie Super Skier and so far have been pretty happy with it. The previous owner had just redone the carpet red. I think blue would've been better but I think he wanted to maintain the overall appearance that it had so I understand. The driver/passenger seats were split so that required so stitching but should be ok for a while. The engine is a 5.8L 351 Windsor engine. I figured it would be ragged out and it may still be but it's got loads of power for what I need.

Here are the pictures of when I received it.

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

As you can see, some of the boat is decent while other parts are just down right nasty. The back and front seats look decent but the wood behind all the vinyl is rotten and crumbling. The engine cover is non existent and it just bare fiberglass.

 

[spdracr39]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Has lots of potential !!

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

I'm not making massive progress right now just because it's still a usable boat and all major tasks will wait until winter. So far, I've put the boat on my lift and rigged the lift so it could be driven by an electric winch I had laying around because hand cranking that big boat up wears my butt out!

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

I started on the interior yesterday afternoon and finished the back and sides this morning. I may tackle the bow seats today but no telling on that. Also gave it a new glovebox and put new vinyl under that. The engine cover was cleaned up a couple days after I got it. I sanded the crap out of it and painted it gray. Before painting, I thought the engine cover was fairly smooth but that was not the case. That thing was about as smooth as a gravel road. It's not perfect but neither my friend nor I will get fiberglass splinters from it until I do something better with it.

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Got the front seats taken care of a while ago but never got around taking a picture...

 

[spdracr39]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

That looks a lot better than the red. Good Job !!

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Ok just ordered some paint. Before I actually start painting, I wanted to hear what people's opinions are...

I plan to keep the interior and the very bottom white but my plans are to paint them both so they'll look clean and fresh. I'm obviously going to strip the decals off and then paint the gray under the bond rail Daytona Blue Metallic like the picture below. I painted a jetski cobalt blue firemist which had a similar color but was more sparkley. Although I love that color, I thought it might be a little over the top for a ski boat.

Haven't decided what I'll do to break up the color but some vinyl graphics will be in order for the sides of the boat. Just haven't decided what yet.

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Well I stripped everything off of the hull in preparation for paint and gave it a good scuff sanding.

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

After some sanding was complete, I cleaned it up real good and masked everything off. That was pretty much the last successful thing that happened. By the time I started painting, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I had issues with the air hose, the gun clogged up, the solvent ate through the cup that I had some extra paint in, and the entire boat fish eyed. Clearly the old gel coat and this paint are not compatible.

You might ask why I didn't stop when I noticed the fish eye...The answer is, I didn't notice it until I completed the entire top deck and since I had just mixed more paint, I thought maybe the bottom deck would be better. The paint went on clean and smooth but after it had been on there 30-60 seconds, it's like it curdled up and went to heck. Pretty much the whole boat looks like this...

 

[Luhrs28]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Nice job you're doing, and QUICK! By comparison I'm going along at a turtle's pace on mine. Keep up the great work!

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Got a little more time today and finished painting the top deck. The gray areas on the side will be covered with blue paint and the areas that appear to be lacking paint on the inside will be covered by seats, trim, etc.

 

[happyshredder]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Looking pretty good man. I've been working on a dixie super skier too. Rebuilding the motor right now. paint looks sweet so far!

 

[produceguy]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

How did you fix the fish eye paint? Looks good.

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

How did you fix the fish eye paint? Looks good.

I may be calling it fish eye incorrectly and it may be orange peel instead but either way it was a problem. I originally thought it was caused by an incompatibility with the original gel coat so I sprayed primer over the entire boat. Then sanded the primer and went to spray only to find the fish eye/orange peel crap. The problem was, I'm used to painting with my normal air hose and it has a filter on the end of it. However, the boat was a little far away and I had to add a 10 ft extension. That extension apparently had all sorts of water and oil it. I put an inline filter on the end of that hose as well and the problem cleaned up immediately. $35 in primer and a couple weeks of work for nothing....

 

[produceguy]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Looks really nice. Is that lake in your backyard? I am jelous now.

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Looking good!

That's going to be one great boat when your done.

 

[jfw432]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

Thanks guys. I've slowed down considerably since it's been cold but I'm still moving forward. The lake is in my backyard. There are plenty of negatives to living in middle GA but reasonably priced lakehouses is a huge plus.

This weekend is supposed to be relatively warm so I'm hoping to paint the sides and start reassembling the boat. Hoping for the best...

 

[produceguy]

Re: 86 Dixie Super Skier 299 make over

jfw432,any progress?