87 SS180 First Rebuild

[astor]

Thanks guys, good to be back working on it, I have a 261v Islander that I just pulled out of storage, that has to be prepped for the water, then 2 weeks in Europe work / vacation. then back on the 18SS.

 

[Candutch]

Looks great astor. Looking forward to seeing it finished. That polish is amazing.

 

[astor]

got the splashwell riveted in, working on the vinyl panels for the interior

 

[astor]

 

[astor]

catching up on what I've done over the past few weeks. put Nautolex on the gunwhales as well. today I'm gonna try an get carpeting glued on the inside vertical surfaces

 

[Watermann]

Coming together :thumb:

 

[astor]

Used 3M 90 spray adhesive for the carpet.
It took 3x longer than I thought it would
but it turned out pretty good.

 

[astor]

Actually pretty fun to do the upholstery
but wrapping some of these pieces is a challenge.

 

[Watermann]

Yeah the vinyl wrapping is tough and one of my weak points. Looks great from here :thumb:

 

[astor]

Had to replace the rub rail channel on the starboard side it was damaged beyond repair in the front 6 inches.
If anyone in my area needs the rub rail channel for a 16' boat I have it available- would be too long to ship.

I found my replacement rub rail from a 70's era 22' Islander at a boat salvage yard nearby,
ordered the insert from Wefco, it arrived yesterday, and I expected it to be a battle to put it in, but actual installation of both sides was less than 20min total. I cleaned out the channel with a blowgun and a tooth brush, and used dish soap to ease the installation,

 

[astor]

installed the vinyl panels and the consoles
but I'm not liking the looks of the glovebox door, need to do something with that.... just not sure what yet

 

[astor]

I am really struggling with lining up the windshield, anyone have any suggestions.

I'm sure it doesn't help that the foam on the top of the consoles is thicker than what was there originally.

 

[Watermann]

Nice to have a parts donor boat close by as that rubrail channel is a rare find. The Wefco rubber is a bit small and likes to elongate when warm being black rubber rather than vinyl but stretching it when warm and riveting it in place under the end caps keeps it from popping out.

 

[Watermann]

I had to shim under one side of my console legs to make the WS fit properly on my SS. I used AL shims that were wrapped in the same deck vinyl with 3M 80.

 

[classiccat]

in Astor's case, he might have to shim the side windows? The foam on the console is making the windscreen proud of the gunnels?

 

[Watermann]

With the same thickness of foam under the entire WS I don't see how it would make an out of alignment issue. The center WS match up looks pretty darn good to me in the pic above.

 

[astor]

thanks guys! Ill shim up the consoles on both sides and see what that does for me.
the consoles were just under a 1/4" off the deck when I bolted them to the gunnels. I ran screws and pulled it down tight, which probably threw it out of alignment. the center WS looks lined up because its not bolted down, just sitting free- where I want it to be. The thicker foam is holding it off the gunnels slightly.

 

[astor]

The boat salvage yard didn't have very many aluminum boats there - mostly glass- but I'm sure I'll be back there a few times for hardware and other interesting parts
Wefco rub rail looks like a natural rubber, certainly installed nicely, and its a big improvement over the original rub rail.

I now have a 3-4 ft section of the rub rail channel available, and about an 18 ft piece if someone needs it.

 

[astor]

Thanks for the tip Waterman, on shimming the consoles. Had to use a 3/8" shim on the passenger side and 1/8" on the other side and it leveled the windshield nicely.

 

[astor]

Catching up on what I've done over the past few weeks.
Got the engine painted and rehung on the boat, and put new decals on
the 31 year old engine looks like new again.