Century Coronado restore

[gm280]

When it is at full pool in the summer months it is 200' at the deepest point. The location I show in the pic normally has about 30' of water but the lake is currently about 50' down. The fish are still out there and I hear that this is a great time to fish if you can figure out how to get your boat on the water (all of the launch ramps currently end in dirt/mud).

Think hovercraft and have a great fishing trip.

 

[mickyryan]

you know the weird thing is I bet the bottom feeding fish don't have much to feed on and I also bet lake is crystal clear due to fact that the algea drys out dies off and becomes silt that probably gets blown away leaving a good fresh bottom every year.

 

[gm280]

My warped sense of thinking tells me that when a body of water shrinks like that, that the fish are more concentrated and therefore "should" be easier to find and catch. However, I can't verify that because I haven't tried fishing such water. But it sound good. :noidea:

 

[89 resorter]

I started to fill and fair the dings on the hull and I have to say that the Wood putty (what I'm calling WOG's putty formula in post #207) worked great. Things could have only been better if I had thought to snap a couple pictures of the finished work :facepalm:. Temps are supposed to be in the upper 40's this weekend so I am hoping to get more done and take some pictures for proof. BTY the water in our lake came up about 25 vertical feet over the past couple of weeks so the fish have room to swim again and all that dirt shown in the previous pics is gone.

 

[mickyryan]

pics or it didn't happen

 

[89 resorter]

I will have the evidence to share after this weekend ..... the weather girl is now predicting high 50's in the mountains this weekend so I'll have to dig out the old flip flops and get me some tanning lotion :rockon:

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I love when the weather girl speaks such sweet words......

 

[89 resorter]

Ends up the weather girls sweet words were right on target and it actually got into the low 60's so it was the first time in a while I could work on the boat without firing up the wood burner. I ended up getting all of the dings taken care of in the areas I will be re-gel coating and begun fixing the dock rash on the bow where I will eventually re-paint.

One of the many impact dings along the bottom edge repaired and finish sanded


This is the area on the transom that I patched a large bad spot way back in post #205. I ended up also patching some holes to the right of that patch where the four carriage bolts pass through to mount the rear lifting ring. These were sunken into the transom pretty good so I figured I might as well make them right while I was at it. There are still a few pin holes that I need to fix.


The damaged area at the bow rough sanded to get down to remove the paint and get down to the original gel and prep the damaged areas.


That same area with the putty applied. This is where I ran out of time so finish sanding this area will have to wait until next week.

 

[89 resorter]

With most of the patch work being close to finished, I guess I need to get educated on how to address the areas of the boat that I will be re-painting. This would include all areas that currently have the dark blue paint. I plan to keep it close to the same color but I have no idea of what type of paint system the PO used so my plan is to remove it down to the gel coating before sanding, primer (sand, primer, sand, primer, etc.) and then new paint. I have zero painting experience so any suggestions in how to go about prepping it for the paint and available paint systems is greatly appreciated.

 

[gm280]

89, I say pick one paint system and stick with it. In other words, if you go the Rustoleum route, use their primer and top coats. If you go with automotive finishes, use their primers and top coats. That way everything is totally compatible and you won't need to worry if the paint and primers will work with each other. I like automotive PPG paints and top coats finishes and use them almost on everything. But that is just me. Others have their own favorites and will offer them I'm sure. JMHO

 

[89 resorter]

GM, I have a friend who restored a boat with Awlgrip paint above the waterline and gel coated below the waterline (similar to what I intend to do) and it came out beautiful. Unfortunately, he is not one to hold onto the same boat for more than a couple of years so I have no idea how it held up long term since he sold it after only about 1 1/2 summers in the dock.Whatever system I go with, I will take your advice and stick with the same brand for compatibility :thumb:.

 

[Woodonglass]

Are you sure the Blue is Paint?

 

[89 resorter]

Are you sure the Blue is Paint?

Yep, it is definitely paint. Last summer I had gotten a little of the blue to come off when rubbing a acetone soaked rag on it. It became even more evident it was paint this weekend when I started sanding the transom. As soon as I hit it with the sander I got a really bright blue dust which disappeared very quickly once the paint was removed and I was into the original gel coat. I got none of the bright blue dust when I sanded the sides where the decorative side panels were (these must have been masked off and painted around). The good news is that the old paint acted kinda like a guide coat showing the waves and lower areas.....I decided to do most of the work using the air powered board sander figuring I would get a start on getting everything leveled out from the start.

First pass with the sander and after wiping the surface clean .... showed all of the low spots.


Second pass after blending the low areas. Still some hard-to-get-to spots that will have to be hand sanded. You can also see the un-painted area where the decorative panels were on the side of the boat just above the bilge drain hole.

 

[mickyryan]

man you moving right along!

 

[89 resorter]

Yeah Mick, another 3 years or so and I should have it done

 

[Vintage Rider]

You can't rush quality.

 

[89 resorter]

You can't rush quality.

I will make sure to use that one when the wife, daughter and grand daughter get on my case about not having a boat this summer lol.

 

[gm280]

Can I use that as well? :facepalm:

 

[Vintage Rider]

Sure. Not copywrited and it's true.

 

[89 resorter]

I got all of the old paint sanded off of the starboard side this weekend and got a few feet up the port side. I have a few dings here and there that I will need to fix before getting her ready for primer but it was not as bad as it originally looked since most of the scratches were only in the paint and did not go very deep into the gel coating.

After sanding the starboard side and quick wipe down


If anyone needs some blue dust let me know ..... got lots of it and more to come.