Man of Steel Goes Aluminum

[classiccat]

The paint job looks pretty good pike! what paint/color did you use?

 

[Watermann]

Looking good, time to get tearing into her, the fish are waking up.

 

[Candutch]

Looking good Pike.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

Thanks Guys.

Classcat: It is supposedly a "bright teal", but seems to be pretty blue. It is a metallic and in the sun you do see some of the teal in it.

Waterman: I know, 27 days, drive splash (or else I will probably be the splash).

The body shop just called. They just finished painting the pieces I took and can pick them up on Monday. That is good, Then I can start putting the gunnels back together with the rest of the top pieces as well as the consoles. FYI, I am painting the top side pieces of the gunnels (done) and the aluminum trim on the outside and inside of the top all black. I ordered the vinyl for the floor, Merideck, stone color and it should be here this week.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

Today I am working on cutting out the holes for the switches, gauges, steering wheel, etc on the console boards. The plan is to seal with old timers formula and cover with black vinyl before installing everything.

 

[Watermann]

Spiffy design with lots of switches and features.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

May went by in a blur and I didn't have time to post. Now that I have caught my breath, I will post the timeline progress. May 12th: Dashes - cut & OTFed, Bow floor piece - cut & OTFed, Stern Floor section - vinyl down with spray contact cement ( a new learning process for me) and stapled underneath, a conduit section for bow floor to make running wires between consoles in the future easier.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

May 13th: Floors down and Vinyl on floors / gunnels.

 

[BWR1953]

Looking good! :encouragement:

 

[Candutch]

Coming along nicely Terry. I'm impressed how much you managed to fit into those dash panels.

 

[ezmobee]

Excellent work. Yeah those dashes are epic for what one can fit in an SS.

 

[PikeHunter431]

Thanks guys. My son was the layout artist for the dashes.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

The weather in May continued to be cold and wet. I had set up for the same local body shop that did the top plates and gunnel sides to do the gunnel trim / rub rail holders. But due to some guys being out sick, it was getting pushed out a couple weeks (which I didn't have.) When I found out on May 19th, 5:30 PM, I ran over (only had 30 minutes before their close), picked up the pieces, came home, laid them out in the back yard and sprayed them. It was one of the few days we had which was warm enough and dry. It was my second use of a spray gun. The pieces were just dry enough to move indoors that night. Then the rains came again.

 

[PikeHunter431]

May 19th. Now comes the big test. I tore this craft completely apart. Can I/we remember (or figure out) how it goes back together?

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

Lets see. First the gunnel sides and the infamous cross board under the bow plate. I decided to just wrap and staple it in black vinyl.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

Next come the two top plates on each side. Time to play "Rosie the Riveter". Can I interest anyone in some war bonds? Getting that air powered rivet gun was such a good investment. I don't know who's posts I read about that in, but thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

Time for the bow plate supports. Hmmm, we have a lot of stuff up there - better add a piece of 3/4" plywood under it. And since I have been known to occasionally, stand on places like that to cast, I better put some plywood in between the original supports to give even support across the bow plate. And then the bow plate itself.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

Next the inside gunnel trim on the top gets riveted, the outside trim is fitted on, and the passenger console is installed. We had to raise and re-drill the console holes to the gunnel since I used 3/4" plywood on the floors and 80 mil vinyl. Then the outside trim is reattached with screws, along with wiring brackets on the screws on the inside.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

May21st. Time to get the front panels of the consoles done. The plan was to cover (and staple) the front with light grey vinyl, mount the panels and staple some black vinyl on the backs for a more finished look when facing the consoles from the back. I am going to be putting in a casting deck later in the summer. We wanted to have some foam padding on the front side of the panels above the casting deck, so passengers could lean against them when just cruising and not fishing (I guess such a thing could theoretically happen.) This was my attempt at that. I ran into a number of problems. I had to angle cut the foam down at the top and sides to be able to get the rivets in. I didn't have rivets long enough to grip the console. The only ones I could find locally were some stainless steel ones and they didn't have any large flange ones. I didn't have time to order online, so I bit the bullet and bought them. They still barely are catching and I will need to replace them as I am sure the vinyl will rip out around the rivet head with use. I am not looking forward to replacing them as drilling out stainless will be a pain. After attaching the passenger side, we decided to not put the foam in on the driver side. But the panels were on and we could proceed with putting the dashes in.

 

[PikeHunter431]

No Title

Next came the dash installations, as well at the items mounted underneath on the back of the console panels. I had wrapped the dashes in black vinyl before mounting the switches and gauges. The trim I had sprayed with the gunnel trim.