My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

[fishingron]

Hello everyone, Im new to the forum and new to boat restoration so I have been learning by reading the different forums in an effort to understand the process of the boat restore. I know my boat is not a Starcraft, but I could not pass on the opportunity to buy this boat, I think the hull is very similiar to other 16ft Starcrafts, just this boat is a Bluefin. The hull looks good, the motor is in getting checked out to see what repairs are needed to get it back operational again. It sat for about 5 years.
The boat is the "Sportsman" model, a bowrider. The floor and transom were just redone with resin coated plywood. The lounge seats are in good condition with no tears or rot however, the consoles are in rough shape so I plan to rebuild them. There is a walk through windshield that I plan to put back in the boat. The boat came with the bimini top canvas and tubing all in great condition.
I have had the boat home for about two weeks now, I had to clean, paint the hubs and trailer rims, new bearings and races, new tires too. I have removed the riveted floor and used gluvit to seal/prevent any future leaks as I have seen described so many times on the forums. The rivets look good, the hull seems to be in great shape.
Like I said, the boat restoration thing is new to me. I know there is money to spend on this boat, but Im motivated to take my time, do the job right
and have my boat restored like the projects I have seen here.
I wore a respirator today when I did the gluvit outside of my portable garage. Wow, when I was done you could smell that stuff 6ft from the boat, strong.
I am glad I applied it now, before I start on the interior. All the wiring needs to be redone on it too. I will post as I work along, here are some pictures as an introduction. Has anyone else restored a Bluefin?? Any feedback on this boat? Any feedback on the motor??-a 1981 Mercury 50hp ?? Thanks.

Here it is coming home....

The motor and interior....

Some rotting interior that will be replaced....

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Ron dont tell anybody I said this or they might kick me out of the Starcraft club but from where I am sitting and looking at your pics . Thats a Starcraft it may have a differant name on the hull but that hull looks like a starcraft hull to me .

Rick

 

[fishingron]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Yes, the boat does look alot like a Starcraft. This will be a learning experience for me, I am also treating this as a hobby, restoring this old boat into something I can be proud of, and maybe someday Ill move up to a larger boat like a Starcraft Islander, one step at a time, thanks for the reply. I just checked the gluvit on the hull interior and it is setting up really nicely, it looks like it seeped into everything just like it supposed to.
Tonight I also removed all of the topside hardware and bow rails so Ill have a nice flat surface to repaint.
Im going to price the pink or blue closed cell house foam sheets to use as floatation under the floor tomorrow. Hopefully that wont be too painful. I am starting to see how the expenses add up, but in the end it will be cheaper than buying a new boat.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Ron dont tell anybody I said this or they might kick me out of the Starcraft club but from where I am sitting and looking at your pics . Thats a Starcraft it may have a differant name on the hull but that hull looks like a starcraft hull to me .

Rick

Rick...
You have a PM from the STARCRAFT CLUB Board of Directors.

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

LOL Kev I still say somebody screwed up and put the wrong Logo's on that Supersport .


Rick

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Welcome to iboats!

Nice boat! Don't worry we are aluminum boat fans...... we have lured many over to the Dark Side!! Isn't that right Rick ??

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Bob's right I couldnt stop myself last weekend when I saw the Jupiter V and now I find myself scouring Craigslist several times a day trying to catch a 21' supersport that odly enough would look like a longer version of yours with differant Logo's on it bwuhahahahahahahaha. DID I mention I already have 3 other boats ( but they are all fiberglass YUK ) .


Rick

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Yes all insanity aside (see what you have gotten into???)

Thats a great boat..Our buddy TriumphRick has a beautiful Bluefin that he is actually selling...Looks brand new..Great looking boats..

Bob...you left out the Bwaaa-ha-haaaa-haaaaaaaaa (evil laugh)

 

[BIGcarpy50]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

that boat is bluefin..the bow seats are the same as all the other bluefins i have seen..Made of wood and covered..the starcrafts i have seen all have aluminum consoles and that bluefin is made of wood covered on viynl

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Yeah that hull sure looks Starcraft-y but the interior pieces don't. Looks like a well made boat unlike the newer Spectrum BlueFin's which from what I've seen are crap. Good luck with your project.

 

[fishingron]

July 3, 2009 1980 Bluefin restore update....

July 3, 2009 1980 Bluefin restore update....

Im still having fun restoring the old Bluefin..... I cleaned up the inside of the hull with that citrus scented degreasing hand cleaner like Ive read about in other posts, it worked well...then I brushed in a good coat of Gluvit on all the rivets/seams and I was very impressed on how that set up, here is the inside...

Then, I spent many hours removing the decal striping on the boat, I used one of those rubber wheels but it was taking a long time so I got out the heat gun and as my son heated the striping I scraped along it with a razor blade....that got rid of the stripe, then I had to use adhesive remover spray I bought at a body/paint shop....worked good....spray it on, let it sit 3-5min and scrape it off.

I then used a hand power sander shaped like an iron with 80 and 120grit paper and sanded the sides down, flipped it over and then I spent most of the afternoon using a wire wheel and 80grit paper to remove the old red antifoul paint that was on the bottom of the hull. I think it was the wrong kind of bottom paint as the aluminum is pitted but not too badly.
My son and I then washed the hull with soap, washed it down with 50/50 vinegar and water and now the boat is going to dry for a day, Im so happy Im ready to paint, well that is prime maybe tomorrow.

Ready for priming,

I appreciate everyone's posts of their own boat restores, I have learned so much, just wanted to let people know the process I have gone through so far is working, it all just takes time and elbow grease. Oh ya, money too, slow but sure. My son asked if I could sell the finished boat and make a profit....Im not too sure on that one!!

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Ron looking good your further along than me already . Ijust got the deck and added WOODEN stringers out last night someone screwed wooden stringers through the hull of my aluminum boat . I hope to get it flipped over this weekend and finish stripping the bottom of the hull.


Rick

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Wow Ron, you aren't messin' around. Good work! I wish I'd done the Gluvit when I restored my boat. Mine's pretty leaky. Unfortunately I didn't know about this site back then.

 

[5150abf]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Very nice and you are doing it right.

I love aluminum, find me a 30 year old glass boat that doesn't need completely rebuilt.

I have an 80 Sea-Nymph that I redid over the last 3 years, stripped to the hull 3 years ago and rebuilt then I repainted it this winter so I have essentially a "new" boat.

You will love using a boat you built yourself, anybody can write check for a baot btyu few can build there own.

Keep up the good work and of coarse the pics.

 

[tintug]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

The blue fin resto is looking good. I'm in the middle of one myself.I have a 88' Blue Fin Sportsman. She's a 17 footer with a 50hp force. I also noticed while reading up on other projects a few things do look close to the same in them other hulls as to ours.I am about where you are now with the rebuild, the transom is fit back in and predrilled will probley seal it tomorrow with the remaining gluvit I have left over from the hull.I'll try to get pics up but I'm haven trouble getting them on here.Next step for me is the foam and new deck. Keep up the good work and keep the post and pics coming..

 

[fishingron]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Its nice to see another Bluefin being restored, I look forward to seeing pictures of your boat. The 50hp Merc on mine has badly scored pistons and it will cost alot of money to get it running so Im converting the motor I kept from my last boat, a 91 40hp Merc tiller to steering, but that too would be very costly to convert to electric start, so Im planning for now on starting it at the motor until someday I upgrade. I will have the steering cable and throttle controls hooked up to the engine and also the kill switch at the control box.
Today, I almost......had the whole hull primed, but I ran short by about one can of primer, hopefully the store is open tomorrow. We have cool weather right now so it would be nice to paint.
Good luck on your restores.

 

[Dobber2872]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

I was looking around to find out some answers on some things and I stumbled upon your thread.The really cool thing is that I am currently restoring a 1979 Blue Fin boat,and I am pretty much at the same point on my boat as you are.I just painted the hull Dark Charcoal Metallic and it looks really good.This is my first time doing a restore so I have been searching for "how to" on everything so hopefully we can share some info.I will have to figure out the picture thing so I can get some pics of my Boat on here.It looks identical to yours so I was floored when I saw your pics.Most people that I have talked to have never heard of a Blue Fin,so it was nice to see yours.

 

[fishingron]

Re: 1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum update, How do seal plywood seams etc?

Re: 1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum update, How do seal plywood seams etc?

Well, I have been busy lately on the boat, I put three coats of Blu Glo White Interlux (One part) on the hull, got the boat flipped back over on the trailer and installed the closed cell styrofoam sheeting , then riveted the resin coated 3/4 plywood back into the boat. I used the closed cell foam roller to paint the boat. I tried to tip with a brush but found that difficult, paint was drying too fast. Im happy with the final coat.

My question is, What do you use to seal the seams between the pieces of plywood and also the holes in the plywood where the rivets are countersunk into the wood. I bought the longest rivets I could find, but still needed to countersink them a bit to get them to hold. I would like to lay down marine vinyl, but I dont want the seams and rivet pockets showing through the vinyl. I was thinking of using 5200 sealant on all these spots. Any other ideas?? I also thought of carpeting but I do alot of fishing, vinyl would be easier to clean.
Thanks I appreciate it.
Ron
Here are pictures of the foam install, rivet countersunk and hull painted.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum update, How do seal plywood seams etc?

Re: 1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum update, How do seal plywood seams etc?

Your paint job looks fantastic. For the rivet holes in the deck I would think something like 5200 would be ideal. You don't want something too hard. DO NOT USE CARPET. I did 5 years ago and hate it. Especially if you're going to fish.

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: My first boat restore-1980 Bluefin 16ft Aluminum Sportsman

Dang Ron you aint messin around . I agree with EZ 5200 should be fine on the rivets and seams . I also gree with using vinyl on the deck and not carpet .


Rick