My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

[classiccat]

I wanted to get the inner hull sides & gunnels painted before putting down the vinyl.

like the consoles, sand and within' 1 hr of sanding, apply interlux interprotect 2000/2001e

Followed by white Interlox PrimeKote

^^^ this is the floor template that should help me find the predrilled holes once the vinyl goes down :lol:

then the fun began painting the gunnels 2-part polyurethane (Inerlux Perfection; off-white) that's probably expired its 2-year shelf-life. Heck of a time with particulate & controlling brush strokes when tipping.

The fresh can of Platinum colored Perfection for the inner hull sides went on like buttah!

^^^ in this pic, I washed the deck with Interlux 202 Fiberglass wash (NASTY stuff!), sanded then washed again with Interlux 2223N reducing solvent.

And the final step before putting down the Nautolex was priming the deck with Interlux Epoxy PrimeKote.

and that's where we are! Things are flyin' and I wanted to get you guys caught-up! :yo:

 

[Watermann]

Lots going on right there, lookin real good! :thumb:

 

[classiccat]

Lots going on right there, lookin real good! :thumb:

Thanks for hangin' with me Agua!

Vinyl Day!

I'm using Nautolex-88 for an adhesive.

There seem to be mixed reviews on this stuff and limited instruction here on iBoats...so I followed the instructions to the T. (1 exception: stapling down the edges. I did all of this work encapsulating the PLY...last thing i'm going to do is create a bunch of intrusion points.)


I got a little practice by 1st doing in the inside corners of the bilge cut-out; seems like they should be done in 2 separate pieces/applications as I plan to split the main piece with a 45-degree cut. The inside corner pieces were put down earlier in the week:

Using slabs of plywood to hold the starboard side down, I folded < 1/2 of the vinyl over (allowing the bow tip to be fully glued-down when I do the starboard half.)

Applied ~ 30oz of Nautolex-88 over the port-side deck & vinyl backing using a paint roller and a paintbrush for the tight spots & edges.

Allowed the Nautolex-88 to tack-up to the point where it wouldn't transfer to my glove... It's tricky b/c you don't want to wait too long for fear that it will fully cure before mating the vinyl and deck. I believe alot of the outgassing issues guys have experienced was putting the vinyl down too soon. It took ~ 40min to tack-up with my garage being 75 degrees and fairly humid.

No problems flipping the vinyl over using a floor roller...nice and flat w/out any air bubbles.

Flipped the starboard vinyl back and applied the Nautolex-88 to deck/vinyl.

^^^ the roller makes a nice uniform glue coating.

I was going to try and keep the excess on the sides but it made rolling the edges difficult. Trimmed it as close possible and it rolls right down.

^^^ The only excess I kept was in the bilge where I'll wrap/secure it around the ply edges once the deck glue is fully cured.

So far, pretty impressed with the 88...lets see how i feel about it after it fully cures :lol:. Zero fumes, water clean-up as long as it's wet (paint thinner if it dries).

It took exactly 1/2 gallon for the entire deck...plenty leftover for the raised deck/hatches.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :yo:

 

[Decker83]

The vinyl looks great along with all the other work you have done.. :hat:

 

[Watermann]

Nice work, on the bilge cut out, I trimmed mine out with AL to make sure there'd be no place for the vinyl to start lifting. Thought I posted this yesterday??

 

[GA_Boater]

Nice work, on the bilge cut out, I trimmed mine out with AL to make sure there'd be no place for the vinyl to start lifting. Thought I posted this yesterday??

You're aging, Rob. :joyous:

The trim makes sure nothing catches a vinyl edge to tear or start peeling. You won't be in the bilge much, but anything can happen horsing around bilge pumps and hoses in the future. The corners already have a raw edge.

CC, you made gluing vinyl look like child's play.

 

[Watermann]

You're aging, Rob. :joyous:

Don't I know it! :lol:

 

[classiccat]

Inner gunnel trim.

how i'm dealing with P.O. holes since I'm removing what's left of the anodization followed by polishing/sealing.

chamfer the holes.

fill with a rivet...keeping the head separated from the backside and bucking bar on the beauty-side.

snip-off the head and grind ~ almost flush.

Removed the anodization with Easy-off, wet sanded upto 600grit, polished and sealed w/ sharkhyde.

 

[classiccat]

The trim makes sure nothing catches a vinyl edge to tear or start peeling. You won't be in the bilge much, but anything can happen horsing around bilge pumps and hoses in the future. The corners already have a raw edge.

CC, you made gluing vinyl look like child's play.

I took a similar approach that Agua and GaB recommended for the bilge trim...except the I trimmed the underside to allow run-off (of water, blood and shad scales :lol

the edges and vinyl backside got hit with nautolex glue, wrapped around and then clamped down with angle and LF rivets.

I'll seal those inside corners once i crack open some 4200 or 5200.

 

[classiccat]

The consoles were reassembled with 3/16 solids (upsize from the original 5/32).

the outer brackets were 1st riveted to the hull through the trim.

then attached

^^^ What is also evident in that picture are the upside-down rivets marking the predrilled hole plugs under the vinyl!

The template worked like a champ...I used a fairly sharp pick to carefully poke around.

i then went around with an X-acto razor knife and opened the holes for their respective fasteners.

^^^ Final check for windshield fitment...and now that everything else is cleaned-up, the cruddy windshield aluminum became more apparent. :lol:

I want to avoid removing the anodization on these...going to try and lightly wetsand (600-2000) and rouge polish to clean the anodized the aluminum.

That's where we are for now (mostly)...now back to the garage; the primer should be dry on the splashwell thanks for stoppin' by! :yo:

 

[Watermann]

Yeah that's some fine well thought out work CC :thumb:

It looks like you used alloy rivets rather than pure AL 1100 to fill the holes? That 1100 is so soft they would be great fillers to sand down. The windshield frames, mine on the SS were cruddy as well and I thought about painting them black like so many others have done but decided to leave them alone after cleaning.

 

[classiccat]

Yeah that's some fine well thought out work CC :thumb:

It looks like you used alloy rivets rather than pure AL 1100 to fill the holes? That 1100 is so soft they would be great fillers to sand down. The windshield frames, mine on the SS were cruddy as well and I thought about painting them black like so many others have done but decided to leave them alone after cleaning.

Thank you tin-bro! :yo:

I had a mix of rivets and you're right, the 1/4" 1100 I used to fill some big, hogged-out holes mashed to perfection. :thumb:

Yeah, this windshield has a few spots where a P.O. smeared-on some blue paint when they were repainting their consoles that will need something surgical. Most of the gross stuff will likely need a light wet-sand / rouge cleaning. I tried sharkhyde polish and it barely made a dent in the white corrosion.

 

[classiccat]

We're staying pretty close to schedule through daily nibblin' at the To-Do list.


Splashwell restoration.

some standard stuff...(corrosion, excess holes, etc.) as well as reinforcing the areas that were "accordianed" when the old transom flexed.

^^^ the 0.090 aluminum was buttered with JBWeld.

I added new angle brackets fabbed from 090" stock as well.

Temporarily installed splashwell to locate the proper position of the angle brackets and install them before painting.

 

[classiccat]

Now to make it pretty inside-and-out.

Interlux Interprotect

^^^ installed interlux watertite epoxy filler to any defects....reminds me alot of MarineTex.

Interlux Primekote

Several topcoat layers of Perfection later (after 2 reworks due to sags...dialed in the thinner to 3.5% @ 75F / 60-deg dewpoint. I also ditch the tipping brush and started roll-n-roll :thumb:

finalized starting battery, bilge and fuel tank tie-downs.

I had a goal of putting the splashwell in the boat by 9/1. so I literally put it in the boat this morning :lol:

^^^ delaying having to use a ladder to get in the boat for as long as possible.

 

[classiccat]

Sidepanels

Sanded/polished the bottom brackets. Starting point...pretty grubby!

(sorry, didn't snap a pic of them finished!)

glassed both sides of the wood.

^^^ i've also ditched expensive foam / cage rollers with these 4" 1/4" nap rollers from home depot. Super for wetting glass!

I'll start the painting process for the beauty-side tomorrow. (Wash with 202, sand, PreKote (2coats), sand smooth, 2 coats of Perfection.)

 

[classiccat]

Raised bow deck

Possiblities are endless for this area and I've been undecided on exactly how to execute my vision:

• keeping the vintage "U" look
• keeping weight to a minimum
• adding house-battery storage
• removeable pedestal seating
• large enough area for throwing a castnet
• strong enough for 2 full-grown adults retrieving a gillnet.

The original "cutout" design is a signature look for vintage SS's however it's weak.

I decided to delete the cutout by making 4 cuts:

Then joint them by making a channel-riser out of the excess.

^^^ they already have 1 bend

after some handy-work with the body bit & a deadblow, it's starting to take shape!

I'm grateful that I didn't freeze with indecision on this one.

Thanks for stoppin by! :yo:

 

[Watermann]

Lots going on in the garage, small bites add up quickly on the rebuild stage.

Funny seeing those pieces of lumber on the side of the bow deck support and then it looks like there're butt nailed in. :lol:

 

[bchaney]

That splashwell looks great and you are doing some very nice work here. Thanks for keeping your thread so well organized, it's really helpful.

 

[classiccat]

Lots going on in the garage, small bites add up quickly on the rebuild stage.

Funny seeing those pieces of lumber on the side of the bow deck support and then it looks like there're butt nailed in. :lol:

Thx Rob!

Setting-up realistic monthly goals and rough schedule helped a ton this year...save weekends for laying glass and painting which require large blocks of uninterrupted time (working around family time of course). Nickel-n-dime fabrication work on weekdays. :thumb:

Yeah those wood blocks are a hoot! That deck support would've been flat as a pancake if it hadn't been for them though! I'll be riveting-in several horizontal risers since the original aluminum was "accordianed".

 

[GA_Boater]

Hey CC, got a question. Now that the splashwell is in the boat on schedule, won't you be tripping over it? LOL


Ya got some great work done! We've seen cut down splashwells before, but the shortened bow support is a first, I believe. Good job again.