Old Boat Restoration

[tolmondh]

I recently purchased and old 1973 Chrysler Courier as a project boat and am eager to get your advice on how to repair some cosmetic cracks that are on the hull. The boat floats fine and is solid other than some cracks, dings and deep scratches in the fiberglass. There are small cracks like the ones pictured all over the hull. The hull has also faded and lost it's shine and there are some chalky areas. There are also some rust stains and rubber stains from where the bow stop is located that are on the hull. I was told that to fix the deep scratches I would need to add fiberglass to the hull then sand and polish, but how to I repair the small cracks and the stains? Is there something I can use to fill in the small cracks or will I have to sand this down as well? I have tried bleach to see if that removed the rust but it appears to be deep in the glass. See photos I've attached.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Old Boat Restoration

welcome to Iboats tolmondh ..

First pic .. Remove and rebed that eye. You can use multiple applications of the strongest toilet bowl cleaner you can find to remove the rust ( Oxalic acid ).

Second pic .. looks like you have cracks coming from not only your Hull/deck screws ( if you remove the Rubrail you will find those cracks coming from the hull/deck screws ) but also impact in that location. .. Those cracks should be ground out to the glass and re-glassed with 1.5 oz mat and poly...then re-gelled and finished. ( they are just too close together to die grind and fill )

Third pic .. Can you give us an overall side pic of the boat on the trailer please. Looks like there has been hard loading or loose trailering ??

YD.

 

[tolmondh]

Re: Old Boat Restoration

Thanks for your reply Yacht Dr. I have added some side photos so you can get a better assessment. When you refer to removing and rebedding the eye...I'm assuming I can use the same eye when I rebed it. The trailer that the boat is on currently is not the one that came with the boat when I purchased it. The one it came with was so old and rusted that I just scrapped it and placed the boat on the one you see in the pictures. There was apparently impact on the left side at some point because the rubrail is different from the one on the right side which appears to be the original rail. Are rub rails hard to find?

 

[wolfe1974]

Re: Old Boat Restoration

I just purchase the same model boat. I am in the process of redoing the transom. boat rides awesome on the water!