Restoration project - 1965 AlumaCraft Maracaibo

[Rad Racer]

Installed some vinyl today.....the boat is starting to come together.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Seems to me you could stand up a restoration business on these boats…..very nice, professional work. I’m enjoying following along.

 

[Rad Racer]

The dash is ready for wiring. My plan is to wire it on the bench then install it when complete. I think trying to wire it after install would be a hassle.

Progress has slowed a bit.....my dang day job is getting in the way of my boat building project.

 

[Rad Racer]

Seems to me you could stand up a restoration business on these boats…..very nice, professional work. I’m enjoying following along.

Thanks, I appreciate the support.

Not sure doing these restorations is in the cards for me.....that said, I would be willing to help/share with those doing a Maracaibo restore.

 

[Rad Racer]

The dash wiring is complete, tested and ready for installation.

 

[Rad Racer]

One of my concerns was clearance for the Teleflex steering cable....turns out everything fits nicely. A few bolts, screws & rivets and this part of the project will be complete.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Nice and tidy, plus modern…..can’t go wrong there!!

 

[Rad Racer]

After a little delay I am finally back working on the boat. Finished the transom and mounted the motor. I decided to leave the paint go until this winter...…I really want to get this on the water and test it before the snow flies. If all goes as planed we will put it into the water this weekend.

 

[Rad Racer]

While I had the forks on the tractor I decided to pull the motor from the 2nd Maracaibo for winter storage.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

That black motor looks nice on that boat.

 

[Rad Racer]

Finally got the Maraciabo on the water today. Although it's not done, I wanted to give it a test run before winter sets in.

All went well, the boat handled great and the motor ran perfect.

 

[GilK]

It looks great. Can't wait to see her after you're done.

 

[Rad Racer]

After much delay....I final have the Maracaibo ready for the finish work. I did not work on the boat at all in 2023, this year it is going to get done.

We completed the paint removal and surface prep this weekend....it's ready for the wrap. We are having the boat wrapped instead of paint.

All the aluminum trim is polished, transom board is painted, the vinyl work is complete. Since I had to replace the motor mounts in the Merc 50hp (big job) I decided to go completely through the motor to make sure everything else is right.

The boat shouldn't take more than a couple of days to assemble once I get it back from the wrap installer. With any luck we should have it in the water next weekend.

I attached a couple of photos but get an error. I suspect it due to the thread being so old. Hopefully it gets fixed...I would like to show you guys the finished project.

 

[SlipperyOar]

In the process of polishing

how did you go about removing all the paint?

I'm in the progress of my own restoration and will have to remove some paint as well... not sure if ill just self etch prime the bare areas and paint over the previous paint with a good sanding or get the whole hull bare and start there. Struggling to get the good paint off as it seems to have a real good bite to the hull. Don't think its the smartest to remove paint that is already really solid.

 

[Rad Racer]

how did you go about removing all the paint?

I'm in the progress of my own restoration and will have to remove some paint as well... not sure if ill just self etch prime the bare areas and paint over the previous paint with a good sanding or get the whole hull bare and start there. Struggling to get the good paint off as it seems to have a real good bite to the hull. Don't think its the smartest to remove paint that is already really solid.

I used "Citristip" https://citristrip.com/, you can get it at most big box stores.

I worked surprisingly good on the print that remained on my boat. I painted on a heavy coat of Citristip, covered it with some thin 1mil plastic to let it cook without drying out. After about 2 hrs I removed the plastic sheet and used a plastic putty knife to scrape off the goo. Some areas had all the paint/primer removed in one go other areas took a couple of applications. After scraping off the citristip/paint/primer, I used some mineral spirts on a rag (lots of rags) to remove any remaining sticky stuff.

Although the process took awhile, it turned out to be an easier task than I expected.

I will leave your question about removing or leaving the original paint to the experts on this page. I am a novice painter at best, there are others here that have much more experience and can give you better advice.

 

[Rad Racer]

I will post some pictures if/when the upload feature gets fixed.