73 Skier Restoration

TRBenj wrote:    I wouldnt put any embroidery on the seats- keep it simple (and original). We're putting all white/offwhite vinyl into our red/cream skier, maybe add some red piping.

Keeganino wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: Keegan, Do you still have the drop off? I'd epoxy it back on and start over! This time don't go by someone elses mesurments. Rough cut and scribe it directly to your hull. Even if you don't have the drop off, I epoxy some more wood back on to the area. I do have all the scraps from the cuts so maybe I can find the right ones and do that. My friend who sold me the boat had that idea as well. My only apprehension about doing that was that the 2 pieces might separate if not screwed together. Good thing fiberglass is a forgiving material, because wood is very finite. Who was it that had the board stretcher? Here is the area in question. The rest of the stringer fits really well.

I agree - add some wood. I don't know if you have access to a table saw but I might recommend that you rip a piece off of your drop and laminate it onto the bottom of your stringer with epoxy. Looks like you only need an inch or so. After you get it on try this.

Measure the depth on your stringer still in the boat:


And then transfer onto the news stringer out of the boat:


We did the entire stringer this way 3 inches on center. The bar on the top was used to create a flat surface. Another was used when the depths where transfered.

FrankT

While seats are on topic. which is original? On the right the bottom of the seat comes off and 2 plywood bases are needed. On the left the foam is attached to the one plywood base and does not come off.

I got lucky. The seat heaters have separate removable wiring harnesses so I can easily disconnect the bottom cushion from the controller unit. You guys think of everything! $100 for heated seats seems like a deal to me especially when they are compatible with the old school design.

Dropping the seats off in the morning for a second quote. My gut tells me this is my guy, so we'll see if I am right. He has done 2 boats for my neighbors and they still like him.

WakeSlayer wrote: Keeganino wrote: He has done 2 boats for my neighbors and they still like him. That is funny. As good a reference as any, I suppose. You have seen the work then?

I dropped the seats off at Chuck's Upholstery today. He had 6 boats there, and a bad ass Nova, all with interiors removed and in various stages of put back. I was impressed with his knowledge, and explanations of the process. Nice guy. I have seen his work and it is as good as any I have seen. As long as his price is in line, he is my guy. He even had samples of the vinyl flooring that are close to the original that my boat came with. When I mentioned it to him he flipped right to it in a sample swatch with about 100 samples bound together and said "like this?" I said "Holy S$%)t that is it!". He is going to price that for me as well.

One of the boats he had there was a big Tige wakeboarding boat and the interior on that thing looked almost as bad as my 37 year old vinyl and it was only 10 years old.

Here is a detail I noticed while we were looking at the cushions- the snaps on the bench back say "Water Bonnet" on them. So of course I say can we reuse those? (in my mind I am already at home with the polisher cleaning snaps) He said not really. I have not started looking yet but does anybody know if you can get those snaps new? Seems a silly detail, but the font is cool, and its the little details that really make a difference in a true restoration.

Keeganino wrote: . I told my wife $2500 should do it- now I am having to re-evaluate that estimate.

Have you told her otherswise yet? Ssshhhhhh. If she busts you, send to the salon for a nice massage, pedicure, etc. She will forget.

Emphasis on the "+" part of your $3k+ estimate.

Keeganino wrote: Same with the engine. Get it painted next year.

You mean youre going to pull the engine a second time, just so you can save $15 in spray paint?   Id look elsewhere if you need to cut costs! A new interior would be nice, but that is very easy to do at a later date. Certain things just make sense to do while youre in there!

Pete,

My pylon has a hole in it and a matching hole in the female end mounted in the floor. The problem I had was there was no pin or bolt to keep the pylon from rotating. The pylon has a metal plate welded to it at the level of the floor with four holes on each corner. When you pulled somebody that weighed anything, the pole could and did rotate thus tearing up the wood the metal plate was bolted to. The pin would, in my opinion, eleminate all this.

scott

My CPES arrived today but I am not ready for it yet as I am still dry fitting. Talked to my glass hook up and it is only for the glass, so I will still have to order resin. This will still greatly reduce my cost.
Talked to the mechanic today about the engine. It ran great and I just told him to do a thorough inspection of the hoses, belts, etc and see if there is anything that needs attention. It is due for some maintenance and hope that is all. We discussed painting it. I wish I had a place here at home to keep the engine because I could clean and paint it myself, but it is at his shop. Maybe I will start bringing pieces home and painting them. No point in paying somebody else to do that when it is so easy.

You forgot to include the cost of your wife's trip to the spa in your total.

I hear chrome is insanely expensive. I am just going to do everything I need to do in one shot next year.

Mike- You are right! Need to add a couple hundred for the spa

Tim- I am not sure about the biaxial yet because conveniently he is out of town till Monday. I took a gamble and went ahead and ordered my resin and cab without knowing the details of what is offered by my glass guy. I was told he has it all but we'll see about that. May have to place another order with US if he can't deliver what I need. The seats- I did not have any reusable foam and that was an expensive line item, then you have the zippers, etc and my seats are white with red trim. As for the snaps I have not had any luck. I did some research and Water Bonnet used to make marine interiors, covers, biminis, etc and stopped making them in like 2003, and now focus mainly on marine winshields and have a minimum order of like 12 so they are not into retail at all. I was told the snaps are not reusable by my guy. The seat price includes me making and cpesing plywood bases for them too. That was a lot more than I was planning on too but the guy does nice work and quoted me $20 less than the last guy.(who I had to talk down $100 to $850 and did not specialize in marine interiors)

Chrome- This was a crazy little chicken shack plating shop I went to. No work will be done till I get a quote. The guy was really old and hard to talk to with his thicker than tar Carolina accent. I left all of the parts there and am supposed to get a quote in a few days. They were buffing out an old bumper when I rolled up and had several on the shelf looking like new. After telling my buddy about the place he said that he had a jetski pipe nickel plated there and it was really nice. So that bring us to my question- For the exhaust would nickel plating be a bad thing to do to the exhaust tips if it turns out that they plate in nickel and not chrome? I was definitely having a hard time talking to the guy but he looked everything over and nodded his head like he knew what to do with them, grumbled something I could not understand and said to call back in a few days for a price. They are the only thing that really needs to be plated now. I can live with everything else as is but figured I would get a quote for all of it while I was there. I may just ride back out there tomorrow and probe a little deeper into what they plan to do cause you all have kind of got me nervous.

Vinyl flooring. The samples my guy had looked and felt like the original material in my boat but he says it costs $39 a yard and is 72" wide and discontinued just recently but his guy has enough in stock right now for my boat!!! Nautolux from Garys upholstery looks just like it in the pictures but I have not felt it and it is only $19 a 72" wide yard. There are only about 10-11 linear feet that need to be covered and most of that is cut out for the bilge. To cut it so that there are no seems would require 4 yards. So my next question is- is that the way to do it even though most of the square footage is waste?

SO many details- so little time. This month is flying by and I have not made much physical progress but am lining everything up so that when this freakin rain stops I can bust it out and not have to wait on materials. I still have a lot of work ahead of me!

79nautique wrote: seems a little high for the seats, it was around 1200 for all the skins and foam for mine.

You dont have much more vinyl than I do in a SN, just the doghouse. The $830 includes all new foam, skins and assembly with the heated seats. My doghouse is gelcoat. Not sure how $1200 for your was a better deal. If mine look as good as yours I will be very happy!

Anybody have any comments on nickel plating as opposed to chrome on the exhaust tips if that is all I can get? Are new ones available anywhere?

you'll be fine with nickel, I thought you where just talking two seats for the 850 so that's not to bad for everything.

Tim - I am having three cushions made for the rear bench to keep it original. I told the guy I wanted it exactly the way is was and he understood that meant the dense foam, zippers, the whole bit.

I did take one of the buckets apart last night which proved to be a real pita! The T nuts spun in place in the rotted wood and the bolts were rusted so bad that 2 of them I had to cut out with a hack saw. The fiberglass mold has some cracks that will need to be repaired, and I imagine the other one will be the same way. I will probably have 20 hours in the seats myself after I take them apart, cut and cpes the wood, clean and repair the glass, and buff the mounting hardware. Maybe even more. My wife says I thought we were getting brand new seats. I said "we are" so she says "well why are you reusing all that old stuff". Then I had to explain what NLA and restoration mean. She understood but still thinks I am crazy. I just keep reassuring her how bad ass it is going to be to take that 37 year old beauty out on the lake looking like it just came off the showroom floor.