want to restore my 86 nautique

I would like to start to restore my 1986 nautique2001. I would say the boat is in fair shape mainly needs interior, new gel coat, and the motor (351W) seems to has lost about 30% or so of power last summer. I really just want it to look great and be very dependable. this boat gets between 30 and 40 hours of use a week so i need to rebuild the motor with that in mind i guess. i do not know very much about this so any info on where to start or what you think i should do would be great thank you -john

augusta, ga

I wish you were close to me, I'd love to help out! I have an '86 too and just did alot of work to mine last winter. Are you planning to redo everything before you put it in the water or a little at a time?

Have you checked to see that all the fiberglass is still in good shape on the stringers? And that the stringers themselves are in good shape? That's what I had to do is re-glass some of that on mine. If any of it is delaminated, first I'd rip off any that is and let it dry while you work on your other projects if possible. Put the new fiberglass on last thing before it goes in the water so the wood gets dry as possible. If it were me, I'd get the motor done first so it's useable and reliable. Then I'd do the int and hull in no particular order. I have no experience with gel coats or painting but if you have questions on the motor I might be able to help with that. Is there a way to post pics here? I'd like to see pics of it. What color is yours?

cracks in the gel below the water line need to be repaired. i just grind the crack open into a 'v' down to the resin. a dremel tool works great for this. you can use marinetex to make a waterproof color patch, but it shrinks if you goop it on to thick. multiple thin coats works better.

if you start into the floor, you might find alot more fun. be prepared. the photo in the diaries shows a typical layout.