Paint Prep

After a ton of work getting all the gelcoat cracks ground out and filled in with new fiberglass, I finally have the top side of the boat in primer.  I'll let this stuff cure for a few days before I start sanding.  I'm hoping I got it smooth enough that I can go straight to 400 grit, but we'll have to wait and see.

Paint Prep

In sanding the old paint off the bow of the boat, I discovered a bunch of small repairs that had been made at some point in the past.  It turns out that the fiberglass was not fully wet out to the backside of the gel coat when the boat was originally made.  Over time a few more of those spots have appeared, so now I get to make a few repairs as well.

Paint Prep

The boat has been disassembled and all of the unwanted holes and dings have been patched.  The socket for the anchor light has been removed and a new all around white light will be mounted on the top of the wake tower.  So next up is to strip all the cracked and failing gel coat off the bow to prep it for paint.

Dash Rework

Since the boat is mostly apart already and it's only mid February, I figured now is the time to paint the top side.  The first project was to rework the dash so we have a glove-box and enough cup holders.  I've also filled in the old holes where the review mirror used to mount on the dash.  I still need to make the box that fits under the glove-box door.

Gelcoat

The gelcoat on the bilge is done. Next up I need to run to Home Depot to get a 4" hole saw so I can drill the holes for the vents.  I have the bits I need to do the battery cables and throttle/shift cables already.  But I may need to get one for the bilge pump hose as well.  As soon as I get those drilled I can do the final coat of fiberglass across the whole deck.

Flotation Foam

The flotation foam is done and all the holes have been plugged.  I have also run a layer of peanut butter over all the seams to smooth everything out for the last layer of fiberglass that will cover the entire floor.  The factory used 1708, but I may go with chop strand mat instead.  I still have some holes to drill for the vent hoses, battery cables and bilge pump first though.

Flotation Foam

I originally ordered 2 gallons of flotation foam to fill the cavities under the deck.  I have gone through those 2 gallons and only filled about 2/3 of the space.  So I ordered 2 more gallons to finish the forward section.  I may drill a few more holes in the aft section as well because I suspect I have some voids, but we'll see when I get the additional foam.

Tabbing

I have the floor tabbed in all the way around and all the seams have a piece of tabbing on them as well.  I've gone around once with the grinder and cleaned up some of the rough edges.  But I need to do it again because I found a few spots I missed while cleaning out the grinding dust.  Next up is to pour the foam under the floor.