1973 aquasport 17 rebuild

[rebelionshot]

just picked up a 1973 aquasport 170 that will be getting a complete rebuild and a new 4 stroke hung on here to fish all of florida when done.. picked the boat up after a 6 hour drive completely taken apart full of tree matter(carpenter ants included for free) and very bad/crap repairs done in the past but for what i was wanting to do the price was right. trailer tires were shot and no lights made for a quick trip to a store that only had the lights with no tires to be found before having to hit the road at night with work calling for me in the morning.. ghost knuckle ride was a understatement.. my plans for now will be to pull the cap and redo the underside with composite with a possible transom redo in coosa if funds and work allows but i will be reinforcing the sides of the hull with ether glass layed up or composite runners while modifying the gas tank hold for a larger tank.. this will be a timely process between work and two friends trying to rebuild boats as well.. as of now i have the boat at my shop cleaned up and the original green rub rail taken off, then came the hatches and console to be scrubbed down. as of this evening i was able to get all the cap loose except on the transom which i will have to decide where i should cut it through, opinions will be greatly accepted on this task.

[rebelionshot]

all cleaned up and the nasty rub rail removed

[RickK]

Looks to be in pretty good shape.

[rebelionshot]

Looks to be in pretty good shape.

floor just in front of the tank compartment has been glassed over very badly over the years with mat and has a lot of gouge marks and soft spots in it so i will be line blocking the inside to get it straight after i pull this cap to redo the bottom and build up the sides, also found a possible floor delamination on port side of gas tank just past the stringer so i do have some work to before i can think about gel

[rebelionshot]

well i definitely found something i wish i would not have found but glad i caught it during the pull apart phase of this project.. the bottom and transom of the boat has about 4 layers of bottom paint under the gel which is why it looks horrible and is actually pulling off on the bottom.. it is what it is, and with that i had to go to 4 stores locally to find what i was looking for 3M 40 GRIT sanding discs, if these do not take the gel and bottom paint off i dont know what would! i use these things here and there to eat right through stainless pipe when i clean edges for welding to new structure at work.. now for a serious question for knowledgeable folks out there, what is a good topside paint that lays nicely when rolling with foam rollers to use on the outside of a hull? at this point i may just paint the boat instead of the gel since it will be used to FISH and will get torn up without a doubt and can be repaired easily with paint being that i would go white.

[RickK]

Look for flap sanding wheels that you use on an angle grinder - you can get in 24, 36, 40 +.  They'll outperform those sanding disks.
I used Interlux VC epoxy paint for bottom paint and EMC Quantum paint for the sides.  I sprayed both. I gelcoated inside the boat.

[LosCoons]

Order a box of those pads off amazon.  i got 100 and they had 20 each of 40, 60, 80, 120, 150.  I ended up using probably 70 of them.  Also get a respirator and some eye protection and just go to town on it with the orbital.

[rebelionshot]

we carry 150 grit at the shop these were needed though to cut through all the old bottom paint, also rickk is the VC Performance Epoxy like epoxy paint or is it like lead antifouling paint? i plan on trailering the boat constantly and bottom paint doesn't hold up good with how i run my boats.. last offshore boat we had i stripped down and regelled the bottom and just did touch ups every year or two.. looked and ran better than the antifouling paint

[RickK]

The VC epoxy paint is not anti-foul.  I sprayed it on, a few coats, and then wet sanded it down to 1200 grit - nice and slick and shiny.

[rebelionshot]

The VC epoxy paint is not anti-foul.  I sprayed it on, a few coats, and then wet sanded it down to 1200 grit - nice and slick and shiny.

sounds like this is what i need then.. today i ended up getting the floor cut out in 1.5hours not bad at all, i will be bracing the floors to the outside of the stringers and liner sides with foam and bulkheads, also will be putting a new bigger tank in under suspension bracing with a forward bulkhead to support the deck up front, then pvc piping chases to the motor and to the front hatch for wiring, so anyone looking for a tank cover or chase cover mine are in great shape that i will give to you. now the plan for this week is to sand the inside of the hull down and roll gel coat for ease of cleaning and a nice finish look when opened up,

[RickK]

Looks like there was a wood frame for the seat/cooler to tie into - interesting.

[rebelionshot]

What’s even more interesting is the stringers are stepped the back where the 2x4 is is 1.5” lower than the rest of it all the way back

[RickK]

The more I look at your stringers, the front portion looks original and the aft section looks like someone already replaced them or mounted something over the aft. They are square looking. Interesting. Did the fuel tank lid look like it was molded or did it look like someone made it?

[rebelionshot]

Stringers look all original same shape and angle from front to back and the tank was a factory mold in the cap was all factory as well with the nonskid except where shoddy glass work was redone. I think this has to be a custom built boat for someone as there are a few things I noticed on the hull that is different from others of this time period

[RickK]

It must be a picture thing - the stringers definitely look different in the rear. They don't appear to be the usual trapezoid shape.
Maybe this one was set up for the Convenience Kit?


Here is a link to what the stringers looked like in maybe a 69/70 170