86 Intrepid refurb

[dirtwheelsfl]

Moving along!  Slated to be sprayed in 3 weeks at a friends indoor shop. Motor and bracket will come off there too. Noway that ugly black thing is going back on here without being refinished!

All gray 545. Went thru a clear, a red, and a layer of primer down to original red gel then 545'd.







This is where the livewell will drop in. Laid that divider/flange/lip up with pvc board sandwiching 1708, and tabbed full across into the deck.



Factory radii matched



Quite a bit of time in modifying these bilge/livewell hatches, but still way ahead of making new ones. Thru-hull ducer dictated where to put the live well, which dictated how big the hatches needed to be. Had to take some off of one and add to the other.
Both had full core out to the very ends, (2nd pic) which was delaminating.
Cut the core back on each to 1) fix delamination  and 2) make clearance for the livewell hatch to sit flush. Then had to build up the radiused corners on em.

Livewell hatch





Bilge (rear) hatch lengthened and first round of fairing





Trim tabs put up a fight. Luckily bad core was localized to a few holes. Bored out all bad wood and injected epoxy (double the screw diameter)  ground bad glass and covered with 2 layers 1708.

[RickK]

Very nice work Chris  
I'm a little confused on the hatches over the livewell.  I see, I think, that the livewell will drop into the front access hole?  There is no lip on the aft side of that divider, will you add something there - some way to support the hatch in the front?

[dirtwheelsfl]

Right, just a lip for the livewell to set in. Originally the 2 hatches were just butted together and hinged on each other. Theyre so strong now its just not needed. Would be a sharp bone bruiser if it was there too haha. Dont ask me how i know....

They arent that "dry" but anything that gets in the well will drain out via transom and bilge pump will take care of the rest.  

The deck drains are pure crap design wise if you plan on getting any amount of fish on the deck (or leaves for that matter). Theres little pockets around each hatch with holes that drain to a piece of pvc glassed the length of the undeside then out the transom scuppers. Always clogged!

[RickK]

[Capt. Bob]

The bracket is aluminum correct, just painted black?

Hull is a beautiful shape.

Good luck.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Yup, made by "B-Bracket". Gonna get blasted and redone in white to match. Owner is a welder and hes gonna make some swim platforms out of bent tubing to go on either side of it. Something like a D-shape.

Can definitely see some Formula 233 in her. Reverse chine is all intrepid though. Ride like cadillacs!
An '89 23' (246) pulled in the driveway today as well. Needs a new fuel tank and some cracked cap/gunnel work...

[gran398]

You're getting a sweet job, pretty work

[dirtwheelsfl]

Getting this one up to speed.     Still needs the hull painted (red   ) and nonskid on the deck...

When the bracket came off, it was all blisters in the outside layers of mat, so that all got ground out to good structural stuff and laid back up. Bracket bolt holes all got overdrilled and epoxy injected as well.









Had some cracks in the cap to fix too



Topside all painted and taping for nonskid





Guys wanted Kiwigrip for nonskid.  50/50 mix of gray and white. Id have proly done straight gray..

[redemn93]

beautiful work.  what color for the hull?

[dirtwheelsfl]

"Toreador red" I believe.     Awlcraft 2000

[redemn93]

ew.  should have talked to you about my boat a month ago anyway.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Dont like the blue?

[gman 82 aquasport]

Looks fantastic dirtwheelsfl, like the detail work with the tape for the nonskid, looks better than factory

[redemn93]

the blue was ok in pics but it was a really crappy job.  previous owner did it.  lots or orange peel from rolling and not tipping.  starting to peel in places.  bubbled right off if it even smelled acetone.  have a local guy redo the paint inside and out with awlgrip, replacing the transom and raising 5", a little floor work and some other stuff.  his work is good from what ive seen (friends have had work done by him) and the price is good but its taking forever.  which i knew to expect.  but he is just doing a few things that are annoying me.  he is going to correct it though.  i hope he pays attention to detail like you did taping stuff off.  that intrepid really looks great.  and that hull is almost timeless.  just wish it wasnt going to be red lol.  

im doing snow white from rub rail up, stars and stripes blue hull down to the chine.  bottom is staying black cause i ran out of money.  not bottom paint though.  just black paint.  told him to surprise me with non skid color cause im horrible at knowing what will look right.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Good work definitely takes time.  Especially outside in this weather!     I get the slow moniker too. I can only grind glass for so long. As long as ive got something left to cure overnight then its been a productive day haha.      It takes my 2 hands 8 hours to do something or it takes 8 hands 2 hours is always my response.