76' 170 Rebuild

[MJB]

A month ago I was waiting for a good day to shoot the primer with my new spray gun, finally happened last weekend, wasn't the best, the wind was blowing a bit more than I had wanted but I was tired of waiting.  So shot the outer hull and the console with Awlgrip primer.  This was the first time I've used a spray gun, last project was roll and tip, and I must say it was much easier than I thought it would be.  Roll and tip in my opinion is much more work than spraying.  I probably used more primer than I needed to but I wanted to make sure I had a good base.  I used 3/4 of a gallon primer and converter to do both with a total of 3 good coats.

Here's the console:



Here's the hull:







Amazing what a coat of primer does, this was a major milestone, not just for me but for my wife and kids who have been looking at this thing for over a year now wondering if I'm crazy.  I had some spots to touch up and pins holes I filled during the week and shot some primer over those spots.  Sanded the hull with 320 and got her ready Saturday to shoot the finish coat Sunday.  Again, wind was blowing a bit more than I wanted but can't wait any longer.  Hard to tell in the photo, it was taken at noon with the sun shining bright, but the color is Awlgrip Ice Blue.  A compromise between oyster white and a darker blue (or any other color the rest of the family wanted).  

Here's the hull:





Came out pretty good, the finish coat sprayed a little different, thinner it seemed.  Plus, with the sun shining directly overhead I had a hard time to keep track of where I was on the first coat on one side, result was a couple spots where the paint ran.  The runs weren't bad, I was able to smooth them out a bit and by the third coat they were covered up pretty good.  Of course, like any project, you always know where your mistakes are and I'll have too look at those.  I was amazed at how well the paint covered the primer.  I sprayed the first coat light and waited for it to get tacky, looked like it would take a lot of coats, but by the end of the second coat it was really covering.  After the third it was looking good -- at least in my opinion based on the level of expertise with a spray gun (none).  Used nearly a quart of paint and converter which was much less than I thought, so I can return one quart of each -- saving money!

I'll let this coat dry for a week or so before I think about flipping it over and putting it back on th trailer to finish the inside.  I have the hatches ready for primer so I'll probably finish those up with primer in the mean time.  With a bit of luck maybe another month and I'll be rigging..........maybe.

[Marcq]

Holly sh*t dude, nice work, how did you flip the hull ?

Marc..

[compcrasher86]

Holy Guacamole thats beautiful. How much do spray guns run nowadays, ive been out of painting for agess. Oh yeah, how did you flip the hull?!?!

that console looks beautiful

[MJB]

Finally get back to update, I noticed my answers to the last couple posts never uploaded.

Spray guns -- I bought mine from Northern Tools, was a kit (1 - 1.4 nozzle gun, 1 - 1.7 nozzle gun, 1 touch up gun) for $99 -- best $99 I have ever spent.  Once you get a sense of how to use the gun it is really easy, but I am in no way an expert at his point.  I did make a few mistakes but managed to not repeat some of those.

How did I flip the hull??  I recruited some football players from our local HS, actually my daughter did the recruiting.  I set it on 4X4s running perpendicular to the hull and we lifted one side until it was laying on its side, then had a couple guys steady it in place while we moved over to lay it down.  Worked pretty good; 6 guys, 1 boat aproximately 1200lbs -- figured 200lbs each.  Tricky part was keeping it balanced on its CG.  

I thought this would work out just as easily to flip the boat back over right side up, but after painting I realized it may not be as easy as before.  I didn't have much choice but to do the same, so I set the 4x4s in place, set lifejackets down on the 4x4s where the hull or hull sides would touch and covered those with old blankets and towels to prevent any scratches.  This time we had 9 guys helping out, much easier, plenty of bodies to steady it on its side and then to slowly lower it down right side up.  Next day put her on the trailer, no scratches or marks.  

I don't think this is the "preferred method"  when it comes to this but it worked.

Since then I sanded and prepped the inside, filled pin holes, and lots more sanding to ready for paint.  Shot the primer, looked good, found MORE pin holes, fixed those and re-shot more primer.  Last Monday shot the topcoat (except the deck), used Off White Awlgrip.  Let that dry for a couple days and then taped of all the areas that were going to get non-skid.

Got some advice on non-skid, I had planned to use a salt shaker, but spoke with someone who recommended I try my 1.7 spray nozzle with a mix of 50/50 coarse/fine Griptex mixed.  So I tested it on a piece of plywood and the gun worked fine, did not clog (did take out the internal filter basket).  

I sprayed a coat of paint and waited 30 minutes for it to tack up and then went over it with the 50/50 mix with the 1.7 gun.  Looked pretty good, I thought I may have sprayed too much but at that point I just wanted to get it done.  Sprayed a final coat of just paint over it and pushed it into the garage to dry.  Checked on it the next morning and I was surprised at just how well the non-skid did come out.  Not too coarse, not too heavy, good uniformity, in my opinion came out exactly how I wanted which was a nice surprise.

Ready to come out of the garage:



Ready to take the plastic off!!



Finally!!!  











Finally I can see light at the end of the tunnel -- console and hatches are all primed, I need to sand and get those ready to shoot Sunday as long as the weather clears.

So far I'm pleased with the results.

[compcrasher86]

once again, beautiful job. Im getting a spray gun after seeing how well this came out, even if I am not repainting, seems like a useful thing to have and will get the job done right! Any tips and tricks you wanna share.

By the way, I can not emphasize how nice and clean that looks!

[ANTIBLING]

awesome man! you give me the inspiration to get mine done!  

how did you create a difinitive paint line on the transom? it looks like it is rounded?

[RickK]

Looks new - GREAT job  :!:  :!:    

[MJB]

Gents,  

Appreciate the kind words, certainly a labor of love.  

compcrasher86,

Let me start by saying I am a novice.  There certainly folks on this site and others that have much more experiece than I with a spray gun.  Couple things I would say about paint and spraying in general.  Prep work is very important, before you think about shooting any paint you have alot of sanding, filling, and fairing.  Then after shooting a light coat of primer you'll find more imperfections or pin holes that have to be fixed.  During all the prep you will reach that point where you make the decision on how "perfect" you want your project to be, I reached my limit and accepted the imperfections.  Once you shoot the paint though it really brings those imperfections to life.  The paint must be able to adhere to whatever you are spraying, so sand, sand, sand, sand, and just when you think you're done, sand some more.  I sprayed my boat in the front yard with no cover or shade, if you the room in a garage/shed or have some sort of shade I would use it.  Bugs and things blowing around in the air all seemed to make their way to my boat.  Shade will help you see what you have sprayed especially after the first coat.  Probably the most important thing I learned and really was the key after I figured this out, was spray that first coat lightly, just enough to cover (not hide) and let it tack up the recommended amount of time.  WHen I sprayed the hull I used too much on that first coat and found a couple runs (paint builds up quick with a gun).  After that smooth and consistent motion with the gun over the area.  Lastly, get everything ready before you spray, lay everything you will need out on your bench, have everything handy and close by (same for fiberglass work).  Also, I found it very useful keeping track in a notebook how much I mixed and how much I used, plus writing down the time.  Read the paint technical specs a few times, then if you know anyone in the area ask them a few questions, the specs make it seem like rocket science but it's not that bad.  Practice on a piece of cardboard or plywood and get an idea of how the gun works and the adjustments you can make.  Probably way more info but hope it helps.  One other thing, nozzle tip size is important depending upon what type paint you are spraying (primer vs topcoat etc) so check too make sure you have the right guns for the type paint.  From research here and Classic Mako seemed like 1.7 and 1.4 were a good choice for what I was doing.  

Antibling,

how did you create a difinitive paint line on the transom? it looks like it is rounded?

 Yes, the transom is rounded.  Wish I could say I had a real plan from the start but......after replacing the transom I opted for the nice smooth rounded look rather than the squared edge mainly due to the amount of work trying to make a good straight squared edge across the length of the transom.  I had thought the boat was going to be one color, off white, so it would not have been a problem, but I was the minority in my house.  At that point I was too far down the road to really go back and square off the edges (I was willing to accept the outcome).  I figured if it came out really bad then I would go back and square the edges.  I taped the out side edge of the transom and eyeballed it across using the bottom edge of the round (ice blue came up to just where it begins to round over).  WHen my wife and I took the plastic/tape off yesterday afternoon I was pleasantly surprised, came out pretty good, the contrast between ice blue and off white isn't so much that it jumps out at you.  Most importantly my wife thought it looked fine.

[LilRichard]

Congrats - great work!

[MJB]

RickK,

On the flip side..... (and not to steal the thread), my 170 console was/is the ONLY place to hang on and having people on board in other than smooth conditions, we ended up ripping the glue & screws that held the console down, right out of the sole  The whole console leaned forward at 25+ mph when we hit a wave   After that I tried to prolong the inevitable (sp?) to no success - the sole had to come out.
Anyway, my answer to this was to glue/screw/glass a 5/8" peice of resin coated plywood, that matched just the bottom edge (inside and out) of the console - bevelled out at 45 degrees, to the sole, gelcoating it while I did the sole and now I have double thickness of sole to screw into. The bevel up to the top of the wood keeps any water out of the screwholes which I siliconed as I put the screws in anyway.
Super secure to this day and I did that 15 years ago.

Good point, I had thought of glassing in another 3/4" piece the same contour of the console, but I'm not too excited about that now that I have sprayed the finish coat and non-skid to the sole.

Now that I think about it, after just picking up a couple round access covers, I could probably cut a hole in the tank coffin forward and make up a backing plate to thru-bolt the at least the forward portion of the console.  Cover the hole with an access cover.  Sides of the console are a different story, stringers are right there where it would bolt in place.

However, I capped the stringers in a layer of 1808 - 3/4" ply - 1808 and then glassed/screwed the sole down into it with a couple layers of 1808.  That would give me an 1 1/2" to screw into which is double (might be enough).  I just don't want to penetrate that last layer of 1808 on the stringer, I want too keep water out.

Another question:  any idea where I can get a windshield to fit a 1976 170??  The one that I did get with the boat is not the original, it's 2-3" too big in width.

[MJB]

I should have checked the resources page first........

Another question: any idea where I can get a windshield to fit a 1976 170?? The one that I did get with the boat is not the original, it's 2-3" too big in width.

Looks like UPD plastics makes it pretty easy.

[ANTIBLING]

Not sure of what UPD plastics charges, but we make windsheilds at my shop in St. Pete. PM me if you cant find what you are lookin for. We also make switch panels.

(not fishing for business as it doesnt benefit me, just trying to help fellow boaters out!)

[MJB]

It'll be awhile before I order a windshield, got to spread out the purchases a bit........don't want to break the bank.

St Pete.......everyone caught up with the Rays in your area??