RickK's 170 rebuild

[larsli68]

It's looking great Rick!
Your boat will truly look like a brand new boat!

We are heading out on the water today. I will take more pictures.

//Lars

[RickK]

Thanks Lars.
I took a look at the bottom this morning and it looked the same, as expected.  The wind was very slight so I pitched the console in the tree, erected the spray booth and shot about 1.5 qts of gelcoat/Duratek on the console, the seat and the door.  All looking really nice - the console has a couple places that I need to sand out and re-spray along with the back of the door.  Luckily I saved about 6 oz of gelcoat mix.

I took a brunch break and then went at the bottom of the boat wet sanding with 400 and the jitterbug.  Did the transom and got one side done and about 3 feet of the other before I decided to give the neighbors a break from the compressor. Took about 3 hours.
You can see the right side has not been done but the left has a little shine in it from the 400 grit.  Too bad I didn't lay heavier coats, might have been able to get by with 2. I will order another 1/2 gal kit, spray it and then sand it down to 800 grit.  Based on what I'm seeing, it'll look great.

[Callyb]

I can't wait to get some color on mine! Looking good Rick!

[CLM65]

Agreed, it's gotta feel good to get some paint on the hull!

[RickK]

A little better pic of the left side


Pretty happy with the way the VC Performance sands down and shines though - after 3 hours today I have the right side done in 400




Ordered in another 1/2gal kit with some thinner for next weekend.

[CLM65]

Looking good, almost there!

[RickK]

Thanks Craig, I figure I have 2-3 more weekends until I'm ready to flip her back over.  Have to spray and finish the bottom and then do the hull sides.  All takes time and time for me is weekends.
When I first started wet sanding the VC I put the bucket of water on top of the boat and it immediately slid right off and landed on the ground.  The VC Performance is slick stuff, at least before you sand it.  After you sand it, it looks like gelcoat.

[RickK]

Started off Saturday washing the bottom of the boat and letting it dry.  Then I masked it off,  This 3M stuff is cool - it is 1 ft wide and comes on a 180' roll.   You tape it to the "subject" and then you pull on the back part of the plastic and it unfolds out 4' - nice.




Then I mixed the 1st qt of paint and let it sit the 30 mins it needs to mix.  I tried my 2.5 tip on my Aeropro gun and didn't thin the product. Damn gun has an air leak in it - I don't see it with gelcoat but I do with paint. Had to spray the first qt with a pulsing gun   
Went back to my old reliable Harbor freight 1.5 gun, thinned down the paint about 15% and let it sit. When I sprayed the 2nd qt it flowed like it's supposed to and I got a pretty nice last coat.




It was about noon when I finished and it needed a few hours to really harden before I started wet sanding so I mowed the yard instead.

Sunday I got everything ready to start around 10am and started with 400 and finished one side and then immediately went to 800 and then 1200.
Then I went to the other side and repeated the process. 8 straight hours

Came out pretty nice though - still want to buff it out with 2000 Aquabuff to get it all evenly shiny.




I will buff it next Saturday and then lightly sand the paint that I sprayed on the sides with 220 to prep it for the primer for the hull sides.  Then I'll mask off and cover the bottom and start working the hull sides.

[CLM65]

Looks great Rick!  Sounds like a bit of work, but looks like it was worth it in the end .

[dirtwheelsfl]

Looking shiny!

DONT leave that visqueen masking on your new paint job for more than a few days outside. Itll get condensation under it and cloud your topcoat. Guess how I know haha

[larsli68]

It's looking fantastic  Rick! Great job!

I can't wait to see when you turn her around again.
Great progress!

//Lars

[RickK]

Looking shiny!

DONT leave that visqueen masking on your new paint job for more than a few days outside. Itll get condensation under it and cloud your topcoat. Guess how I know haha

Thanks Chris and thanks for the tip.

It's looking fantastic  Rick! Great job!

I can't wait to see when you turn her around again.
Great progress!

//Lars

Thanks Lars - you and me both on the flip.

[RickK]

Been a rainy day here. 
In between showers I was able to sand down the hull sides again and rough up the bottom paint I sprayed on the hullsides.

Then I looked at the transom and there were pinholes, that I thought I already took care of. 

So I filled them and sanded it all down again - most are gone now. 

Since it was raining on and off, I drilled the engine mount holes with the help of a friend that stopped by.

Washed it all down and am hoping that the weather shapes up tomorrow for spraying primer. Have to get this thing done. The bottom really looks good after I washed the sanding residue off it with a soft brush.

This past week I ordered a rebuild kit for the Aeropro paint gun and rebuilt it today - hopefully it'll act like a normal spray gun tomorrow.

[larsli68]

Hello Rick
I hope your weather picks up tomorrow. It's grey and kind of cool here today, but I took my nephews and my daughter out on the boat this afternoon. I will have to change the prop. Will only get 4900 rpms but other than that I'm super happy with the boat. Tomorrow I'm driving Lauren back to Stockholm, but later this week I'm planning more boating. Good luck with the weather tomorrow. I hope to see your boat live one day.

//Lars

[RickK]

The weather started out rainy on and off but cleared out enough for me to mask the bottom off and get a quart kit of primer on the hullsides and transom.  There was enough paint in the kit (primer, activator and reducer) to put multiple coats on for a good covering.


Drilled the engine mount holes also




Now around mid-week it needs a light sanding of 220 or higher and then it's paint time.
(BTW the paint gun still sputtered after rebuild - either I didn't do the rebuild properly or the gun is junk - the HF gun worked fine)