TOPIC: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

It's looking good! Glad the weather worked out for you.

Well, I think that the never-ending sanding has finally come to an end... I filled the last of the small imperfections with filler, and sanded it all down-



All those darker spots are low spots that are filled- They really didn't show until I got a nice, even coat of white on the hull. They would have REALLY shown once I had a coat of urethane on there!

Hopefully, I am going to get some paint on there tomorrow, if the weather and my schedule permits.

-Andrew

Andrew, great progress, really lookin' good. Wish the weather would warm up in my area. The Herters project is on hold for painting weather.
Cal

Yeah, weather can be a real pain... Our spring came early, which was nice, but we've already had a few days where I couldn't paint because it was warmer (or more humid) than I'd have liked. So far, today is looking promising, though. I'd love to see some gloss on that hull!

It turned out to be a perfect painting day today- Mid 70's, NO wind, and slightly overcast... Even the pollen count was extra low- So, it was time.

I got up early, and went out to sand any last imperfections I could find in the hull. It amazes me what you find the next day on a hull that you could have sworn was 'perfect' the night before... The eye is also a liar, I've learned to trust my sense of touch far more. There were only a few spots that needed to be hit, and I got them all nice and smooth.

Then I wiped it down with a clean rag and a bit of thinner, and waited for the temps to come up just a bit. I like to wait until it's over 70 if I can, just to be sure. Of course, I couldn't sit idle- I did some welding work on the body panels of the truck I'm restoring while I waited.

Just before lunch, I mixed up a 'batch' of urethane paint. I had my sprayer ready to go- it's the first time I've used it, so I knew I'd be playing with the settings a bit. In hindsight, I should have thinned a BIT more- I did about 10-15%, and I got a little more orange peel that I'd have liked, but, Overall, it looks good-





The gloss is GREAT. It should be dry to the touch in about 30 more minutes... Then it'll cure for a while before I cut & buff it... Which should make it shine even more. I like the paint- and had I thinned it a bit more, I think that the spraying would have come out even better. But, I'm certainly no pro when it comes to spraying. I know the only way to get good results is through practice... The rest of us just have to do a lot more wet sanding

One thing that I found to be an issue was trying to get good coverage with a white paint on a white primer- It was REALLY hard to tell where I had been! I had to look at it from an angle. One good thing about this paint versus the other, single part that I had used in the past is that since it isn't reliant on solvent evaporation, you can go a little thicker with the coats and not worry about it bubbling up on you.

It is starting to look more like a boat now

-Andrew

Lucky bum! You just passed another milestone to chalk up. Good for you. Great job. Looking forward to the "marriage" of the two halves again.
Cal

It's nice to see some shine to her again... It is kind of a turning point in a way, where the project starts to look a bit like a boat! There's still a long way to go, and I'm REALLY not looking forward to all the sanding on the decks and seats, But the end IS in sight

I've got to get moving on this project, I start a new job at the end of May and won't have NEARLY as much time then!

-Andrew

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It looks awesome, can't imagine how good it's going to look after buff out!

Bob

its looking great andrew,it wont be long now.john

I did a small test spot today, to see how it was going to buff out- The photo gives you SOME idea -



I hit this area with some 400 wet/dry first- there was BAD orange peel, as I was still having issues with air pressure. The rest of the hull probably won't need that heavy of a grit. Then I used 1000, then rubbing compound, then meguiers 'Ultimate' compound, which I applied for this quick sample spot by hand.

The gloss is unreal- And, it didn't really take all that much work... Just wet sanding until I can feel it's smooth, then a quick buff. The machine will make much quicker work of the buffing, too.

It's also nice that I can do this work 12 hours after painting- I wouldn't TOUCH an enamel paint job with sandpaper or compound for at least a week! I think I'm going to get her sanded down, then wait a few more days before I do the buffing, since it does say it takes a few days to reach optimum hardness. I'll use the slight softness now to my advantage- to make sanding easier.

-Andrew

My fingers are numb...

I went over any orange peel, drips, etc with some 400 grit wet/dry. Then, I gave the entire hull a quick hit with 600, then 1000... Then, I hit it with 3-M rubbing compound.... I'm not done YET, but it's already starting to look good-



I still have to hit it with one finer compound before I'm done.

There are a few spots on the edges where I was a bit too aggressive with the compound, so I'll have to touch the paint up there- But they are all areas that I can get to easily when it's back on the trailer. There is a pretty decent chance that I'll get a few scuffs or scratches when I flip the hull back, So i'll wait 'till that's done!

Whoo Hooo! Lookin' pretty snazzy. Flippin' can be a #$%&*@## moment. I put a few "scuffs" in my bottom when I flipped it and like you said they can be easily fixed up when it's on the trailer. C'mon warm weather!

I did the dreaded flip today... No photos of the actual process, as I was KIND of busy. I did it alone, but with some pre-planning, it went smoothly.



I did it on the grass, to minimize potential damage. I lifted the bow with the gantry and a chain fall, and while that was lifted and supported, I went to the transom and lifted it & flipped it over... Sounds simple, but it was a workout! I ended up with some really minor scuffs in the new paint job from the chain, but they'll probably buff out without a problem.

Then I dropped it back on it's cradle- This is the same cradle that I used when it was upside down, I designed it to work BOTH ways. It was also designed to be used to hold the bed for my '66 ford truck project, too



You can really see the gloss that I was able to get with this paint-



Once I got it flipped, I cleaned up the inside, and gave it a coat of primer-



I need to decide what color the interior of the hull is going to be. Originally, it was a very dark grey Zolatone, but I think I'm either going to do it white or lighter grey.

-Andrew

Most excellent Andrew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I like the cradle. I'm going to make one for the Century when i start. I have four 10" swivel pneumatic tires for it. I too want to be able to use it in both configurations. Looks like you used 2"x4"s is that correct? I'm thinking I might need 2"x6"'s since it's 18' and all Mahogany.

Bob

Andrew, fantastic job. Now get to work on cutting the grass, there's no more excuse for letting it long and cushy.

63 Sabre wrote:

Now get to work on cutting the grass, there's no more excuse for letting it long and cushy.

You sound JUST Like my wife!!

Actually, I've got TWO excuses for long grass- One, to cushion the boat, and two- To catch the overspray from when I painted, so I could 'mow' it away! Though, my HVLP gun had VERY little overspray to deal with. I was seriously impressed!

-Andrew

I've been looking at pinks... I THINK I've picked one-



That photo doesn't show the real color too well, this is better-



Of course, colors look VERY different on the computer!

I found some photos of cars and boats that were the right shade of pink, printed them up, and compared them to about 2 dozen paint chips. This is a Glidden color- Of course, I wont be using glidden paint- but I can sent the paint chip to the company that makes the paint, and they can match it for me.

pink is a TOUGH color to get right- Hopefully this is what I'm looking for!

-Andrew

Yep that Glidden color definitely looks different than the upper pic. I like that Glidden color, that will look great on that Lake N' Sea!

Bob

The base coat is on the hull interior & floor-



I used a lighter grey than original- I felt like the dark grey that was on the boat before would be too dark, especially with the pink... I'm going to apply a fleck finish to the insides of the hull, and a non-skid on the floor.

This is a sample of the pink color-



I had the local paint shop mix up a small sample of the color that I am thinking about using, so I could try it out. Of course, this isn't the paint that I am going to use- It's latex, but its the same color. I can either sand it off, or just leave it, since this area is under the dash anyway.

It really helps to see a larger area painted rather than a 2" square sample. I THINK this is the right color, but I'm going to have to sleep on it to be sure

-Andrew

I think it looks good. IMHO

Bob

Like the pink. Making me jealous with the paint application. COME ON WARM WEATHER!!!!
Cal

I like how you flipped the hull there. I have had to flip many by myself and it is hard to do without scratching up the paint. My wife made a sock that I can pull over the chain on my hoist so that I don't scratch the paint. Works not bad. That pink colour should reach out and really grab you once it is done. Keep up the good work. Skip.

skipthescrounger wrote:

My wife made a sock that I can pull over the chain on my hoist so that I don't scratch the paint. Works not bad.

Yeah, I thought about that AFTER... Of course. I've got a pool noodle, I should have cut a chunk and used that... Oh well. The scratching is minimal, and I've got some other spots to touch up anyways.

I think the pink is right- But it's a tough call! I'm a little nervous to actually order the paint

-Andrew

skipthescrounger wrote:

My wife made a sock that I can pull over the chain on my hoist so that I don't scratch the paint. Works not bad.

Yeah, I thought about that AFTER... Of course. I've got a pool noodle, I should have cut a chunk and used that... Oh well. The scratching is minimal, and I've got some other spots to touch up anyways.

I think the pink is right- But it's a tough call! I'm a little nervous to actually order the paint

-Andrew

Just Say your buying it for a little old lady. That way they won't look at you funny. Skip.

I can see it now behind a pink 1959 Cad with the bullet tail lights.....

I briefly had the hull and cap back together, for a test fit-



The complex transom on this boat makes it critical that everything is RIGHT, and I wanted to make sure that the splashwell and fins fit correctly over the new transom before I invested too much time and material into the paint job. I knew I was probably going to have to grind a little off the transom on the inside so the splashwell would fit- The new transom ended up being a tiny bit thicker than the old one was. But, after a little grinding, it all fit-



It actually looked like a boat for a while this morning, rather than a pile of parts!!

-Andrew

A little fiberglass/epoxy work today.

I knew that the transom ended up being a little thicker than original- So to make it all fit again, I had to grind it down a little. I'd say I probably needed to remove about 3/8" or so to get the splashwell, which is molded in to the deck, in. I cut out what I needed to, feathered the edge, and reglassed it-



And, while I had the epoxy out, I repaired the areas of the flange that were broken off-



There was a similar repair on both sides.

I've also been working on final fairing and filling on the cap- I block sanded it, filled some lows & pinholes, and primed it again. I've got to do the final sanding on the primer, then it'll be ready for paint. Hopefully, I'll get to that towards the end of next week.

-Andrew

I put a coat of grey primer on today- I found that it was a LOT easier to find the spots that need attention with a dark primer!



With all the prior sanding and filling I've done, there aren't too many spots that need attention. I think I'm going to give it one more quick coat of primer, then a final sanding, then it's time for some paint.

The PINK has been ordered, too... Cross your fingers

Looking good so far. Can't wait to see tat Pink on there.

Bob

Thank you for the breath of fresh air I needed. Rain and cold weather don't make for good painting weather.

Yeah, we've had GREAT weather here for the past month. Not every day has been great for painting, but I've had plenty of them. It's also not TOO hot yet... Give it a few more months

-Andrew

The hull went on to the trailer today-



It rolled right off it's work dolly with no problems... A combination of a VERY slick bottom and nice rollers on the trailer!

It's a pretty good fit-


I just need to fine-tune the rollers a bit, and we'll be ready to go!



Check out the SHINE on the bottom

I got the final coat of primer sanded on the cap, and it's ready to paint. I should have my pink paint soon... Though I have to admit I'm a bit scared!

-Andrew

Looks GREAT Andrew, beautiful shine! Good fit on the trailer I must say. I think the Pink will look great on the top..

Bob

Really great progress, can't wait to see it in pink also. What's the power going to be and will you be painting the motor to match the boat?
Cal

Not pink- I call it salmon!

Thanks... Perhaps I should call it "Coral", like the manufacturer did....

The boat is going to have a 1959 Evinrude Lark on it. I've got two of them, both in good shape. 1959 was the 'golden jubilee' year, and they both have the special one year only badging. They also have cool fiberglass cowls that even have little fins on them- So they match the boat. I'm going to leave them in their original colors, since it's still the original paint! It's not perfect- But decent.

There was a short delay in ordering the paint- I sent off the color chip, but then the company that makes my paint got a big order, and didn't get it mixed up for me! I talked to the tech rep on Friday, and he was going to mix my paint and send it out that afternoon. So, now it just has to get here. They are a big industrial paint supplier, and getting a custom mixed color like I did sometimes adds time to the process... But, they treat you pretty well even if you are only ordering a half gallon!

It was actually kind of good that I got the delay, because it gave me some time to do a little prep work on the truck project I'm also working on. I plan to use the same paint on the truck as well- It's a good, High quality urethane that should last as long or longer than most of the automotive finishes out there at a much lower cost.

I was talking to the tech guy about the paint, and the topic of price came up... I'm using the best stuff they make, which is a little pricey (at about $138.00 for a half gallon, delivered). But- It goes on very well, and LASTS. When you consider I've got three weeks of hard work in the prep, spending a little more at this point doesn't bother me, knowing that If I take reasonable care of it I will never have to do it again.

-Andrew

WHOA , you going to paint the truck pink also?

ken

woosterken wrote:

WHOA , you going to paint the truck pink also?

NO! I'm not THAT brave... Just using the same TYPE of paint!