Don't get discouraged Scott. Lots of memories to be had on that beauty once its done. Just look how far you have come with this. A little longer to make it right is worth it. And congrats on your sons tournament.

What is a good price to have a leaning post upholstered? The first quote I got was $500.

Even though you're on the other coast, my nephew just got his CC seat and backrest cushions for his 23' Century re-upholstered plus his leaning post, with 2" firm foam, done for $300, that was using the existing backboards. My brother just got his coming bolsters done, all the way around his SeaCraft for $400, we provided the 1/2" thick PVC backboards with T-nuts pre-built and ready to upholster.

Looks like I might be able to pick it up Monday. I will have one week to get everything installed. Wish me luck.

I'm rooting for you.

I’m definitely screwed now. Captain Gelcoat let me down. The non-skid was hot to walk on. I didn’t want a colored non-skid in the first place but was going to live with it. So he fixed it.

He didn’t sand off the old stuff of even scuff it up. He went right over the top with a roller and sand mixed with gelcoat. Looks really bad. I can see through it in places. Patches with no texture and some with mountains. Looks like crap. He lied to me about the sanding prep and it will peal anyway down the road. It has been 5 days to kick off and it’s still sticky.

The color on the sides is so soft you can push a fingernail into it. It is also about 10 mils think. He sanded through in places and it alligatored in others. Once again no acetone wipe. He also diluted the gelcoat with a lot of styrene.

Project is ruined.

Engine timeline
 

I was at international today and going to confirm a white 300 digital 30 inch with mike tomorrow. I only need battery switch and battterys and wiring won’t take to long. I don’t know what engine u ordered but if it’s the same maybe I could take your slot. When are u due to be there

Let me know if that helps

Bummer to hear that. I was hopeful for you. Maybe if it gets and stays hot enough the sides will cure enough that you can work with them. Guessing you are gonna just have to sand the decks and redo 'em. I doubt the whole project is ruined, but it is a GIANT setback. Capt Gelcoat just wiped out all potential work for himself from CSC members and lurkers.

I had June 17 th for my install. I’m hoping they can move me back. My spot would be open

I’ll call Brian.

Spent the last two days grinding in a tyvex suit. Today I will grind and sand the hatches.

I called Karma Customs in Melbourne about painting the cap, console and inside. They are able to slip me in but want $4k. I priced the paint and primer from Awlgrip at about $700. $3300 seems high for a week of labor. I’m considering trying to spray it myself. I just couldn’t stand messing it up and grinding again. How hard is it? I have a good compressor and cheap Harbor Freight gun.

I think you could do it your self, Hardest thing to do is get the non-skid even. I have rolled non skid with particles pre mixed in and I have sprinkled it on top out of a shaker can then rolled over it. The sprinkle can method seems to help make it more even and you can go back and hit thin spots. Far as spraying it I haven't never tried to spray non skid grit threw a gun. I would think you could spray the base down and then add non skid additive on top in areas you wanted it. Then spray a second thin coat to lock it in maybe. Not to sure about spraying non skid tho. Hopefully someone up here that has sprayed it before can give you more insight on best practices. I do know that getting good tape to mask off the edges makes a big difference. I have used cheep tape due to it was the only thing I could find in the width I wanted and it had bad bleed threw at the edges. Don't skimp on the tape...


I ended up going with medium to light grey on my deck in my 20 over the original raised planks. When it was in the sun sitting in the yard it gets hot to the bear feet but when on the water it never bothers me. Don't know if the wind or spray keeps the temps down when in use or what but the only time mine bothers me is after its sat in direct sunlight all day sitting still not moving. Now is the time to get it how you want it not latter. I do know a little darker makes a big difference as my gas tank cover is slightly darker than the rest of the floor due to it was mixed latter on and it gets warmer than the rest. I never stand on the fuel tank cover but have noticed a big difference when I have between the two. So going a lot lighter will make a big difference I imagine.


Boat is looking real good by the way. She is going to be sweet once you get it how you like it.

Depends on how bad it is now after the grinding... The inside is alot more time consuming than a hull with all the nooks n crannies. Time adds up quick when taking everything thru the proper steps. A week doesnt sound like enough, itll be at least 2 by the way it sounds.

Pics??

Just a little bit of sanding left. Hope to be done tomorrow.

I’m giving up on doing the paint myself. I could figure out the primer, paint, and nonskid. I don’t have the time. I miss spending time with my family. I cannot sand another inch of this boat. I’ve just sanded off $4k. I don’t want to do that again.

I will try to roll and tip the hull when my wallet recovers. Sanding the color off will take for ever. It never kicked off. You can write your name in the side with your finger nail. The gummy nonskid on just the hatches took 2 boxes of sandpaper. I’m glad I’m done with Captain Gelcoat.

Monday I will drop it off and have the cap and deck painted. Hopefully it will be a good job.

I hate this for you as I have dealt with gummy resin that didn't kick off right before. Hell to sand, clogs paper in seconds, smears and doesn't powder up at all. Hang in there! it will be worth it in the end.

It’s at the painter now. Here are the pictures after I guound it down.

On a Bright note. The 30” bracket I picked up from A&J marine in Miami was excellent. Well built and reinforced. I will have no worries structurally. The powder coating was thick and uniform. I’ll post some pictures when I get the boat back.

I think I have all the components to put her together. The T-Top is finished and the welder is working on the bow rail. I’m having the rectangular mounting pads cut off and threaded rod welded on. This will help me through bolt it. My garage is piled high with boxes

Hang in there!

"My garage is piled high with boxes"

You do have room for more? Correct? :)

Picking her up Friday. Hopefully she’s looking good. At least the inside.

Can't wait to she her done and on the water.

one way is to roll on the awlgrip, mix reducer and griptex and spray on that way. you dont have to do any additional masking as the reducer wont hurt anything. i did the sprinkle method and it was simple. if doing awlgrip i would highly recommend getting the accelerator and you can finish the whole thing in a day no problem including all your masking and cleaning.

regarding tape, hold your regular tape back a hair from your pencil lines then do a flexible fine line tape up to the pencil line. the fine line tape is not paper like regular painters tape it is more like electricians tape. push it down firm and it will not leak. this way you can pull the fine lines early before it fully kicks but you still have the other tape covering your border incase you get any transfer off the fine line tape while pulling. clean lines without chips or leaks.

3m fine line vinyl tape.

https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tnp...yABEgJQO_D_BwE

Wait... What now?!
I need to hear more about this technique!
Just straight reducer and griptex? What size tip?
This sounds crazy but I like it.

Also:
This ↓

I thought the electricians tape was close to the same as in the link and used the basic cheap phase marking tape as it was all I had at the time that was the correct spacing for the original planking on these hulls and had a bit of bleed under. I don't know if it was due to this was a second color over a pervious coat that was not completely smooth or what but I had wished I took the time to get something more like you have in the link or a painters tape with a leak barrier. The cheap stuff from the electrical supply store stretches to easily and dose not stick as well. Better off spending a few bucks for the actual correct tape.

not electricians tape, 3m fine line vinyl tape. it's for painting.

Erebus, i have not done the reducer/griptex method myself but a guy i know that does service and repair work does this method for certain size jobs on skiffs. i personally thought it would be tough on a seacraft to get the timing and gun positioning right. pretty sure he said tip size was the same as primer, so 1.5? He also said you need to hold the gun about 3' away from the surface so your reducer vaporizes before much gets to the painted surface.

This is the stuff I use.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...8743767&rt=rud

Karma Kustoms should be done with the paint this weekend. I’m trying not to get excited.

My brother was nice enough to laser some switch panels out of acrylic. I’ll post the whole boat wiring diagram if anyone is interested.

Nice. I’m excited to see it also. They’re on my short list for paint. Of course would love to see wiring also.
Kevin
Btw thanks again for the mold Scott. Turned out perfect.

He is what the panels look like populated.

I stopped by Karma Kustoms on my way home from work today. They were doing the final cleanup and polish. Looks fantastic! These guys are really trying to keep up with their growing business. They are working on a spray booth, adding additional compressors and making room for more boats. These guy care about the product they put out. They wouldn’t let me leave with the crappy gelcoat job “Captain Gelcoat” did. They gave me a price I couldn’t refuse and followed through with a great job.

Picking her up tomorrow!!!

Looking good. Glad to see it is working out Scott.

Nice to hear! That is a great resolution and great way to end the week. Can’t wait to see it off the trailer.

I picked her up today. Looks great. It was HOT today and I opted to work on the dash panels and wiring indoors. After it cooled down I reattach the cap. Tomorrow I’ll head to Vero. Justin with America’s Best Welding is done with the T-Top structure. He also modified the bow rail to be through bolted and he cleaned It up. Ill find out tomorrow how it looks.

To get the motor hung I need:
Batteries
Battery switch
Simrad installed
Fuel filter
Fuel vent
Fuel fill
Steering
Drain plug

It will be a few more weeks before she’s water worthy but I’m getting there.

I re-read this thread again. You are doing a great job on your bottoms up !
I would like to backup a bit and clarify a question I have. You stated your SeaCraft is a 1986, yet the alum fuel tank you removed was dated 2003.:confused: What happened that caused the original fuel tank to have to be removed?
Was this hull previously rebuilt?

Thanks for the compliment. When I bought the boat, the guy advertised it as having a new deck and tank. When I went to see it the deck was delaminated and rotten. The transom was shot. The guy told me it fell off the lift and was left in the water. Looks like a D ring had pulled through the rotten transom. He said he paid a friend to fix the boat. He did a really bad job. No sure why the tank was replaced. I think it had twin 140 Suzuki motors. They were long gone. In this pic you can see the plywood that was put down as the tank was replaced.

There is an old saying "Buyers are Liars but Sellars are worse". Based on your pictures along with the degree of total deck delamenation, I would bet that the hull was submerged at one time which supports the tank removal and wet foam.
Keep up your rehab. Another ole sayin "Get Crackin Kraken"

T-Top day!

Wired up the switch panels and back lights.

Let the rigging begin. Run rail on, fuel done, steering complete. The leaning post even lined up on the aluminum plates under the deck. Still need to finish the plumbing and get a basic electrical system installed to get the motor hung.