The Uniflite Project

[Helmar]

That is a good thing for sure.
Do you have a picture from the cockpit area looking under the rear tub looking at the transom?

I wonder if that brown is gel coat ? I wonder what it would look like if you hit it with a buffer...

I am not seeing any big marks or bad spots in those photos...Fact, it looks pretty ok...

[Kelly]

I'll get a picture of the inside and outside of the transom. It was the one thing that almost scared me away from the initial purchase. The keel is pretty rough, and thin. I'll get pics of what I believe are the bad areas and see what you guys think.

[Steve_Kiesel]

I'm with Joe on the buffing. Take the hatch cover off and practice with that. I use the 3M products. Start out with a fairly aggressive grit. Then finish off with Finesse It and a good marine wax. I'll bet it shines up really nice. She looks good on the water. Next summer should be fun.

[Kelly]

With your input, I started to sand a little on the rear left corner (I was being slightly lazy and didn't crawl up into the boat)...I went with a 600 grit in a tiny spot, it came out great so I followed it up with a finisher and hit it with the 3m I have on hand for my bass boat. What a difference! You guys nailed it! Now I gotta see what the honey do list looks like today and somehow put it off to finish the boat!

[Kelly]

What a day...definitely manual labor today. I cleaned the entire hull from the rub rail down, all the way around. For the past few weeks I've been using different cleaners and nothing was working, NOTHING. I was frustrated for sure and thought I would live with the stains until a repaint. This morning I was looking on YouTube and found the toilet bowl cleaner/hyro peroxide trick. Sure, it's probably not the safest, earth friendliest thing around but I tried a mix since I had some on hand. Yowza! The hull looks almost new now! After cleaning and diluting the ground under the boat and containing the chemicals, I waxed the entire hull, rub rail and below. I can't believe the difference it made.
If you look back at previous pics, even yesterday's float pics, you can see the water line stain. Now look at it...

My test spot
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Port side, cleaned and buffed
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Starboard side, cleaned and buffed
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Here are the pics of the test spot with the sand paper and wax...
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The lighting wasn't great for this shot, but you can sure see the difference
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I did another spot on the starboard side..
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Thanks for the motivation guys!

[Steve_Kiesel]

Wow, that hull does look like new again. Good job Kelly.

[Kelly]

Thanks Steve. I'm really looking forward to finishing the brown area. It may not be the sexiest brown around, but I'll polish it up and see what transpires.

[Helmar]

Starting to look pretty good.
If you are going to replace a transom, you have a big decision to make.
Without looking at mine again, I think it might be easier to cut at in front of the transom to pull the rear tub out.
The other option is to split the hull and cabin top and get after the stringers and the whole shooting match.
Might be time to open some exploratory openings to see what you have.
It might be you can enjoy this for a while before taking her clear down too.
I really don't have a problem of doing this on my own boats but I also drill holes in the transom in different strategic places.
I make the hold just a Tad larger (and I mean only a tad too) than a oak dowel that I cut groves in and drive into the test holes.
What I am looking for is black or dark "soft" wood..

By making those cuts and taking out the transom tub, you will end up doing some glass and paint patch work.
Here is the transom replacement short cut on a Dorsett Catalina.
The real trick is you need to be able to get a Visual eye on every inch of the re fiberglass job.
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[Kelly]

Looking at the splash-well area or transom tub, it appears that I can remove all the screws and take the tub out without cutting anything. This should give me full access to the transom, right?
Check out this pic:

Too much clutter back there
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[Helmar]

Looking at the splash-well area or transom tub, it appears that I can remove all the screws and take the tub out without cutting anything. This should give me full access to the transom, right?
Check out this pic:

I guess I have to many boats....I remember that now. I think the only issue was if you were going to build out or up the transom for some of the larger 4 stroke engines.
I will normally build out a transom to just over 2" laminating different thickness's of plywood.

[Kelly]

Too many boats!?! Now you're just braggin'

I see what you're saying about building it up. I definitely want to build it up a little bigger than factory specs.

[Helmar]

Too many boats!?! Now you're just braggin'

I see what you're saying about building it up. I definitely want to build it up a little bigger than factory specs.

I do have too many boats. Try 11 boats and at least two are in give away mode in the classifieds. Others will be sold at super low prices sooner or later.
Out of all this, I only have two running.
The keepers will be the Dorsett Catalina, the Skagit 20 Offshore and the Uniflite.

[Kelly]

Those 3 boats are definitely keepers!

[Kelly]

spent the afternoon working on the boat...

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Getting there...one section at a time. I'll try to finish it up before arm surgery in two weeks.

[Kelly]

I'll have a little set back due to arm surgery this coming Tuesday. I was hoping to have an outboard mounted this weekend but it doesn't look promising as of this evening.
Because I couldn't pass up a deal, I bought a 50lb thrust trolling motor (transom mount) in like new condition. I'm not sure if I'll keep it for this boat or not, but until I have a kicker, it may just do.