Finally working on cosmetics

[Bflaherty]

After nearly seven years of ownership and mechanical restoration, I am finally investing time and money into the cosmetics of our 1969 Chris Craft Cavalier Ski Boat...

I was hoping to do a full spray paint job but time has gotten the best of me for this year (have to have the boat done for opening day in May, but due to being a stay-at-home-dad I only get to do boat work on Tuesdays or quietly at night). So I have decided to just do patchwork on the worst areas. I started by removing most of the hardware and filling in holes related to hideous aftermarket spotlight, switch for light, and all the holes in the deck from four different horns being mounted over the years...

This has been a fun, slow, process for me as I have never attempted "correct" fiberglass repairs with any effort toward beauty...

I have chosen Interlux Brightside enamel, as the color matches almost perfectly to what is already there. Therefore I am using Interlux Pre-Kote primer to smooth out my amature fiberglass work... So far even with only one coat of primer I am shocked at how smooth everything has turned out! I will still be doing at least three coats of primer, with stepped sanding between, ultimately getting to 400 grit before I start the top coats... Then I will be doing, hopefully, 4 coats of "Fire Red" finished with 2000 grit and then polishing the entire boat to even out.

I am also continuing the mechanical work as I am completely rewiring everything behind the dash and replacing all the switches (I have two that stopped functioning last summer) I was able to find NOS "hourglass" knobs in near perfect condition on EBay that fit onto new push-pull switches from Redden Marine.

Finally, I have carefully disassembled my plexiglass windshield to have my brother repair/weld the aluminum frame while hopefully having Middy Plastics (in Redmond) form a new plexi panel!! The challenge here is that the panel has to come from a 24"x144" sheet!! Which it turns out that very few plexiglass manufacturers offer sheets that long!

Well, thanks for reading this far! I will hopefully have several more updates as the project progresses toward completion for Opening Day 2016!!

[Helmar]

After nearly seven years of ownership and mechanical restoration, I am finally investing time and money into the cosmetics of our 1969 Chris Craft Cavalier Ski Boat...

I was hoping to do a full spray paint job but time has gotten the best of me for this year (have to have the boat done for opening day in May, but due to being a stay-at-home-dad I only get to do boat work on Tuesdays or quietly at night). So I have decided to just do patchwork on the worst areas. I started by removing most of the hardware and filling in holes related to hideous aftermarket spotlight, switch for light, and all the holes in the deck from four different horns being mounted over the years...

This has been a fun, slow, process for me as I have never attempted "correct" fiberglass repairs with any effort toward beauty...

I have chosen Interlux Brightside enamel, as the color matches almost perfectly to what is already there. Therefore I am using Interlux Pre-Kote primer to smooth out my amature fiberglass work... So far even with only one coat of primer I am shocked at how smooth everything has turned out! I will still be doing at least three coats of primer, with stepped sanding between, ultimately getting to 400 grit before I start the top coats... Then I will be doing, hopefully, 4 coats of "Fire Red" finished with 2000 grit and then polishing the entire boat to even out.

I am also continuing the mechanical work as I am completely rewiring everything behind the dash and replacing all the switches (I have two that stopped functioning last summer) I was able to find NOS "hourglass" knobs in near perfect condition on EBay that fit onto new push-pull switches from Redden Marine.

Finally, I have carefully disassembled my plexiglass windshield to have my brother repair/weld the aluminum frame while hopefully having Middy Plastics (in Redmond) form a new plexi panel!! The challenge here is that the panel has to come from a 24"x144" sheet!! Which it turns out that very few plexiglass manufacturers offer sheets that long!

Well, thanks for reading this far! I will hopefully have several more updates as the project progresses toward completion for Opening Day 2016!!

Nice. Just makes her look better than before

[Bflaherty]

Making progress!!

Spent today (sans kiddos) finishing the rewiring of everything behind the dash! First thing I learned is that vintage marine wiring is not something a colorblind person should attempt to follow without a good multimeter! I am colorblind and the assembly crew at Chris Craft must have been thoroughly enjoying the late 60's social scene cause I swear they used one spool of black wire for EVERYTHING!! The entire positive system after main fuse was the same black wire as the ground system, WTF? I have broken the originality rules and redone the positive system in ABYC appropriate sized red wire, and I also removed all the sequential circuits in favor of parallel circuitry with each system (I.E. Bilge pump, horn, and anchor light) all with separate fuses and fully independent positive wiring. I did however keep the bow light and instrument lights on a shared circuit where the gauges only light up if the bow light is switched on (that's how Chris Craft did it and it sort of makes sense like in a car).

I decided to spend my kid-free day doing wiring cause my palm sander decided to disintegrate this leaving me without powered sanding abilities until I get a loaner from my father tomorrow evening... Bright side: the third coat of primer will have a few extra days of dry time before final sanding...

Here a couple pics of the newly finished wiring, an overview of how carried away I've gotten with filling holes and patching defects😷 and a couple pics I took before I started taking the wiring apart... Also should be noted that my entire ignition circuit crumbled upon touching the wires 😵 It's a miracle this boat ever started much less remained running during the beatings we've put her through!!

[frogpond]

Looks great Brian it is a lot of work but saying you did it is very rewarding. Paul

[Kelly]

Your boat looked good before, I can only imagine how it will look after you're done! Nice job!

[Bflaherty]

Update 3/28/16

With all patch work done and surfaced faired to my approval, I went about removing the last of the deck hardware... While in the bow I noticed the bow eye had partially pulled thru (crushed the wood backing support on the inside). Removed the bow eye to uncover the wood backer had completely rotted away. It was a wet, gooey, black, sponge!!! Pure miracle the bow eye hadn't completely pulled thru during one of our many trailerings! So after about an hour of grinding and vacuuming, the old wood was removed, surfaced cleaned, and ready for some kind of replacement. After several discussions with professionals, I have opted to fill the void with Marine Tex - structural filler (this stuff hardens stronger than any wood I can afford, and can be molded into every little void to better distribute the load stresses into the hull). Today I got the first 3 layers in (can only do 1.5" thick layers every 4 hours). Once the last layer goes on, I will be cutting a piece of aluminum to cap the filler. Then I will fiberglass over that with the same wide-weave structural fiber used in the bow so that, hopefully, it will look close to original but without ever having to worry about rot again!!

Tomorrow I will hopefully be able to roll on my first coat of "Fire Red" 😃

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Looks good Brian. I'm sure you'll be happy to get the boat back into the water.
I heard through the grapevine a year or more back that Middy Plastics had closed their doors.
Let us know if you find out anything different?
Thanks for the progress report and update.......
cheers,
Tim

[Bflaherty]

Sorry, been busy with family stuff and only making slow progress on the boat...

I just finished the third coat of red paint, with a lot of help from a friend! It is starting to come together as I now have all new trim ready to go on, the dash is all rebuilt, polished, and ready to go on... Just have to get the painting finished in the next two weeks!!

I have one major loose end... Middy Plastics finally found a source for the ovesized panel of plexiglass needed to make our windshield, but only after they unbent one side of the windshield in order to get a true flat pattern (which makes the original now unusable)... I was assured that they would have it done by mid April but have yet to get any indication that it is complete. Yes the shop is open but only with a two or three man crew and only when enough work comes in to justify bringing them in... If you need a window and think they might be able to help you, I can give you the contact info for the current "manager" as if you call the office phone no one will ever answer and the owner checks voicemails once every few months...

The best shining light in my project has been the discovery that my 3-1/2 year old is the greatest chrome polisher I have ever met! He has just enough strength to polish thru the corrosion but not enough to scratch the chrome. So he and I have polished every piece of hardware on the boat and most of it actually came back to near show quality!

I am now at the point where I am feeling equal parts excitment and panic!! I am registered and have paid for my participation in opening day parade with ACBS, and it is also an international quarterly meeting year for the PNW chapter (which means roughly 50+ guests from the upper echelon of the ACBS International board will be in Seattle for their meetings and participating in the parade with us!) so I am feeling some pressure to make "Tupperware" as perfect as possible, after all we are the only active fiberglass boat in the PNW chapter!!

[Bflaherty]

Oh, just realized I never posted a picture of the completed bow-eye repair!

Here it is in all it's anti-rot, over-built, designed by a structural engineer, glory!

[Bflaherty]

Update!!!

Rolled my final coat of paint on the deck today! Eight coats of Interlux Brightside polyurethane "Fire Red"... The last 3 coats where sanded with 600 grit paper! I also just received my brand new lifting rings with trim from Classic Boat Connection. Now all my chrome is polished and the really wornout stuff replaced! We are taking a weekend off for Michele's birthday and then Monday I begin the mad dash to reassemble the boat before heading south to Seattle in exactly seven days 😵!! Although there are blemishes in the paintwork, I am proud to say all my fiberglass repairs are no longer visible! Also, I finally got my new windshield back from Middy Plastics, the old timer really knows how to work plexi and it turned out perfect!

Now my only potential blockage, is my decision to remove the old registration numbers and license tabs (they were all scratched and crooked) but now I am hoping the city auditor's office gets me my new 2017 tabs by next weekend 😳... I guess I could have gone into he local office and picked them up but i'm cheap and tried to avoid all the service fees.

[bruceb]

Brian-
Spectacular job ! Really like that shade of red, and wow, the shine on that puppy ! Thanks for the story of the process, looking forward to see it in person.

[TheBronze]

Looks awesome! How much sanding did the paint take to get that shine? Or did it just lay out that good? Any issues with dust? I'm going to have to repaint the 404 at some point as the Supermarine paint is just way to soft. Not wearing very well. :/

[Bflaherty]

John, the Interlux Brighside Polyurethane paint is tricky but it drys with this shine with just a roller!! It is more dependent upon prep work and sanding between coats...

I have had terrible problems with dust and lint as I am working in an attached garage that also houses all the outdoor kid's toys, chest freezer, beer fridge, water heater, and furnace! So it's definitely not an ideal paint booth.. Tomorrow, well I guess later today, I will be polishing the final coat with various levels of compound and polish... Mostly just cleaning up the lint/dust in the top coat, and also trying to even out a few thick spots..

The mad dash has begun to have it back together by Friday evening!!

[TheBronze]

Brian,

You can do it, man! I love these pre-season frenzies to get boats ready. Its great. We have boats that are already fully functional but we can't just leave them that way!

Thanks for the info on the paint. I've gotten some tips on setting up a proper paint booth since the original paint went down on the 404. When everything is finished on the boat, my last task (outside of maintenance) will be to re-paint the topsides. I think I'll go with the Interlux. I have mono on the 404, but I think they have a good mono I can use. Poly would require me sanding through all of the paint. There are several coats on there and I've already done it once so I'd rather scuff.

[Bflaherty]

Ugh... So today was a day of frustrations. I decided that the windshield frame really looked like crap with the brand new plexi windshield installed and the oxidized aluminum frame would really be a sour on the whole new paint job. So I sanded it with 120 grit to cut thru all the bumps and scratches, then went over again with 220 to try and smooth it out. Then my only next paper step was 600 which didn't really help much as it can't cut the 220 swirls... So in favor of time I decided to clear coat over the "brushed" frame for now and will hopefully get time to better finish it after the parade.

Then, came time to "cut & buff" my paint. I had a few blemishes in the final coat that need attention so I have started sanding with 1200 grit, then will be doing 2000 grit paper (all by hand) then start the McGuire's 105/205 system with the buffer... I tried to cut the blemishes with just the buffer and that has resulted in a haze developing in the paint which I believe to be related to burning the finish...

And now I have only 3 days left to get it all back together!!!