Jeff's 1998 Ski Nautique Restoration

[NautiqueJeff]

Gelcoat is finished!

[vvfdfirefighter]

Jeff, for the areas not repaired, did he have to wet sand and if so what grit did he start with? If compound only, what did he use?? Looks to be coming back nicely from the pics.

Usually when you wet sand, you don't want to sand with anything more aggressive than a 800. Even then, it might be too aggressive and you could, if not careful, burn through the Gel. I wet sanded my old Supra and in some spots I had to go down to 200 Grit. People Told me I was crazy but I knew the old Supra's had thick Gel on them. Worked all the way up to 1500 and then polished and buffed.

As for buffing compound, I've used 3m Heavy duty and a lot of others, however my favorite by far is still "Buff Magic" by Shurhold. That little 22oz can did my 20' boat 2x, plus a little more. Its great to use on metal, too. I like it because it seems to cut better in my opinion and not only does it cut but it breaks down and polishes all in one step. Just have a lot of wool pads for you buffer around. I actively used 3 while washing the other 3. Reminder that with buff magic, less is more.

I would pick a 12x12 area, and spread the Buff magic over it with an old pain brush. Only thick enough that the gel coat was just covered but you could still barely see it underneath. You'll eventually find the right amount for your application.

My first year of buffing, I used a Porter Cable Dual Action Buffer. Worked great and allowed me to learn how to properly buff Gel. It was slow though. A Couple years later I upgraded to a regular Buffer. I swear I got the boat done in 1/3 of the time and it shined even more. However, if you're not careful you can burn through the Gel with a full rotation buffer. Just take it slow. I would always use speed of 5 or less.

[vvfdfirefighter]

Jeff,

The boat looks amazing!

[swankster]

Jeff, just let me know when it's ready for delivery.

[NautiqueJeff]

Got the windshield frame and other small parts back from the powdercoat place today. Very happy with the results, especially since they only charged me $125!

[NautiqueJeff]

Also received the new lenses for the Airguide speedometers in the mail today. I'll get these installed tonight and get the dash back in the boat very soon.

[NautiqueJeff]

Got one half of the windshield reassembled this evening. It was much easier to reassemble than it was to disassemble. I had always heard that the opposite was true.

[Beg4wake]

Yeah I took one apart one time to tint the glass (didn't want the tint lines showing)....putting it back together was definitely way more tedious than dis-assembling it!

[brit_hunsicker]

Kind of wish I took the time to disassemble mine before tinting. It would look a lot better if there were no lines!


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[NautiqueJeff]

Got the rest of the windshield reassembled today.

I mounted half of the windshield on the boat, and I also mounted the front vent covers, fresh from the powdercoat shop.

[seachicken27]

Lookin good Jeff. Any updates on the Seadek?

[NautiqueJeff]

Not yet. I am taking it down next week. They will scan it, make the pads, and install them at their factory.

Then it goes to Roswell, where they will add new speakers, amp, one underwater light, and a Cybox. There will be no head unit in this boat. It will be bluetooth only, directly-connected to the amp. Clean and simple, yet modern and cool.

[CHassmann]

What, if anything, will you put in dash cutout for the head unit?

[Tjca77]

The powdercoat on the windshield looks great, how hard was it to reinstall?

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[NautiqueJeff]

What, if anything, will you put in dash cutout for the head unit?

Probably going to be a plate with SeaDek on it with a Roswell logo, and a place for Roswell's volume control knob.

The powdercoat on the windshield looks great, how hard was it to reinstall?

Not hard at all. Much easier than trying to get everything apart. Putting the windshield back on the boat isn't bad either.