2002 SANTE resto project

[t.franscioni]

Now the hidem. I find a straight edge to start on. The main thing here is when making sharpe corners you'll need to cut a wedge out to prevent big wrinkles. I try not to cut all the way through and butt to separate 45s together instead I just cut the inside half out and that's usually enough to allow it to make the corner without wrinkling too bad. Anywhere I have to cut it and butt it together I put a staple across (another factory tip picked up during removal)

[t.franscioni]

Put a staple inbetween each backing staple this ensures you don't staple on top of another staple, I should have mentioned on the skins themselves I always (when possible) staple at least 2 inches from the edge so they are out of the way of the backing and hidem staple area and don't interfere with those final two steps.

Work your way around the piece and butt the start and finish points together and that's a wrap! ....get it? That's a wrap.... Wa wa waaaa

[t.franscioni]

Finished

[glassywaters]

Way to go! Vinyl work definitely requires patience. I like how your tackling one piece at a time.

[brit_hunsicker]

Not sure that I'd add any more than recommended. It could read low while level and idling but it might be at the perfect level while underway and the nose is up a bit?

You make a good point. I've already topped it off of course. I ended up adding about an extra 1/2 pint. I will send an email to Walter and see what they have to say about it.

[t.franscioni]

Came across a black "wrinkle finish paint" from VHT so thought I'd try it on my topdeck supports which were originally painted a flat black that needed to be touched up anyway. The paint is really cool it goes on thick and glossy but dries with this wrinkle finish that gives an industrial heavy duty look. Pretty cool stuff.

[t.franscioni]

This is it right after 3 coats and then again fully dried.

[t.franscioni]

Before carpet goes in I figured I should do all the gel coat work so I'm not slinging polish and gel coat sanding residue all over the new carpet. I'm trying to follow NautiqueJeff prep process by removing all the external hull components so I don't have to work around rub rails, swim deck brackets, windshields,ect. I'm getting rid of the black plastic cups on the transom that cover the lift rings because I want to use those life rings as a tie down point for the trailer tie downs and I'm replacing my swim deck with a new one that does not have the cutouts for the lift rings because again I feel it will look cleaner and I always trailer my boat and never use boat lifts so I have no need for the swim deck cutouts. Also the old holes for the pitot speedometer pickups because they are not used with the speedo/tach replacement gauges or the perfect pass so for a cleaner look I'm going to be plugging all these old holes on the transome with fiberglass resin and then gel coat over that so those holes will all disappear. I will be using the spectrum gel coat patch kits that are available on nautique parts. Also will be filling all the bow cover snap buttons which I removed because I have never taken the time to use a snap on bow cover in my life and hate the idea of hauling around a bow cover in my boat that I may use once in a blue moon if at all.

[TRIP]

Respect!
I love the extensive write-up; just starting to restore a boat myself and need all the guidance I can get.
Good luck!

[SAN210Pat]

Agree with all the good comments! Doing a great job, and it's truly appreciated that your taking the time to document and share all of your hard work. Trying to do the same thing as I do work on my 02 SAN, paying it forward like you have been.

-Pat


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[t.franscioni]

Cool. Lord knows Iv learned plenty from reading these kinds of project threads so if anything in here helps someone take one of there projects then that's great.

[t.franscioni]

Take on one of there own projects*

[brit_hunsicker]

Back peddling a bit to some earlier topics but on the subject of the v-drive again. I did get in contact with Walter and they said 2 pints of oil is an estimate. They said it should be filled accordingly to the dipstick while the boat is sitting level in the water.
I did notice that my v-drive seems to whistle a tad bit more than I remember it doing before. Maybe I'm just paranoid but it does seem to have a good hum to it.


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[t.franscioni]

Thanks Britt for confirming with them the oil amount. Made some more progress on stripping the boat down in prep for gel coat work. Now I have a super bass nautique (looks like a bass boat to me now). Still need to remove the fuel fillers, grab handles, dock cleats then can get busy sanding, compounding and filling old screw holes that won't be used anymore.

[t.franscioni]

Another detour off the planned task at hand. Iv decided to attempt to remove the topdeck of my hull. Besides being rediculous and probably stupid it will allow me access to the entire bow area which I can include in my re-carpeting that I would otherwise not be able to do unless I perhaps cut the bow carpet up into sections but then that would not be a factory like install which is being way too picky but Iv come to realize that this project is less about getting back on the water and more about my curiosity of how far can I take this restoration in attention to detail and making it truly like new in every way possible. Bottom line is I'm getting just as much pleasure out of doing this project as I would be in driving around the lake in it I think and that's why buy things right? To get pleasure out of them. Plus I have access to my dads boat still so I can still take the family out for the summer. I would not be attempting this at all if I thought I was compromising the structural integrity of the hull in anyway by removing the topdeck but after hours of fiddling around and probing Iv come to realize that the only thing really structurally holding the topdeck to the lower deck of the hull is stainless screws which can be removed and replaced there is also a bead of black RTV silicone but it really just serves to seal water out from getting through the seam where the screws hold the topdeck to the lower deck of the hull. There is one strip of fiberglass that covers the seam in the transome area but it is just for asthetics to hide the seam so you can see it and that strip can be sanded off and a new one applied after it goes back together. So here we go...

first thing I did was mark with painters tape several areas along the seam of the hull which will serve to aid in lining up the exact position of the topdeck to the bottom deck so when I go to secure the screws back in everything will be close to lined up.