1995 super sport restoration

[Chris Parsons]

Yeah. I unfortunately own 2 boats. Ha. I fully anticipated selling the sport at the start of summer. Covid has other plans. I picked this 95 super sport up in the fall.

Still have carpet in the 97 sport.

I did a full engine rebuild and transmission swap on my 97 sport. Good luck on your rebuild.

[Chris Parsons]

here are the pics I was PM you about. Remember......only lightly sanded pink fiberglass....and rear back drops....nothing was done.....no sanding. So you will see it looks rough, but actually is smooth to where those non-sanded parts don't scratch. Also did not tape off carpet or anything. I just did it because I had it and wanted to test how it worked. Also...only one coat.
D

Rocky, did you build the battery spot in the rear hatch? My 95 doesn't have that.

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[Rockymtnsurfer]

That's not a battery spot....its where the hard tank drain was located ........( shape of the hard tank)....they created a low spot drain so all the water would come out. I have obviously pulled the tanks and put in bags.
D

[Chris Parsons]

For those of you trying this same project in the future there are two schools of thoughts on how to solve the hatch gap issue. Cut new Coosa hatches, a cost of several hundred dollars, but clearly the easier and less labor intensive route or try to build up the gap with fiberglass.

Because I have nothing but time and also little money (covid19), I've decided to build up the hatches with fiberglass mat.

I used mat instead of something woven because it bends around the edge much easier. I cut a 1.5 ish inch strip of mat. Ive found that using sisors ever few inches to make a very small cut (less than a 1/2 inch) makes pulling the mat apart much easier. Which is the goal... pull the mat don't cut it. You want the random fibers to help secure it around the corner of the gap.

I'm not done yet but close. Today ill coat the rounded edges with a microballoons resin mixture in a very thick milkshake consistency. The idea is to have it be thick enough to hang to the corners. After this is applied and cured ill sand it. The microballoons is easier to sand than the fiberglass mat. By adding it and doing this a few times I hope to get a smooth finish without high or low spots. A very straight edge.

I'm betting I applied 15 to 20 layers at least.

When applying the mat I used 4oz of resin which was perfect working time and just enough to layer one to two coats of mat per edge.

Apply a thin coat on the edge then stick the mat and then go back over it and dab the resin until the fiberglass is completely covered. Remember the strength is in the mat not the resin but you want full coverage. I chose to apply 2 to 3 layers of mat per time. One layer at a time was taking way too long.

Do your best to brush out any bubbles. These will appear as lighter colored bubbles. Once it cures, sand it and bust open any bubbles that dried. This allows future applications of resin to soak into the bubbles and keeping everything strong.

Be sure to tape anything and everything you don't want resin to touch including your gunnals (I stepped in some then stepped on the gelcoat) another project now.

Sand between layers. I used a marker to help tell me which sections need 1 vs 2 vs 3 layers of mat to keep everything even.

Every few layers I would toss the hatch back in and see the progress I was making.

Below is where I started (with almost an inch gap) and the last layer of matt. Moving forward I'll use the microballoons for ease of sanding and to help get a better straight finish before gelcoat.

As you sand consider using spray paint for a guide coat to tell what is level vs not. This worked a little. The eye test was best.

Also a photo of the mat.

Did I miss anything?

I'll post a few photos after the microballoons mix has been applied.

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[Chris Parsons]

Very close to gelcoat time.

The deck is 100% smooth everywhere. Its not perfectly level but its close enough. I could keep leveling but honestly I see no point. I can barley eyeball the difference and once the flooring is on I don't think I'll be able to tell. The gelcoat self levels to a certain degree too so no need to spend more time than needed .

My focus tonight was on the large gas hatch. Gelcoat has a per coat thickness of about point .5mm. I measured my truck key at 2.3mm and figured I'd want a slight gap around the edges. It gets bolted down anyways.

After 2 coats of gelcoat it will only be about 1mm gap. Which is fine for me.

I took my car key and ran it around the edges. I drew with a sharpie where I needed extra sanding. See photo below. I would continue to do this and then put the hatch in to test until I got it right.

The corners and a few other areas were tough to get with the palm sander so I'm borrowing the tool in the photo tomorrow to finish things out.

Then its cleaning and gelcoat time.

[Chris Parsons]

Sharpie drawing

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[Chris Parsons]

This project took a pause while I worked on my 2000 air nautique resto/flip.

I recently sold the 2000 and started back at this project. Im waiting on gelcoat so the floor has been paused.

I've decided to reshape the side wall and add pockets for cup holders and speakers. I still need to tweak some things but here it is without upholstery.

I used sentra/pvc sheet from home depot. 1/2 inch thick. Traced the old ones then redesigned the new ones.

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[Chris Parsons]

I also started a hatch conversion. Im about 80% done with. Waiting on some things to dry. I have one more cut, a little sanding, a few screws and then im done.

I picked up some angle aluminum 2 inch. Id suggest 3 inch if you can get it and channel also if available. Makes it much more stable and allows for a little fudging with cuts.

Squared everything based off the hinge locations. If I did this again id probably wait to permanently mount the braces until towards the end. Then I could move them if needed. Maybe sticky velcro them in place.

It would also have sped things up if I removed all the upholstery and cushions from the get go. Allowing for more accurate measurements and cuts.

Id suggest using some cardboard to help make sure both left and right hatches are identical.

After making the cuts do a test fit. This is important because the hatches will move almost 1/4 inch after being bolted.

You need abiut 1.5 inches between each hatches door. 1/4 to 1/2 inch for upholstery, .5 inches x2 for pvc sentra to be mounted for the upholstery to attach to. See whiteboard diagram.

For extra stability when fiberglassing the end caps before mounting the sentra/pvc i drilled holes into the foam core a few inches deep and made sure the hole touched top and bottom of the hatch. I then made a mixture of microballoons and resin similar to what I used for my floor above and poured it down the holes and also along a channel I made with cardboard and clamps.

When it starts to harden I pulled everything off and did a quick sand.

After it completely hardens I level as much as possible do a test fit to make sure my spacing is good, then put a little more microballoons filler down followed by the sentra and some screws.

To mount the hatches to the hinges I opted to not do what was suggested by nautiaue and how they currently do boats (thin aluminum sheet on the top side glued to the fiberglass followed by 1/4 inch sentra so the screws aren't exposed to open cushion. Then lag screws through the hinges and into the aluminum.) I felt like this would eliminate the ability to unscrew them in the future.

Instead...

I used 1 inch 10-32 coupler nuts. I drilled a hole through the hatch just large enough. Put a small screw and washer on the top side, put jb weld in the hole and slid the nut through with tape on the bottom so no jb weld got in thr threads. This method worked without the jb weld so adding that was just to assure it didn't move.

This was all after some test fits and the use of a magic marker to see where the holes should be. I also stepped up in drill bit size at least 4 times to assure my holes were exactly where I needed them.

Not done yet but so far everything looks to be going as planned.

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[dhmcfadin]

Looking great!

[Chris Parsons]

I got the gas shocks installed and wil post pictures later. Ill amend what I said before abiut test fitting.

Limit your cuts until after shocks are installed. My measurements changed again.

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[wake_fun]

Doing a great job on this boat! Looks good!

[Chris Parsons]

Progress is slow but im getting closer for sure.

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[Chris Parsons]

Gelcost done. 2 coats. 1 rolled the 2nd brushed. If I did it again I may do 3 rolled for a better texture. I used gelxoat from us composites without wax for my first coats then added the wax additive for my final coat so it cured properly. Styrene to thin it and pigment to color it black.

Seadek soon!



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[Chris Parsons]

Faired the observer seat for seadek too. Microbaloons and resin mixture. Drilled holes for added grip. Gelcoatted when done.

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[Canuck-Surfer]

Looking good man!! Can't wait to see finished. We should start some sort of yearly prize for best restoration!