2004 216 Sport Restore

[bionaraq]

See this thread for background. https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...2004-sport-216

I started to really get into cleaning up the hull this week.

First off, i scrapped the decals off with a plastic razor blade and handle. THis worked great for everything except the pinstripes. For those I needed some horsepower.


These wheels are great, but they get hot as **** and the torque kills your wrists. It took me maybe 30 minutes to get the pinstrips off of the entire side of the boat.


What i'm starting with then. lots of oxidation and easily visible decal marks.



One run with a wool pad and Meguires 91 rv/marine cut/buff. This stuff is amazing compared to the old 105/205 Meguires where are a right pain in the *** to pull off.

I went through 800 grit, and 1500 grit but still could see the decal marks.

I went down to 600 grit, 800, then 1500. this helped clearing the decal marks. but the sanding marks are all showing. Which means i need to spend more time at each stage.
This is with hand wet sanding. I"m contemplating running a 800 or 1000 grit no a power sander to reduce change of burn through but power through the marks better.

This resulted in the following after buffing. Still have sanding marks but it's MUCH closer to working.

[bionaraq]

Was at my storage location this weekend. I need to find time to do some work on my two "winter" (now spring) projects.
Boss needs the coilovers removed and sent in for a rebuild before racing season.

Stereo/tower/engine parts are all waiting for me to do that and spend a weekend installing.



What's the hold up? A honey do that has taken substantial amounts of my time. (building library cabinets for our former formal dining room).

[Scooter G]

Looking good bionaraq!
Sanding scratches are beast especially when you start dropping down 600 grit and minus. I've hit 120 grit on some gnarly gel coat repairs, but you have to lightly work up in small stages up to 2000, even 3000 wet, widening the sand path a little larger with each grit change to keep the finish flat and wave free. Power buffing with a good compound should take out the 2000 scuff at some point. I get a little nervous on gel with a power sander, unless it's a large area, you blink and you've taken off way to much material. It's a pure test of patience, for sure. Looks like your almost there.
Love me the 'Stang, very nice.

[bionaraq]

Progress in getting through the jobs that are holding up progress!


I messed up on the cabinets on the outside, i'll have to replace the wall portions as the "step back" causes an issue with trim out.
little steps i have to keep reminding myself.



The mustang's suspension is out and ready to go back to the manufacturer (JRI) to be rebuilt. at $125 a corner it's worth the knowledge that they are in great shape. I bought the car with them on and they've had 20k miles of street, two seasons of autocross, and god knows how many track days by the prior owners.

What finally pushed me over the edge on doing it was that the adjuster for the passenger front lost it's "click" and had a lot of black oil at the top. I also found a clunk i had only when getting in and out of my driveway that appears to be worn Heim Joints for the sway bar. So that will be fixed shortly.

ramlin confirms that my crash pad/stop is complete and will be ready soon for pick up. I'm cautiously thinking that weather dependent I may work on the boat this weekend.

[bionaraq]

Well, it seems like it's finally time to start getting the boat ready for the season.
With the boss out and waiting on parts. I made the trek to the barn to work on the boat.
I"m a little limited in how long i can stand or move, as I got a vasectomy last monday and despite "quick" recovery assurances from the doc. It looks like another week or so before i'm back at full strength.



The pile of goodies waiting to get installed. 4 xJL audio 6.5's, 2 x jl 7.7 tower speakers, tower, bimini, amps, crash pad, etc.
Oil change, spark plugs, spark plug wires, fuel filter, etc.

I honestly thought at the beginning of the day we'd assemble the tower, put it in place, and at least get the speakers swapped. the small birch ply was to make a template for an amp rack to hold the two different amps.

First step was the easiest, take off the old nasty winch and roller. So far Ramlin has been amazing to deal with. The crash pad is every bit as good as i'd hoped and came with u-bolts to attach it to my trailer.
The ubolts fit nicely, and i proceeded to thread on each nut by hand. They were locking nuts so i was unable to thread more when the "lock" portion hit the threads. So i hit them with an impact to drive them down and, nothing. The nuts would not move. the impact was impacting with no movement. So i hit it in reverse, no movement either.
It took a 3' breaker bar to get them to move and the ubolt snapped on every bolt. Never even came close to "snug" the nuts could NOT have been the write thread somehow.



I've contacted Ramlin and will see what they say about this. Otherwise the bow stop appeared to be as specified and had many options. (they had designs for fixed, folding (what i chose), winch or no winch etc.)

After this first defeat, We decided to try the tower. To be honest, the tower is in amazing shape and shipped super fast. However, were I to do it again. I'd have spend the time/money to take the tower up to new dimensions and have them install it. Cost was the same shipping or install. Just my time to take it there. and get it back again.

First, we had to bend the legs to meet the dimensions provided by Wayne. The aluminum tower gets bent in shipping often so he provides the dimensions necessary to make everything line up.

the "rear" legs were nearly 1.5" off, we bent it back 1/2" and gaveup, assembled and put it on the boat and it lined up perfectly. I'm glad to say we did not move it the extra inch he was asking for as it would not have lined up with the boat. The biggest issue being that the dimensions are "leg to leg", not center of leg, not this point to that. legs are nearly 2" wide each so there's a lot of "play" in what you measure to. We tried to be center to center.



The other disapointment at first was that the plates were not flush with the hull.


Wayne showed me how he bends them in his jig, but also commented that the neoprene gasket provided should allow enough flex to prevent cracking of the gel coat.

We put one bolt in every hole and called it a day as it was Saturday and I only got a response from Wayne on Sunday afternoon. (Note that I was not expecting him to respond until Monday and was pleasantly surprised he responded to me on a weekend.)

Frustrations aside, I've got the 9 bolts on each side of the gunnels out to get to the speakers. And i can see why Jeff always seems to post a first progress picture of the boat interior out. With the driver's seat out, and the side cushions. I'm what, 50% of the way to just replacing the old faded carpet too. I am not going to because I have three young kids and a half built 4'x8' DIY cnc that i plan to try cut Seadek on.

Also, the boat has a heavy smell of gasoline, making me question the integrity of the probably original fuel system and it's exposure to ethanol gas.

The boat had a powered amp/subwoofer box in it. I've bought a new JL Audio Amp and infinite baffle sub that I was going to mount to the passenger passthrough as I had in my old Yamaha. However, the yamaha wall was fiberglassed to the entire boat. In the nautique the wall appears to be bolted, i'd hate to crack the fiberglass pushing a 10" sub. So rethinking that part of my plan.

It was also 80°F in my area. making me just want to forget about all the upgrades and go launch the boat to enjoy it.

[MN Ryan]

LOL on the vasectomy! My recovery was pretty easy, for the most part. My son had a baseball game the following day. I normally coach--I went to the game but watched that one from behind the safety of a fence.

I hope the logsplitter isn't involved in this project.

[Scooter G]

Anxious to hear/see how that tower comes out. I've cracked a plate before, so those can be a little tender, and the last thing you want is to pop the gel. Good looking tower BTW.
Bolt on crash pads who'd a thunk, nice. Those winch u-bolts were a little trippy, lock nuts redefined, lol. Everything goes really smoothly on paper, then the 2 hour project turns into 2 days, still trying to figure that one out, guess you just expect it, and then are pleasantly surprised when it goes easy. Nice write up, enjoy that frozen sack of peas in your lap.

[bionaraq]

I got to work on the boat last friday and this sunday.
Sunday was extra special. My eldest son asked if he could come to help me.
and help he did. We got the crash pad installed, he did all the crawling around the boat work.
He helped drill the backing pads (one hole was off and they did not come with the hole for the wiring for tower speakers and anchor light.)
This was a great time for my father, myself, and my son. Really good quality bonding time with out his two younger brothers around.

As of now:
Spark Plugs are changed,
Spark plug wires are changed
clarion remote removed. (dash/steering wheel removed to provide access).
clarion powered sub box removed
JL 6.5's installed in the boat interior.
tower is on, need to fiberglass the backing plates in place.

Ordered this weekend and to be installed: (B.O.A.T right?)
Faria Depth gauge
Circulation water pump (was squeaking)
Transmission cooler (was leaking last season and i tried to straighten the connection but failed).
Gel coat repair kit (because tower straightening and hole not covered....)
Trailer guide pads (Jeff is a bad influence)

Left todo from original purchases:
oil/filter change
fuel filter change
Tower Speakers
Cut in Subwoofer
layout amplifiers and power for them. (including shut off switch, additional battery, battery maintainer as well).
Clean the interior before I reinstall.

To make:
Trailer fender liners with carpet. (need marine ply for this.)


3d decal vendor contacted for custom "SPORT NAUTIQUE" emblem for the side(s), 4" tall, either dark grey with teal surround, or teal with dark grey surround.
My registration numbers will match as well. Font to be similar to the original, but more in the style of the 90's boats than the giant swirl nautique emblem the boat came with.

[bionaraq]

Sample decal drawings came in from the vendor and sizes. I did a quick edit in bluebeam and went from on the line with how crazy my change is to excited about it.
Something about it reminds me of the 90's ski boats I grew up with and takes the boat from a rather bland burgundy and grey, to a bit more exciting for me.

The photo edit is not to scale sadly. I'm not THAT good. (i need the boat at hand to set the scale).
Plan is this weekend to tape out the approximate location/sizing. (they can make them anysize i want.)

Decals will be 3D with a gloss look. Sadly no metallic.



what the boat "stock" looked like.


Though interestingly enough, my sport 216 decal was behind the vents instead of infront of it.

Our last boat was "Two P.E.'s in a pod" (both are Professional Engineers). Named so by an old neighbor.
We have been completely unable to come up with a name for this one.
Ideas we have tossed around.
Shredder (TMNT reference)
Boys 2 Men (b/c all my boys)
September (Earth wind and fire reference)

so I will have to punt for now on naming and when we figure something out, purchase the decals then.

[MN Ryan]

Cool. Are these from DomedNumbers? If so, be sure to get your PN discount. They did my registration numbers, and they're awesome.

[bionaraq]

Yessir they were, i was actually unaware there was a discount, thanks for letting me know!.

oh, NautiqueParts let me know that the depth finder was on backorder and held my order for it to arrive, which means I was able to find more goodies to order. Like the trailer boat guides Jeff showed in his update, and the pinstripe in Teal. (Domed only shows turquoise but through email they let me know they can do a teal).

I'll happily say that despite fairly high pricing, they are a breeze to deal with when you have questions/concerns. (the DF was 30% cheaper on amazon, but I wanted to support the forum.)

[MN Ryan]

Here's the code, if you haven't found it:

Just type in “PlanetNautique” into the promo code box when you check out and it should be. $10 discount (at least mine was on my reg numbers)

[bionaraq]

Another week, another smattering of projects worked on and completed.

The tower is now epoxy/fiberglass stranded on.
You can see how the plates as they arrived were too wide for the gunnel inside. So i had to bend one side and trim the other. Originally I tried to bend both with just enough space for washers but was unable to make that work sufficiently for my liking. My middle boy helped me with this part, complete with gloved hands holding the plate with epoxy in place so i can thread the nuts on. To be honest. I'm not sure you will ever be able to remove the tower, since the bolts had to be in place to hold the plate in the correct location. Fairly sure the bolts are epoxied in now.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


The water circulating pump is off, however I missed that I need some RTV to stick the new one on.
I taped up the sticker sizes as recommended by the vendor.

You can see the 3"x60" letters, and the 5"x93" letters size (inside the tape, large tape includes the small tape.)


I am still not super sure how much i want it to be GLARING vs muted.

super editing skills later:



Wife is leaning towards the 5" letters.

I also looked at the Faria depth gauge i purchased from Nautique Parts. It looks like a perfect match to the factory gauges (which should be Faria from what i can tell).
Just not looking forward to drilling a hole in the hull to mount the receiver at the back of the boat.
Very disapointed in the complete lack of directions that came with it. One small page on how to connect the wires to the gauge, nothing on where/how to mount the depth gauge. What orientation, or even how the plastic bits that came with it work.

While i was working on the boat, dad decided that 5 years was long enough for his Honda Z50 Monkey bike to be almost done. He "finished" the complete restore 5 years ago, but had an issue where the rear axle was not long enough with all the new hardware, we never figured out how it fit before disassembly but did not after. A new repro fixed the issue several months ago but he'd never gotten the courage up to put gas in it and try start it up until last friday. I was deep in the bowels of the boat working when a familiar sound I've not heard for 20 years hit my ears. The little 50 cc purring perfectly.


I spent the weekend on a new project (because i needed more right?)
I've not cleaned my truck other than a random drive through car wash in five years. I used to clean it every quarter and wax it. But i also had a garage back then that it fit in.
I took the pap cap off (which needed wetsanding to remove the sap marks!). and spent four days clay barring, polishing, waxing, then wipe on ceramic coating.
looks brand new. And since i dont drive 2 hours every weekend to boat. I dont need the cap except for family trips. So new project of mounting up a hoist system in the garage has been engaged. I've got old boat winches galore to use and will post some of that here.

Here's the difference in the hood after claybarring the entire thing and then just one pass of the polish pad (MEGUIRES 205 and red polishing pad).
You can see the further piece of the hood is still crazed to heck and back.
At 106k miles, she's got a LOT of road chips in the hood. And dents all over. But to this day, one of the best purchases I made.



Oh, and the wife wants to name the boat "TOWANDA". After the phrase from "Fried Green Tomatoes" .

[bionaraq]

I retrieved the boat from my winter storage to my house two weeks ago, intending to work on it every night.
alas. allergies, honey do lists, rain, and a multitude of other excuses mean the HOA is quite angry at me.



Where we left off, except now with Bimini. two weeks ago I Rushed to dads house and spent a Sunday afternoon doing everything i could get the boat ready to trailer.
Gunnels were reinstalled, The engine cover, water pump installed (with RTV), new serpentine belt etc.

Nautique parts is letting me return the Faria Depth gauge that requires a whole in the transom. They do not sell the gauge with the in hull sensor. So I went to Amazon and ordered the same thing for $200 less. Sad about that turn of events as NP has been superb to deal with.

The Bimini took several on and offs to figure out. It's a mirror image of what I had on the Yamaha. Two posts hold one side. Bimini wraps around that side and you just unroll it and pull it tight. No middle zipper. pinned to the tower.

I also mounted the Tower speakers and made it so i wont hit my head everytime i move around.


The cover i ordered on closeout from NP came out fantastic. My only gripe, Rather than the rope, if it had ratcheting belts you could synch it nicely. When I towed with it on, despite a million straps it scooped up air and became a sail. Definitely not a towing cover.

It also pooled the very first rain shower we had. I've since remedied this with a anti pooling pole leftover from my yamaha, where apon the next rain shower it pooled in the bow. Will keep looking for a solution here.


On Sunday I was finally able to peel back the cover and temporarily mount the amp for the sound system.
The subwoofer is not installed and i could not get the leads from the tower to reach the amp.
It sounds infinitely better than the stock clarion unit. But i'm a bit dissapointed in the down low response. I assume being open from teh gunnel down means that a lot of the mid to low range is lost compared to my last boat where the speakers were infinitely baffled but the inner hull was seperated from the listener.

Sunday's jaunt into Driveway boating also told me what i was missing for the amp install.
so I B.O.A.T in busbars, molex connectors, reset'ble relays, etc.
I just need to source a new house battery and the boat will be up to date.

****ty rain this weekend (all weekend) means that today i'll hop in, pull out all the amps etc, check that my amp mount board fits in the location i want it.
Then assemble it all inside, before making final hookups.

on the list of still to come:
oil change,
fuel filter change,
transmission oil cooler change.
Transmission oil change.
(all the above were waiting for the possibility of a freeze again to drop so I can run the motor to warm things up.)

More polishing/buffing
Order decals.
install decals and pinstriping.

[MN Ryan]

bionaraq Bimini info, please.