16' Ski Boat Restoration

[Milhouse]

Perfect weather in the high 60's yesterday and today so I decided to try varnishing the brightwork. Perfection Plus 2 part varnish

Yesterday I did a coat on the area behind the engine to test if the varnish was still good (bought it a few years ago), It dried nicely so i decided to tackle the entire deck.

I used a foam brush to apply and tip. I didn't make enough the first try so I got a dry edge in a few spots but its looking OK, I'm sure after a few coats it will end up good. Even if I have to sand once to get it flat again.

The directions say that I can recoat oat at these temps for up to 4 days (without sanding) so that will be good so I can get enough coats on between the rain (supposed to rain on Tues).

[JimmY]

Sweet!

[Roberta]

Oh, yeah!!!

Roberta

[denbrlr]

Looks great!

Lee

[Biss]

Looks really nice!

[mrintense]

Nice work JIm, nice indeed!

[Milhouse]

Thank you Jimmy, Roberta, Lee, Biss and Carl for the kind words!

Rainy, cold weather and work got in the way of being able to put the second coat of varnish on before the max re-coat time was exceeded so I needed to sand it with 320 Grit. The first coat was pretty bad, some runs and dry edges (from when I needed to mix more varnish) so it was good to sand it back flat anyway.

Since the previous coat was so bad (did it with just a foam brush) I rolled and tipped this time and it looks a lot better.

This coat took 300ml of varnish (Base + Hardener).

Its supposed to rain here Thurs night to Sunday morning, staying in the 50s, so I should be able to put another coat on without sanding Sunday afternoon

[mrintense]

Rolling and tipping worked for my varnish as well. Just be sure to do small areas and then tip , or better, get some help to follow along behind you.

[Milhouse]

I got a third coat of varnish on right before it started to rain. My Harbor Freight carport decided to drip all over the still drying varnish. There was quite a bit of blush from the water spots but after after it dried the blush came out. There is a bit of dulling where the drops were at and some area were the varnish washed away. I will sand this coat back. The rest of the varnish was not affected by the rain at all, only the spots that got dripped on.

[Milhouse]

Started trying to fit the windshield brackets.

I got them from Classic Boat Connection. They are the Rivera Style

It took me a while to figure out where I wanted them but looking at some pics of Chris Craft Riveria's helped. I picked up a laser level (which I should have bought a while ago and I probably would have white "caulk" stripes that line up a litter better from section to section ) It was really helpful to get them parallel to the curvy cockpit coaming/trim.

The rear end of the bracket was about 1/4" off of the deck due to the curve in my deck but I was able to gently bend it down putting it in the vice, no heat needed.

I used an angle grinder with a flap disk and some 50 grit sandpaper on a block to match the bottom of the bracket to the deck. Got the starboard side pretty close so far, still need to get the port side matched.

Once I get them fitted ill get them chromed.

You can see the last varnish small failure (water drops) in the pics, that will get addressed when it stops raining...

[Milhouse]

here is a pic of what I'm shooting for.

I think the windshield will be a bit short to really get the wind off our faces due to the low angle of the brackets. Anyone have any experience with how much the air is deflected above the windshield? I suppose it depends on the angle and speed one is traveling.

[Roberta]

I cut my windshield panels about 2 inches above the brackets on the Torpedo. Seems pretty good.

Roberta

[mrintense]

Nice work on getting the windshield brackets in place JIm. I've always liked those style brackets. They compliment the lines of your boat well. Be sure to have the center post aligned properly with the side posts. When I did my forward windows I had quite a bit of trouble getting these all to line up.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

[Milhouse]

Thanks Roberta and Carl!

I cut my windshield panels about 2 inches above the brackets on the Torpedo. Seems pretty good.

Roberta that is a great picture!! I didn't realize that you had the same Rivera brackets on the Torpedo.

Some questions:

1. How far forward is the front of the center bracket compared to the front of the side brackets?
2. What thickness and type of glass did you use?
3. I got the bottom seal and the bracket seals from classic boat connections, any tricks to installing them? Did you use any sealant or just the rubber?
4. Did you bed the brackets with 4200?

[Roberta]

I just used the natural angle of the brackets to determine the setback of the side brackets. I wanted the glass to be in as far as practical. A little slop is good to allow for the gasket material and expansion from heat in the summer sun.

I used laminated safety glass 1/4" thick.

No sealant was used and excess gasket material was trimmed with a razor blade. I just applied the tarry material to the edges and pushed the glass in.

Brackets were not bedded, just placed on finished deck. 3m 4200 used to seal screws.

Roberta