My 1971 20' Seacraft project

[apneadreams]

I picked up this boat back in October of 2009 for $500 that included the boat, trailer and 2 large rolls of fiberglass mat. Jason (the guy i bought the boat from) had already started the restoration by tearing out the floor and replacing the wood in the transom. Since I didn't have any exp. working with fiberglass and restoring boats he recommended this site for insight concerning the restore...

[apneadreams]

So there was much work, and many decisions ahead of me in this rebuild and no clue how much $$$$ would be needed to restore thsi boat properly...FYI...I'm broke and poor before starting this project...so I decided to use poly resin instead of epoxy for cost...and through trial and error have come to thr realization that you should apply this liberally when applying fiberglass. I learned the hard way not to be so stingy in the application...I had some hollow / soft spots in the floor glass that I had to cut out and redo...

[apneadreams]

This boat had about 5 layers of bottom paint layered and waiting for my attention....since I am keeping this boat trailered and i want the bottom to look pretty, it was time to get dirty and remove those layers of bottom paint...through much trial and error, I found the best way to remove the bottom paint economically was to use some aggressive brush on gel stripper and using a sharp scraper, scrape scrape scrape....unfortunately for me I was a little too aggressive and caused many gouges to the bottom of the boat...sometimes less is more since the gouges cost me alot more time and labor getting her right.

[apneadreams]

I used the original consol and increased the height of the profile...I did keep the original width since I have a 28gallon poly gas tank that will be used as a kicker in case i want to take it longer distance that will fit perfectly under the consol....

[apneadreams]

This past week the conditions were right for paint application...I went with Interlux perfection snow white...This gives me a good base in case i want to go 2 tone (blue sides and white everywhere else) later...it's all about available $$$$...now i'm really broke...after trying unsuccesfully to spray primer...i decided to roll and tip the paint without the tipping aspect...straight roll only...

[Basspond]

Nice project! What size gas tank are you going with?

I might invest in some boat stands, that block job looks kind of scary...

[apneadreams]

Right now i have a 28 gallon tank installed way up front under the deck and will have a 28 kicker for under the console...I bought a 2003 yamaha 4 stroke 115 that will have a seastar hydraulic steering system....yeah those blocks look real scary not to mention the floor jack propped up on the tire....gotta love living on the edge ....another 10 days and it goes back on the trailer...just waiting for the full cure on the paint.

[SeaPlusPlus]

Looks great! That jack on the tire though, never ever would have gotten under that boat. You're a braver man than me haha. [img]/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

See you on the bay!

[77SceptreOB]

That jack on the tire though, never ever would have gotten under that boat. You're a braver man than me haha.

I'll second that!!!

[Caymanboy]

No S----! I like the 2 x 4's on the bow roller!!! Please be carefull!