18.6 SC

[Falcon07]

Hello and thanks for having me in the Seacraft Honeycomb Hideout! LOL..New Here! Just brought home a nice dry, very original 1976 potter era 18.6 CC with 200 Merc. Seems I see few discuss the 18's ? Is it just less popular? Less out there? Did I make a mistake? I bought this boat because it was dry, clean, and mostly original. Lots of updates already done..T-top, Console, Gauges, Hydro Steering, Rewire. Any words of wisdom on the 18 footers? Anything you can contribute will help me develope ideas, thoughts to make it an even better boat.

[McGillicuddy]

Congratulations! Welcome aboard Falcon. I saw that boat listed somewhere last week and thought it looked really sweet. You scored. Happy Thanksgiving! You done well, Pilgrim.

Post some pics of her. As far as 18s discussion you'll find plenty. I don't think you'll find much if any negativity toward them. In fact I'd bet that most who've sold theirs, regret it at some point.

You're going to fly like a Peregrine in that thing with that 200 Merc.

[Falcon07]

McGillicuddy
Now that's what I'm talking about! I feel even better about my purchase now. The ole' 200 merc needs some lovin but I think I want to stick with it... thinking of a powerpak and 1 piece cowl. I will post some before pics real soon. This boat is a tweener... too nice to completely tear down and enough talent to say why not tear her down. lets put it this way, Im thinkin awl grip inside, New bumper rails, trim tabs and mercury rebuild. The original bumper rail is ugly black 2 in.material...any thoughts on a nice looking polished aluminum with rubber insert? Brand? Supplier? The boat does have some trinidad bottom paint! DOH!!!! What to do? any white color cover ups that adhese good! Suggestions?
Thanks a bunch! Oh by the way do I get a SECRET DECODER PEN? in the SEACRAFT CLUB? LOL....

[Bigshrimpin]

The only complaint you'll find on the 18 is the splashwell design. You need a small splashwell gate 4 - 6" or so tall sealed off around the bottom and up the sides. I love my 18 . . . it's a great little fishing boat.

[htillman]

Go to rubrails.com and get in contact with them. They can help you alot and have good prices on rubrails. I think they are located in Fl. Check out what Denny did to the bottom of his 20'. Came out great with Signature Finish paint.

[Bushwacker]

. . . The boat does have some trinidad bottom paint! DOH!!!! What to do? any white color cover ups that adhese good! Suggestions?

Here's a link to the bottom paint job I did. It held up very well during a 700 mile trip and 2 weeks in the water. Any marine growth just wiped right off with a nylon mesh covered "windshield cleaner" sponge. If your bottom paint is the hard non-ablative stuff, Signature Finish would probably stick to it. I'd call Tom Fabula (get phone no. from website); I'm sure he could tell you if it would work. Got to be careful with any sanding of antifouling paint, BTW - the dust is VERY toxic!

Although Awlgrip is a good paint and very popular, it's not repairable . . . if you scratch it, you have to redo the whole panel, so I'm not a big fan of it for that reason. I think they make something called Awlcraft that is repairable, but don't know how it holds up. Awlgrip might be ok if you're building a trailer queen, but I use my boat a lot and I've already had to touch up some scratches on the bottom and bootstripe a couple of times. With the Signature, I just use a foam brush, and it's impossible to tell where it was touched up.

On the rubrail, protection/function is more to me than appearance, and it's hard to beat that big solid rubber one. You can also clean it with alcohol and put some Armorall on it to improve appearance. I'm familiar with the SS/rubber insert type you mentioned, and I don't think it'll provide as much protection, although they do look nice. I changed the heavy extruded aluminum one on mine for the big 2" black rubber one that I ordered from SeaCraft in the 70's. My boat had some spider cracks along the gunnels from some dock walloping the previous owner did with it. They might not have been there if it'd had the rubber rail on it. ET23 sent me his old rubber rail and I was able to use pieces of it to fill in the gap that existed after I had transom cut-out filled in; even used some of it around the edge of my bracket, and that has prevented damage from pilings around docks, etc. If your rail is that same type, it also has an inverted U-shaped spray deflector molded into the bottom of it that works really well when you punch into a big wave! Denny

[Falcon07]

Hey Thanks.... they carry what I was envisioning....I went to their site.... There is some trade-off trading in the original big black rubber rail for a rubber with half moon insert but I must admit the I like the look of the Rubber/Alum combo.

[htillman]

If you go to the Taco site and check their rubrails and get the ones they recommend for Seacrafts the guy at Rubrails.com and match it. He got me the black rubber base in a solid piece versus 10 foot sections which made for a better installation. The SS insert came in 10' sections but he was able to walk me through the installation without any problems. It came out great.

[Falcon07]

The Signature paint may very well be my solution! I want white...do you think they offer it in White? I will look into it tommorow. The rub rail ..you make very valid points with how practical the original is.... mine is just plain clapped out. I do like the look of the big rubber with half moon aluminum. I will call the local seacraft dealer to see what they want per foot foot for the Solid rubber and I will also call rubrail.com that I was reffered to in this thread. I feel motivated to make this little 18footer looking new again. Thanks for your suggestions.

[Falcon07]

Forgive me but what is the TACO site? I like your suggestion. I think the boat being Cobalt blue would "PoP" with the Insert Rail.