Jeff's 1998 Ski Nautique Restoration

[enzo thecat]

Wow, you aren't messing around. This is going to be fun following this.

[NautiqueJeff]

Anyone got any suggestions for repairing this? The dash was like this when I bought the boat.

[NautiqueJeff]

Well, I didn't get it over to gelcoat yesterday as I had hoped. I decided to go ahead and disassemble more today and tomorrow, so it'll be pretty much bare bones when I take it over there on Monday. I pulled the windshield, front vent covers, and dash today. Interior and rubrail are coming out tomorrow. Not much more to it!

[enzo thecat]

Thanks for the explanation. Someone will have some wicked talent to get the color match precise.

[Quinner]

That is something that would be cool to see someone do, a floor like the Paragon had.. More maintenance I know, but very cool..

Actually it is no more maintenance then carpet, maybe even easier, a damp towel picks up sand dust, in the Spring a good scrubbing and then some oil.

Jeff that gel sure looks like it is going to need some heavy grit, bet he will need to go down to 400 at the color.

[shag]

That is something that would be cool to see someone do, a floor like the Paragon had.. More maintenance I know, but very cool..

[NautiqueJeff]

Not sure yet. I will let you know hopefully tomorrow.

I would say that if the gouges are down to the fiberglass, it should be repaired as soon as reasonably possible. The one deep, long gouge on mine is definitely down to the glass. I ran it like that a few times this fall, and who knows how long the PO ran it like that. I would be concerned that it could cause additional gelcoat to pull loose if left that way too long, and it can't be good for the fiberglass either.

[MaineDR]

How much is all that costing you roughly for the gelcoat repairs? I have something similar with a handful of pretty long hairline cracks and two nice gouges in the bottom from where the boat hit something in the water. Any risk to not repairing little things like that?

[NautiqueJeff]

You grind out the cracks with a Dremel (or similar), clean with acetone, and fill with gelcoat, then sand them flush with the existing gelcoat, then polish and wax. It is a fairly simple process, except that it is still only about 55 degrees here during the day, which is not warm enough for the gel to cure properly. Also, there are many to be done on this boat, and I would rather have a pro handle this one since there are so many. Also, with this boat being eighteen years old, the gelcoat colors will have to be mixed by hand, and I am not experienced enough to get the colors exactly right.

[enzo thecat]

How do they fix the spider cracks? Any idea of the process?

[NautiqueJeff]

Got the graphics and pinstripe removed today. Taking it to my gelcoat guy hopefully tomorrow. I would do it myself if it just needed a sand and buff, but it has multiple spider cracks and a pretty good gouge on the bottom of the hull that I want him to fix.








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[NautiqueJeff]

Love that Paragon! One day...


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[Quinner]

If the carpet isn't trashed and can be cleaned up I would leave it, particularly if this one is not a keeper.

I bet for close to the same money you could do a real wood floor, teak or something similar like jatoba.
Had that in my Paragon and it was awesome, loved it. Like the platform, it cleaned up easily and could be oiled for a like new finish and essentially should last forever.
Now of course if your site sponsor promotes the project that's another story!!

[swankster]

I like your idea of mocha and black and you can sell it to me when your done


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[seachicken27]

Definitely go for the SeaDek Jeff. That will be some tedious work doing a black gel coat floor, but if you are gonna do it… do it right!