My 1986 Glasstream restoration

Thanks to everyone here for all the advice on my boat restoration. Here are a few pics of the before and after results:

The Before: I bought this boat fairly inexpensively. I had been looking for 3 to 4 months for a small bass boat (my first). I found this one local to our lake. Here were the original ad pictures. On inspection, the floors were soft, the gel badly oxidized, carpet oily and greasy....But solid transom. And nearly new motor.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...tream/Pic2.jpg
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So, I got it home and started to rip out the carpet. As I suspected, rotted floors, but thankfully the stringers and foam were dry and perfect. Thank goodness for good drainage:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4209.jpg
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The casting deck was also delaminating w/ water damage:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4220.jpg
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So, first order of business was to cut out the rotten floor, re-install new wood and glass it in. Here's the new floor under the driver's console:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4237.jpg
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Here's the new casting deck built. Used 11-ply marine plywood, epoxied AND glassed.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4238.jpg

Removed all the lids and began removing carpet. Lots of scraping and Acetone. Here's the result:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4224.jpg

The gel was BADLY oxidized so I did a complete wet sand (1000, 1500, 2000 grit), oxidizer remover (Mequire's) and 3M's Finish-IT followed by heavy Carnuba.
The BEFORE:
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The AFTER in various stages:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4248.jpg
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Used my vibrating bullet polisher to polish all the hardware:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4222.jpg

The windshield was badly scratched and dirty. Used my Pinball refinishing kit to polish back into shape. Before and After:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4227.jpg
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The battery compartment was a mess. So, I rewired it and the rest of the boat. I installed a 3bank charger, master cut-off and thermal protection on the trolling motor. Before and After:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4215.jpg
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The Pedestal seats were coming apart but I wanted to save them 'cause they had the original logo on them. I don't really have any after pictures, but I was able to re-secure the loose stitching. Before:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4250.jpg
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The gas tank was grimey all the way 'round. Used Bleechwhite Automotive cleaner to bring back to new:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4254.jpg
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And finally, recarpeted, put in a new trolling motor plug, and put all the hardware back on. YES, I KNOW I have some pucker in the rod storage locker and it drove me crazy. Since the pics I have cut them open and re-glued them and they look good as new. Also, the driver/passenger seats are just sitting in place and not yet secured:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...m/100_4264.jpg
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http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif outstanding job robert, that is definently some fine work... http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Great Job! I like the before and after pics of the wet sanding http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

Thanks for the praise! It was definitely more work and more money than I anticipated and my hat's off to those who do this for a living or have done more than one. Next time, I think I'll buy new http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/smile.gif

I still have a couple of little things to attend to...I want to install a fuse block so that each device is individually fused. The boat had one master fuse. When the bilge pump locked up on the previous owner, it MELTED the DC common wire all throughout the boat casue he had a 30A fuse on it. After replacing all that, I don't want something like that to happen again.

I also need to find a way to mount the front seats. It looks like there was some previous hardware that is missing now as there are two screw holes on the vertical edge of each seat cavity. I think probably a bracket or hinge used to be here. My thoughts are that I'm going to install some stainless hinges with a piece of marine ply and mount the seats to that. That way I can flip it up, mount the bolts from underneath the ply(the bottom of the fiberglass is inacessible where the seats sit) to the seat and flip it back down. I think the hinge would be plenty to keep it in place. It only needs to really keep it from shifting around.

Lastly, I need to find a used GPS/Sonar unit to mount at the console. The boat had an old humminbird 60 flasher that didn't work. My budget is tight, so finding a gps/sonar in the $200 range is tough. But I'll do without for now http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/crying.gif

Amazing job! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

Wish I had half the talent you do friend.

Nice work. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

That brought a tear to my eye...the fact that you went from begining to end in one page...its beautiful, congrats. Mine's gunna be the longest soap opera ever.
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Man that looks great! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Wow, that boat has come a long way. Great job with sticking with it... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif . It looks like a million bucks. Who says you need a new boat? The one you have now is pretty darn close.... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif .

WOW great job, Great pictures taken.. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Awesome job!!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

Nothing like doing it yourself and being able to see it turn into a thing of beauty!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif GREAT JOB!!!

Looks awesome! If I had the space for it, I'd get a beat up boat and restore it. I guess you've inspired me.

All mine was done in the driveway in between two hurricanes http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

the boat looks great http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif you did a great job on it

Super Job. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

Absolutely outstanding job! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif Top notch. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

wow that's a great job!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

looks great man. congrats!!!

thats a great lookin job! you must be very proud of that boat! It is amazing how a 20 year old boat can come back to life!

I couldn't have done it without the patient advice from the community here http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Nice job...I'm curious how long it took??? I'm just starting on my old Charger.

It took about 6 weeks in actual calander time, but if I could have devoted more time to it, I could have probably done it in two. I had to do it all in my driveway, so between two Hurricanes (Gustav and Hanna) and all the rain we got, it slowed down progress alot.

Dayum, that is a heck of a nice job on the resto. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

I just redid my 1985 ranger 370
so i know how tough you had it.

that looks insanely good

My hat's off to you on the job you did on the bass boat. What a fantastic finished product. Was this your first one? I recently bought a 1989 Astro that I'm working on and I'm having to go through almost every step you describe. I don't have the floor to replace but everything else is pretty grim. I have the same dull gel coat that you restored on your boat but I was going to just live with it because I'm really nervous about the sanding. This is my first one and I can't wait to buy another junker and fix it up. I really admire the work you've done on your boat and it just plain looks like new. Nice job, man.
Dick

Yeah, it was my first one, and I made plenty of mistakes along the way. Best advice is to just take it slow. The wet sanding is really very easy and forgiving, it just takes alot of time and elbow grease. I had to wet sand some areas twice and buff/polish some twice. Pick an inconspicuous area and give it a try to see what difference it will make. Using 1000/1500/2000 grit paper, you aren't removing alot of material, so don't worry too much about sanding down below the gel. You'd have to really try long and hard to do that. The biggest danger and one I did in a small spot is when it comes to compounding with a power buffer. If you hold it too long or apply too much pressure to one spot, you can burn the gel coat. I did this on a small area of the transom. It doesn't look too bad but it is definitely duller than the rest of the boat.

Hey Robert, what's a Pinball buffer and where can I get one? I have a windshield that looks like your original. I didn't know you could buff out one that nicely.

Dick

Wow, Nice work. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

Dick,

I used treasure cove's version, but google and you'll see several knock-off's now. A pinball playfield is basically covered in plastic (a clearcoat), so it works well on plastics. You can also use NOVUS polishing compounds if you don't want to get the kit.

http://www.retroblast.com/2004...t.php

An outstanding and very professonal looking job!!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

BushGator (7:32 PM 8/2/2009): Do you know where to get the fiberglass lids at? I have a 1985 Glassstream 16' 10 I need 2 of them so they can reapholster them the ones I have both have rotten wood underneith them I dont or cant get off, someone liquid nailed them to the fiberglass shell so I thought it might be easier to just buy 2 others from a salvagfe yard or if i have to make them from new. Thanks for your reply. your boat looks great~