Restoring a 87 Dyna-Trak 180SS fish/ski

[arjone01]

I can tell you the bugs only begin when that big "go" thing is strapped onto the hull.

[httrdd007]

First of all I want to say thanks to BASSCAT7 for his patience with me and his great thread!

Here is the first part of my boat wet sanding that took me 3 hours. I used 1000 grit today and did the entire outside ( I thought 800 grit would be too rough) and it is already starting to shine and feels really smooth!

Some of my friend thought that I should of used some kind of high grit compound, but I have no regreats what so ever! Next time 1200 grit then finish the wet sanding with 1500.

Pics are before and after. You really cannot see the difference in the pics, but it is there!







Modified by httrdd007 at 12:10 AM 4/1/2009

[arjone01]

Looks good, may I suggest waiting on that since you're going to do a complete overhaul, having done mine I found what process I did and how I SHOULD'VE done it to get everything completed. I know you're waiting on a motor and transom. If I were you I would wait on the wetsanding, I did mine in this order and I'll explain later what I would've changed about the order and why:

Wetsanded
Replaced some flooring that was rotten
Built deck ext
Carpeted
Wired the whole boat
Rebuilt the transom but only because I didn't know it was shit until the end.

Do the work first and ascetics later. After getting in and out and laying heavy pieces of wood on the boat and what not from the floor replacement I found that I later had to go back and wetsand and buff again because of scratches made from the heavy raw wood, tools, ext cords that had grit and such on them from being on the shop floor. Then the carpeting, I almost destroyed my brand new carpet getting in and out a million times to do the rest of the work (wiring, plumbing and so on) from tracking dirt and the high traffic of running ALL of the wiring that the boat needed. It took a lot of extra time cleaning it up because of how dirty it got. If I could go back and redo it I would do it as follows so that I didn't have to redo the final detail parts over again in the end.

Transom
Floor
Deck ext.
Wiring
wetsand and buff and finally carpet. Any "ascetics" should be done last as the actual work can trash what progress you've already made only to have to waist time and redo it. Wetsanding a boat TWICE sucks!!! Just a thought. Just use it and wait to do things in the right order. It sucks to find out the hard way but it is fun, nobody really writes a book on this stuff specific to our needs.

[httrdd007]

Thanks for the tips and I would never even put in the new floor or carpet without running new wiring and piping! I just want it to look better since I am not tackling the transom or floor til late fall! At least I will have the boat looking good for now and..............if I have to redo it I guess I will bite my tongue and do it again!

[esoxfly]

It's a good feeling ain't it to get a boat looking good.

For pics, get yourself at a lower angle to catch the shine. It's hard to catch shine from a higher angle like the pics you have, but I can tell it's there.

Here's one of my "shine" pics, and you can see how low I have the camera to the boat.

Keep us up to speed on your progress!

[httrdd007]

Alright I finished the wet sanding today and it looks like glass! I did the 1200 grade and then the 1500 twice. I do not think that I need the 2000, it might just be overkill since you cannot see any swirls at all! I was going to take some pics, but it was cloudy and crappy out so tomorrow pics will follow! My arm is a little sore and I had to do a lot of it between my daughters naps!

No regrets doing it by hand and me and the boat have become closer! This week I will work on the removal of all of the old numbers and the faded stickers/emblems on her then the buffing!

After seeing the Stratos rebuild I know now that I am going to reappolster the console and redo the gauge faces!

[httrdd007]

Ok here is the final wet sanding product! Take in mind that I have never done or been around any of this type of work so anyone can do it!

This is the before finish



After the final wet sand front



Before



After the final wet sand back



A couple of after wet sanding reflection pics




I could not be happier with the results and I am just waiting for this rain to clear so I can start buffing her out!



Modified by httrdd007 at 12:01 PM 4/6/2009

[bigfish]

wow that looking really nice...once you get new seats and carpet that is going to look like a new boat !!!!! good job

[httrdd007]

Thanks! I am going to go all out on this project and redo almost everything. I want this one to last a while and since it is paid off I keep putting a little bit of money per pay week to restore her.

[httrdd007]

I went out to my local auto paint supply store and bought the 3M products recomended. Here are the pics after using the rubbing compound(3M Perfect It Rubbing Compound # 05973). I put on this compound BY HAND using a couple of terry cloths.

I did not have the funds to buy a buffer and all of the accessories and amazingly it was very easy to apply by hand! I was done in about 2-2.5 hours, inside and out. No streaks and a clean finish! The finished product is better than I could of imagined!

Next comes the 3M Final Glaze # 06066





Modified by httrdd007 at 12:37 AM 4/10/2009

[httrdd007]

Crappy weather for new pics, but oh well!

Here is the refelction after appling the 3M Final Glaze again by hand. I tell you the next time I do it durring my tear out I am going to invest in a buffer! The whole outside of the boat looks as good or even better than new! BTW the white hull was not wet sanded just yet. The shine is mostly from the compound.

The exterior is finshed for now. Now I am going to start tearing up the back seats and start designing them the way I want them to look.

Durring the summer I am going to dock the boat at my buddies and completely strip and sand the trailer, replace all moving parts, clean up the wheels, and replace the wench and wheel stand.

More to come!!!






Modified by httrdd007 at 9:30 AM 4/15/2009

[BASSCAT7]

Very nice.....A buffer will really make that final glaze stand out, and remove any traces of swirl marks from the finish.

[delmagic]

I just picked up a buffer today at home depot. Ryobi for $26.00.

[vatreefarmer]

$26? Was it a rotary buffer or an orbital waxer?

[Ol JohnnyBoy]

WOW...that looks AWESOME...cannot wait to start mine. Thanks for posting these

[httrdd007]

Thanks guys! I know it is a lot of pics, but I just wanted to show the steps and how the boat looks at each phase. I hope that a bunch of people use this to help inspire them to get their favorite boat to look better or pic up an old used up boat and just put a little it if money and some hard work without having long term payments. Just a little TLC and she will look great!

More to come!

[esoxfly]

Does look good. Just finished mine today. Putting the wax on now and it looks even better. Sure is nice bringing a boat back.

[delmagic]

Ryobi RB60 6" buffer/polisher.

[httrdd007]

Next part of my project............

The start of installing my new (to me) Minn Kota Maxxum 65 (from BBC member) and running 6 gauge wire with connectors. I pulled this great looking wire out of our scrap pile from work. Free 50ft of 6 gauge water, oil, fuel resistant. From the breaker and the jumper is 6 gauge welding wire with copper crimp connectors.



For all connectors I have used copper to copper anti corosion paste, heat shrink, copper crimp connectors, and electrical tape.




This big guy is going on when ever this damn rain stops!

More to come.....

[Javarude]

Eveything looks great, can`t wait to see the finished product. Keep up the great work.