1440 Sea King Project

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meonline06

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Richmond, VA
I bought a 1978 Montgomery Ward Sea King jon boat a few days ago. It is 14' long and measures 40" across the bottom of the transom. I haven't had the chance to take it out, so I'm not sure how stable it will be or whether or not it has any leaks. My last jon boat was a 1648 and was a very stable platform for fishing. This boat did not come with a trailer, so I will be on the look out for one. My plans for this project are going to be a little tamed compared to my last project. I am going to paint the hull and probably will put a carpeted sheet of aluminum or wood over the ribs to make it easier to walk around while fishing. I also need to find a trolling motor and possibly a small tiller steer outboard. I'm going to be fishing out of it for the rest of the summer, so progress may be a little slow.
 

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I don't have a lot of energy today after a long night at work, but I've been looking forward to getting started on this project so I did a few things anyway. I put the boat up on sawhorses to make it easier for me to work on until I can find a trailer. This boat has wood on both the inside and outside of the transom. Both pieces look like they are the originals from 1978 so I figured replacing them would be prudent. Getting the wood out on this boat is a cinch compared to my old boat so it didn't take but a few minutes to remove them. I will go by the hardware store and pick up some replacement wood either this evening or sometime tomorrow. Any suggestions for a nice solid type of wood that will also look good since it will be exposed?

I also began removing the paint from the hull which brought back nightmares from my last build. This is my least favorite part of a build, and unfortunately the paint needs to be completely removed because it is peeling all over the place. I plan to remove it from both the interior and exterior of the hull so I can give it fresh paint all over. In anticipation for the countless hours of labor that will be necessary to get the job done, I am considering picking up an abrasive blaster to make it easier. Any input, experience or knowledge about blasting away old paint would be greatly appreciated.

Transom 2.jpg
Transom 3.jpg
Transom 4.jpg
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=357804#p357804 said:
lckstckn2smknbrls » Today, 20:26[/url]"]Power washing will knock off most of the loose paint.


and what the power washing doesn't knock off, and you don't want to grind off...consider soda blasting.

Call a few places, tell them what you're trying to do on a tight budget and get prices. Most will have done it before.

Have fun, post pics.
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=357804#p357804 said:
lckstckn2smknbrls » Yesterday, 21:26[/url]"]Power washing will knock off most of the loose paint.

Power washing would definitely help out a lot. The problem is I found 5 different layers of paint when I started stripping it, so I want to start with a clean slate and not have to worry about it peeling again in the future.
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=357821#p357821 said:
Kismet » Yesterday, 22:58[/url]"]
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=357804#p357804 said:
lckstckn2smknbrls » Today, 20:26[/url]"]Power washing will knock off most of the loose paint.


and what the power washing doesn't knock off, and you don't want to grind off...consider soda blasting.

Call a few places, tell them what you're trying to do on a tight budget and get prices. Most will have done it before.

Have fun, post pics.

Thanks, I went out and picked up an abrasive blaster for pretty cheap. There is a conversion kit for soda blasting available that I am going to hopefully get on Thursday. After I did a little research it sounds like soda blasting is the way to go.
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=357877#p357877 said:
Adysdaddy » Today, 12:51[/url]"]Nice Starting Point! looks a lot like my M.W. Sea King 1232...

These Sea Kings are solid boats. That's one of the reasons why I'm not going to do a whole lot of modifications. This will be more of a restoration.
 
I picked up some wood for the transom. I just have to cut it and seal it with spar urethane. I am going to wait until after I paint to install it. With Arthur coming up the coast I decided not to pull the boat out of the garage so I didn't finish stripping the paint. I did test out my soda blasting equipment and after stripping just half of the transom it looks like it snowed in my garage.
 
What blasting rig are you using? I'm contemplating repainting my boat at some point and I'd like to take it down to bare aluminum first too. That is a really solid looking setup - you're going to be tempted to rig platforms up on all those benches... just playin the part of the devil in your ear :twisted:
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=358250#p358250 said:
onthewater102 » Today, 00:26[/url]"]What blasting rig are you using? I'm contemplating repainting my boat at some point and I'd like to take it down to bare aluminum first too. That is a really solid looking setup - you're going to be tempted to rig platforms up on all those benches... just playin the part of the devil in your ear :twisted:
I bought Harbor Freight's 110 lb setup. They were selling it for half price last month. They also sell a conversion kit that makes it compatible with soda blasting. I don't know if it is nationwide but the soda media is on sale this month around here.

I enjoy bass fishing from a platform, so I haven't completely ruled out putting one up front. I will probably fish out of the boat a few times before I make up my mind...My plan was to keep this project simple, but I always end up doing more than I intended so we will see...
 
Have you done anything more with it yet than the bit of transom that dirtied up your garage? Just wondering how slow a process I'm looking at.
 
I finished stripping most of the outside hull today. I still have to finish the bow and the inside of the hull. I also have to make a decision about paint color and layout pretty soon.

Stripped.jpg
 
How did the soda blasting go? How many pounds of soda did you need?

Any unique issues with your new boat, like corners and crevices?

Looking good as far as I can see.

=D>
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=358424#p358424 said:
Kismet » 49 minutes ago[/url]"]How did the soda blasting go? How many pounds of soda did you need?

Any unique issues with your new boat, like corners and crevices?

Looking good as far as I can see.

=D>
Thanks. I feel like it went well. When I started I put two 50lb bags of soda in the blaster. I didn't check to see how much was left when I was done but I didn't run out. I had already done one side of the boat with a paint removal wheel. Blasting is not much faster than using the 3m paint wheel, but it is definitely a lot less work. At $35 per 50lb bag you wouldn't want to use too much soda. I will check and see how much I have left tomorrow. Depending on what is remaining I may have to use the wheel on the easily accessible paint in the inside. But I will definitely need to blast the paint in the corners and crevices like on and around the gunnels and strakes.
 
Outside hull is stripped. It was HOT outside today so I didn't have it in me to work on the boat very long. I did manage to do a leak test and found about 6 leaking rivets. I have to order some rivets to replace them before I can paint. I also have a lead on a trailer. It's carrying a 13'5" fiberglass boat which I will have to get rid of.
Leak Test.jpg
 
I found a trailer on craigslist and went and picked it up on Sunday. I got it for pretty cheap and it definitely needs some work. You can see in the pictures below that there is some surface rust on it that I will have to remove and then I will paint it. I think I may also replace the axle and hubs just for piece of mind. I will decide after I take a closer look at everything.

The rivets I ordered last week finally came in and I replaced all of the leaks yesterday. I will probably let the 5200 I used cure for a few more days then I will prime and paint. I also cut and sealed the replacement transom wood which I will install after I paint. While things are curing and getting painted I will try to work on the trailer so that it is ready to go as soon as the paint dries on the boat.

Trailer 1.jpg
Trailer 2.jpg
 
Hmm - apart from what looks like smaller tires, that looks like the same trailer I've got (which also originated in Virginia according to the VA title I've got for it).

By any chance is your title from Supreme trailers?

Not that it'll matter, but if it is, they went out of business a long time ago. It was an issue for me with an out of state title and no VIN visible on the trailer (scraps of the sticker were still there) as CT requires you register boat trailers. There is a new company by the same name online, and I don't recall where they're out of (AR or MO if I remember) but they only started around '03 sometime...
 

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