Zen and the Art of boat conversion

[ominousone]

If any of you have never read Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintanence, do so. This book was my original insipiration to do over a boat, and this forum pushed me over the edge to do it. I have lurked reading posts for a long time and now I have finally bought a 14 ft. boat and I will post pictures as soon as I am off from work during daylight hours to take them.

I have decided that I am going to start with painting the trailer and boat. The trailer has some rust on it, and I want my own paint scheme on the boat. I haven't been able to sleep at night dreaming of the possibilities...

 

[G3_Guy]

Welcome aboard! We look forward to seeing the pics of your boat! Sounds like you have big plans in store for it and I look forward to seeing pics of all the mods you complete as well. Congrats on the new ride!

 

[Waterwings]

Welcome Aboard! 8)

 

[ominousone]

Pictures of the boat untouched

 

[ominousone]

My starting plan is to pull the boat off of the trailer and to start by sanding/stripping paint from boat and trailer. Are there any strippers that are better than others to use? I heard from a friend that the paste kind works great but it will not come off of the metal well, and then I will need to remove the stripper by sanding.

Go figure, my very first problem has to do with my stripper... :lol:

 

[G3_Guy]

Nice Score! Lots mod potential with that one! Looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[ominousone]

I think this is a mod v...right? I can't tell by the registration what make/model it its...

 

[ominousone]

A couple of questions. Is there any reason not to sandblast the trailer and the boat to remove the paint? I was talking at work about using paint remover and a few people suggested that I just sand blast it. If this works does anyone know if sand or walnut shells works better?

I remember that it is imperative to seal wood decking before putting it in a mod, but what is used? I have poly, can I use that? Also, along with this, if I decide to use 2x2's instead of aluminum, do I seal that as well? I know I'm gonna sound like a complete newb here, but what type of screws do I use? I want to do this right and I'm willing to bow down to the masters of this forum for jedi knight advice...

Thank you one and all!

 

[Waterwings]

Nice boat! Personally not sure if I would sandblast the hull, due to not knowing the material thickness of the hull, but I'm fairly certain it has been done. As far as screws, I would use stainless. Could be costly, but they won't rust. Some people also use the coated deck screws.

 

[ominousone]

So Stainless is the best for screws.

Say I wanted to use aluminum... anywhere anyone would recommend going to keep on a budget? The local junk yards in this area will not sell anything because of insurance reasons... Any websites? Ebay?

 

[Waterwings]

Aluminum screws would work, but knowing me, I would either strip-out the screw slot, or twist/break some of the screws off while screwing them in, and that's after I had everything pre-drilled.

 

[ominousone]

I guess I wasn't clear when I asked about aluminum. If I used Aluminum angle/bar where would be the best place to find it?

 

[ominousone]

I learned today that sandblasting is an extremely cathartic exercise, but it is also an extremely dirty one as well. I got half the trailer stripped and through some primer on it to keep the rust away.
I did learn a few things that I would like to pass on... Sand is not just sand... You need to use sand intended for sand blasting. I tried regular sand and it had big chunks in it that clogged the gun in seconds. I also learned that if you use equipment that someone had used prior to you that you need to check it over carefully... After wanting to scream because I couldn't figure out why the sand wasn't coming out; I replaced the hose, checked the nossil probably ten times, only to find out that at the bottom of the container was a cup that someone used to put sand into the hopper. I knew nothing of sandblasting when I entered the day, and now I know not much more except that a sandblaster is nothing more than a bucket with a hole on the bottom that a hose connects to and then the hose connects to a gun that you shoot at your trailer/boat. Then when you are done you find sand in places that sand should never be...

 

[FishingBuds]

welcome aboard mate

Blast the trailer, strip the boat. Good luck on the stripping that was the hardest and time consuming thing I done on my project but, it had to be done.

 

[ominousone]

O.k. I will bite... what's the harm in blasting the boat?

 

[Captain Ahab]

O.k. I will bite... what's the harm in blasting the boat?

It could make it dangerously thin

This is going to be a great thread - i can tell

 

[danmyersmn]

I guess I wasn't clear when I asked about aluminum. If I used Aluminum angle/bar where would be the best place to find it?

wholesale metal dealers in your area.

 

[Nick Jones]

A couple of questions. Is there any reason not to sandblast the trailer and the boat to remove the paint? I was talking at work about using paint remover and a few people suggested that I just sand blast it. If this works does anyone know if sand or walnut shells works better?

I remember that it is imperative to seal wood decking before putting it in a mod, but what is used? I have poly, can I use that? Also, along with this, if I decide to use 2x2's instead of aluminum, do I seal that as well? I know I'm gonna sound like a complete newb here, but what type of screws do I use? I want to do this right and I'm willing to bow down to the masters of this forum for jedi knight advice...

Thank you one and all!

Click on the link below my name and check out my first mod. It has a few pic's of what I used and how I sealed the decking and 2x2's.

As far as your steel flexing question on my post: you can do the entire boat if you want. The reason most people just do the bottom is because Steel flex is really glossy and doesn’t look as good as paint. However, if you put thinner coats on the sides it will look great. Nussy put his on really thick and it started to sag. That's why most don’t put it on the sides. hope that makes sense.

 

[ominousone]

First off... Thank you to everyone with all the insightful answers to my questions. With that being said, I have a couple more questions. Do I need bare aluminum to apply steelflex to? I know that steelflex needs a warm environment to cure, has anyone ever heated a garage to do it in? Also If I use wood to support my decking, can the wood supports be sealed?

 

[CRAPPIE_SLAYER]

I've been using 2x2's for my framing and yes I have sealed the framing with thompson's water seal. I've been hitting the ends that seat against something as I assemble them, and once I had the rest of the framing done I went over everything that I had not already hit. Not sure if it NEEDED to be done, but figured it wouldn't hurt.