Finally happening!!

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CRAPPIE_SLAYER

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
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Location
Conneaut Lake, PA
Hey guys! I joined the site last year after purchasing a mid-70's 14ft. mirrocraft. Well I finally got some time to work on it this summer. WoooHooo!! Got the trailer all done about a week ago and it looks sweet. Got me excited, and now i've started stripping the boat down. Have a question about sealing seams on the hull. While stripping it, I saw there is some sort of epoxy that seals the seams, and although there was no leaks last time I had it out, I would like to re-seal these before i paint it. Can anybody recommend a product that I could pick up at a local hardware store that would do the job??
Almost forgot the pics. Here she is!!

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Thanks for the kind words guys. Like I said before, getting the trailer done and seeing how good it turned out got me excited to get crackin' on the boat. Spent all day yesterday with my buddy fixing a few issues with the trailer lights, and scraping the old paint off the boat. Got about 85% of it off, and hopefully get some time this week to work on the rest of it. Still not sure what to re-seal the seams with if anybody has any ideas. Think I read a couple of old posts on here about a 3M product that works for marine applications, but can't remember what the # was.
 
Well I finished stripping all of the paint off this weekend. Didn't want to use the stripper due to the fumes, so did the entire thing with a scraper and wire brush. What a chore to do by hand, but it'll pay off. Also got the seams resealed with the 5200. Was also looking at paint and found the rustoleum marine paint to be a decent price ($11.49 / qt.) and they have it in the navy blue I wanted. Question though, can I paint the entire boat with topside paint since the boat will not be in the water constantly, or do I need to use some kind of antifouling bottom paint to do underneath the waterline. Would like to paint the entire boat 1 color, but all the bottom paints I found are the wrong color, and would really like to go with the rustoleum since its the right color and fits the budget well.

Here's the pics. Sorry they're so dark in the garage.

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Anti fouling paint is really for boats that are going to stay in the salt water all the time. It is to keep the barnacles from attaching. You can use the paint you have if your not keeping it in the water all the time, however I believe you are going to need to paint the boat first with an etching primer. I don't know of any paint that you can spray on aluminum and it stick real good with out the primer first.

I'm sure that there are others on here who have done it and had good results.
 
Thanks huntinfool. Priced the etching primer at the local auto parts store. Think they said $32.00 / qt. for the primer itself, and then like $45.00 for the thinner because he only carried gallons. Knew the stuff wasn't cheap, but whew! Thought I remembered reading a post somewhere that you could buy it already mixed. One more question for you guys. My boat is a 14 footer, so 1 quart should cover the whole thing right??
 
You only need the thinner if you planning on spraying it. But I would read the primer can and see if it can't be thinned with something other than their thinner. Also read on the can and it should tell you the sq. footage that it will cover and go from there.

Spray cans are easy, but they are more expensive and don't cover as much.
 
Gonna stop at a few stores om the way home from work tonight and see if I can find some other options as far as the etching primer goes. Think I'm definitly going with the rustoleum products for the paint though. Does anybody know if I thin this out to use in a spray gun if I need to add some sort of hardener with it??

Hopefully the 5200 will be dry enough by tomorrow that I can get her flipped over. Crawled underneath yesterday and was checking the transom out. Looked like it was in ok shape, but started poking at it a little with a screwdriver and it seems to have some soft spots in it. Looks like I'll be replacing this before I get any painting done. Searched back through some old posts and it doesn't seem like its too hard to do (hopefully). If I haven't said it before, thanks to everyone on this site past, present, and future for sharing. There is a wealth of information here that is great for a newbie like myself. Hopefully will have some pics of progress in my next post.
 
Rustoleum does not require a hardner. I believe it can be thinned...again just read the can it has all the info. Good luck with the transom, it isn't a hard job, but does take some time and thinking.
You'll do fine.
 
Had the day off today, so decided to make it a productive one. My buddy from work came over yesterday and helped me get it flipped over. So this morning I decided to get on ripping the old transom out. Wasn't too rotted out yet, but was extremely waterlogged so I'm really glad I decided to pull it. As for replacing it, I've read that almost everyone uses plywood that they've bonded together. Is there a reason that nobody uses like a 2"x10" board? It would be the ideal thickness for me to use and just rip the length to 8 3/4" width, unless there is some problem with using these kind of boards. Here's the pics of the old transom.

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Taking the transom out didn't take all that long, so I went at tearing the seats and flotation pods out. I've read quite a few old posts about having the hull want to flex out a few inches when you take the seats out, so I decided to put a ratchet strap across the top where each seat is and then removed the seats. Might be kind of a PITA to work around, but it looks to me like it worked like a charm. The hull didn't move at all. Left the old seat brackets in hope that I can tie into them with the framing and keep everything nice and tight. After getting the seats out I gave the inside a good scrub down with some simple green. Here she is all cleaned up and waiting for a new transom.

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Last project for the night is repainting the old MirroCraft emblems. Got them painted black the other night, so gonna try to mask them off and get some of the white details painted tonight. Have one last question though. When I go to put the floor in, what should I use for a level line?? The gunnels, top of the boat, ??? Looks to me like the bottom of the boat gets increasingly deeper from the top of the boat as you go further toward the front. Anyway, here's the last few pics.

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Nice job on the trailer, it looks great. Im wanting to paint mine too, any tips or techniques you want to share to make my life a little easier? :mrgreen:
 
Looks good. Best way to measure for your floor is to put the plug in the boat and make sure it is level fron to back and side to side and then fill it with water until you have the level of the floor that you want. Then mark the water line. Simple and easy.
 
Sureshot,

Best advice that I can give you from my experience on the trailer is that if you have to srtip the paint off first and it looks like the original paint was clear coated, I would check into sandblasting it. I spent ALOT of time on mine using an angle grinder with a 4" wire wheel and busting through the clearcoat was a PITA :x . Was told after the fact that the clearcoat just melts and smears as opposed to any sort of cutting action. Was also told after the fact that there is a local sandblasting company that would have blasted it and primed it for $100. Might have cost a little more to do it this way, but would have saved alot of headaches. Sure did make srtipping the hull of the boat seem alot easier though :roll:. Only other advice I have is that if you put new lights on and you have a split trailer, make sure to run a ground wire to the back half of the trailer. It doesn't like to pass the ground through the split in the trailer. Hope this helps and good luck.
 
Got some more time to work on the boat last night. Got the new transom cut and glued together. Finally got a rough idea of how I want to layout the inside, and started putting in the framing for the floor. Decided to make it level to the top , which should leave me a fairly deep storage area up in the front end. Gonna try to get at it this afternoon again. Sorry no pics, but the girlfriend started her online classes for her masters degree so she had the computer tied up. Hopefully have some up in the next couple days with lots o' progress :D
 
Back at it again last night. Got 2 coats of helmsmen spar urethane on the new transom and it's looking pretty sweet. Last coat is going on this afternoon. Also got the rest of the stringers for the floor laid in place. Looks like it's gonna work out nicely in my opinion. Should have about a 3' wide flat floor when its all said and done, which will make it much easier walking around. Sorry, but no pics again. Was like 9:45pm and I had 2 holes left that I wanted to get drilled. Picked up the drill and.... WHAM!!....stung in the hand by a yellow jacket :evil: . I've had reactions that have put me in the hospital, so I spent the next hour monitoring how I felt [-o< . Good news was no hospital trip, just a swollen hand :mrgreen: . Will get the pics up this afternoon so you guys can let me know what you think.
 

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