85 Baretta Vanguard project

[Sixmark]

Well let's hope the pic uploads work, as I promised to post them as soon as I had a chance

She has a solid hull and floor, unfortunately the motor was a basket case......a new water pump, prop, plugs, wires, head gasket, thermostat, 3 coil packs , and a power pack later and she is running smooth.

I just need to redesign the interior (not a big fan of brown) ao we are going with a burgandy or cranberry color with either a lighter tan or white, the cap will be coming off over the winter months to fill and redrill snap screws that had pulled out and to fix a couple little nicks and change the color.

 

[Mark42]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Sounds like a great project. I really like the dark reds in boats.


BTW, what speeds does that 75 Johnson push that boat to? Get on plane fast?

Thanks!

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Well with the first run on the new prop which is a 13.25"x17P the speed was right about 28mph (I know people are laughing already) that was on the one year old gas that was left in the tank by the previous owner.

Since running 2 new tanks of gas through it and a light cleaning of the carbs we are now up to 34-35mph according to GPS, she seems to get better all the time. She planes out relatively quick, I think after my final carb adjustment and a little bit more playing around with the trim that she will pull down 35mph without problem all day long.

The funny thing is that she is rated for 100hp and I just happen to have a line on one, however I'm not so sure the wife would like the idea of rolling to the back of the boat on a regular basis, I think I will get everything trimmed out the way I want it and run it for a while before I repower anything.

if you like the deep reds in boats, wait until I post the pics of the reworked dash with the red backlit Faria guages (I use a red LED conversion bulb)

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Well I got a chance to head up north and run the boat a bit more, but before thowing the cover back on I decided to yank all of the interior out of the bow and bring it home. It's gonna be rotten weather all week so it's the best time to get this part done.

For those that don't know, interior panels in a boat will retain moisture very well, my boat is an excellent example, I dried it out in the sun when I first got it a month ago and it has been covered since......when I pulled the panels off they were soaked and rotted.

I'll be posting pics of before, during and after the refit starting here

You would think this would have been a sign to the previous owner that it should have been covered

and these will be the colors we are working with

 

[Mark42]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Oh, yeah, that is going to look nice!

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Just a couple more pics to show just how bad things can look under the surface.....here is the front bow panel, it looks ok for being 20+ years old

but here is literally the flip side of the problem

I just wanted to show these to people so they can see just how bad things are without looking deeper into things, this is why I will not use wood backer that hasn't been properly dried and/or treated and sealed.

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

In a situation like this it's also worth going the extra mile....and the extra dollar to use quality items to restore it with. In this case if you look at the staples you will see the rust, the new staples will be stainless steel, yes they cost more but they also hold up alot better as well.

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Well the progress has been slow and uninspiring, normally I would have glassed the wood backers however these need to be a relatively thin finished product to fit where they are going. That left me with having to dry the wood(which started some time ago) then treat it, followed by a good spar varnish. I didn't really bother to get pics of this process as you really won't see any change in the wood for the most part, and I didn't care to use the camera with varnish on my hands. If I'm lucky then later tonight I will start the shaping of foam and the sewing of covers.

 

[Mark42]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

I would have used pressure treated for the seat bottoms and backs. The PT dries fast, especially when working with thin sheets, and it will "breathe" and dry out if water gets inside the new upholstery.

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

I actually did use PT for the cushion bottoms, it was PT floor sheeting, and with using the spar varnish on the side panels the finish will flex with the wood. Everything was dried regardless, and then soaked in an anti rot agent before varnish application. The interior in the rear of the boat will be getting glassed for multiple reasons, one of which is due to many modifications to the layout and the creation of more storage.

Just need to get the bow done for now so I can use the boat over the weekend and then all next week will be the cockpit and rear.

 

[Mark42]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

I actually did use PT for the cushion bottoms, it was PT floor sheeting, and with using the spar varnish on the side panels the finish will flex with the wood. Everything was dried regardless, and then soaked in an anti rot agent before varnish application. The interior in the rear of the boat will be getting glassed for multiple reasons, one of which is due to many modifications to the layout and the creation of more storage.

Just need to get the bow done for now so I can use the boat over the weekend and then all next week will be the cockpit and rear.

Oh, I missed that you did use pt. Must be getting tired after a long hard day.

Looking forward to the photos of the finished interior.

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Well the varnish finally dried on the backer panels for the interior so we went on to the next step.......

First make sure you have all the materials you need, I find it best to use the following:

Staple Gun (I recommend an electric or pneumatic)
Marine grade stainless steel staples
Quality foam of your choice, in this case I'm using 2 inch High Density
Spray tack adhesive (3m Super 77 works great)
Quality grade upholstery shears
Marine grade vinyl
Electric carving knife

I started off with an optional step, I prefer this method for piece of mind. Take some extra material and run what I like to call a starter strip around the outside edge of the backer board for the interior panel. The reason I do this is to provide extra protection against the wood wearing throught the material over time. Before moving forward make sure and mark the panels so you know which one goes where and mark the foam side.

The starter strip gets attached with staples to the panel.

Take your panels and lay them out on your foam and trace around them for a pattern, mark your pattern for which panel the will be attached to.

Next we break out the electric carving knife (no not for lunch) for cutting the foam. Cut out the patterns and then test fit each one, next spray on the adhesive on the side of the panel marked for foam, let it get tacky and carefully place the foam on the panel.

Here the foam is attached to the panel, don't worry if it's not an exact fit, you will be stretching vinyl ove if and pulling it into place as you go.

Next you will need to cut some of the vinyl to cover the panel, then it's time to cover the panel. Carefully place it and then staple it off in a few spots to get you started, now start working your way around stretching the vinyl and stapling off as you need to in order to get a uniform appearance and depth to the panel.

Old panel

Here's the new panel, not quite finished, a detail pattern will be overlayed.

Anyhow I'm off to finish the others, until then.....happy boating

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Well I said there would be more updates, it took longer than planned though. I was just going to make detail patterns and overlay them on the panels, but I decided to actually incorporate the patterns into the covers themselves. It was twice the work but the end result was more of what I wanted.

Here is the completed set for the bow, now it's time to work my way back to the stern, I'll be throwing in pics for the dash upgrades as well.

 

[Aquaholic_GP]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

do you sew that all into the vinyl -that looks awesome! Just curious as i have some vinyl work ahead of me.

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Each part of every panel is it's own individual piece, I had to make a pattern then cut it up to get each piece, then sew everything together and pull the whole thing over it's respective panel and staple it off.

If you want to do something like this I strongly suggest getting a zipper foot for your sewing machine if you don't already have one, especially for making the cushions.

You could also just sew a pattern onto the material you plan to use, I don't really like that method because the seams are clearly visible, doing it this way eliminates visible stitches......although it is more time consuming and can be frustrating at times.

If you have questions, feel free to ask them, I will get back to you when I get a chance, so it might be a while between my boat ptoject and my job traveling.

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 Baretta Vanguard project

Just wanted to update the thread, the project is still ongoing, however as it is with many of us, other things get in the way. Mother nature has not been cooperative to say the least, so until she is we are going to work on something else.........gauges, lighting and electrical.......stay tuned, more to come.