Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, gelcoat repair need help!

[sean whiteman]

Hi,

I?m a new funline Aristocraft 17 owner, the boat was for sale form a guy in Georgia. I?m have had the boat shipped to Dublin Ireland. Don?t know much about the boats but the shape is very cool.

Just got the boat back home and looking at what needs to be done.

One of the things is a full paint job.
The gelcoat is cracking in a lot of places see the pic, need some advice on how to fill the cracks.

Also have a lot of cracks on the none slip areas, how do I fill them and get the texture in the filler??

 

[thrillhouse700]

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, need help!

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, need help!

Firstly, i love the lines of that boat looks really sweet.

Secondly, you need to check the structural integrity of the wood (deck, stringer, transom) before you paint it.

You do so by drilling core samples in the wood, use a small drill bit (we used a 1/4" bit) and put a stop on it so you don't drill through the transom. Drill several holes and check for rotted wood. Clean dry wood is good, dark brown soft wood is bad. If it comes out as dust its even worse.

If your lucky enough to not have to replace all the wood then you can fix the gel coat and paint it. Don't be suprised if you are going into a full restoration.

I think red fury has the 10 steps to boat resto denial.

check out my thread (linked at the bottom of my sig) and many others here to see what the work entails. I think you have a sweet boat and it would be worth it to restore so you have years of use from it.

 

[jspano]

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, need help!

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, need help!

i bet that looked very futuristic in it's day

 

[ziggy]

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, need help!

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, need help!

need some advice on how to fill the cracks.

Also have a lot of cracks on the none slip areas, how do I fill them and get the texture in the filler??

personally, i have no idea. looks more challenging that many surfaces to restore to me...

have you talked to aristocraft? i know they've restored a few. maybe they have a good idea for you. that's where i'd start anyways. other than this fine forum.

If your lucky enough to not have to replace all the wood

i think he'll be that lucky. funliners are wood free for the most part. http://www.aristocraftboats.com/fiberglassbrochures/AllRoundpage5.pdf though i don't know about the transom. i think the transom on my nineteen is glass, except for a small piece of wood where the drive gets mounted too. i'll guess the funliner is similar, but don't know that for a fact.

i bet that looked very futuristic in it's day

i think it looks futurisitic today....

glad ya got her to her new home incident free... good luck with your restoration. think i'll watch this thread for a while. i got me a few cracks similar to yours so am interested in seeing if there's a repair too.. i only got a few cracks but they do look challenging to repair to the point where ya can't see the repair.. non skid surface..... keep us updated to how it goes sw...

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, need help!

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, need help!

Very cool looking project! By the way, you can post your photos to photo bucket and resize them with a click (640x 480 I think). That allows you to post photos everyone can view without clicking on the thumbnails. I used a high build urethane primer to fill some of my smaller crazing. If you aren't planning on trailering the boat, you might want to check into re-gelcoating it.

 

[sean whiteman]

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, gelcoat repair need help!

Hi,
Now with the new year out of the way and me back at work.. I have been looking at what needs to be done to the boat!! I don?t think I will be in the water this summer..
I have been around boats now for a long time but I have no idea what the light on the top of the boat is for?
It looks like a trailer light!?!

Please have a look at the pic and let me know
Thanks.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, gelcoat repair need help!

looks like a trailer light someone mounted to it, what is it wired too?

 

[sean whiteman]

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, gelcoat repair need help!

OK guys here is a update on the project.

Drive off, engine out, transom sheild off.

This was the easy parts as the transom will need to be replaced, wood rot and more wood rot.

 

[sean whiteman]

Re: Aristocraft 17 funliner full restoration, gelcoat repair need help!

Reomoved the skin on the inside today, well i think you can see from the pics that it is bad.