dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

[Woodonglass]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

On your final coat you might try not thinning it and then using a large plastic putty knife to spread it out smooth. If you take your time you can get a really smooth coat and only have to sand down faint ridge lines left by the knife. Doing this give you a thicker coat and allows you to sand a bit better without te fear of sanding through the full layers. Something ondarvr talks about here on the forum.

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

I sanded and sanded and sanded this morning. Finally ran out of sandpaper and said I'll go with it! I got lucky with my csm seams. The rear seam will be under my bench seat, the front seat bases covered most of the middle seam, and the front seam is way up between the bow seats. I should have sanded the front seam much more. It shows pretty badly, but it will be mostly covered when the boat is finished.

The bare areas I'm going to do with bilge coat, since they will barely be visible and it's much cheaper.

Does anyone know if the tint I used for the gelcoat will work for the interlux bilge coat I have?


She's starting to look like a boat!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Uhhmm I doubt it since Gelcoat is Polyester resin based and Interlux Bilgecoat is paint. But...I've been wrong before!!!

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Thats what I was thinking. Wonder if I can tint it another way. I didn't get your last post until I was done. I've read about that process before. I like how it turned out, though, but I'm sure squeegee-ing would have made it better.

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Tomorrow, among other things, I will be glassing in my motor mounts and building up my transom. I have one gallon of resin left, so I wanna get the most bang for my buck on the layers I add to the transom, per unit of resin. Does either the 1708 or the csm gibe significantly more thickness, per a given amount of resin?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

1708 will give you more thickness and a gallon of resin wets out about 4 yards of each

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

I have a small update. No pics, there really isn't much to see, though. The bow seats section of the cap is one piece again, motor mounts are glassed in, transom is 2" thick in the center, and the rear section of the deck and the bilge are painted with one coat of bilge paint. I have plastic strips glued down to epoxy the tank to also. I'm waiting on parts to come in so I can install and assemble the outdrive and motor!

Really all that is left is to install seats, build the hatch for the tank section, and install motor/outdrive!

As a side note, I'm reeeeeally unsure about installing gimbal bearing/shift cable/ bellows, but I have to figure it out.

She also needs a loooooot of elbow grease.

I would like to personally thank sphelps, woodonglass, jas, the other jas , jigngrub, jbcurt, and I'm sure there are a few people I've forgotten, for all the tremendous help you have all been. There is no way I'd have the boat I do without the help you have all given me. It isn't perfect, but (pending a water test to be sure it doesn't sit funny or have a hook or something) I'll bet this thing is better than 80% of the boats her age out there.

I can't wait to get all the trim panels in, do the rest of my gel coating, clean her up, and take some glamour shots!

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

I have a little surprise! My outdrive was tired. It was in decent working condition, but bellows, along with lord knows what else, had let water inside it. It needed to be pressure tested, and who knows what that would have told me. I'm sure it could have used new seals all around. It needed to be sanded and painted, the studs were broken off into the gimbal housing, etc. I also think it needed new u joints.

Well shortly after receiving a quarterly bonus at work, I ran across this little jewel! It pressure tests well, and looks good inside. Had a new water pump installed before it was put up for sale, and the gimbal bearing supposedly isn't very old (though I'm going to grease and install my new one anyway. It was missing two studs, but none were broken off inside it, and it looks loads better than mine did. All for 450$, and I was able to keep mine. Not sure whether to hang on to mine as a spare, or drill out the studs, clean it up, and put it up for sale. It shifted and drove fine for me before I took it off.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

That boat's gonna be just like a brand new one when you get done! Everything looks great!

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Thanks, that means a great deal!

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Would y'all beat me over the head if I took this thing to the car wash before putting the seats and motor in? She's filthy, and I think this might be the easiest way to get the heavy grime; off. I would most certainly jack the nose up and dry her off when I get it back home before getting back to work.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

If everything is sealed up, have at it.

It;ll give you a good idea how well everything is going to drain and how quickly it's going to dry after a day on the water or a good scrub down.

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Still haven't hauled her off to get a bath, so no full body shots yet. But here is a glimpse of what I've been doing. I laid two layers of csm on my hull slice from the outside yesterday and sealed up my key hole with a few coats of epoxy. That gives two layers of 1708 over the slice, as well as two more layers from tabbing on the inside. Then two layers of csm on the outside. So it shouldn't ever be an issue.

Today, I fought bellows and a gimbal housing!:grief:

I got the bellows all on and the two halves of the gimbal housing back together, and installed the shift cable tube without the core. Bolted the gimbal housing and inner transom plate on.

Tomorrow I hope to get the motor in, aligned, trim and steering all hooked up. Maybe Thursday I can wire everything up and get a test fire in?

Any tips on motor installation/alignment and getting the trim system setup properly and bled are welcome!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

This may be of interest.[video=youtube;x-g6fFYtDLw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x-g6fFYtDLw[/video]

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Watched and saved! I have a pretty good thread saved from the archives on engine alignment also. I am fairly disappointed with the info the mercruiser manual has on it.

Does anyone have me a picture of the steering assembly where it bolts to the inner transom plate? (Power steering model) I can't remember how it goes together, and I didn't take pictures during disassembly because I thought it was simple enough :/.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Is this what you're looking for...

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Yessir that's it. I just couldn't remember how it all bolts to the boat.

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Tight fit!

As of.now complete outdrive is on. Trim is operational, steering is in (though it has some excessive play without the wheel turning?)
Fired it up and it pees and turns and trims up and down! Now I guess a water test is in order to see if the shifting and throttle are adjusted properly.

 

[sphelps]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Water test .. Awesome !
What are your plans for the hull and cap just clean and buff it out ?

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: dixie hustler "deck job" (turned full rebuild)

Clean buff wax for now. If I'm dissatisfied with that I may paint it later. For now clean and buff, clean and paint the seats. I wanna try my hand at recovering the seats this winter. By next summer I want hydroturf on the deck and some custom stickers on the outside. I have a 6 channel amp, marine 6x9, and marine 8" speakers ready for boxes and installation too. All this is sorta long term though, for now I want it hosed off and running in the water. I still have to finish gel coating up the sides of the hull on the interior and build and gelcoat my deck hatch. I have a temporary hatch ready for a week at a lake house coming up.