37 year old fiberglass boat brought back to life

**imported_smprince1** · 03-12-2008, 07:03 PM

I finally finished this 1971 Sea Ray Pachanga for a buddy at work, and it really kicked my butt. I had posted a few intermediate photos in the marine section, but that forum doesn`t seem to get much traffic so now that I`m done I hope you don`t mind me posting in the Click and Brag.

This boat was 37 years old, had a lot of marring and chalky, faded gel coat. Plus, where the registration numbers were removed there was a significant amount of ghosting.

Process:

Peel off numbers, remove adhesive with Goo-gone and plastic razor.

Wet sand where shadows remained from faded letters/numbers by hand: 300, 600, 1500.

Went at it HARD, for hours. Would have gone way past bare metal had this been a car, left a lot of his boat in my wet sanding water bucket and on the floor of my garage :nervous2:

3M Marine Compound / wool / 2200, multiple passes.

3M Finesse-It Finishing Material / Blue Edge / 1800

Meguirs Flagship Premium Wax

Meguiars NXT Metal Polish on metal parts.

Megs APC 10:1 all cockpit vinyl, then steam cleaned to sanitize as the owner said he found some mouse poop when he took it out of storage.

Hi Temp Rug Shampoo all carpets, nylon brushed, extracted with hot water.

Dressed all vinyl with 303 Aerospace.

On to some pics.

Befores:

During:

Finished:

Certainly doesn`t look as good as new .... but much better than the 37 years old it looked when it showed up.

Owner thinks it looks fantastic, so that`s what that matters. Personally, I haven`t been this tired in a long time :ignore

**bigltc** · 03-12-2008, 07:10 PM

Nice save! I love the yellow!

**imported_smprince1** · 03-12-2008, 07:15 PM

Yeah ... but forgive me if I don`t eat any bananas for a while as I`ve seen enough of that color over the last few days to last me a while :chuckle:

Owner had just bought the boat and said he didn`t realize how yellow it really was....he thought it was a pale yellow by design.

**ZQ8Sonoma** · 03-12-2008, 10:52 PM

Incredible job on a beautiful classic!

What`s under the hatch?

**imported_Dave1** · 03-12-2008, 11:46 PM

Excellent.....!

How does it feel to know every single inch of an entire boat.....?

Your one good friend......:hifive:

**imported_smprince1** · 03-13-2008, 05:16 AM

Originally Posted by Dave1

How does it feel to know every single inch of an entire boat.....?

:

It feels sore and tired, I can say that. :werd:

Thanks for the kind words.

**imported_smprince1** · 03-13-2008, 06:41 AM

Originally Posted by ZQ8Sonoma

Incredible job on a beautiful classic!

What`s under the hatch?

From the owner:

454 4 bolt / 12:5 to 1/ Edelbrock Victor intake / Edelbrock water exhaust manifolds / Holley 850 double pumper / Forged crank and rods / Dual point distributor / Weaver dry sump oil system / Holley electric fuel pump attached to a Berkley jet drive with stainless "A" impeller and hardened shaft - Dyno tuned to 542 horsepower / 480 torque @ 6000 RPM

:chuckle: :shocked :bounce :grinno: :soscared:

**Greg Nichols** · 03-13-2008, 08:13 AM

Outstanding!

I really hope you charged accordingly, because you brought that back to life! Having done boats I know how hard they are. I really liked the 3M compound also.

GREG

**slick61** · 03-13-2008, 10:06 AM

great recovery work on a nice boat... Sea Rays have always been my favorite... the Cadillac of the runabout boats. Sounds like it oughta scoot across the water pretty good, though I shudder to think what gas would cost at the marina...

**imported_smprince1** · 03-13-2008, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by Greg Nichols

Outstanding!

I really hope you charged accordingly, because you brought that back to life! Having done boats I know how hard they are.

Thanks for the kind words.

I charged, but I tried to give the owner a break as he is a friend from work and I did want the job as I didn`t have a lot of experience with boats. It was a lot of work, but it`s always satisfying to see a customer get excited about the results.

**Greg Nichols** · 03-13-2008, 04:26 PM

^^^

I too like the response from customers. I also like the response from my wife with the paycheck LOL

**imported_smprince1** · 03-13-2008, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by ZQ8Sonoma

What`s under the hatch?

**Todd@RUPES** · 03-14-2008, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by smprince1

Thanks for the kind words.

I charged, but I tried to give the owner a break as he is a friend from work and I did want the job as I didn`t have a lot of experience with boats. It was a lot of work, but it`s always satisfying to see a customer get excited about the results.

He`s got at least 6g`s in the motor, I hope you didn`t give him to much of a break. Great work, and easily worth a grand.

**ZQ8Sonoma** · 03-14-2008, 05:28 PM

`

Originally Posted by smprince1

\r\n\r\nNice! :cooleek:`

**imported_smprince1** · 03-14-2008, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by TH0001

Great work, and easily worth a grand.

Thanks for the encouragement .... I WISH you could get anywhere near a grand around here but that just isn`t going to happen. :werd:

BTW, I think you`re right about how much $$$ is in that motor.