1970 SPORT 13 Sport Restoration

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
edphil2
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:41 pm

1970 SPORT 13 Sport Restoration

Postby edphil2 » Tue Oct 18, 2016 3:06 pm

[I p]icked up a 1970 Sport 13 at an estate sale when they accepted my lowball offer. When they called saying I had won the boat, my first reaction was "oh shoot." I have no idea what I'm doing, so any advice as I progress through the process would be greatly appreciated. I'm not trying to make a show boat, but, if I'm going to do this, I would like to do it as well as reasonably possible.

The Sport had standard woodwork, but was missing the console and [wire rope and pulley] steering hardware. [I w]ould like to be able to find [the wooden components of the interior and the wire rope steering rigging] and get [the 1970 SPORT 13] back to [the way it was.

Here is what it looked like when I went to pick it up:

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edphil2
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:41 pm

Re: 1970 13 Sport resto starting

Postby edphil2 » Tue Oct 18, 2016 3:14 pm

[I s]tripped out everything [from] the hull and pressure washed [the hull]. [The hull] looks good with no repaired damage, but there are a few spots with pock marks on the hull. [The marks on the hull a]lmost look like little marine creatures bored little holes into the gelcoat. What caused these?

[Give] repair suggestions.

My intent [is] to repair and paint.
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dg22
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:06 pm

Re: 1970 13 Sport resto starting

Postby dg22 » Tue Oct 18, 2016 4:06 pm

Those look like spider cracks in the gel coat. On my boat, I had to remove the gel coat in those bad areas. Others had success long-term with just filling, but I didn't.
Last edited by dg22 on Wed Oct 19, 2016 2:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

edphil2
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:41 pm

Re: 1970 13 Sport resto starting

Postby edphil2 » Tue Oct 18, 2016 5:09 pm

The spider cracks I get. It's the little pock marks that have me scratching my head.

jimh
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Re: 1970 SPORT 13 Sport Restoration

Postby jimh » Tue Oct 18, 2016 5:34 pm

The appearance of the hull of your 1970 Boston Whaler SPORT 13 boat is quite odd. It looks like someone used a ball-indenter to press into the hull and make all of those round indentations. I have no idea what may have caused that. About the only thing that comes to mind is severe blistering that somehow popped open and was then sanded away--but I don't think that would produce those odd marks. You should include something in the foreground of your close-up image of the hull so we can get a sense of the scale. It is hard to judge how large the indentations are. They look rather gigantic in the image.

I would NOT classify the cracks seen in the images (above) as spider cracks. They look too deep to be spider cracks. (Unless the image is really an extremely close-up and magnified view) I suspect you will need to give those areas a very heavy sanding in order to remove most of the gel coat layer. You need to get down to firm laminate that is not cracked. If you cannot sand away all of the circular indentations, at least get most of the surface close to being smooth. Then use resin with lots of filler as a fairing compound.

If you plan to paint the boat then you will have to get the surface very well prepared, very clean, dry, free from any variations. A paint layer is thin and will not conceal any flaws. All the work must be done before you paint. You won't be able to buff out any little flaws as can be done with gel coat resin.

edphil2
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Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:41 pm

Re: 1970 SPORT 13 Sport Restoration

Postby edphil2 » Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:48 pm

I talked to a guy who is a marine mechanic and does all kinds of work on boats. He says it's osmotic blistering. I have been Googling all thngs osmotic blistering. The pic is an extreme close up. The blisters are about 1/8 inch in diameter. He says grind/sand it down to the fiberglass mat. So I guess I'm fixing to get up close and personal with my grinder.

stanyon
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2016 6:57 pm

Re: 1970 SPORT 13 Sport Restoration

Postby stanyon » Wed Oct 19, 2016 10:50 am

Yes that does look like blistering, the best way to deal with it is to grind off the gel coat, then let it dry for a couple of months before recoating. I had the same problem on a 36' trawler lot of work and time consuming. Or just ignore it, nothing structural here just cosmetic appearance.

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dg22
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Re: 1970 SPORT 13 Sport Restoration

Postby dg22 » Wed Oct 19, 2016 3:19 pm

I used 60 grit with my orbit sander to remove the gel coat in those bad areas and when I got close to the fiberglass mat layer I switched to 80 or 120. The fiberglass mat is not very thick on these older boats so if you do decide to use a grinder just be cautious.