1969 13-foot Repairs

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
Drafter
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Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2016 1:45 am

1969 13-foot Repairs

Postby Drafter » Wed Oct 26, 2016 10:49 am

Hello all, I need some advice. I got the little Whaler home from its 750 mile round-trip to pick up this past weekend. It's been stripped down, and I've been doing some wet sanding to eliminate as much gel coat crazing as possible. In the big scheme of things, it's in excellent shape. Not a single aftermarket hole anywhere in the hull. I guess in the car world, she's a good "3 footer". Still quite a bit of crazing and a few spider cracks, but in all fairness, she is 50 years old. My wife says leave it original, buff it out and enjoy it. My [obsessive] side says roll and tip it inside and out and make it look as good as my meager abilities allow.

[Give me your] thoughts on original gel coat. And appreciate the patina versus a shiny new paint job? Talking just the inside here. I will roll and tip the outside of the hull for sure.

In the picture below, the port side bow area has been sanded and buffed. The starboard side still original.
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Drafter
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Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2016 1:45 am

Re: 1969 Classic 13 New Owner

Postby Drafter » Wed Oct 26, 2016 11:01 am

Whaler%20Crazing.jpg
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Crazing driving me crazy.

jimh
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Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: 1969 13-foot Repairs

Postby jimh » Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:20 pm

[This thread has been moved to REPAIRS and MODIFICATIONS.]

Drafter
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2016 1:45 am

1969 Classic 13 New Owner

Postby Drafter » Thu Oct 27, 2016 10:44 am

[This article duplicates most of the original article. It was posted to a different thread. This article has been deleted from the other thread and moved here to join the original article on this topic. Several very large files have been deleted. Please do NOT post very large photo images that show the same details as already posted.--jimh]

I intend to paint the outer hull after these fixes.

The interior (blue) gelcoat is in pretty decent shape with quite a bit of crazing here and there, and a few minor spider cracks. I can (and have) wet sanded quite a bit of it out, and it would look pretty decent as a "3 footer" as they say in the car restoration world.

I'm really struggling with a nice new interior paint job with no cracks vs. cleaning up the original gelcoat and living with it.

I realize that original means something and that once it's painted, it's gone forever. More and more vehicles are worth more in there classic patina these days then in their restored everything new state. What are the thoughts of the Whaler community in appreciating this old girl for the fine age lines that she's earned? Would painting the interior be a huge mistake?
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jimh
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Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: 1969 13-foot Repairs

Postby jimh » Thu Oct 27, 2016 11:03 am

A 1969 Boston Whaler 13-foot boat is not like antique furniture. With antique furniture, the value of the piece might be reduced significantly if you apply a new finish. In Boston Whaler boats there is no appreciation for or an accrual of added value in having the original gel coat finish retained once that finish has developed lots of crazing. At least, that is my perception.

If your 1969 boat has its original gel coat finish in extremely good condition and had almost no crazing or spider cracking, then maintaining that original finish and keeping it as-is would be very desirable and probably contribute some added value to the boat. On a boat where the original gel coat surface has mostly gone to a crazed finish, replacing that finish with a new top coat would not result in loss of value, as long as the new finish was applied in a proper manner.

It's hard to make a judgement without seeing the actual boat in person. If the crazing is not really awful, and you can buff the finish and apply a heavy coat of wax, the crazing might actually be attractive as it gives the boat some character. It's a 47-year-old boat, after all, and if the gel coat shows some of that age--hey, no big deal.

On the other hand, if you had a 1959 or 1960 hull, these considerations might be different. Having a very early production hull might cause a tilt in judgement toward trying to preserve everything as original.

ConB
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Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 2:52 pm
Location: Suttons Bay, MI

Re: 1969 13-foot Repairs

Postby ConB » Thu Oct 27, 2016 8:11 pm

I also picked up 1969 13' to clean up and rescue this week. Mine is good but not quite as nice.

I'm going to clean, polish and not worry about the crazing. Too labor intensive to fix the crazed gelcoat in my mind. That is why you see old boats with pickup bed liner spayed on the in \side.

I would surely love to find an Evinrude like that one.

Con
!987 Outrage 18 / 2011 Yamaha F150
1969 13 / 30hp Johnson tiller