1962 18′ Rayson Craft
“Bullnose”
Here she is in the early 1960’s with Oldsmobile power
Here she is after her first restoration with new paint and a 454 Chevy
This video shows how she looked when she arrived here at the Goop Shop!
We are often asked the age old question
“Why does it take so long?”
The following is an attempt to answer that question.
Step One – Get rid of everything you don’t want!
We removed over 35lbs. of fiberglass dust from the inside
of the hull on the first pass alone
With all the core and dead glass removed the bottom was so thin we had to build a
jig mold to maintain the bottom shape while we built the glass back up
Next
You guessed it, more grinding to remove the gelcoat and dead glass off the outside
With all the old dry glass removed it’s time to start building it back up with multiple new layers of glass
Next we milled two new stringers out of a single rough sawn 2x12x16 clear pine plank
Plane the bevel on to the bottoms and a couple of test fits to get them just right!
Then a proper jig to hold them straight and true while we glue
Glued and glassed
Balsa Core Installed
Balsa Core Glassed
Pattern, Cut and Glass Bulkheads out of 1/2″ Marine Plywood $$
Test Fitting Fuel Tanks & Bulkheads
Gelcoat bow area before bulkhead installation
Tape off for first coat of white gelcoat
Apply purple guide coat and cut back down to reveal lows for refill
Glass the bulkheads in place
Tight squeeze getting in to the bow compartment to glass the
front side of the main bulkhead
Second fair coat of white gelcoat on inside hull sides
Deck and hull sides glassed, faired and ready for gelcoat fill coats
First a coat of black to make sure it’s opaque
Then a nice thick coat of white for fill
Finally a burn coat of gray for fairing
She’s looking pretty good out in the sunshine for the first time in a long time!
Time to roll her over
Bottoms up!
Next we will strip the old gelcoat & dead glass off the bottom, build it back up with new glass and gelcoat
Then fair and blueprint the running surface
Lets continue,
Time to strip the last of the original bottom,
so choose your weapon
First the old gelcoat, then the dead glass until we find
new glass from the repairs inside
Now build back the excavated areas with fresh glass & fair
Finally two layers of glass over the entire running surface
Using the fins to mold the pockets into the last two layers
Bottom Glassing timelapse
A guide coat of black gelcoat, then the first fairing cut
More gelcoat fill coats of black, white & gray
One last fairing of the entire hull
While we have gravity on our side
This is a good time to rebuild the underside of the dash
Wash & prep for base color gelcoat
First a cover coat of black followed by two gallons of Deep Lime Green
The original strut fresh out of the chrome shop!
First we will cut a pocket for the strut, then locate and align it with the center line
Time to put a hole in our brand new bottom!
(video may take a min. to load)
Back on her bottom and ready to spray the floor
Satin Clear Coat
Next, tape the whole thing off again and put the final coat of color on the side
Finally 2 coats of Sea Mist White gelcoat are applied to the inside hull sides
Looks pretty good in the shop, lets take her outside and have a look!
Wow! It’s almost a shame to cover it up with mechanical and interior. When it’s all said and done you will only see about 30% of all this bright work.
Time to turn our attention back to the outside.
First a base of white gelcoat.
Then a guide coat is applied and hand blocked.
Next the transom, side inlays and pinstripes are laid out and taped.
FUN FACT, all of the cut lines have to be double taped so that one layer can be pulled between the flake coat and the clear coat.
That’s one layer of 1/8″ fine line tape on top of another, approximately 130′ just for one side inlay!
Time to tape and bag the deck inlay.
Remember that means taping all the cut lines twice!!
As you can see the results are worth it.
Now we start the whole process over for the white.
Do to the amount of material it takes to blend the white into the green, all the cut lines will have to be double taped as well, so one layer can be pulled half way thru.
In all we made 24 trips around the boat and applied close to 800′ of fine line tape just for the cut lines and that does not include the tape used for bagging
The resulting flush transition from white to green is so worth it!
Lets take her outside and have a good look at her.
Video may take a minute to load
WOW!
After 1,500 man hours of
grinding, glassing, sanding, shaping, smoothing, spraying and polishing
she is to say the least…. Better Than New
Lighter, stronger, more resilient and if I do say so myself prettier!
Ready to go another 60 years. I think Rudy would be proud!
Next is a cut and polish.
Then roll her over and graphite the bottom.
Fast forward to the lake!