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!