1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

[Mike Phillips]

1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

The boat is here so let the fun begin!

[Mr Mustang]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

this is probably a stupid question, but, how are you going to get to the areas on the boat behind the side pillars on the trailer?

[Andy M.]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

this is probably a stupid question, but, how are you going to get to the areas on the boat behind the side pillars on the trailer?

I think it is a pretty good question.....

I am sure Mike will figure something out.

Andy

[Ryan L.]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

Well we actually didn't end up working on the boat's gel coat at all. Mike thought it would be a easy, DA only buff-out, but it took a Rotary with a wool pad and the most aggressive stuff for gel coat to even make a dent. After that it still would need a couple more passes. So Mike decided to tackle it on his own time and we had a good time working on some other cars.

Like always, I didn't take any pictures with my camera but many with Mikes. They probably wont be up until Monday, so look for them then.

Ryan

[El Tano]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

I'll be looking forward to see those pics...

[Nappers]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

Likewise! good to see those old boats getting some TLC!

[Jokeman]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

Nice Mike! I have a 1973 MFG that is orange just like that boat that I will be doing. It hasn't been polished since at least 1990!!!!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

The gel-coat on this boat seemed to be rock hard. Practicing what we preach here on the forum the first thing we did was a Test Spot with a DA Polisher and our new foam cutting pad with some M49 Oxidation Remover and it had no effect at all.

So next we tried a wool cutting pad with our M67 One Step Compound and a little improvement, not enough to continue, so next we tried M91 Power Cut Compound and after 3-5 minutes or so with a rotary buffer we got this...








So while the oxidation can be removed and the orange color restored, it's going to take a lot of work and a lot of time with a rotary buffer and an aggressive compound and that was out of the scope of what we were going to be able to do on a Thursday night "Open Garage" event.

So we moved the boat out and switched over to working on member's cars...

[Jokeman]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

Mike, will you be doing an extreme makeover on the boat or is it too much to do?

[El Tano]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

Mike, will you be doing an extreme makeover on the boat or is it too much to do?

He'll do it...He ain't a quiter He will buff the heck out of that thing...
He has the knowledge a the tools to do it, but he may need some help....

[Nappers]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

He'll do it...He ain't a quiter

True

Can't wait for more pix

[Mike Phillips]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

I'm off tomorrow and I'll tackle one half of the bow with some very aggressive product. First of course will be a test spot with this product and then follow-up compounding work followed by even more polishing and the waxing.

I have a Father/Son Campout coming up and the boat will be on Silverwood lake for 3 days straight getting punished by the sun and as many boys as we can take fishing, tubing and skiing.

If the finished half holds up then I'll do the rest of the boat, if it doesn't then we'll probably just enjoy the heck out of it for now.

[Superior Shine]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

That isn't exactly the jet boat you wanted -


How about sanding it down with 1500 then buffing it out. Would that work?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

That isn't exactly the jet boat you wanted -

I was about an hour late on purchasing the Jet Boat, and just to note, I was going to take the boat to the landfill after removing the brand new built 454 Big Block Chevy engine out of it for use in a Drag boat in the furure... going to look for a Sanger V-Drive Bubble Deck Runner Bottom.

Here's the engine holder... it's an old Manta Ray Jet Boat, the hull and interior were shot but the engine was brand new. Found this boat for sale about 3 blocks from my house for $2000.00

Manta Ray Engine Donor



The Basset Headers alone retail for $1000.00





After I missed out on the Jet Boat/Engine deal I went for the Starline because my son won't be able to drive a full race drag boat till he's a few years older as he wont' be able to run the gas pedal or the up and down cavatation plate pedals.

He can drive the Starline Deville.

How about sanding it down with 1500 then buffing it out. Would that work?

"Always use the least aggressive product to get the job done"

Probably sometime this winter, like November or December I'll sand down the gel-coat and then buff it out, didn't want to get that deep at this time, (no pun intended), so instead I used a very aggressive compound from our Mold Release Line, (MV81 Mold Compound), with a wool pad on a rotary buffer and chopped out the 32 year old oxidized gel-coat. This is not a product or a process most people should undertake on their boat unless all other options have failed and they have years of experience behind a rotary buffer. It helps to have years of experience working on gel-coats also...




Here's a good before shot that accurately shows the condition of the gel-coat before the extreme makeover. Note the gel-coat has the appearance and actually the feel of chalkboard chalk.

Before



Process
Heavy Compounding with MV81 using a wool pad and a Rotary Buffer - 1500 RPM
Polish with M80 using a wool pad and a rotary buffer - 1500 RPM
Polish with M80 using a W-7006 with a DA Polisher - Speed Setting 6.0
Polishing with M07 with a W-8006 and a DA Polisher Speed Setting 5.0
Sealing with NXT Tech Wax 1.0 by hand using a terry cloth wax applicator pad and really working the wax well into the gel-coat


After











And while we missed out on the race-ready big block Chevy engine for a future drag boat hull we did snag this 1986 Suburban with a fresh, albeit stock rebuilt 454 Big Block Chevy engine and Turbo 400 to replace the 350 Small Block Chevy currently residing in our 1975 Jimmy as it needs a little more umph for pulling a boat up hills and for the 35" Boggers waiting to be installed.

1986 Suburban Engine Donor


New Silent Tire Technology



Long day... should have the rest of the gel-coat compounded, polished and waxed by the time the weekend's over...

[Nappers]

Re: 1976 Silverline Deville Boat - Extreme Makeover

Looks great.

Nice on the burb for a motor for your Jimmy.

My ultimate dream for my '64 is a modern drivetrain (heck, frame engine all) underneath the body. I like the idea of a Duramax/Allison tranny combo underneath. 64DMAX would be a new license plate

Do you already have the 3/4 ton axles in it? That T400 would be a great addition as well, pretty much bullet proof!

Keep us up to date on that project too I love turning wrenches (well mostly).

Aaron