76 Custom Sea Ray Restoration Almost Complete

It's been a long time coming, but I can finally say I'm coming to the end of this rebuild. Now that the exterior has been finished, I was able to install a new rub rail. Removing the old one was.......interesting. I found many of the factory rivets were broken, and the top and bottom halves of the hull were not even bonded together anymore.
I decided to fill the gap with 3M 5200 adhesive and then screw it together until the adhesive set. In hindsight, I used way to much 5200, and much of it squeezed out when I applied screws.

lucky enuff rr5.jpg


I installed new Taco semi rigid rub rail. It's pretty easy to work with and it wasn't difficult at all for two people to install. All in all, I like it. I'll see how it holds up.

lucky enuff rr3.jpg


lucky enuff rr4.jpg


lucky enuff rr2.jpg
 
lucky enuff said:
It's been a long time coming, but I can finally say I'm coming to the end of this rebuild. Now that the exterior has been finished, I was able to install a new rub rail. Removing the old one was.......interesting. I found many of the factory rivets were broken, and the top and bottom halves of the hull were not even bonded together anymore.
I decided to fill the gap with 3M 5200 adhesive and then screw it together until the adhesive set. In hindsight, I used way to much 5200, and much of it squeezed out when I applied screws.

View attachment 61811

I installed new Taco semi rigid rub rail. It's pretty easy to work with and it wasn't difficult at all for two people to install. All in all, I like it. I'll see how it holds up.

View attachment 61812

View attachment 61813

View attachment 61814
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Probably a pain to remove the excess, but too little would have been worse. The deck/hull joint is a chronic problem on many boats and SR certainly has its fair share of this issue. Looks to me that you actually fixed it assuming it's a shoe box adhered with all that 5200. Much better than when it left the factory. The new rub rail is an improvement all the way around too.
 
sbw1 said:
Probably a pain to remove the excess, but too little would have been worse. The deck/hull joint is a chronic problem on many boats and SR certainly has its fair share of this issue. Looks to me that you actually fixed it assuming it's a shoe box adhered with all that 5200. Much better than when it left the factory. The new rub rail is an improvement all the way around too.
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It was an issue I was actually somewhat blind to because it's hidden, but just forcibly pushing inward on the side of the hull revealed there was movement. As you mention, I too suspect many older hulls that actually got a lot of use suffer from this. I wasn't sure of the "correct" way to handle it, but I feel good about it and it's solid as a rock !
 
lucky enuff said:
It was an issue I was actually somewhat blind to because it's hidden, but just forcibly pushing inward on the side of the hull revealed there was movement. As you mention, I too suspect many older hulls that actually got a lot of use suffer from this. I wasn't sure of the "correct" way to handle it, but I feel good about it and it's solid as a rock !
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A shoe box joint is very stout if properly sealed. I remember looking at Tiaras on the assembly line a few years back. The company rep was proud of the fact that they have a very low number of their boats that ever develop leaks at this joint. As I recall, they use a double faced adhesive tape and industrial adhesive in combination to adhere the two surfaces. They use a robust rubrail as well. Our boat has been through everything Lake Michigan has to offer from spring through early fall and is still rock solid with zero leaks. Pretty good for 14 year old boat. Your boat looks like it will hold up very nicely.
 
DSC00065.JPG

Here is a pic of the lid to the shoe box next to the shoe box. This is our model Tiara in production.
sbw1 said:
A shoe box joint is very stout if properly sealed. I remember looking at Tiaras on the assembly line a few years back. The company rep was proud of the fact that they have a very low number of their boats that ever develop leaks at this joint. As I recall, they use a double faced adhesive tape and industrial adhesive in combination to adhere the two surfaces. They use a robust rubrail as well. Our boat has been through everything Lake Michigan has to offer from spring through early fall and is still rock solid with zero leaks. Pretty good for 14 year old boat. Your boat looks like it will hold up very nicely.
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We bought our 1979 260 Express at the winter boat show in Grand Rapids. The color was called "Citrus". It was about as bright yellow as you could get, as in the color of a Macaw or other tropical bird. We owned it for 10 years and put nearly 3500 hours on it. Sun faded it to the lighter yellow color that is similar to what I see in your pic. It looked better faded than when it was bright yellow, and it retained its shiny look until the day we sold it. Newer yellow boats seem to be lighter and softer today than the mustard yellows back in the day. Tastes continue to cycle.

lucky enuff said:
Thanks Guys !!! I appreciate the kind words. I'd love to share the projects, stories and photos with you all. It might take me a little while, so I'll start from current and go backwards project as the "major" upgrades happened over the span of 8 years.

I own a furniture restoration business, so creating visions for items in shabby condition is a pretty day to day routine here. The current phase is my last I hope, and I felt the lipstick was the least important. I'm so happy to be doing it finally though, because it feels like a whole new boat to me.

We mostly use the boat on the great lakes salmon fishing. However, I took it to The Florida Keys for my 50th birthday (we live in Pa) and that started a whole new chain of events which led the the outboard conversion and the recent modifications. On Dec 15th, she heads back to Key West for a month.

Anyway....the paint project started 5 weeks ago. This is how she looked. I had painted it white back in 2008, so after 10 years it was getting pretty beat up.

View attachment 60845

The paint from 10 years ago was starting to chip, so unfortunately I had to remove it with stripper which took way too long. It got the job done though. I was determined not to do all this work only to have it fail because I painted over a bad foundation.
View attachment 60846

I struggled over the color scheme for two years lol! I finally opted for Fighting Lady Yellow ( and I don't even like yellow) over Sea Foam Green and white blue. Partially because I just thought the hull would take yellow better than the others, and partially because it payed homage to an original color this hull was offered in.

My plan was to use Awlgrip, but in the final moments I opted for a one part paint Wet Edge from Total Boat instead of the two system paint like awlgrip. While I do like the Total Boat Wet Edge products a lot, I wish I'd stayed with a two part system because the single stage paint dries and cures way too slow in fall Pa conditions. But from an application and look standpoint, I've been nothing but impressed.

View attachment 60847

I started out by spraying on the Wet Edge, but found it difficult to spray. It was either too thin and ran or too thick and wasn't smooth enough. I learned the the rolling and tipping actually gave me the best smoothest finish. It's so smooth and flawless, very little buffing and rubbing out will be needed.

View attachment 60848


Thanks for reading. I will continue this story in a few days after I finish up the hull today and tomorrow.
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sbw1 said:
We bought our 1979 260 Express at the winter boat show in Grand Rapids. The color was called "Citrus". It was about as bright yellow as you could get, as in the color of a Macaw or other tropical bird. We owned it for 10 years and put nearly 3500 hours on it. Sun faded it to the lighter yellow color that is similar to what I see in your pic. It looked better faded than when it was bright yellow, and it retained its shiny look until the day we sold it. Newer yellow boats seem to be lighter and softer today than the mustard yellows back in the day. Tastes continue to cycle.
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Citrus, huh? I didn't know what SR called that yellow from the 70's.
yellow 76 sea ray.jpg


What I think is off about it is the full yellow sides. It's not flattering. I added a white band towards the bottom and it changes the lines of the boat immensely in my opinion. The color I used is the popular yellow right now, fighting lady yellow. I don't even like yellow, haha. It just works on this hull and stayed true to an original combination so I ran with it.
 
The white bottom is a nice touch and the simple black trim line completes the look. The 70s boats were too complicated. My '79 had two black boot stripes one an inch above the other and then a red one on top of the two black. Also had a black stripe around the top of the cabin with red on top of that stripe. It was a bear to detail as it was easy to burn a stripe with the polisher when rubbing it out.

The boat on the brochure still has pleasing lines. With a modern engine, instruments and upholstery, it would look very nice going down the lake.
 
sbw1 said:
The white bottom is a nice touch and the simple black trim line completes the look. The 70s boats were too complicated. My '79 had two black boot stripes one an inch above the other and then a red one on top of the two black. Also had a black stripe around the top of the cabin with red on top of that stripe. It was a bear to detail as it was easy to burn a stripe with the polisher when rubbing it out.

The boat on the brochure still has pleasing lines. With a modern engine, instruments and upholstery, it would look very nice going down the lake.
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That it would.

MM
 
Thanks for Posting. Good to hear the Taco was easy to work with will probably go the same way with mine.
Now I feel the need to go push on my hull and see if I have this issue! I have not noticed it really, but will give it a close inspection!
 
Without sounding to stupid. What is a "shoe box" and "shoe box lid"?

Spike, we are still loving Full House. Thank you for all the work you put into her. I've been tempted two or three times this year but it's hard to let go of her
 
dwna1a said:
Without sounding to stupid. What is a "shoe box" and "shoe box lid"?

Spike, we are still loving Full House. Thank you for all the work you put into her. I've been tempted two or three times this year but it's hard to let go of her
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I was just gonna ask! We moved up this year. Kids keep growing, and I found a 100% freshwater 500DB I couldn't pass up!! Mike
 
dwna1a said:
Without sounding to stupid. What is a "shoe box" and "shoe box"
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Visualize a shoe box. The box is the hull and the lid is the top deck. This joint fails in many production boats because it is subject to twisting and flexing. Some fiberglass boat builders solve the failure problem by using thicker glass in the hull and deck at the level of the joint. For added strength a piece of aluminum is placed between the lid and the box. The joint is then sealed with 5200 and through bolted every 3-4 inches. This makes for a very strong joint that does not flex or leak. It takes more time to build a boat this way and many builders skip a step or fail to execute their spec properly if it is part of the initial design. This why you see so many boats with water stains on the inside of their cabins. The joint has failed. Once this happens, it is very difficult to fix the leaks permanently as the root problem has not been corrected. The owner of the boat in this thread seems to have actually addressed the fundamental issue. Time will tell.
 
I applaud your skills sir, this has been a fantastic read so far...
 
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