1990 Wellcraft Fish 18 Overhaul Thread

[Starzofchaos]

My dad and I both went halves on this 1990 Wellcraft Fish 18 a few years back, since then it has been sitting in his back yard for about two years waiting on me to come and rescue it. So I dragged it back to Jacksonville, FL back in April of 2014 and started to look for a place to get the transom repaired and inspect and repair the stringers. I finally found a shop on the North Side of town Boggy Creek Boats that primarily builds small skiffs, but dose repair work on the side... My plan is have them do the heavy repair work( since I live in one of those communities in Florida that doesn't allow boats in the driveway more than a few days...) so that I can do all of the other projects my self that will run only a few days or so. Here is what it looks like and what has been done so far...

[Starzofchaos]

Basically to get at the transom and remove all of the rotted wood and inspect the stringers, they removed the cap.





The transom was completely rotted out, I am surprised I've never had issues with it flexing.

[spoggy]

You guys that take on these repair jobs where you pull the liner absolutely amaze me! A project of that magnitude scares the crap out of me. Looks great so far! My hat's off to you.

[bradford]

Good job so far, love watching cap off restorations.

[Starzofchaos]

Transom is fixed! Cap is installed and what came off is now getting re-installed.

I had the inside cap painted with Awlgrip in Seattle Grey to cut the glare. While I was at it, I also had the center console painted in Awlgrip Stars and Strips blue.

[Starzofchaos]

Now I am need of some help... I am looking in the Northeast Florida area to get the bottom painted. The last owner tried to remove it by using a 60 or 80 grit sand paper, so its pretty scored. So the best repair that I've been told is sand the old paint off, fill the damaged areas and repaint it.

Thoughts?

[bradford]

Looking CLEAN!

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Starzofchaos

Now I am need of some help... I am looking in the Northeast Florida area to get the bottom painted. The last owner tried to remove it by using a 60 or 80 grit sand paper, so its pretty scored. So the best repair that I've been told is sand the old paint off, fill the damaged areas and repaint it.

Thoughts?

IMHO, It depends on what you want the boat to do. If all you're looking for is a fishing vessel and you don't mind loosing a few MPH , just take off the old paint (Soda Blasting) and repaint it with whatever you are going to put on. If, on the other hand, you want max speed out of your hull, then you'll need to remove the paint, sand everything flat, repair where necessary and then repaint her.

Case in point.. I used to have a 19' Crusiers Inc tri-hull that the PO had sanded with what looked like a chain saw... (Deep gouges all over the bottom) All I wanted was a fishing platform, and with a 90 hp engine she wasn't going to break any speed records anyways... so I gave her a light sanding for better paint adhesion, painted her and used her like that for 4 years without a single incident. It all depends on what YOU are looking for and are willing to put up with.

[Starzofchaos]

Ya I am looking to get another 10 years or so out of her. So I'll try to get it looking decent. The bottom coat is really bad and needs to be done. I am looking into doing a hard bottom type like Pettit Vivid, since It will be out of the water most of the time on a trailer. I think I have found a place that will let me DIY, even rent the equipment....

[Stinky_Hooker]

Awesome job and fantastic boat. I miss my 18. Its was alot of boat in a small package, heavy and rode better than most newer 22-24' bay boats Ive been in. Used her offshore plenty out to 30 miles. I have a smaller boat now I use way more but I still loved that ol girl.


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