Refurbishing my old half cab interior

[landog]

Dear Fisho's

Some of you may have joined me in my journey of discovery as I enlisted your input for the purchase of a boat for my young family:

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=114953

In summary I bought this:

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showpost.php?p=675631&postcount=64

Now that Ive had a few trips out, one in which the misses and baby came out, my next task is to look at how i can tidy up the interior to make it really comfortable for them.

In Mrs LANDogs words "its definately a fishing boat and not much more".

As you can see from this pic:

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=12016&d=1188426210

The interior is pretty basic. Allready I have the following frustrations:
1. Im to short sitting on the seat to see over the windscreen :)
2. All the cushioning on the side and front vee hull is torn and old
3. the carpet is soaked in 20 years of fishguts and oil/petrol
4. The front seats take up stacks of room, I would love some seats that kinda folded out from the side so that I could hitch them away once we were anchored?

Advice Im after is along the lines of:
1. Are there any shops / people in sydney who could do a good job at a reasonable price of tidying it all up. I wouldnt mind covering all the fiberglass roof of the cabin with some soft material of some kind...you know making it almost sleepable?

2. Should I try and do it myself, are there any good online guides or websites

any other advice and direction really welcome.

Turning to you guys again becasue the advice was so good last time :)

Many Thanks in advance
Doggie

[landog]

This is the sort of finish im thinking

14530

[TOPAZ]

Landog,
Have a go at doing it yourself - it will give you immense self satisfaction, and you will get everything exactly as you want it. You may go through several phases of setup as your family needs change - you can change things as you go along.
Have a look at seat bases that have storage in them - drawers or cupboards - some even have little stoves and sinks which will please your other half and make her feel more at home - not just out in your "fishing boat".
I have a mate with a 17ft Streaker half cab, that he has had since new (1975) and he and his wife can live on board for up to 2 weeks at a time, fully self contained.
It has full camper canopies, gas stove, toilet, Waeco fridge, dual batteries, stereo, food and clothes storage, and a double bed!
If you put a lot of thought into the layout, you will be amazed at what will fit!



Richard

[wadeo]

Gday landog ya bought a half cab well done. New carpet and most the refurb you can easily do yourself. You would have quite a few chandlery store's down your way to gain info and idea's from. I would prob get someone qualified in marine industry to bolt seat pedistals to floor if ya go that way. A local upholsterer will quickly sought out cabin cushions and carpet to side's and ceilling.
regards wadeo

[landog]

Great stuff guys. Im keen to have a go myself!

I wonder if I can ask you both (and anyone else that reads this thread with interest or ideas):

If you could point me to pictures / examples of what can / could be done on the net or anywhere else that would be just great. I dont mean you guys do all the research, ill do that but if you come across a similar layout / size boat that has been all cleaned up grab the pic and drop it in here, if you have time.

Also any websites with ideas really appreciated

Cheers

[landog]

p.s. how do i polish up the fiberglass / gloss coating to get it all shiny and new like in that 2nd post picture?

[Blackened]

G'day

Landog,

The upholstery is easy, get a shop to re-cover cushions and lay the ceiling material and carpet yourself. Have a look at the haines/cruise craft. whittleys to get an idea of what to put and where.

Regards to the polishing, search for a post of mine that is called Detailing-How To,

Dave

[ColacGirl]

p.s. how do i polish up the fiberglass / gloss coating to get it all shiny and new like in that 2nd post picture?

You mean on the interior of the boat? If it won't clean up, you can renew it. Take to the old flowcoat with a very course sanding disc on a grinder, and scuff it all over. Add a new coat of flowcoat.

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Bev

[ColacGirl]

1. Im to short sitting on the seat to see over the windscreen :)


Adjustable seat poles help. Put the seat up when driving, then turn it around and lower it when you're fishing/relaxing.

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Bev

[ColacGirl]

Page 39 of our rebuild shows a few interior shots which may, or may not, help you.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=66409&page=39

--
Bev

[ColacGirl]

Here's a link to the detailing post by Blackened
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=104589

--
Bev

[landog]

G'day

Landog,

The upholstery is easy, get a shop to re-cover cushions and lay the ceiling material and carpet yourself. Have a look at the haines/cruise craft. whittleys to get an idea of what to put and where.

Regards to the polishing, search for a post of mine that is called Detailing-How To,

Dave

Mate what a great thread. And you live down the road from me (Im in Seaforth).

Fancy coming around sometime and quoting to do some fiberglass work and a clean up as you describe in that article?

Edit just realised your at Manly West - QLD. Bummer. Ill have a go myself then

Cheers

[deadbeatloser]

This is the sort of finish im thinking

14530
try to be conservitive on cash flow as you will not get it back, hav a go at it yourself. you might surprise yourself;D

[landog]

wow Bev that looks amazing. Did you remove all the chrome and completely sand back the interior / regloss etc?

[ozscott]

Mate I will post some pics at some stage for you. The best way is to take to the gelcoat with a variable speed (read low speed about 1000rpm) polisher (I have the Hitachi that runs from 600rpm up) and a wool bonnet and get into it. If its bad use a cutting compound and finish off with a really good top wax. If an area is really really bad a very very fine light sand with sand paper is the go, but be very careful and only do this if all else fails. If the gelcoat is old and crappy elbow grease will get nowhere near a good orbital polisher. The floor carpet is a breeze with some care and the side carpet should be ok too on the pockets. I glued mine on with silicon - can then get it off without too many dramas - you can wash it in the boat with soap and water and let it all drain out the bilge bungs and dry in the sun. I have not attempted the ceiling in the cabin - I may end up letting an upholster do that because it could end up looking really crappy. Mate that dash is not nearly enough crowded - need to add stuff!!

Cheers

[ozscott]

I just had a look at Blackened's post - great effort mate. Landdog I defer to Blackened on the foam pad because I havent used them and he has - his post is excellent so just follow that. I also up the RPM to around 2000 when buffing off, but I run slower when applying the polish.

Cheers

[Thebuffalo]

Landog. Mate you should give it a go yourself. You can read up about a fair bit of stuff on the net and these mob here will advise on the tricky stuff.

I have done two refurbs myself now and can offer this as advice if you are willing to take it. Don't go crazy and rip the guts out of her as it will take you months to get it back together.

The money you save by doing the job yourself will pay for good fittings (boatbox or similar) this will give the job a professional look.

With carpet etc, have a go yourself, use the pray on 3M glue's as they work a treat.

Repaint inside with the flowcoat as suggested, it will make her look like new.

If your clever enough to figure out how to operate a boat saftely then you will be clever enough to do all of this stuff yourself. Take your time, little bites.

The satisfaction at the end will be enourmous, if you can still use the boat every other weekend then it will also be a benefit in breaking up the mundane and it will keep the boss of your back a bit.

I did my Bertram 20 like a bull at a gate and it took me five and a half months to get it back together. It looks like a new boat now though but geez it was a long haul.

Cheers

Thebuffalo

[Blackened]

G'day

Scott, bev, thankyou.

Landdog, yes mate, i'm in brisbane ;)

Regards to the machiene that I use, it's a hitachi SP18VA, Cannot remember if I specified that in my original post. The speed of which I use to cut is around the 2000 mark, maybe higher, depending on the gel coat and the temperature.

Dave

[ColacGirl]

wow Bev that looks amazing. Did you remove all the chrome and completely sand back the interior / regloss etc?

We did a total rebuild. She had to be stripped back to the bare hull due to white ants making a home under the bunks. So all new timber, fibreglass and flowcoat (grey stuff) inside.... then Ross decided to redo the gelcoat (white stuff) on the outside.
Renewing flowcoat is easy.... renewing gelcoat is a nightmare :-/

If you're ever bored you can read our six month saga - the link is at the bottom of each of my posts - some of the pics on the first few pages have disappeared but the links are still there for them.

--
Bev

[Chris Ryan]

Hey mate, I redid the inside of my cabin (well still going at a few bits) but I bought the new hood lining (felt like material) from BCF, new carpet from Bias (I didn't glue it in so I can remove it and wash it down when needed. I put in a squab (insert between the two cabin bunks) so my wife and I can stretch out for a sleep.

I also put in a bench seat in the rear (which I am modifying again) which has storage underneath. Now putting some underfloor storage in and making the seat bit fold down but leaving the backrest mounted.

There is a heap you can do yourself mate. Leave things like upolstery and covers to the pros, but the rest makes it so rewarding.

Oh I also resprayed mine top to toe with 2-pack last christmas. Some before and after pics attached. Spraying in 2-pak can be fiddly, but not as fiddly as gelcoat!