Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Mar 8, 2021 16:42:41 GMT -5
The deck is primed and the boat is back on the trailer. There's still tons of work to do on the deck thus the decision to tow it back to my home to have time to work on it. The deck is loaded with thousands of pin holes. Filled the smaller holes with 3m Acrylic Glazing compound and faired the larger holes. Lots more fairing and sanding getting her ready for paint. Attachments:
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Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Mar 8, 2021 16:45:16 GMT -5
Back to my brothers house for another round of primer on the deck. Primed then sprayed a guide coat. Final deck sanding with 320 grit. Attachments:
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Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Mar 8, 2021 16:53:26 GMT -5
April 2020. Paint day is finally here. Trying to make a mad dash to get the paint done and back home before COVID puts a stop to everything. The color scheme is white hull, green accents highlighted with black pinstripe and black & gold lettering. Chose Kirker Sour Apple Green Metallic for the accent color. This was sprayed as a base coat with Awlcraft clear over it. Really turned out nice in the end. The metallic makes it pop. |
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Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Mar 8, 2021 17:03:38 GMT -5
The deck paint was completed with Awlcraft 2000 white. She sat for about a week letting the paint cure before bringing her home. Unfortunately the spray gun ended up getting some water in it on the last coat. Fortunately with rubbing compound it buffed out. It was time to polish the metal before putting her back together. Found lots of advice on the internet on how to polish aluminum but on in particular caught my eye so I chose that method. Started with 600 grit and WD40. Then in progression, 800 grit, 1000 grit, 1500 grit, 2000 grit, and 3,000 grit. An finished up with metal polish. In my case I didn't want to sand every scratch out, I kinda liked keeping her previous battle scars. Attachments:
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Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Mar 8, 2021 17:37:25 GMT -5
When I found Butters she only had one of the G3 Starburst emblems. The other was missing. The one on the hull at the time I found her had been painted. I stripped the paint off it and began searching for a second one. As G3 folks know finding one was near impossible at the time. So I took an alternative route, see if I could find someone to manufacture one. I guess sometimes you get lucky and in this case I did. I found a company named Hanover Brass in Mechanicsville, VA. It's a father/son operation that produces sand cast brass Civil War belt buckle reproductions. I contacted them, showed them what I had and what I was after and low and behold they said they could do it. Understand though these are brass which will patina over time if not protected. And of course brass is soft. Needless to say I was flabbergasted at what they produced. Absolutely beautiful! Couldn't be happier. After I picked them up they were sealed in clear urethane to protect them. Attachments:
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Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Mar 8, 2021 17:46:43 GMT -5
It's now August, 2020. After 4 years of working on her, she's finally ready to hit the water for testing. There's more tales to tell and I'll add further posts to the thread with info on the rigging. |
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Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Mar 8, 2021 17:50:18 GMT -5
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Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Mar 8, 2021 17:52:24 GMT -5
Man Butter. Nicknamed Butters. #338. Attachments:
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Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Mar 9, 2021 9:14:01 GMT -5
A few more tidbits about Butters but before I do understand I have no affiliation with any of these businesses nor am I advocating using them. Just simply stating this is what I did.
The steering system is Seastar Solutions Safe-T Quick Connect rotary helm, non No FeedBack version. I plan to run the boat hard so having some torque in the steering is ok. If the boat were going to be used for cruising I'd go with the NFB version. I have the NFB version in my deck boat and love it. Went with a 13' cable length.
The lettering and registration numbers were purchased from DIY Lettering. Nice online tool that's easy to use. Plenty of font, color and effects options. And very reasonable priced. Easy to install also.
I kept the original aluminum rub rail channel on the boat. Looked at Wefco and Taco marine rub rail options. Decided to go with Taco Marine's V12-0303 rub rail insert. Fit perfectly in mine. I purchased a 50' length.
The Evinrude 70 I have did not come with a remote control box. Found one on Craigslist that came with cables and wiring harness. The cables were the wrong size and worn. My brother highly recommended replacing with Extreme Flex cables because they are very flexible making radius turns along with very smooth operation. I couldn't agree more now that I have them. I purchased TFXtreme OMC control cables CCX205 in 17' and 13' lengths. Used the 13' on the remote control box and the 17' on the foot throttle. The 13' on the control box is longer than needed.
After running her a few times I realized I was constantly on and off the trim button. Ideally it would be nice to get her into what we refer to as a "set and forget" mode where the trim level is locked in place. But for now it's not there. Decided to add blinker style trim switch to the steering. Ended up going with Seastar Solutions PT1000-1P single switch. Very easy to install and works great. It allows me to keep two hands on the wheel while adjusting the trim.
Over the course of this project I've ordered parts and materials from over 30 different companies, at least 95% of them online. Everyone has been a good experience, no issues with any of them.
In September and October, 2020 Butters hit the water on 4 different occasions. Each has been a learning experience. In case you're wondering how the center steer and foot throttle work with a second person in the boat, well just fine. My brother jumped in with me on one of the outings and the two of us rode around for an hour and a half before stopping. I have several short videos of Butters running at WOT that I'll try to post and share the link. The plan going forward is lots more testing this spring. My nephew has a Johnson 70 on a Hydrostream (mine is an Evinrude but you'll notice in the pictures a Johnson hood. The Evinrude hood on mine was in really bad shape and my nephew had an extra Johnson hood in good shape that I purchased from him). He purchased 3 or 4 performance props that I'll be able to test with. With motor height adjustments and different props she'll eventually get dialed in.
Thanks for letting me share.
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Post by badger on Mar 9, 2021 10:48:17 GMT -5
Totally beautiful and thanks again got some more great tips
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Post by johnp on Nov 16, 2021 18:15:27 GMT -5
Very nice restoration!
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Sauce
Lieutenant
Posts: 54
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Post by Sauce on Nov 29, 2021 12:16:07 GMT -5
Thanks for the compliment!
Update 11/29/21. The boat participated in two APBA (American Power Boat Association) Vintage & Historic regattas this summer, one in Leonardtown, MD and another in Piney Point, MD. Pictures can be seen on The Southern Maryland Boat Club Facebook page. It is also mentioned in an article in the December issue of APBA's Propeller magazine and also in November's issue of PropTalk magazine.
She's an absolute blast to drive. Still have lots to learn and there's more setup to be done. For the regattas, I moved the gas tank to the center of the boat in the rear of the center deck. This helped reduce the hop in the turns.
The boat slid in the turns as normal for a round bottom. A 7" turn fin from Brown Tool & Machine was added to the left side transom. She now holds a turn much better.
And a name change for 2022. I call the boat Butters all the time so made the decision to formally change the name in 2022. Butters it is!
Finally, the boat receives many compliments at the APBA vintage events. It's turned into a real crowd pleasure. Can't say how many people come up to me and say, "Oh my God, that's a Glasspar. My dad had one and I learned to ski behind it". That and people are flabbergasted when they learn the age of the boat hull, they just can't believe it's that old. What can I say, it's a classic and I'm loving every minute with it!
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