RCB restoration project

[ReallyGottaSki]

@BlueSki , I believe I understand your inquiry now!

Overall, attitude of us both has been contagiously positive throughout. It made for a busy but satisfying winter and spring. Tangible forward progress most daily

 

A rehab plan was part of the entire boat search and endeavor, mission was to get a good hull

 

This boat was quite the paradox....a not abused engine and trans, an interior like fisher cat had its way with it, but a nearly blemish- free hull, aside from a couple light scratches, and a small, popped void near the rub rail on each side.

 

Surprises were the bent strut, shaft. Easy fixes.

Can't say I was surprised about it being a soggypants, they almost all are...

That setback was mitigated by devising a plan that avoided tearing up the floor and thus evaporating the labor and expense of replacing it with alternate composites.

 

No wrenches were thrown in the making of this movie.

Good thing, because the boat was flanked by my buds' father's two Sangers.

[DW]

Nice work, awesome restoration.

I would be curious to know what it tips the scales at when in full dress.

[UWSkier]

Now I am thinking about tearing my boat apart again and blasting away the yucky foam. I never bothered to check if mine is soggy.

[vtmecheng]

I knew that Outbacks are known for getting wet foam but had no clue that it was common in others.

[BlueSki]

@ReallyGottaSki , that’s great to hear. The boat looks fantastic. Friends recently replaced the stringers in an old Supra. I think he said “honey, I think I just drilled through the hull” but all was repairable and they are still happily married.

[KRoundy]

Wow. Love stuff like this.

[Rednucleus]

That swim platform is absolutely beautiful!

[Skoot1123]

Gorgeous!!

[dbaconaz]

awesome work! looking great!!1

[ReallyGottaSki]

Thank you all, for the positive comments!

[FSSPCat]

This is a thing of beauty.

[VermontSkier]

This is awesome, hope you are skiing behind it real soon!

 

[Andre]

Great restoration guys! Congrats!

There's a 01 on my lake that feels so heavy when skiing it,pretty sure the foam must be like your was the HDS box has been leaking A LOT since the last 15 years.Bilge kick on every 3-4 passes...

[ReallyGottaSki]

Back couch is installed. This piece likely shows my lack of experience with upholstery best. Maybe a day in the sun will help it.

 

Waiting for some foam for the combing pads, I must have miscalculated, out of 1" material.

 

Trunk lid gets some woodworking this evening

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andre]

Don't be hard on yourself .Upholstery can be frustrating even with the right skins.

Nice work!

[ALPJr]

A blow dryer may help with that vinyl.

[ETskier]

Am I seeing an old 1960s nautique in the background?

[ReallyGottaSki]

@ETskier not quite, but its quite a restomod story in itself..

Albeit it now has a Nautique aluminum engine cradle in it, that boat is actually a Glastron Sabreflight.

 

Found and rescued a week before it went to the crusher, a hulk restored by my friends' father, who is also a great friend and ski/barefoot mentor to me and others for decades.

He personally did all this work on it in his later seventies

 

The interior is out of it right now, but the inside is as stunning as the outside.

 

It flat spotted the reverse adapter roller (basically input bearing) on its velvet drive, so we have that apart on the bench right now, parts came in Saturday.

 

This Sabreflight runs a 330 Black Scorpion takeout from the Sanger, leftover when he upgraded to a stroker,

 

 

the orig interceptor Y 292, sidedraft, gauges, and BWVD is on a pallet, also needs a home for someone interested. its no doubt crusty inside, but complete, and not cracked as far as we can see.

[ReallyGottaSki]

Trunk was roughed and shaped from 15/32 birch sanded for a core, and 3/4 cdx to reinforce the ends, bonded with epoxy and some screw to clamp

 

Trunk bottom got one ply of 10oz with 2-1, and while still wet, got the scrap of cloth laid on as well. top gets cloth tonight

 

Stbd combing pad, new foam and then scrim over everything then vinyl and lasly carpet on the bottom

the hdpe backing for the branding in the center was omitted on the new buildup

 

 

 

 

[75Tique]

1- great job on the Response, nicely done. You've shown the rest of the world the kind of resto-magic that happens over on CCF.

 

2- Sabreflight. Very cool. Spotted one on our lake a while back. Cool, rare boat. On this little lake of nothing but pontoon and deck boats pulling tubes, a craft like that is not appreciated by anyone but me (and the owner, I suppose.)

 

 

[dvskier]

@75Tique I see more New Yorkers are migrating south. Raleigh my birthplace is at least 50% northern folks.

[ReallyGottaSki]

Should be a big milestone week

 

2nd combing pad is finished and installed

 

Fillet and Glasswork on the trunk is completed, carpet is bonded underside, and foam is shaped topside

 

Last peice of vinyl should go on tonight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ReallyGottaSki]

Trunk is skinned. Four hands are better than two

 

Tucked a horn into the ventalation inlet, under the cover,so the sound propagates out and forward, instead of at your knees

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ReallyGottaSki]

 

Just a few little odds and ends left tonight to do

Trunk closes tight like ojs glove, gaps came out right on target

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Timr71]

Really nice work! Looks amazing. Enjoy!

[ironhorse]

Wow, those are some skills! This looks like a new boat!

[Kevin89MC]

Wow, that is really coming along nicely! Awesome work! I posted a bit before, I have a '99 Response LX that I got cheap as it needed a lot of work, but not nearly the amount yours did. Someday I'll post some pics with what I've done, but it's not nearly as ambitious as yours.

I also needed a new trunk lid and muffler access panel. I decided on HDPE, got a sheet through Menards. Initially it seemed like it would be strong enough, but the material has a slight bend to it that I just couldn't work out. It worked well enough for the muffler access panel, as I reinforced it on the bottom with some aluminum angles. But it has sagged a little bit the other way on the trunk, and it definitely flexes when I pull it open from one side. I will be curious to see how your plywood works out, I wish I would have gone that route. I did the vinyl myself, not an easy task for either sewing or install. Did the driver and passenger seat bottoms and trunk lid, need to do the back seat bottom soon. Not looking forward to the back seat backrest, those inside corners where yours didn't lay flat has me concerned for that exact reason. You got me nervous about my foam now! Any way to check without cutting a hole in the floor?

[ReallyGottaSki]

Thank you men!

 

@Kevin89MC

 

thats brave to sew, tempting, maybe i'll prictice that skill on the next project

This only looks good due to Gabe's crew providing me very nice skins!

 

no,

no way to check without drilling the floor somehow. BUT, openings are easy to cover up afterwards in certain locations...

 

under the rear fuel tank, can be opened 5-6" and a simple, non screw-opening access panel can be siliconed and screwed afterwards, no fiber glassing. its barely 1/8" high. the floor psi from above in that area is minimal, so the loss of structure is non-consequential.

 

forward in the tunnel is the lowest part in the boat, good place to check.

under the driver's seat, passenger seat, is a good place to bore as well. an access port can simply cover the hole, as its not walkable area. also serves as a good inspection plate for me now.

 

 

 

When you bore forward of the pylon, seat areas on the sides, just make certain the pilot drill is not running deep, as the hull -to-floor is not much distance. also beware the stringers are wider than they look from above, so give them room

[ReallyGottaSki]

Some finale pictures to share, it does everything well

 

 

It works as advertised, bilge is dry, just a few tweaks, need more dead spot in throttle after engagement, and the 449 is coming off, the 515 going back on . fuel gauge needs troubleshooting

 

The defroster eliminates the condensation off the windshield half way down the first pull, very happy with that mod

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PatM]

Webster Lake? Got to get up early there.

[ReallyGottaSki]

Right you are Pat, sunrise service

Wake at 430 in my case

Still encounter bassholes cutting us off once a week

[brettmainer]

Super bad ass! Way better than @Horton posting videos of -32. We had promo Malibus in ‘98 and ‘99 (joined Nautique promo team in 2000). They were great driving and skiing boats, just not the same heavy duty quality as Nautiques (any one who has driven both over open water wakes knows what I mean - the difference between shutting the door on a Kia and on a Mercedes.)

[ReallyGottaSki]

Just occurred to me 🙄i could just append to repopulate the pictures to make this thread useful for others.. 

[ReallyGottaSki]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_5962.heic

[ReallyGottaSki]

Next batch

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UWSkier]

Man, I thought I did a lot of work on mine during the pandemic, but this blows my efforts away...

How'd it work out on the water?  Any louder without the foam in there?  Noticeable improvements in wake or holeshot?

[ReallyGottaSki]

Thank you Matt,  

It became a wonderfully driving  and skiing  boat, as good as i could hope.  Last year it saw the pp upgraded, and a 12V pump for the heater, for strong and continuous heat when the engine is off or idling.

It turned into a very quiet boat, no extra noise up through the floor best i can tell.   Normal-voice dialog is all thats needed underway at ski speeds.

Quietness has been pursued with a pair of downturn 'snufflers', engine box insulation, and lastly foam floor squares wrapped around the mufflers, because the original rubber strips always move about, then one ends up with the muffler direct on the hull. 

I'm confident that all with my other noise -abatements, i would now notice an issue with water noise from the hull/floor if it was there. So I am not missing the foam.

 

Wake, yes.  i think the boat performs like they did when fresh new. the platform rose from licking the water when i bought it, to 2" above the water now.

Wake is very good,   I'll close with some working pictures at 29mph and 34 mph. Holeshot is respectable, nothing freaklike my modified supreme. but still my ski pals still ask for a progressive, partial throttle  start else give  any more they object.  the 515 prop remains just right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UWSkier]

Question on the foam removal... How dense was the foam?  Could something like a dryer vent cleaner on a drill bust it up sufficiently to suck it out?

[ReallyGottaSki]

Its robust foam, and wet. Its volume increases further as it is pulverized. I suspect it would be hard to extract, and i predict a vent cleaner would firstly have not enough torque given the leverage on it, and would be hard to direct.  high volume pressure washer seems the way to go.

[ReallyGottaSki]

 

 

 

 

 

[DvarianDan Johnson]

@ReallyGottaSki Outstanding conclusion to a long project. What a gorgeous result! It's so great to see folks like you still put in the effort on projects like this - as it is not for the faint of heart and often discouraging. Congrats again. Cant wait to see the Supreme   

[DvarianDan Johnson]

@ReallyGottaSki - Why were these Malibu's more prone to getting soaked foam. I've read about it a few times from folks as being not uncommon, boats riding low, etc, but never got an understanding of why it seemed more prevalent in these boats .  

[ReallyGottaSki]

@DvarianDan Johnson 

In my case i suspect it was shere neglect and open elements, and some leaks that were not chased down promptly.

In others, the bond between the hull and stringer system lets water through the seam that makes the hds box, then travels through the hollow stringers, wet bilge, eventually more and more infiltrates the foam

The stringer system is molded much ike a separate boat, looks like a small pickle fork boat flipped upside down, then bonded to the hull.