ok

[bulldogdaddy]

started to gentley scrape the old paint off the flake,came off pretty easy ,but where i was hoping where it might be excessive paint was actualy cracks through to the metalflake!now will i have to grind out all these stress cracks and reflake and gel?please help!:eek:

[Wile E. Coyote]

What to do with the cracks depends on where they are....are they structural? will they affect the "walk ablity" of the deck? or are they purely in a cosmetic location? Pictures would of course help. It also depends on how much paint you have removed. Unfortunately there was probably a reason they painted the boat in the first place....paint hides a multitude of sins.....
If it were mine I would first remove all the paint that I could and then do an evaluation and decode how to procede from there.
Good luck
Bill

[bulldogdaddy]

i'll get some pics this weekend.

[bulldogdaddy]

well talked to charlie at supiero paint and told me to take off the new paint and go down to the old paint and just do all new flake and gel.now the question is how do i keep it from cracking again?

[bulldogdaddy]

it actually looks like someone slipped on the deck and it spidered out from their a$$

[Wile E. Coyote]

Is the boat your having the problem with the one in the picture on the General Discussion forum?

[bulldogdaddy]

sure is wilie,same kind of hull i owned 20 yrs ago.you happen to know these hulls,been looking for a few originals but their pretty elusive.had it when i lived in winter haven,fl. and i know they were built in jacksonville,other than that don't know what happened to the company.

[Scott]

BDD
A "V" shaped bit in a Dremel Tool will open those up enough to insure that they'er clean.
3M's "Below Waterline" filler. sand, wet sand, wet sand etc.
Check below the deck and make sure any braces are solid.
I had some small cracks in the deck of the Baja, and found a brace that had come loose under the deck.
Got to get together with ya! or at least talk! I'm tough to get a hold of and so are you...we'll connect I'm sure. Wanted to get with you this weekend...either days ok with me.

[delawarerick]

Scott how did you reatach the deck braces? have same thing on my baja. Thanks Rick

[Scott]

It was a pain in the butt to get to it but....

Only one end had come loose, the other end was solid. I didn't do much...sanded clean the brace end and a good area of the deck underside where I could see the brace was attached. Cleaned everything with alcohol. I took a piece of scrap 2x2 and knotched one end. I put a section of resin saturated glass matt where the brace met the deck, weged the 2x2 under the brace to hold it in place and glassed over the end of the brace in the normal fashion (large "patch", smaller patch, smaller patch, smaller patch). It sat at least a week while I worked on other things. I pulled the 2x2 out. Here's a shot of the broken brace I found. I dont seem to have a pic of the repair but can get one!

[Scott]

At least yer boat did'nt look like this when ya got it!

[Scott]

If ya decide to replace the transom, ya can't go wrong to get one of these tools! It's a Cassidy Lynn! Not to expensive until they hit the teen years! Screw the "child labor laws" full steam ahead!

[Scott]

post some old pics! Whatever you do...take lots of pics! This was the first time I've ever gone back to look through some of the 300+ pictures of the Project Baja! What a blast! Sorry guys....

Cutting in the new Gauge "pod"

[Scott]

Ok I'll stop! Sorry

[Barefoot Bob]

The changes your making look real nice. I used to have tools like you posted in the one pic. You right!!! They are not to expesive till they hit the teen Years. They dont want to help then either.

[Reese]

Since the Baja is basically finished all that's left to do this winter is crawl underneath the boat and add a tiny little pad.:D

This boat rebuild stuff takes way too long and is way too hard not to post about a thousand pics...who else can share in our madness.:eek:

[Scott]

careful...I don't want anyone thinkin I had my baby girl working on the transom....her brother was out there too!!!

blahahahahhhh!!

'Cmon... the wood was soft! they had it all out in a couple days and then came up to get a bite to eat!



Ya'll know I'm kiddin right?

[Scott]

I may regret not doing the pad. Kathy wants the thing to do 100+! Keep tellin her it aint gonna happen. I tell her we'll be lucky to see 70, she says "is that all?" And ya think "we" got the need for speed! Funny, doing the pad scared the heck out of me at the time...after two years of work on the boat, wouldn't be so much of a worry now.

[Scott]

LOL!:D
To bad they'er not like Craftsman tools....they don't work, ya trade um in on new ones!

[Reese]

Modifying boats is a dicey prospect…you should be scared. But those early days probably seem like twenty years ago…and today you could add that pad in your sleep.:)

I’ve modified bottoms without flipping the boat…be forewarned it ain’t pleasant and I would never do it again. Flipping the boat would easily cut the work time by one third, but your boat is already finished.

Honestly, I wouldn’t add the pad unless you plan on flipping the boat…it just takes way too long.

If Kathy is serious about speed you should probably look for something that is purpose built. I know there is a lot of talk in these forums about family boats that do 100, I don’t consider 280's or STV's family equipment.:D

[bulldogdaddy]

don't get kath started again,lol,just let scot get the baja in the water first!

[bulldogdaddy]

damn,the only thing i didn't see in that boat when you first got it was a kitchen sink!i would have never believed it if you didn't have pics of it,now the big question is,how expensive is you consultations,i can only afford a few cases,lol.the baja turned out really great!hope mine looks half as nice!

[bulldogdaddy]

first injury happened monday,michelle came out and was looking at the original flake at the same time i scraped some paint,right in the eye,glad was no emergency room visit!she does look sexy in a pair of saftey glasses though!

[Reese]

Where are the pictures of your boat? Want to see what your doing...

[Kathleen Michelle]

Even putting a pad on that boat........ won't work for me.... maybe someone else but not me....


Don't get Kath started again!!!!!!!!! ;) What's up with that Mr. Bulldog. :)


Thank you Reese....... :)

[bulldogdaddy]

on general boating dis,under its here,take a peek,and kath,was just kidding,was waiting to see more post of a quarter master-he-he:D

[bulldogdaddy]

btw ,see your from socal,you should like this style boat!

[Barefoot Bob]

I here ya on the family boat thing. I love my Baja and wouldnt trade it for anything. My daughter was just born when I purchased it new in 83. She said she would cry if I would sell it. My wife son and daughter all had great times in the boat from skiing to fishing. I dont know of any other family boats around here that run that fast. I dont have a pad on mine, and so far have seen 75GPS. Now I need to dump the windshield or figure out if I should chop it. I know there more speed to be had.

[Reese]

Good lord...you live near Scott. I see troubled times ahead.:eek:

You're going to get many different opionins, so I might as well and jump in now.

The round pad will probably chine walk with any amount of power...good excuse for a new pad.

The back end appears to have an open splashwell, it also looks like the relationship of your free board and motor mount height would allow you to close it off and maybe add a lid for easy access and storage not to mention chicks dig sun decks.:D

What ever you plan to do...it should be a lot of fun.

Here is my nightmare...closed off the back end and added a deck.

[Reese]

75 without a pad is very fast...are you sure you don't have a little pad?:D

Most of my friends use nautiques and tige...very nice boats and very well built. They just give up way too much speed and comfort for the sake of the ultimate wake not to mention the current models are pushing 40k.

Funny thing is that the smallest wakes I've ever skiied behind are outboards, the fastest holeshots are outboards and the fastest combination...well you already know the answer.

[175checkmate]

Fast = Baja+200hp= WOW
no pad, just over come with brute force:D

[Wile E. Coyote]

In response to your qurrey, yes I had a boat which appeared similar to yours. In fact it was my first boat restoration. New stringers, floor, repaired the deck etc.. new paint and graphics. Cant remember who built it tho....somewhere in Florida. Back to your problem. If its anything like mine was its cracking all around the deck to winshield ramp interface and around the dead center of the deck? I repaired mine like this: I removed the paint from about 2-3 inches from around the cracked areas and exposed the bare fiberglass, start by v notching the crack as previously posted only notch it down to the bare wood. Next try to determine if water has contaminated the fiberglass and wood. If it has you need to grind back the area to expose some of the wetted wood used in the deck construction. Feather the notch back to form a shallow trench with gradual sloping edges. Let it dry as best as you can and then laminate some new glass into the area. Finish as you normally would a glass repair. You'll need to check under the deck and see if the deck support is still intact, or if it has one or not. I had to add a new deck support because the old one was removed for reasons known only to the previous owner. My deck was really water logged and the boat weighed tons because of it. Once it dried out (about 2 months in the florida summer) it was really easy to repair. It may be a pain it the rump but if water has gotten under the fiberglass all the repairing in the world wont help unless the base material is dry.
Bill

[bulldogdaddy]

don't know if you read any post of mine before ,but i owned the same hull 20 yrs ago,only had a 140 on it but would do 60+ and no matter how hard you tried wouldn't chine walk.and there was no nose cone or hydraulic jackplate,had a ssteel one made with 3 in of lift and no setback,didn't know what it was in 1980!one guy i saw with the same boat had a 175 on his and didn't seam to have any problems,this boat is heavy,but i'm always open for suggestions!i'm no expert in this field but i dont want to rip it open later on,know what i mean!

[bulldogdaddy]

thanks for all the info you guys have shared,bill,where in fla. do you live?

[Reese]

If you do I gaurantee you'll wind up spending all your free time working on a project that never seems to end.

I was kinda joking about all those modifications...you're 100% right...fix what's needed and enjoy the boat.

[Barefoot Bob]

You are right about the ultamate wake and power behind an outboard. Thats why the top barefoot boats have outboards on them. My favorite two were the Flightcraft and the Barefoot Sanger. The Sanger has the smallest wake and my Baja falls right between the two. I have done all types of competative water skiing. And have skied behind just about every tournament boat there is. But when it comes right down to it, I'll take my Baja over anything else. I really like being able to pull the ski ropes out of the live wells, put the trolling motor on the front and take the family out fishing also. Sure wish they still made this boat. I have all kinds of friends that would buy one, including myself.

I have always loved the looks of the Checkmate's and Baja's

[Wile E. Coyote]

BDD, I am an original Floridian, Born and raised in Miami, currently I have just moved to Altamonte Springs (near orlando) and lived here about 3 months...
Bill

[bulldogdaddy]

not far from where i used to live,winter haven,whenever i get the boat done i'm heading back down for a visit,miss the ol chain of lakes

[Wile E. Coyote]

When you do shoot me a message, maybe we can hook up and make a run of it....