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Just finishing up my refinished head and wanted to show it off.
Painted the walls and backsplash. Cleaned everything. Refinished all the teak. New headliner. Removed shower furnishings (never use them). Cleaned up all hardware from over paint from PO's. New faucet. Painted cabinet interior with white bilgecoat. Reworked toilet last year. Preparing to install 2" flush lighting in the headliner this weekend. I'm sure there's more...
Also refinishing all teak and upholstery on the rest of the cabin too.
I'm sure I'll catch some flack for this for not using "marine" products. But I used Minnwax Helmsman.
After reading quite a few threads on the subject I came to the conclusion that there are superior products out there but they're generally 2-3 times the price, and not as readily available. Also some are harder to apply for the layman. I also noted that the interior doesn't get the sun and weather pounding the exterior teak does. Especially in the v berth and sette areas. So that's what I went with.
The process is pretty straight forward:
Remove any finish on top of the wood. I used a chemical stripper.
Wash the wood thoroughly with water to neutralize the chemicals and to raise the grain.
Sand just enough to get to good wood. I used 100 grit.
Apply your stain if you're using one. Let dry thoroughly.
Apply 3 coats of Helsman with a quality brush, scuff sanding between coats (lightly). You want to create a mechanical bond and remove as little urethane as possible because the buildup is what protects from UV damage. You'll notice each coat leaves a progressively smoother finish.
That's it. Reassemble as necessary. I removed everything that was remove able. Makes for a cleaner finished project.
One thing you might notice. The bronze screw heads are all polished. I'm kinda detail geared that way.
Very cool. I am debating what I want to do with my head. Currently there is really nothing wrong with it except for its dated look. Nice job updating yours.
1978 F-32 "Eclipse"
Merc 305 SBC's
1.52:1 Borg Warners
1983 Correct Craft
Commander 351 Ford (PCM)
1:1 Borg Warner
There are 350 different varieties of shark, not counting loan or pool.
297Elegante wrote:Very classy looking. You Trojan guys have it easy, the nice rich wood is already there. I had to add it into my head to get it looking like that!
Thanks for the compliments.
Yes these old boats used wood liberally. And high quality. 35 years of abuse and no cracking or peeling. Just a strip and recoat and voila. When I bought the boat I had planned on gutting and updating, but the layout and quality would have made that an unwise choice.
Scorpion , you can do a lot to update the old girl without ruining the original feel. ...New lights, upholstery , counter tops and soft goods etc, but keeping the real teak interior , keep it looking yachty, like you did with your head, not like you just remodeled your apartment or home. It's a boat, people like their boats to be boats. .02$