Classic Speed Boat Restoration

ChrisChase

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Classic SpeedBoat Restoration With Teak Deck

Hi Everyone!

After purchasing my 1960's German built early fibreglass speedboat (of which i think it is a one-off, unless anyone can correct me!!) in april 2010 i started to restore her and wanted to share my progress!

The boat itself seems to be a one-off although she looks similar to a Broom. She has no company’s maker’s plate or any evidence of coming from a large speed boat manufacturer. I purchased the boat from Hythe Sailing club in Southampton for a small sum of £600 and found a plate screwed to her with text in German! I translated it (with the help of Google translate) and it said "Owner - Rudolf Keitzl of the Gerhard Hauptmann School". This is the only clue i have to its origins!!

Heres the boat in the state i bought her.



And heres the engine - a 1970's evinrude 18hp. Which slips out of gear!




I stripped all the boat bits and turned it upside down! The boat itself was in a sorry state (not that the photo shows it!) It had loads of gouges on the underneath and the red topside gel coat was very weathered and ballooned (with the red going almost milky in colour) so i then knew it was going to be a Proper restoration!

Heres a photos of the underneath.


This was going to take alot of filler and sanding!! and there was no other way round it but to antifoul the bottom!



As she was upside down i took advantage and painted out all underneath the topside with white blidge paint, cut back and polished up all the yellow sides and refurbed the original snipe trailor!




Now what to do with the topside as they where WELL past it. Out came the sander and my red boat became PINK! But look how shiney the sides are!!




I had to do a few small jobs like repairing the transom with new glass and filling all the hideous hull to deck joins again with lots of filler!




I had a master plan for the topsides but it first meant restoring the original colour to parts of the topside and transom with two pack paint!



Im getting the hang of this photo uploading stuff now!! Anyway, my topside master plan comes in the form of a REAL teak deck with black caulking, which started off as carboard templates and we also invested in a boat shed (in the form of a marquee off ebay!)



The marquee didnt last long though during the winter!!



The boat was fine thank god!! Anyway the templates made the decking easy to cut to size and fit.



And once caulked came ALOT MORE sanding!!




Then came the 11 coats of varnish! Yes with rubbing down inbetween!!! I had no finger prints left!



I then went on a bit of a spending spree buying lots of stainless steel deck fittings, including pop-ups cleats, horns, bow roller, rear boarding ladder etc.... all of which where attached to the boat using wooden washer and aluminium washer pads - Not just for show! I also re-fitted the original nav lights.



I then turned my attention to the engine and sorted out the gearbox - which turned out to be a worn clutch dog and refurbed the engine and cowling with home made decals!




As a student at the University of Portsmouth studying Marine Technology, i thought this would be a good project for my third year dissertation! This has now been accepted by the University and with just the interior left to complete on the boat, i have started to 3D model the boat and interior to see what the finished boat will look like!



As i said before i have only the interior left to do! I will carpet the sides and fit pockets to each side and then upolster the cockpit with red upolstry.

One thing i havent decided on is a name??? Im thinking Rhubarb and Custard, beacuse of the colour?? What do you guys think?? I need ideas!!!!

I hope you've enjoyed reading this and i will keep this feed updated as much as possible! Theres also loads more photos on my facebook - follow this link

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150169878240405.412925.632615404&l=00180159ac&type=1
 
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WOW, best post on here in a long time, i love renovations of any kind and that looks like a qualtiy finish you have there, shame you cant squeaze a few more HP from the engine to carry the wood and layers of paint and varnish :D

Call it Rudolf Keitzl then when people ask about the name you can tell them the 'history' :)
 
Well done its a really fantastic job, ive seen pro work not as good as that! mabe you could look out for a higher hp motor for fun days, and keep the evinrude for the classic shows.
 
WOW, best post on here in a long time, i love renovations of any kind and that looks like a qualtiy finish you have there, shame you cant squeaze a few more HP from the engine to carry the wood and layers of paint and varnish :D

Call it Rudolf Keitzl then when people ask about the name you can tell them the 'history' :)

Thanks for the comment, one of the best ive had!! Yes, my plan is to keep the 18hp as its the original engine but use it for shows and classic regattas and im also going to buy a 40hp for get some fun use out of her!! :)

And thats a very good idea about the name!!! Ive researched the school it apparently came from in Germany and it does exist! its inland but surrounded by about 4 lakes! ive sent them a few emails to see if they know anything about my boat but as of yet no reply =[
 
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Nice job Chris , love the teak ,what made you varnish it ?

Hi Andy59!
As the deck isnt for use, as in it wont be walked all over like a real deck on a yacht i thought it would be nice to give it a varnish. This is alot more upkeep as it will need varnishing every season but as you may know untreated teak loses its colour very quickly and to be honest looks rubbish after about 2years! :)
 
Finished applying the starboard freeboard carpet today! just in time before the heavens opened!! Theres going to be full length pockets running either side of the boat which can be seen on my CAD drawing on one of my 1st posts!

Heres some pics





that wobberly edge is yet to be trimmed - i wouldnt leave it like that!! ha
 
Lovely job Chris, where did you source teak and was it expensive (how many feet) ?

Hi Ripvan

The teak was from moodys decking in Whitely Hampshire, for the whole lot it was only £110 for raw teak. It was all B-stock teak which means it had some slight discolouration for example a few pieces had a little pink colouring, but we just turned them over. To be fair about 95% of the teak we recieved was top notch and the 5% that wasnt we cut around or turned over!!
 
The side pockets are currently being fitted using 6mm ply and wooden blocks stuck to the flooring for the ply to be screwed to. They need to be finished in red foam backed vinyl before the final fitting.

Im also currently completing the boat wirings circuits!

 
A really top job and an interesting boat. Considering the interest this type of project attracts it seems ludicrous that MBM have dropped any pretence at practical stuff (apart from the same old revamped engine servicing and year on year lay-up tripe!)
This would have made a fantastic three part series and at least one small part of the magazine would have been interesting.
 
This would have made a fantastic three part series and at least one small part of the magazine would have been interesting.

I completely agree! (Not being bias or anything...) :D

Also ive been messing around with renderings of my CAD drawn boat (the universities software is good for something!) and heres the outcomes,



 
Started restoring the oringinal seats! Wipped off the vinyl which is in good nick, so will re-use that, and replaced all the rotton wood on the under side of the seats, which has also been painted. Fixed a 4mm ply back board onto the seats aswell, to stop the fabric from panting when re-upholstered.







Ive also started to laminate two pieces of 4mm ply around the corner of the dash board, as i am going to upholster the dash with red vinyl. Two pieces of 4mm ply where cut roughly to shape, which were then glued together and bent to fit around the dash curve! Of which on the first attempt one of the ply boards snapped! These have been held in place with clamps. Once the glue has set, the wood should hold its curve of which, will then be cut to the correct dash width.





 
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