Uniflite 42 Double Cabin Refit

[sbman]

Thank you for the compliment. It is a ton of work!

The weather is certainly a challenge, we have less heat here, but more humidity.

My first coat of the topcoat cured to a matte finish in almost the entire painted area, this was due to painting in the evening and as the temperature dropped through the night the temp/dewpoint spread narrowed to where we had ground fog and moisture may have even condensed on the surface. I've been painting in the morning since then, but I have to wait until the temp comes up away from the dew point, surfaces are dried but before the sun/wind/temperature becomes an issue. Lower areas of the boat have more protection from my makeshift tent, so I've been focused on the areas that are more exposed while the weather is as good as it's going to get.

I've decided to hold off on doing the decks to this level this season. I'm going to clean/scuff and make only repairs to potential leak areas then paint with a simple one part paint for now and get back to the water. I'm not willing to spend the 3-4 months it would take to do a top level job on them right now, I'll do that at a later date.

I know how much work this is. We rolled and tipped a 30’ boat in Tucson. The weather made it very difficult to do in that it got over 85 degrees by 6AM. We had to be done painting by then. Yours looks beautiful.

 

[Comodave]

We were painting the flybridge and had a great day painting without any sags, etc. Came back the next day to a matte finish. We realized that the dew point made a difference. Had to do another coat and from then on we watched the dew point and didn’t have any more issues. On our current boat we used Kiwigrip on the decks. It is a latex paint and it covers a multitude of small defects. Very good nonskid. Easy to repair but it takes quite a bit of grinding to get it off to do a repair.

 

[Ruffryder]

The bronze of the packing nut was corroded and had expanded the I.D. enough that it was tight to the shaft. I ended up carefully cutting it off, the stainless shaft was in good shape. Not a fun job, I'm glad it's done.

Unfortunately I'm dealing with the same problem ?
I was able to move it about 5" in 5 hours... although it is turning now, but still very stiff.
I might have to look for my grinder too!
SBman, do you still have your old packing gland?

 

[Scottwb96]

Do you have any pics of the full boat as of today?

 

[sbman]

Unfortunately I'm dealing with the same problem ?
I was able to move it about 5" in 5 hours... although it is turning now, but still very stiff.
I might have to look for my grinder too!
SBman, do you still have your old packing gland?

I have the one from the other side that I didn't have to cut off. The cut off was thrown away. Too much de-zincification to even be worth scrap. I have 1.75" shafts and 3" stern tubes, what size are you working with?

 

[sbman]

Do you have any pics of the full boat as of today?

No, the boat is in a makeshift tent with only a couple of feet of clearance on either side. It won't emerge for full hull shots until the painting is completed. Once I get the trim stripe painted and hardware re-mounted I'll make some overall flybridge/cabin pics.

 

[sbman]

This is a familiar image! That was not a fun job. When I cut it off, I cut a very large v-groove in it and then slowly, carefully ground away the bronze until the shaft started to poke through. With the wide cut I was able to clearly see as the bronze got very thin. It took a couple of hours being very careful to do this without damaging the shaft. When I saw the prices for bronze stuffing boxes, I decided to install PSS Dripless instead of replacing with same. The dripless was cheaper than the Buck Algonquin traditional stuffing boxes and I will enjoy a dry bilge on my fiberglass boat.

 

[Ruffryder]

I have the one from the other side that I didn't have to cut off. The cut off was thrown away. Too much de-zincification to even be worth scrap. I have 1.75" shafts and 3" stern tubes, what size are you working with?

Same boat, same stuffing box,same running gear.
1 3/4" shaft & 3" stern tube spinning 26" X 25" prop.
What do you want for your old packing gland?

 

[Scottwb96]

Ruffryder-

Do you have any full exterior shots yet? Very interested to see how it turned out!

 

[sbman]

Ruffryder-

Do you have any full exterior shots yet? Very interested to see how it turned out!

No, the boat is in a makeshift tent with only a couple of feet of clearance on either side. It won't emerge for full hull shots until the painting is completed. Once I get the trim stripe painted and hardware re-mounted I'll make some overall flybridge/cabin pics.

EDIT: I see that was for RuffRyder.. Any pics RuffRyder?

 

[Ruffryder]

Oh yes ��
My girl is just primered one coat for now... I waited, also wanted to make sure none of my blisters won't come back.
Good thing I did because I originally planned to with Total boat Wet Edge, but after watching more Boat works on Tube & Scott's great results,
I'll be switching to Alexseal also.

 

[sbman]

Scottwb96: Do you still have your Uniflite? I saw that you were looking to upgrade to something bigger.

 

[sbman]

I've designed a replacement window latch for my boat, and sourced all 316 SS hardware to install it with. I've printed some test samples with my 3D printer and am now having a few commercially printed in Nylon for test fitting. Looking forward to having the window latches operational again.

 

[sbman]

The progress continues. It feels slow with after work and weekends being the time I have to work, but it is moving forward. Focus is on getting the boat weather proof before any rains start, windows going back in this week. Finished up the accent stripes and polished the stainless steel for re-installation.

I am pleased with the results, it isn't 100% perfect, and I know where every single defect/issue is at, but it looks pretty good and from a few feet away it looks pretty great. The alexseal paint is supposed to be able to accept buffing and polishing, so at some point in the future (a year or three) I will attempt to do some minor touch ups to defects and buff/polish them in. Not at this time though!

 

[Scottwb96]

so inspiring to watch your progress! I like to do a lot of the work myself as well. Very cool what you did with the window latches!!!

Paint on the fly bridge looks PRISTINE!!! VERY WELL DONE!!!

My gelcoat (1989) has definitely faded and has it's "issues" in a few areas that I want to address. Was debating gel/paint, looking at yours, I am definitely leaning towards paint now...

 

[sbman]

so inspiring to watch your progress! I like to do a lot of the work myself as well. Very cool what you did with the window latches!!!

Paint on the fly bridge looks PRISTINE!!! VERY WELL DONE!!!

My gelcoat (1989) has definitely faded and has it's "issues" in a few areas that I want to address. Was debating gel/paint, looking at yours, I am definitely leaning towards paint now...

If you are just touching up a small area, I'd try to stay with Gel Coat and buff/polish/blend it in. The prep work for a full paint job is a huge effort! For mine, I had tons of issues, hundreds of areas that needed work and the gel coat was 45 years old and completely flat/faded/powdery, so retaining as the finish was not an option.

I should have the 3D printed latches arriving in the mail in the next few days, excited to try them with the freshly cleaned/installed windows and all new SS hardware.

 

[Comodave]

Nicely done. I like the hatch latches.

 

[sbman]

Reglazing Uniflite fixed windows

I was cleaning up the windows to put them back on the boat. I had ordered some weather seal strip from Sea Cure Technologies in Seattle to replace the worn weather seal, I was thinking this would fix any potential leaks in the windows before I re-installed them.

Removing the strip on the first window, I accidentally cracked the glass. Not good. I also discovered that the bond between the frame and the glass is no longer any good and someone had put a bunch of silicone caulking in there to try to stop the leaking. Even worse.

Replacing the glass turns out to be quite difficult. Sourcing it is, well impossible. It's a 3/16" Laminated Safety glass. Nobody seems to make any form of 3/16" laminated glass anymore, only 1/4" is available. The glass was mounted with a cork/rubber sticky tape that also no longer seems to be available, but that tape is 1/16" thick.

So, the plan is to mount new 1/4" glass with windshield adhesive and get most of the 1/16" inch back by not having the tape in there.

So I then decided to look more closely at the other windows and they are all obviously having the same issue with adhesion of the glass to frame, and I can see random silicone put in each of them. By working carefully I can remove the weather stripping and the glass without any damage. It's not easy, but it is possible.

I have 4 windows to reseal in this manner, all of the forward and side fixed pane windows. I've decided I'll paint the frames while I'm at it because... can of worms.

 

[Comodave]

Don’t you love mission creep?

 

[sbman]

Uniflite window rebuild / reglazing process

Over the past few days, I dug into prepping the windows for re-installation. As in my previous post, all of the fixed pane windows needed to have the glass removed and rebedded and I figured I'd add cosmetic touch up to the frames at the same time.

To start, you have to clean all of the old Butyl off the frames. It starts out as a sticky mess.

Scrape off the majority of it, and the remainder cleans off with Mineral Spirits.

After all the cleaning was done, I masked the frames, prepped the metal and primered/painted them. I used an automotive trim paint that is a two part catalyzed satin black finish in a spray can. The two part paints in spray cans have a nozzle on the bottom that you push before use and it mixes in the spray can and then you have 12-24 hours of pot life to use it up.

Now with the outside of the frames painted, I placed the glass in them and taped and glued blocks in to align the glass. This allows me to fit the glass into the frame and have it aligned without a bunch of fiddling around or getting it out of place when I put it in for final bedding.

With all the masking of the glass and alignment blocks in place, I run a bead of windshield adhesive into the frame, then place the pane into the frame. I used old weather strip pieces to wedge it in tightly while the adhesive cures.
You really have to have the suction cup handles for handling the glass to do all this.

Once cured I put the new weather strip in place and then mount the window with fresh Butyl tape. I really like the blacked out frame/pane look, it modernizes the look of the windows quite a bit. One pane had tinted glass that was not original and I like that even better, I will plan to have the other windows professionally tinted at some point.

To mount the window, I spent a lot of time making the butyl tape cover the window frame but leave the holes for the screws clear. If I did't do that, putting the screws in would twist the butyl and pull it off the frame into a ball ruining the sealing.

After fiddling with the butyl for a long time, I took some extra long screws, screwed two of them in part ways on the hull, cut the heads off to turn them into studs. I used these two studs to 'hang' the window in the opening in exactly the right place and then pressed it and all that butyl against the hole. Once the butyl touches the hull, you can't shift it up/down/left/right it needs to go in exactly in the right spot. The makeshift studs allowed for that.

Finally, I go around the window putting the screws in one at a time to slowly pull the window against the butyl. Later I'll seal each screw individually. It's a tedious process.

Just a few more windows to go!

 

[Scottwb96]

As always... WOW!!! And your attention to detail is great! Quick question, the paint you used. I'm not familiar with that type of paint. Is the 2-part type you used, is it a stronger more robust type of paint? Just curious how it would hold up (salt, dings, longevity, sun, flaking, etc.). Would a clearcoat of some sort also be good to use over it? Just give it another layer of protection from the elements (UV protection).

 

[Comodave]

I think you will really like the black frames. Keep up the great work, love looking at your photos.

 

[sbman]

As always... WOW!!! And your attention to detail is great! Quick question, the paint you used. I'm not familiar with that type of paint. Is the 2-part type you used, is it a stronger more robust type of paint? Just curious how it would hold up (salt, dings, longevity, sun, flaking, etc.). Would a clearcoat of some sort also be good to use over it? Just give it another layer of protection from the elements (UV protection).

It is a two part, single stage acrylic based automotive paint, I expect it will hold up as well as any other two part paint. It is not designed to use a clear coat. The biggest problem is going to be adhesion to the old aluminum frames. Proper prep would have been to take them and have them sandblasted, etched and primed, but I didn't want to take the time (or spend the extra money) for that. I expect to have to make touch ups over time.

https://www.spraymax.com/en-us/products/product/top-coats/2k-hot-rod-black/

 

[sbman]

I think you will really like the black frames. Keep up the great work, love looking at your photos.

Thanks, I really do like the look. The windows have taken a lot more time than I expected, but then I've learned to expect that.

 

[sbman]

I'm debating whether or not to paint the aluminum trim pieces that go on various parts like the flybridge/salon joint or the lip of the eyebrow. They are in poor condition and the extrusions used are no longer available. If I do that, I think I'd paint them white instead of black, too many random black strips would start to look busy.

It would make sense to do them all at one time someplace that I could do proper prep and spray them all with a spray gun, would be cheaper too.

I should just put them on for now and clean up/paint them later, it's so hard to put an old ugly part back on with the new shiny paint.

 

[Comodave]

If the piece is in the middle of an all white section then I agree that doing them white to make them basically disappear will look the best. I am doing that with the teak toe rails on my boat and white looks great and much more modern.

 

[Ruffryder]

Over the past few days, I dug into prepping the windows for re-installation. As in my previous post, all of the fixed pane windows needed to have the glass removed and rebedded and I figured I'd add cosmetic touch up to the frames at the same time.

To start, you have to clean all of the old Butyl off the frames. It starts out as a sticky mess.

Scrape off the majority of it, and the remainder cleans off with Mineral Spirits.

After all the cleaning was done, I masked the frames, prepped the metal and primered/painted them. I used an automotive trim paint that is a two part catalyzed satin black finish in a spray can. The two part paints in spray cans have a nozzle on the bottom that you push before use and it mixes in the spray can and then you have 12-24 hours of pot life to use it up.

Now with the outside of the frames painted, I placed the glass in them and taped and glued blocks in to align the glass. This allows me to fit the glass into the frame and have it aligned without a bunch of fiddling around or getting it out of place when I put it in for final bedding.

With all the masking of the glass and alignment blocks in place, I run a bead of windshield adhesive into the frame, then place the pane into the frame. I used old weather strip pieces to wedge it in tightly while the adhesive cures.
You really have to have the suction cup handles for handling the glass to do all this.

Once cured I put the new weather strip in place and then mount the window with fresh Butyl tape. I really like the blacked out frame/pane look, it modernizes the look of the windows quite a bit. One pane had tinted glass that was not original and I like that even better, I will plan to have the other windows professionally tinted at some point.

To mount the window, I spent a lot of time making the butyl tape cover the window frame but leave the holes for the screws clear. If I did't do that, putting the screws in would twist the butyl and pull it off the frame into a ball ruining the sealing.

After fiddling with the butyl for a long time, I took some extra long screws, screwed two of them in part ways on the hull, cut the heads off to turn them into studs. I used these two studs to 'hang' the window in the opening in exactly the right place and then pressed it and all that butyl against the hole. Once the butyl touches the hull, you can't shift it up/down/left/right it needs to go in exactly in the right spot. The makeshift studs allowed for that.

Finally, I go around the window putting the screws in one at a time to slowly pull the window against the butyl. Later I'll seal each screw individually. It's a tedious process.

Just a few more windows to go!

Great job as always!
Those windows are going to look good, especially tinted dark.
Scott, did you get my text?

 

[sbman]

Still making progress. The cabin painting is done, all of the windows are back in except the one I cracked the glass on, I did pick up the glass, but I'm waiting on some more weather stripping to arrive before I put it all together and install it. The cabin is looking pretty good, I'm quite pleased. I still have some trims to paint and install, but overall it's weather tight again and I really like the blacked out look on the windows.

Following the Alexseal directions, I let it cure for 10 days and then washed it and waxed it with a good quality paste wax. I chose Collinite Fleetwax, which isn't the easiest to apply but it is supposed to be very durable.

I've turned my focus now to the hull sides which already had most of the prep completed. The starboard side has 2 coats of top coat now, and after it cures for a few days I'll be sanding the shine off and putting a third and final coat.

It's looking pretty good though I think, difficult to get a good photo of it though. Starboard side looking forward:

My 3D printed window clips arrived, I'll get a picture of them installed, I did install one already and it works great, but I haven't snapped a photo yet.

 

[rslifkin]

I'll give the Collinite fleetwax paste a thumbs up. I used it on my hull last spring. 6 months later at haulout, water was still beading on the waxed surfaces. Application wasn't too bad using a DA polisher with a foam waxing pad to apply and then a microfiber towel to wipe off by hand. And I was doing it in 45 degree weather, so it's probably easier when the wax isn't starting at the consistency of cold butter.

 

[sbman]

It's been a bit since I posted but thats because I've been very busy finishing up the hull side painting. It's finally complete.

Now that the hull sides are done, I'm on to completing all the prep work on the bottom for barrier coat and bottom paint. This includes removing and service/replace all through hulls (some of which I've removed already), repairing a few more blisters and removing all the old transducers/sensors and installing new ones. Also working on finishing up the shaft work, with the starboard side now complete.

The starboard side received new cutless bearings, new PSS dripless shaft seal, replaced the copper shaft log tube with a heavy duty fiberglass unit, replaced the exhaust hose that was used as shaft log hose (from the factory in 77) with new buck algonquin shaft log hose.

I used my strut-pro again to do the cutless bearing replacement. I can't say enough good things about this tool. It makes what would be a tedious, long job into a simple easy thing that you can do by yourself with just the strut pro and some wrenches. I modified it slightly to work with my specific boat.

First I pushed the old bearing off the end of the strut using the half-shells and the old bearing came off the end of the shaft. Then I pushed a new bearing into the strut.

Next I pushed another new bearing into the strut and that pushed the first new one up onto the shaft forward of the strut.

Now that bearing is slid forward and used to push the old bearing out, new bearing into place.

With the forward old bearing pushed up, just cut it off and I've got new cutless bearings in both struts without even removing the shaft from the boat. Only took a bit over an hour to do the whole job.

One thing I'm not sure about is if I should strip the struts clean and paint them with barrier coat and bottom paint. That seems to be what was done before, is that the proper thing to do, or should special paint be used for them? They are bronze.