1999 Crestliner Project

navipro · Oct 5, 2024

I have started working on the floors. It is much more painful then I anticipated. I do have the old flooring, but it is covered with the carpet, so taking accurate measurements of irregular shapes is difficult.

I am planning to use marine vinyl, so it is thinner then carpet, so all dimensions should be adjusted. And that is PITA. they were able to hide lots of irregularities with fluffy carpet that would be super visible with vinyl. So here I am cutting, fitting, cutting, measuring.

LDUBS · Oct 5, 2024

Looks pretty good to me. I think you will like the vinyl floor covering. As the young folk say, that stuff is the bomb.

MrGiggles · Oct 6, 2024

I'm not sure if your questions were answered about the hoses and fittings.

I'd leave the rubber hoses be. The plastic ribbed stuff is okay on bilge pumps, but definitely not for the livewells. If you do replace it, go to a hardware store and get some of the braided vinyl hose. Heater hose works too but is more expensive and prone to kinking.

Most plastic thru-hulls are not rated for use below the waterline. Be aware of that. Bronze is always a good choice.

thill · Oct 7, 2024

navipro said:
I have started working on the floors. It is much more painful then I anticipated. I do have the old flooring, but it is covered with the carpet, so taking accurate measurements of irregular shapes is difficult.

I am planning to use marine vinyl, so it is thinner then carpet, so all dimensions should be adjusted. And that is PITA. they were able to hide lots of irregularities with fluffy carpet that would be super visible with vinyl. So here I am cutting, fitting, cutting, measuring.

Sometimes it's easier to just measure and cut from scratch. Make it tight, then use a planer to shave small amounts off and a jigsaw to cut out irregular shapes. You are probably past all of this already, but thanks for keeping the interesting updates going

navipro · Oct 10, 2024

Hi guys, to be honest I was not expecting plywood to be such a large project. Like Thrill said, I have ended up measuring almost all from scratch. Fit, trim, rinse and repeat. I have used the old pieces of floor for the rough cuts. Added 1/2 inch to all the sides a d then adjusted as needed. Even then I had to glue back some pieces to make it wider.
I had an offcut of the old vinyl laying g around and I have cut it up in small prices and together with the offcuts of the carpet "shimmed" thr joints to make sure they are tight. Of course the hatches needed to be less tight then static joints, so it was all custom fitted.
I did enjoy the process though. Feels good to be putting things back. Even though I know, that all of it will come out for coats of varnish and vinyl. Hopefully glue is not going to add much thickness. Lol

I do have a question for you guys. I will be mounting downriggers on this boat. I do not have much room on the t
gunnels (especially on the starboard side where cleat, gas filler and light are all located) . I have come up with the stand idea. Not super happy how it looks though. Feels like an afterthought. Any better ideas? Or should I just mount it on the gunnels?

Still Afloat · Oct 10, 2024

The downrigger mount looks fine. However, think I place farther from the stern. If that gap between the mount and stern were opened up a bit the lines might flow better.

navipro · Oct 10, 2024

Still Afloat said:
The downrigger mount looks fine. However, think I place farther from the stern. If that gap between the mount and stern were opened up a bit the lines might flow better.

Thank you for your input. I have another option that I want to try. Basically move the aluminum angled panel out. I will mock it up next week (it is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada). Will post pictures next week.

navipro · Oct 10, 2024

MrGiggles said:
I'm not sure if your questions were answered about the hoses and fittings.

I'd leave the rubber hoses be. The plastic ribbed stuff is okay on bilge pumps, but definitely not for the livewells. If you do replace it, go to a hardware store and get some of the braided vinyl hose. Heater hose works too but is more expensive and prone to kinking.

Most plastic thru-hulls are not rated for use below the waterline. Be aware of that. Bronze is always a good choice.

Thank you. I have inspected the hoses and they looked fine, no cracks, still flexible. So the executive decision was made to keep them.
I was told that brass still has galvanic reaction with aluminum, so I have decided to stay safe and go for a good brand plastic ones (even though attwood had only white ones in my size).
Thank you all for the support and opinions. You guys help me to move forward.
BTW, I have estimated to have over 100 hours in this boat by now.

thill · Oct 11, 2024

Great update.
Your carpentry work looks good. Hopefully, you have an electric hand planer. They save a lot of time and really help make things precise.

LDUBS · Oct 25, 2024

navipro said:
I do have a question for you guys. I will be mounting downriggers on this boat. I do not have much room on the t
gunnels (especially on the starboard side where cleat, gas filler and light are all located) . I have come up with the stand idea. Not super happy how it looks though. Feels like an afterthought. Any better ideas? Or should I just mount it on the gunnels

Still Afloat said:
The downrigger mount looks fine. However, think I place farther from the stern. If that gap between the mount and stern were opened up a bit the lines might flow better.

I have a thought about the down rigger box shown in your photo. In keeping with Still Afloat's thoughts about increasing the space from the transom, you could make the box smaller. Additionally you could make it higher to be even with the top of the gunnel. For added rigidity, you can tie it into the gunnel with a piece of angle on the under side of the top of the box. An alternative could be a 6" wide piece of aluminum bent to fit and tied to the floor and gunnel (I know, most of us don't have that laying around, but who knows). Anyway, sort of like this:

LDUBS · Oct 26, 2024

Saw this on THT forums. It is stainless, but I would use aluminum if I were putting on my boat. It would be a pretty simple fabrication.

Anyway, just tossing out options:

navipro · Oct 29, 2024

LDUBS said:
Saw this on THT forums. It is stainless, but I would use aluminum if I were putting on my boat. It would be a pretty simple fabrication.

Anyway, just tossing out options:

View attachment 123359

Thank you. I was trying to keep the gunnels clean, as the cover will be on the boat most of the time and these mounts have a tendency of making covers holey.
Last couple if weeks were a bit busy at work, so progress is not great.

navipro · Oct 29, 2024

LDUBS said:
I have a thought about the down rigger box shown in your photo. In keeping with Still Afloat's thoughts about increasing the space from the transom, you could make the box smaller. Additionally you could make it higher to be even with the top of the gunnel. For added rigidity, you can tie it into the gunnel with a piece of angle on the under side of the top of the box. An alternative could be a 6" wide piece of aluminum bent to fit and tied to the floor and gunnel (I know, most of us don't have that laying around, but who knows). Anyway, sort of like this:

View attachment 123349

Interesting..... i will see what i have laying around. Thank you for the suggestion

navipro · Oct 31, 2024

So here is a little update.
i have worked on the downrigger mounting platform and here is what i came up with.
i have taken the original sloped piece of aluminum and made it vertical. Added 1/8 aluminum plate to the top. Reinforced with the aluminum angle inside. Welded it all together.
I think it looks more stock now then the plywood box.
Just did the port side for now.

LDUBS · Oct 31, 2024

Wow, nice fabrication. I'm sure you already know to use a backer under the DR mounts. My down riggers are mounted on top of enclosed aluminum boxes filled with foam. I used a piece of 1/2" exterior ply as a backer almost as big as the top of the box.

navipro · Nov 6, 2024

LDUBS said:
Wow, nice fabrication. I'm sure you already know to use a backer under the DR mounts. My down riggers are mounted on top of enclosed aluminum boxes filled with foam. I used a piece of 1/2" exterior ply as a backer almost as big as the top of the box.

I was hoping that 1/4 inch aluminum should be enough to hold it. Do you think i still need a ply backer?

Just a small update this week. Started waterproofing the plywood for the floors and compartments. Looks like it will be 2 coats of OTF and 2 coats of varnish. I do not want to buy more varnish. Thos project will take full gallon of varnish, gallon of mineral spirits and 2 quarts of lindseed oil. It takes about 3-4 hours to cover all 26 pieces with a single coat. Way more work then I thought.
Here is a picture after 2 coats of OTF.

Bantou · Nov 7, 2024

That's interesting. I figured the OTF would darken the wood more than it apparently does.

navipro · Nov 7, 2024

Bantou said:
That's interesting. I figured the OTF would darken the wood more than it apparently does.

The subsequent coats of varnish darken wood much more.

navipro · Nov 16, 2024

Another step towards the goal. This week I have worked on colour change. As you remember the boat had beige/blue palette and it is super difficult to find any accessories in beige. All modern boats are grey/black, so the colour change was in the books.
I will not be painting the boat on outside. It will be wrapped. The only part of the outside that will be painted will be transom. I have painted it gray but may change it to black depending on how it will look with the wrap.
Boat was prepped with the sanding off all the corrosion, light sanding everywhere and priming bare spots with etching primer (Rustoleum).
As you can see, I did not paint everything, as all other areas will be covered either by the carpet of panels.
I have used the marine paint (which was surprisingly cheaper then rustoleum). Will see how it will hold up.
Sprayed with the cheap princess auto (like Harbour freight) gun.

navipro · Dec 7, 2024

I saw this post today about people not posting and being quiet during this time of the year. I am one of these people since work and family leave little time for the projects.
Anyways, most of the painting is done. Gunwale was painted. Had a bit problem with it. First I used the spray paint from the can, trying to save a bit of time, but the coverage was not great, so I ended up covering it with the oil based paint through spray gun.
I have saved the old carpet and used it as the template. See some pics below of Zeus inspecting my work. Used the water based glue to glue the carpet. Worked well, other then having to do 2 step approach - first i have glued the top part of the carpet, let it dry and then glued the bottom. Otherwise the carpet was sliding, as glue does not have any initial grab.
I have covered most of the panels with new vinyl and started installing some of them. Here are some pictures.

1999 Crestliner Project

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