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For a couple years I've been semi-actively searching for a v drive boat in decent shape. Always wanted to do an LS swap on one (and tow it with my LS swapped s10.. stupid I know). Well, the stars aligned and I finally found a 1973 Howard flat bottom v-drive. I'm beyond pumped to get going on this. My friend is picking up a 2004 LQ4 for me next week. In the meantime, I'm going to find a way to get it off the trailer and onto some rollers so I can begin sanding down the pink 70s sparkle paint. I'm keeping the gold, but the pink will be replaced by metallic black.
No way man I would totally leave that pink. Should be a cool project when done though.
You know.. I took your advice and decided to hit it with the DA and man it shined up nice. I'm going to keep the paint for this year. It's got that 70s style to it.
You know.. I took your advice and decided to hit it with the DA and man it shined up nice. I'm going to keep the paint for this year. It's got that 70s style to it. [/QUOTE]
Cool boat, I dig the style. I can't believe these things didn't come with windshields.That thing will be awesome with a repaint and a new name from you. Are you going to go turbo or supercharger with classic open and back headers?
Cool boat, I dig the style. I can't believe these things didn't come with windshields.That thing will be awesome with a repaint and a new name from you. Are you going to go turbo or supercharger with classic open and back headers?
Thanks I'm really into this boat. Has some history too. I'm going to fabricate my own stainless headers which will be open and back.. but have a big snail hanging off the back. Classic with a modern twist is kinda what I'm going for.
Built a dolly to set the boat on while I sandblast and paint the trailer. Unfortunately father time wasn't good to the gelcoat on the bow, lots of blisters. Instead of doing a full repaint right now, since the rest of the boat is in pretty good shape, I'm sanding the bow down and painting it a metallic silver, same color as the seats.
You can see below how bad these gelcoat blisters are. The only fix that worked for this was to take a die grinder and bore them out down to the fiberglass. From here I'll fill with body filler a couple times and sand it over again.
To get that silver metallic look, I'm actually going to spray a black base coat then lay some clear with heavy metal flake until I get it close enough to match the color of the seats.
Are those blisters something that just happens to boats over time or is it indicative of something coming in contact with the gelcoat? Thanks for posting progress pics1
Are those blisters something that just happens to boats over time or is it indicative of something coming in contact with the gelcoat? Thanks for posting progress pics1
the blisters are air pockets that didnt get rolled out of the layup
The reason they dont get caught in the factory is because the gelcoat is like 3/32" thick and cant withstand abusw for awhile till the elements break it down
the blisters are air pockets that didnt get rolled out of the layup
The reason they dont get caught in the factory is because the gelcoat is like 3/32" thick and cant withstand abusw for awhile till the elements break it down
You learn something new every day. Today I learned about gelcoat on boats. Thank you!
Orange is correct. I've finished filling and sanding and it's ready for primer. What's interesting is the boat was so oxidized it's actually not really gold.
You learn something new every day. Today I learned about gelcoat on boats. Thank you!
when building fiberglass components in a mold you start outside and work your way in , so after your release agent cures you spray multiple coats of gelcoat for industrial parts or boats and a single thin layer for race car parts
then 2-10 layers of chopped strand, depending on the application.
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73 Howard build 
