1960's seacraft restoration - varnish

Hello All,

I have started to bring a 1967 seacraft back to life. I have done all the hard stuff and only have a couple of areas to finish off.

One of these is applying the varnish to the deck. I have not been able to get a consistant, even surface. I was hoping the the varnish would flow into the deep points and "settle" or even itself out but this has not been the case. I have appplied 7 coats and sanded between each. What to I do from here to try to even out the surface and get that mirror finish.

Also the boat has a Holden 179 in it. It has extractors fitted and i have been told that these will get red hot, and could become dangerous. What do people on here think? Should i do away with the extractors and fit a one peiece marine exhaust manifold?

Applying clear coats and getting the mirror smooth results is about the most difficult thing you can do.

This said, you still can get close. The first thing I would do if I were you is block down the stuff you got to remove the high spots. I suspect you've been hand sanding or using a soft pad. This is fine if your surface is level and you're scuffing it up for another coat, but it doesn't "shape" the surface, which is what you need to do.

Introduce yourself to a long board and start knocking the surface back, all strokes with the wood grain. The idea is to knock the tops off the high spots and identify the low ones. Once you've done this, mark your low spots and apply a few coats of clear only to those areas (some purists are now screaming, speaking in tongues and pulling their hair out). Now block sand the areas again and see if you've brought the lows up to the level of the surrounding areas. Some will be, others will need more clear.

As a rule you can't build up low spots too much or you'll have color changes with the clear coats, but slight depressions can be filled this way, like grain lines in porous woods.

Naturally, this assumes you've got enough clear coat in place to tolerate this level of aggressive sanding. Eventually, you fill and sand until you see no more low spots and you can begin adding additional "bulk" coats. These additional bulking coats are the actual protection, keeping UV from eating up your wood.

Sand out any bug legs and imperfections and apply finish coats of clear. This is a different process then the bulk coats. With the bulk coats, you where trying to apply sufficient material to one; sand level and smooth and two; so there is enough varnish to protect the wood, which requires depth. Now you know why it takes so many coats.

Finish coats are just like the name sounds and make all your previous work look pretty. These coats are sacrificial and applied thin, each as neatly and smoothly as possible. Of course spraying is the bees knees, but brushing with good materials and tools does a good job to. The finish coats are what will be repaired and top coated next year when it's time for touch ups.

This book is about as good as it gets.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vE40OtFQL.jpg

Hello Lady Hawk
You mentioneed that you sanded between each coat.My method of doing this is 3, 2, 1. That is the first coat just soaks into the wood, the second coat gives it some substance and the 3rd coat gives me something to cut (sand) back. The above advice is good advic, that is flat surfaces should be sanded with a flat surface such as a sanding block and not the palm of your hand or your finger tips. Then i apply 2 coats and snad again then a final finish coat. I have got pretty good results doing it this way
With the extractors, yes it will get red hot, possibly even glow red. Two things come to mind. 1 pipe the water from the engine or some of it through the main pipe where the extractors meet the main exhaust pipe. This will cool it somewhat before it goes through the transom. 2, You can get a special (Exhaust Wrap ) wrap that you can wrap around the extractors which should give you a fair bit of protection.
There are otherways of doing it but this will be the cheapest unless you can get a marine manifold cheaply.

Hope that helps

Thanks for the advice. I have applied enough coats to have a fair base so i will attempt to fill in the low spots as you have mentiond.

thanks again.

Hi Ladyhawk,
excellent advice above....possibly a bit late for this.....may I just add....if you build up coats with a Sanding Sealer (usually manufactured by the same company that makes the varnish).
This does exactly as the name says......initially seals the timber pores, and then you use it to builds up coats for sanding and sets up for the harder wearing finishing varnish, as well as its a softer product to sand therfore enable you to knock of the high spots (carefully) a little easier. Its also a little cheaper to buy, instead of using top quality varnish and just sanding it off again. Keep in mind to use top quality varnish and if the boats in the sun a lot make sure you use a varnish with excellent UV filters in it.
If the boats going to be used a lot for social activities etc.......get rid of the extractors.....too hot....causing possible personal burns......and too dangerous....petrol engines/fumes in a confined space are a volatile combination.
The possible loss of horsepower by doing away with the extractors is not worth it for especially for social boating
my apologies for waffling
cheers
Sunbeam