TOPIC: Our '60 Reinell Jet Flight...

So not only did we have a successful shakedown, I had also planned to do a christening ceremony to celebrate our new old boat. I’ve never done one before so I thought let’s christen the Reinell, and that’s what we did. After almost 10 miles of testing the Jet Flight, we all cruised to Old Sacramento where we tied up our glassics. We celebrated the christening with sparkling cider, snacks and some homemade cookies. Three toasts and the christening of “Sweet Isabel” was complete. The name Sweet Isabel is from our very first grandchild, just born on the 28th of December, 2013.

Christening Sweet Isabel @ Old Sacramento







That's my wife Mercedes, my #1 supporter for my passion of glassic boats.



One more...

Holey Moley Edwardo,...You did an AWESOME job on the Jet Flight.
Thanks for posting the pictures.
Once you are finished with a project like those you mentioned,...Do you sell them or keep them?
Doc Frankenmerc

...since she's seen any water, over 25 years. I'm glad this winged glassic will now cruise our waters and will be truly enjoyed by her family and friends. So cheers to all who were involved, to all that were present to share this day with Mercedes and me.

Leaving Old Sacramento


This is my good friend Glenn and Lan in their '62 Trailorboat Savoy. This is the boat that got me into these glassics. He's been there for me during all my shakedowns. Thanks Glenn.

Thanks for reading and a Happy New Year to the Fiberglassic community.

Eduardo and Mercedes

Thanks Doc. I appreciate that coming from you. I gave my '58 Dorsett El Dorado to my nephew and his fiance then. They enjoyed her in the beginning then he was busy with the wedding and hence, didn't look after her. So I encouraged him to let her go. So now she is in the good hands of a friend of mine in Bakersfield, CA. I sold the '64 Sea Ray in '06. I still have the '58 Bell Boy Banshee and '59 Bell Boy 265 Hardtop. You'd like the Banshee because she is powered by a Merc. Matter of fact, both Bell Boy boats are, the latter is a modern 4 stoke Mercury. I'm thinking of selling the Banshee now that the Jet Flight is done. It's hard to let her go though; she's a beautiful finned glassic.

Eduardo

'58 Bell Boy Banshee




'59 Bell Boy 265 Hardtop

Can you tell, I'm a fan of the Northwest glassics.

Eduardo

Exceptional work,Eduardo!! I really love to see your completed projects.I think the Reinell is one of the best looking vintage boats ever made.

Eduardo, fantastic work!!!!!!!!!!! They all look great but I am a Jet Flight Fan, she looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

Thank you for the kind words Eduardo.
It looks fantastic.
Enjoy it forever.
Neil

Thanks Jim. I thought the same thing when I first saw Motorhead's back in '09. One of the best things about these Reinell Jet Flights is that they ride really comfortably. This is an incredible glassic for sure.

Eduardo

Thanks Bob. Have you ever seen a Reinell Jet Flight in person?

Eduardo

Thanks Neil. Did you recognize the trailer? It's the one that I got from you. I'll explain later.

Eduardo

...images.













Sanding process next...

Great Job Eduardo ! Love all your Northwest Boats - nice to see them coming back to life. Whats up with the red Reinell from Arlington ? Now that I have my Trailer done I hope to get the cob webs knocked off the flyer and possibly get it wet this year ??

I noticed you cut a hole in your dash for a flush mount speedo. I know from experience that can be a little intimidating lol.

Eduardo:

You did an excellent job on your boat! Very, very nice Sir!

Eduardo, unfortunatley I have not seen one in person, but want too. I'm hoping to get to a show or two this year and see what I can but I'm not sure my schedule will allow it.

Bob

Eduardo, I love the boat! Love the colors! Love the story!
It's so nice to see the restorations completed on this forum.
Can't wait until later this year when I get to shakedown the Buehler.

Very nice job Eduardo, nice to have a great lady behind you and it's clear your lady has your back! Beautiful story and inspiration hope you all have a great time on the water and off!

Thanks Rick (bhamrick). Yeah, I’m crazy for these Northwest boats, this one in particular. Yes, I'm in love with our newborn granddaughter, but as far as glassics, I’m also in love with Sweet Isabel. You’re next my friend, to see that beauty of a ’59 Larson Falls Flyer on the water this year. Looking forward to seeing her on the water.

Eduardo & Mercedes

Jim don't get me wrong, I was thinking to myself, "Don't screw up Eduardo." I surely didn't want to make a mistake on this one. The right hole had a Stewart Warner gauge flush mount. The left gauge was a surface mount. The right hole is actually bigger than the outside diameter of the three screw holes on the Airguide tach that I intended to use. So I made a large size stainless steal plate cut like a big flat washer to fit over the back of the Airguide gauge and yet wide enough to overlap the size of the open hole. I drilled the three holes on the SS plate for the tach, and that’s how I secured the gauge on the right side of the dash. Now for the left gauge, I had drilled a hole in the middle to accept a surface mount Airguide gauge. My sister was visiting and I wanted to show her how the gauges would look when done. Not knowing that I needed the center to drill out a 3” hole for a flush mount gauge. When I was ready to drill out the hole, it dawned on me what I had done. I think it was meant to be. I thought about it a while. I made a template instead. The three holes for the screws on the bezel were already drilled in the dash, so I had to make sure that the 3" hole on the dash would work with the existing holes for the screws. The template served two purposes. One to help drill the 3" hole exactly where I wanted, and secondly the template helped to prevent the hole saw from getting away from me. It worked great. Take a look.

Airguide template



Template secured to the original three holes in the dash...



Hole drill out







Eduardo

Thanks 1960RedG-3. We have something in common. We both have modern 4 stroke Mercury outboard on our glassics. I used to own a ’60 G3 as late as spring of 2013 before I sold her to a good friend in SoCal. Btw, your red G3 is beautiful. The Jet Flight and the G3 have subtle similarities like the long bow deck , seating at midship and dual cockpit. Even the hull are similar in design. The Jet Flight is just couple of feet longer.

Bob, I hope you do get to see one in person someday soon. I'm sure there is a Reinell Jet Flight in someone's garage or barn or in a yard or field somewhere. I just wonder how many do we know just in our glassic community.

Eduardo

Thank you Rick (Shelby18). Though I think red looks the best on water, my favorite color is the vintage blue on any glassic. Your Buehler is a top notch resto; she’s s beauty. I think I can speak for a lot of folks here; we hope your Buehler shakedown is every bit a success as the restoration. We look forward to seeing her on the water this year. So Rick, you have a date in mind for the Buehler shakedown?

Thanks bc buehler. Yes, I'm very fortunate to have a very supportive wife. She's my rock. We will definitely enjoy Sweet Isabel, and the fun will continue this Sunday with a small gathering of friends and their glassics cruising the rivers and sloughs in the California Delta.

Eduardo & Mercedes

Great job on a really cool boat. Beautiful. Some years ago I spent a week or so cruising the delta. I really enjoyed it, glad I brought a chart or two.

Hello Eduardo,
Thank you for the well wishes. Not sure of the date yet. Everything is frozen. With as cold as it's been perhaps April / May.

Nice Job,, I have had these side by side with a G-3 and the bottoms are very similar not 100 percent but close,,,I have ran 6cyl mercs and 4 cyl mercs and lovr running this boat,,Glad you got it done you will enjoy it Bill

Now that's a hell of a combo Bill !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

Thanks Normspeed. Yes, one can easily get lost in and around the California's Delta. We rarely go out by ourselves. We were just out there yesterday for a long cruise. Because of the severe drought here on the west coast, the Delta maybe the only place to run our glassics this year. Not giving hope yet though. Praying for rain in Feb and March. Did you cruise the Delta with a glassic boat? How long ago were you here on the Delta?

Eduardo

Hello Bill and thanks. Yours is the first restored Jet Flight that I have seen and along with Motorhead's Jet Flight, the two winged glassics and many of your pictures were two of my reasons for getting mine done. When they see her back end, they mention that I should paint the molded tail lights. Then I'll show them pictures of your Jet Flight, and that's exactly what they are talking about. My friend first saw Isabel on the water yesterday; he's a car guy and that's what he said. This winged glassic rides beautifully and we will definitely enjoy her; you'll see us on the water a lot with Isabel.

Bob, yes indeed. One of the better combos I think.

Eduardo

…was a challenge. She was heavily oxidized. First I started with 800 but that didn’t seem to work that well, so I went down to 600 wet sand paper, one pass, a couple passes with 800, then 1000, and worked my way to 1500. I was fortunate to have a decent thickness of the original gelcoat, because of the condition, I really had to be aggressive to get her original color back. It’s hard to say how many hours I put in her with just sanding alone, but I probably put in over 50 hours. Even after sanding with 800, you could really see her color coming back. I sanded the last pass with 1500. Take a look.

Eduardo

Excellent job. i did the same thing with my hull, only I started at 400 and went to 2000, then rubbing compound, polishing compound and then wax.

Bob

Your boat is GORGEOUS! My gel coats was too far gone to dream of sanding and buffing.

Hello Bob. Thank you. Wow, you really had to be more aggressive starting with the 400. I was a little apprehensive starting with 600 grit. To which boat are you referring? I don't think I've seen your fiberglass boat?

Eduardo

Thank you Andrew. I was very lucky to have the gelcoat condition like it was. I saw the link to your thread in your Signature. I'll have to catch up on it. What a project you are taking on. It's going to be so solid. Well done sir.

Eduardo

After the sanding was done, the next step was the polishing process. I polished first with a heavier grit polishing compound, then went with 3M Finesse It to finish it off. Then two coats of sealer, Starbrite with Teflon, and then finished with 3M Performance Paste wax, as described here on Fiberglassics.

It’s amazing to me how gelcoat can be restored to look not quite but almost new. I don't know but it's something about a gelcoat finish, maybe they way it feels or the warmth that it gives you. This finish turned out beyond my expectations. I mean I didn’t think the outcome would turn out like this. I’m very lucky I was able to restore her original gelcoat finish rather than having to apply a new finish. It's not perfect, but it's very presentable. There are stress marks hear and there, at a couple of corners of the center deck, and aft, the common areas. But these are very minimal, character marks I call them. I love this vintage color. What’s interesting too is the way they finished the color combo on this Jet Flight. Usually you’ll see the color along the center of the boat. This Jet Flight was the opposite, with the white color along the center and the vintage blue all throughout the deck. It's a great look. Here are some pictures after the polishing process.

Eduardo

Eduardo, I have been following your blog on your boat and I have to tell you that you have one nice boat, and you got the rite to be very proud of it. frog

Eduardo,
Here are before and after shots of the hull and whole boat.

1960 Wagemaker Empire Clipper 18'

Bob

frog wrote:

Eduardo, I have been following your blog on your boat and I have to tell you that you have one nice boat, and you got the rite to be very proud of it. frog

Thanks Frog. Took her on her first real test with other glassic owners this past weekend, 31 miles on the Delta. I'll post more pictures of that day later. Yes, I'm very proud of her. Thanks again Frog.

Eduardo

Waterwings wrote:

Eduardo,
Here are before and after shots of the hull and whole boat.

1960 Wagemaker Empire Clipper 18'

Bob

Bob, way to get her shine back. It's a lot of work and a lot of sanding to get her looking like that. She looks fantastic. Well done.

Eduardo

Thanks Eduardo, yeah it was a lot of work but I'm happy with the results. The $20 Harbor freight 10" buffer didn't hurt when it came to rubbing and polishing compound time either.

Bob