TOPIC: Newly acquired 1973 Arrow Glass Cheetah

Hi-
New to this forum, and to this boat. Was just given this boat from my in-laws (father-in-law bought it new in '73). It hasn't been in the water since 2005, and has been sitting in my brother-in-law's pole barn since then. As far as I can see the only obvious issue is a couple of soft spots on the deck, and a 5" surface gouge on the front center hull. Am expecting there to be more wood rot inside and plan to do a complete restoration. Luckily the engine and outdrive have been very well maintained, and I also have vol. 1 and 2 of the Mercruiser service manual just in case. Where would I find a matching color finish (gelcote?) for the exterior areas that need repair? Can't wait to get started on this project!

Bill

Wow what a clean boat... Well you sure cant beat the price and it looks to be ready to go for you. Congrats on the new toy! Im new here as well with a 73 Bell Boy so It looks like we are in the same boat... well you know what I mean.

Looks like a great find Bill, and welcome aboard. I've heard there are several companies who will try to color match gel coat for you with a sample, maybe some of the others can chime in and advise. I have also seen kits you can custom mix your own colors to get as close as possible, sorry but I'm not much help on this. Keep us posted on your progress please.

From an ex-boat dealer, matching to any gelcoat that has had sun exposure is all but impossible. All the other ideas are good, but one will see the patch in the gelcoat. Master auto painters can come the closest.

Thanks Metal Twister, that Bell Boy is SWEET!!
What an amazing find. Talk about being at the right place at the right time!

Thanks Mark! Really looking forward to getting restoration under way. I'll be adding pics to the gallery as the project moves along.
Can't believe how much information is out there on repair and restoring fiberglass finishes. Still have a lot of research to do!

Well, now that winter is upon us, it's time to get busy with a little de-construction.
Have already removed the engine, and a lot of the deck. It looks like the cap is going to have to come off, and will probably remove the inside glass on the transom in order to inspect for rot, and to provide a clean surface for the new stringers to glue to.
I have to give a LOT of credit to Frisco Boater for giving me the kahunas to move forward with this project from watching his videos out on youtube.

Pictures to follow

When you say you are taking the cap off,do you mean your removing the rub rail and popping the top deck off ? If so before I even thought about that I would try drilling a few pilot holes in the transom from the inside to check for any rot if that's where your going with the removal. If the shavings are dry I would fill in the holes and move on. Not sure what you mean by new runners,please fill me in.

My bad, what I meant to say was stringers.
Actually the transom appears to be fine, although I am still going to remove the inside fiberglass skin in order to reveal the whole thing. I suspect there may be rot along the bottom in the bilge area.
As much as I would like to NOT remove the rub rail,cap/top deck (sorry, still not well versed in all of the nomenclature), I think it will be necessary to do so. The problem is the wood rot extends into the bow and stringers (core?), and the only way to get to it would be to remove the top deck because the bow area is a big tub that does not leave any accessible clearance underneath it.
What type of wood should I use to replace the rotten stringers, and deck sheeting? The sheeting is plywood, but should it be treated, non-treated and glassed on underside. Not sure what wood was used for the stringers.

Let me tell you how I did it.and it works 110 Percent!

Take some 400 grit sandpaper and a block and sand an area about 6 " x 6" then go back over it with 1000 grit ( skip the other grits you wont need them) same area....then buff it with with some dupont course rubbing compound.....do it on the side of the boat. Use a buffer set on number 2

Now you will have a beautiful finished spot for your color match

go to a automotive paint store that sells dupont paint for cars.

They have a set of books with 20 colors of blue shades. he color samples have small holes in them.....move the color samples around until the hole match's your color and you cant see the hole anymore.

Now you have your color. ...have them mix up a pint of that color and sent it off to any one of several Gel Coat match guys...

Or contact me and I will give you a good guy to do this..772 321 4753

I just did a full restoration of a 1970 Buehler. I had a blood red stripe that none of the local guys could match. I did it myself and you cannot tell the color from orginal........its dead dead on the money and the reds are tough tough!

Ok, so almost two years later she's almost done. Hope to put her in this weekend. Will be the first time in ten years she's been in the water!
Wound up completely stripping her down to nothing, new stringers, new deck, new upholstery, etc...

Here's the latest pics I placed in my gallery:

www.fiberglassics.com/gallery/category/422-1973-arrow-glass-cheetah.html






And a year later....