Bottom refurbish, Spirit 175

R

Rotten Tamago

New Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2025
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Age
35
Model
Spirit
Hi, I'm sure this has been asked and answered many times, sorry in advance but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

Earlier this year I rescued a Grady White Spirit 175 that had been sitting under a pine tree for about 20 years. It has been a lot of work, but I've splashed it and spilled blood. Worth it. I will probably have to wait for spring, but I want to work on a plan for making the outside pretty again.

Pictures attached. Simply, what would you do?
 

Attachments

  • 20251030_082629.jpg
    20251030_082629.jpg
    972.4 KB · Views: 12
  • 20251030_102836.jpg
    20251030_102836.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 12
  • 20251030_102822-2.jpg
    20251030_102822-2.jpg
    2.3 MB · Views: 12
  • Like
Reactions: mjm1957
Rotten Tamago said:
Pictures attached. Simply, what would you do?
Click to expand...

Remove all paint on the bottom to gelcoat either by making a huge mess or have it soda blasted what i suggest.
Then see what you finde below the old layers of antifouling, hopefully no problems.
Close all holes, cracks, dings and nicks and then either have new gelcoat sprayed or apply barrier coat and then paint/AF
Polish all above water gelcoat
Chris
 
If by "pretty", you mean getting back to gelcoat on the bottom... that is a BIG chore... both in time and money. The easier route is to sodablast the bottom to get old/flaky paint off and then re-bottom paint it. The alternative to sodablasting is some combination of scraping/sanding/chemical peeling. Or... just powerwash and give it a light scrape where needed and repaint.

A couple quick things I noticed... the transom drain tubes need attention... is the transom core compromised? Also, looks like someone used plain steel nuts for the motor bracket bolts?
 
DennisG01 said:
If by "pretty", you mean getting back to gelcoat on the bottom... that is a BIG chore... both in time and money. The easier route is to sodablast the bottom to get old/flaky paint off and then re-bottom paint it. The alternative to sodablasting is some combination of scraping/sanding/chemical peeling. Or... just powerwash and give it a light scrape where needed and repaint.

A couple quick things I noticed... the transom drain tubes need attention... is the transom core compromised? Also, looks like someone used plain steel nuts for the motor bracket bolts?
Click to expand...

Thanks to all for the replies. I'll probably go with the cheapest acceptable option, as this was the cheapest acceptable fishing boat I could find that would work on the Puget Sound. Powerwash, light sanding? and repaint.

Transom is surprisingly solid. I'll look into replacing or refurbishing the tubes and checking further for damage. Also I just grabbed whatever nuts I found at the hardware store a couple months back. I will replace when they start to turn, I suppose. It has definitely been a learning experience.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.