jrork

Hi everyone. Been a lurker for years but now am gonna bite the bullet and ask a question.

I recently picked up a 1983 Eliminator Daytona as a project.

Upon removing the interior and scraping off the old carpet glue I began to notice that the deck is a different color fabric than the rest of the boat.

It's a dark gray material and has a completely different sound when I run the scrapper across it removing the old carpet glue.

Here's a picture. At first blush I thought this might be Carbon due to the color but did they use this type of material back in the 80's?



I should also mention that this is a featherlight boat that was built with no gunnel supports, lightened bulkheads and the stringers are only 3/4" x 1 1/2".

Thanks a bunch for any thoughts and ideas you might have.........john

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

Doubt its carbon beiing an eighty three but ya hever know. Looks painted black to me or possibly done with a tinted resin. I'm on my droid sitting in a diesle emissions seminar at the IBEX show at the moment and can't really see the pic to well

jrork

Hah! I thank Droid everytime Im in a dull meeting or seminar. I'll try for some better pictures. On the backside of the deck it has balsa over the top of it as well and I cant imagine why they would paint it and then adhere balsa over it.

With that said, im usually wrong more than I'm right so who knows. I also have a email into Eliminator in the off chance that they make keep records this old. Thanks for the help. i really appreciate it

jrork

Here's a couple more under the deck where meets the sides and you can see the color again in the top left and top right corners of the pictures (as well as part of the gel coat colors shining thru the glass on the sunny side of the boat).

Excuse the mess as I just got this boat....

jrork

Wow! What a day.

In trying to find out some of the layup schedule for my new project I thought I would email Eliminator Boats to see if they could provide some information by my HIN#.

I couldn’t believe it when they replied “Is there a phone number that you would be available at? Bob Leach would like to call you”.

I damn near filled my pants wondering what the heck would somebody like Bob want to talk to me for but needless to say, I sent them my cell phone number.

They then responded asking “if it would be alright if he called me later as he just left for lunch?” Holy crap, of course it’s okay. Sheesh, I still can’t imagine what he wanted to talk to me about. I was like a little kid on Xmas Eve.

Well, he called about 1:30 and while I didn’t know what to expect given all he has accomplish, I found him to be an unbelievably modest and soft spoken gentleman. He apologized that they didn’t keep records past 10 years given the space requirements but more than anything just wanted to hear how I found the boat and where I lived. He was genuinely interested in where we all boat up here and THANKED ME, for buying an Eliminator (even if it’s a 1983). I tell ya, you could have pushed me over with a feather.

He then discussed things like my stringer replacement job, where to look to determine what materials were used in the construction of the boat, how they would spray black gel on the inside of the hull during the gel process to make sure they didn’t have any blister, how they used stair step material for stringers and a number of other tricks and tips.

Without question, I consider that conversation with Bob to be an honor and I wished him the very best. A true gentleman that clearly appreciates the boating community.

So there's the answer to my CF question though he wetted my appetite on the Kevlar question due to some questions and ideas he through out there. Gonna have to research that as well.

Thanks again GlassDave (and Artie)...

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

that was gonna be my next guess, some manufacturers spray black gel between the final outer skin and the first stabilizing layer of mat. Thats cool they called ya back and helped out with the Q&A

Waveform

iTrader: (1)

Another Reason I love This Industry! Could you ever imagine "Mr. Ferrari" Calling you back or for that matter even admitting they made cars in 1983? (I'm sure they'd like to forget some of those)

jrork

No doubt about it. It's clear Bob is very proud of his boats. Thanks again guys for the help........john