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Hi, I just recently got a 1982 Montauk and I'm looking into the many aspects of restoration. The inside hull has much UV damage and splits and cracks. Is this the Gel coat? Is it worth fixing and is there a way to do Gel touch up rather than a whole new finish?
Also, this boat has a 1999 Johnson 60 horse, which has sat with gas for 3 years. It runs rough, the seller said it's due to shellacing in the carb. This must be a common problem, any recommendations for fixing it? Solvents?
Thanks in advance!:)

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Jarrod,

I can't tell you about the crazing and cracks on the inside of the hull without seeing it. I would have a professional look at to see what they think.

As far as the engine. Again, have a professional look at. Once you get the engine right, then you know what you have. Peace of mind for sure. You can enjoy the boat while you work on the rest of the restoration.

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Jarrod, I had the same problem with my 1973 Whaler. What I did was use a heavy rubbing compound and buffed the entire boat out. This restored the natural color, sealed the cracks providing a glossy finish. The older Whaler's are known to develope cracks and bleaching from the sun. Not to worry.........You wont sink. I have also seen others coat the interior of their boats with the rhino linning you often see sprayed in the back of their pick-ups. If the cracks are severe, and cause water to infultrate the core, you should seek professional help. Cosmetic surface cracking happens. Good Luck!

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Like Joe said, difficult to say without seeing them.. I had some small cracks in mine around the transom and bow locker. I bought the gel coat repair kit from my local BW dealer and rubbed it into the cracks and wiped off the excess, not perfect but it makes them much less noticeable

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Thanks for the advice. The cracks are all very small, only cosmetic. I tried some 3M Fiberglass restorer/wax. It works great, but I'll need a buffer to do the whole boat.
This boat also has a peeling blue undercoat, any product suggestions for the rubbing compound and to strip the blue undercoat?
Next project looks like rewiring the console, it's a mess! Wires are broken off, missing and corroded! If anyone know where I can find diagrams or shecmatics, it would be a huge help! I'm thinking it would be good to install a 12V bus strip to allow me to power my fishfinder, cd player, radio...etc.

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Jarrod,

There aren't any wiring diagrams as Whaler only included the light switch panel with the boat when new. The majority of the instrument rigging was done by the dealers when they installed the engine.
At that time, you could choose which engine and gauges you wanted to add to your boat so the rigging was done at the time of installation.
There is a generic wiring diagram in the downloads section of this site which would help you get started. There is also a wiring diagram for the light system of Outrages and Montauks in the article section on how to properly connect the light switch. The Montauk is only slightly different than the Outrage series.
http://www.whalercentral.com/readarti...icle_id=51

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Jarrod,

By "peeling blue undercoat" I presume you mean old anti-fouling bottom paint. If this is correct, there are no magical ways to remove it. Chemical strippers *may* be worthwhile but they must be OK to use on gel coat. Most regular paint strippers will destroy gel coat.

A friend of mine uses a razor blade on a hand made scraper handle to literally peel the bottom paint off, or most of it anyway. He then wet sands the remainder off by hand. If an epoxy barrier coat was used first, this may not work. If the hull was vigorously sanded with course grit sand paper before the first coat went on, it may not work.

Try a small test area to develop the best technique for you and your boat. Be very careful about the paint that is removed as it is toxic and you don't want it to get flushed down the drain, gutter or what have you.

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Thanks everyone. The blue easily chips off and is clean white underneath, I hope that's consistent on the whole boat! I'll wait till spring for the remainder of that job, I think I'll use some 3m pads on a drill, unless I find a good chem stripper that's gel coat safe.
First priority is getting this engine up to par. It's a '99 Johnson 60 Horse, running rough becayse the previous ownner let it sit with gas for 3 years! Hope it's just a simple carb clean out.