Hobie Cat Forums

This thread will show my progress on restoring an 1989 Hobie Magnum. It was purchased in July, 2011 for $1600 in terrible shape, as can be seen in the pictures. New, the hulls were the Gunsmoke Blue color of the "Stars and Stripes" scheme. The owner had painted over this using the single-part polyurethane Pettit Easypoxy. Severely faded, I tried to buff out the paint but the surface was still rough from brush marks and had scratches all the way through the gel-coat. I ultimately decided to strip, fix, and paint using Imron. Here we go...

Day 1 - The day of purchase



Mold and Mildew



Tramp Area


Wings




Rudder Area

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1989 Hobie 18 Magnum "Rhapsody"
2007 Hobie Tiger

I made new cradles for the trailer, using info from other posts on this site:

1) Used 10" PVC sewer pipe material, cut into thirds.
2) Heated at 200 degrees for an hour in the over
3) Placed on the hulls with a thick blanket inbetween, clamped with straps and sprayed with water to cool
4) Cut mounting blocks from pressure-treated 2x4
5) Used stainless steel pipe clamps as mounts
6) Used stainless steel bolts through the cradles into the blocks, and screws into the sides.
6) Used PEX tubing as a sleeve for the galvanized roller shafts

Cutting the blocks to the shape of the heat-formed PVC




PEX Tubing for the shaft sleeve


Finished mounts, with offset so they fall backwards on the trailer

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1989 Hobie 18 Magnum "Rhapsody"
2007 Hobie Tiger

The aluminum and cast components were cleaned, lightly sanded, primed, and painted with Rustoleum "Universal" paint. I chose this path versus a more expensive automotive paint so that I could easily touch-up areas as they needed it. The paint took forever to dry completely (a couple weeks) but it really hard now.

Painted Components

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1989 Hobie 18 Magnum "Rhapsody"
2007 Hobie Tiger

I first pressure washed the whole boat and tried to buff out the Easypoxy paint, which was faded really badly and had deep brush marks. It looked much better, but wasn't the finish I was looking for. There were also several deep scratches all the way through the paint on the sides and bottom.

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1989 Hobie 18 Magnum "Rhapsody"
2007 Hobie Tiger

I removed every component off of the hulls and sanded off the Easypoxy paint, fixed all the dings and scratches, sanded and primed. This was a HUGE effort, way more than I had bargained for. A friend of mine at Tempest Cycles (http://www.tempestcycles.com) did all of the paint work in his paint booth.

Here are the hulls in the paint booth, ready for the sealer coat



Now the sealer coat



Then we painted the bottoms, Imron Marlin Blue



Then the decks, Imron Snow White



Oh Yeah!!!! The final result after setting for a couple of days in the paint booth

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1989 Hobie 18 Magnum "Rhapsody"
2007 Hobie Tiger

I'll post more pictures as I finish the reassembly and finally get her back on the water.

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1989 Hobie 18 Magnum "Rhapsody"
2007 Hobie Tiger

Wow great job.. I have the same boat, except the wings, with the same colors.. I also got it for 1600 and painted it with Imron.

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Andres.

D*mn that is one shiny boat ... I needed to put on my prescription sunglasses (so I can't wear no "CHEAP SUNGLASSES" .... Ha Ha ... ) to look at the pic's. I know how much work it was to sand off the poor paint job ... (Don't ask me for details, but it involved my first Hobie, a H16 w/ origonal 3-digit Sail Numbers ...)

Nice job on the cradles ....

From the pic's I have the following quick observations ...

1) Your upper gudgeon is wearing into the rudder casting (SS vs Cast Aluminum ...) ... the quick fix is placing a SS Flat Washer between the Upper Gudgeon and the Rudder Casting

2) Mast Caddy: The one you have is no longer availible ... but highly desirable. See how it pinches together when tightened down to the rear crossbar ... they eventually supplied a block to be inserted between the upper and lowwer pieces that wrap/clamp around the crossbar. It was approximently 1" thick ... I drilled holes in both the block and the mast caddy and tied a small line between them in case it fell out while trailering. Also, see how the caddy is canted .... I have a long (10' ?) 3/8 dia bungie cord w/ hooks that I wrap around the mast caddy and that I hook onto the tramp lacing near the mast base while trailering. This "pre-loads" the caddy and helps keep the mast caddy in place while trailering, since the trailer flexes but the mast remains the same length ... the result is that the mast caddy "rocks" back and forth to the point that sometimes it comes off the rear crossbar ==> then the mast rests on the rudder crossbar or the rear crossbar ==> possibly damaging the Comptip track.

3) I can see "reinforcements" at the front crossbar ... but I don't see them at the shrouds or rear crossbars. The shrouds' reinforcements are easy to install, the rear crossbar are a little tougher since they don't fit too well there. I eventually just reinforced the rear crossbar cradles internally w/ fiberglass cloth and WEST Epoxy since I too have Magnum Wings.

4) Magnum Wings: You have the "later" production one's w/ the additional strut that was added between the larger diameter curved pipe and the smaller diameter outer support pipe ... they are the most desirable. Do you have a "Trailoring Mag Wing Support"? The origonal one was constructed of 1"dia (?)pipe, attached to the mastbase and the other end had plastic fittings that clamped around the inside/inboard larger dia pipe. There are currently plans availible to make a Wing Support for Trailering, using PVC pipe and fittings. For added safety always tie your wings together when trailer to prevent them from "opening" unexpectedly while "motor-ating" downthe highway at speed. (That could REALLY ruin your day ... along w/ others ...)

5) You may wish to consider moving your front trailer crossbar slightly forward (if possible) ... that will help support the "bow section" more, that is in effect cantilevered from that point forward when on the trailer. The H18 hull from the front crossbar forward is the heaviest part of the hulls .... moving that trailer crossbar forward 6 inches or even 1 ft makes a big difference and helps spread the support out to the hulls that is provided by the trailer

6) Did you mark the trailer tongue so that you know where the bows of the boat must be, sitting on the trailer ... and you can make a "SHARP" turn and not dent your towing vehicle w/ those EXTREMELY nicely newly pianted hulls of yours? ( a lesson learned the hard way ....)

Nice Job ... and it SHOWS !!!

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

I re-checked the pic's after posting ... I noticed the shroud supports in the "pre-painting" pic ... I just couldn't see them in the "beach pic"/"post painting" pic ...

D*MN it must be those hulls ... they sure are shiny ...

(Your "Hotstick" is getting furry ... you can paint it ... or ... cover it w/ 1/8" Neoprene using contact cement .... (check my old posts ... the process is mentioned somewhere ...)

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

The result looks awesome, I love it.

Can you give me a few more details about painting with the Irmon? I have a hobie 16 the fiance insists we make purple. I would love to go with Irmon or Awlgrip but Perfection looks a little more forgiving.

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2001 Nacra 20
84 H16 108123

Thanks Harry, I appreciate all the input.

I installed washers between the upper gudgeons and rudder casting, just as you had suggested.

The mast holder had stress cracks everywhere and I didn't trust it with any kind of repairs so I went with a stainless rear mast support that clamps to the trailer. It requires that the boat be pretty far forward on the trailer, so I'll be sure to check the turning issue, and also will look into moving the front cradles further forward.

I hadn't considered putting the extra support at the rear crossbar but will think about it.

Thanks Again,

Mark

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1989 Hobie 18 Magnum "Rhapsody"
2007 Hobie Tiger

Hi Bacho,

Regarding the Imron....I had looked into Awlgrip as an alternative and the Perfection products as well. I wanted an extremely durable finish that would still look great many years from now and Imron kept coming up as the preference when I searched the internet. My friend with the paint booth had a lot of experience with Imron so that made the final decision for me. Dupont makes a marine version, but we actually used the aircraft (AF400) version because you can get it in quarts and the activator in pints, whereas the marine version required buying more material than I needed. We ended up using 3 quarts of the blue and about 1 1/4 quarts of white, at $75/quart from our local supplier. When you add the two-part epoxy primer and sealer, I spent over $400 in materials. He's getting free sailing lessons and ultimately use of the boat in exchange for his talent with the spray gun and time in the paint booth. A good win/win for both of us.

Mark

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1989 Hobie 18 Magnum "Rhapsody"
2007 Hobie Tiger

Ok, just about finished putting her back together. Here's an updated picture showing the pinstriping on the starboard hull.

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1989 Hobie 18 Magnum "Rhapsody"
2007 Hobie Tiger

she's a beauty! great job.

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Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

That's a sharp looking boat. Nice work.

One thing I noticed in your last pic, you have the bridle wires (jib furler) connected to the jib sheets and the wires are drooping down. Never let your bridle wires point in any direction other then up when they're connected to the bow tangs. If you let them drop down or pull them back with the jib sheets, they will develop a kink right at the terminal fitting and that kink will eventually cause the wire to fail.

If you're going to leave the bridles connected to the boat, tie the jib furler UP so it hangs from the mast. Or even better, remove the bridle wires completely (which is what I do). This prevents damage to the bridle wires and also makes it easier to walk around your boat when it's on the trailer.

sm