Admittedly this effort has been sporadic and limited to an hour here and there. Picked up an 11 year old hull with help from Mr. MrCrea. Wood was solid but sorely neglected and the hull is in decent shape with a ding here and there.
Stripped all the bright work and sanded, sanded, sanded bringing it to bare wood. Applied the initial oil coats and need a couple more (this week) before re-assemble.
I will lower the seat from the 1" drops to about 4" and may cant the seat a bit.
Now the question. What is a good cleaner-de-oxidizer for the royalex hull. Simple Green or other cleansers will work but wondering if someone has a potion to work wonders on royalex without damage.
I bought the damn thing for a creek basher but once started of course, want to make it brand new again.
BTW, first chance to do a paddle trip this year will be May 17-20. Float and fish at RAYSTOWN below the dam and perhaps in the lake as well.
I have friends meeting me at my camp about 30 minutes from the dam, one from TN and one from SC. Both are native PA boys and we are looking forward to it!
Thanks in advance for any tips.
Cheers
Wes
Hey Wes
Have you been taking any pictures? If so can you post ‘em? …love to see the before and after shots…
I thoroughly enjoyed that brief demo in your Guide at Raytown Lake. Recently I had another opportunity to paddle another Guide on a river. In moving water that hull design really comes into its own. Being fairly similar in height and weight I think this is a great hull for us tall guys. As a tall guy who likes to canoe dance a bit while running rivers and such I think the Guide is fantastic. Being so accustomed to the sticky stern of my old Wildfire RX I find the “playfuness” of the Guide a real treat. The guy I switch boats with that day on the river was not particularly tall, but was in our weight range – perhaps a bit heftier. Interestingly he was pretty mute about his reaction to the Wildfire RX – all I could get out of him was: “Wow – it’s sure is narrow!” I think it made him a little nervous… but maybe I’m reading that in… Both boats have rock solid secondary – the Wildfire isn’t nearly as steady initially.
Anyway, glad you got that canoe, glad you’re refinishing the rails. I’m sure it’ll look great when you’re done. As to sprucing up the hull… I say scrub it down with some detergent, dry it off and slather some 303 on it. That stuff does a lot to make a dull hull look better.
- Randall
Arkay, think I have a couple
"Before" pics taken at Raystown last fall. I’ll make it a point to shoot a few “under construction” pics. Right now the hull is nekkid and still needs cleaned up. The rails and thwarts and such have two coats of oil on them and need another two or three before re-assemble.
Looking forward to putting her on the water with the new seat height. FUN boat.
Wes
Wes, I have an “old” Guide also. The
surface is vinyl, and so a mild vinyl cleaner might be a good start. Just be careful if the ABS is exposed anywhere. On my Guide, the previous owner wore the vinyl off the ABS under the ends of the bow and stern. It shows as a pale greenish substance amidst the surrounding tan vinyl.
If the ABS is exposed, just make sure that any vinyl cleaner you use does not contain aggressive solvents. An aggressive solvent might smell like the solvent in VynaBond, which will soften ABS.
Start with a mild vinyl cleaner, and see how it works. The “shine” of a new Guide can be restored with 303 or McNetts, after you get the crud off.
Thanks G2D
Good info on the Vinyl cleaner.
The ABS is only exposed on the top edge of the hull which sandwiches between the rails.
I will do a light sanding to that edge just to remove the dirt and then apply 303.
Will post pics as I go.
Cheers
Wes
Yeah, I don’t see that because I have
the vinyl rails.