I have a 1970 Wriedt Flatbottom BOAT BAR ......
that I just finished building and it doesnt have any power other than what the bartender brings to the people enjoying it!!!!!
It all started when somebody on the boards was trying to get rid of a good ole hull that just needed a new place to stay. Well it got delivered and was going to be a long term project for something to do in my spare time but ended up getting fast tracked into a finished product in less than 3 weeks for a party we were having.
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The boat hull was already completely dismantled and nothing was in it but a seat. We got it off the trailer onto a dolly I had and the ideas started churning on what to do with it. First I was going to cut it in half lengthwise and make a half bar out of it, something that could mount to or sit against a wall. Then I figured I have the space to have a whole boat so why not use the whole thing as a sit around bar! --- so it was determined to use it all and the interior area would be the bar back and the deck and sides would be where the fun happened.
The seat upholstery is well used but I figured something could be done with it so it went to the sidelines for work later. Then a choice as to paint had to be determined. The original gelcoat on the hull was in somewhat decent condition (for a ratboat) and then there was some paint on the deck and down the sides of a maroon color with a clear that was peeling off. It looked like someone tried to copy the Panic Mouse scheme at some point in its history and fell short. I started sanding that clear off and the paint came right off with it and the primer underneath that. The gold metalflake gelcoat started revealing itself underneath all that garbage and it was pretty nice! I wet sanded an area of it and with water on it it popped like brand new again! So I got my painter over next and we decided if I could get all that paint off and there were no MAJOR gel damages on the entire deck we would save it! - just wet sand it and put a coat of clear over the whole thing.
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Only problem was that the cap once had a bump-rail all the way around it and it was gone. I didnt have time to find and replace it so we decide to fill it all in. The black metalflake gel around the edges would be lost and we would have to paint over it. I chose a charcoal metalflake to do that in and cover the cap all the way around with it. So the paint scheme was decide... all we had to do was SAND IT!
I would be removing the seat and the cross member panel behind the seat and would have to do some glasswork to infill where it joined the sides of the deck cap. The placement of these support panels would also become the separation between the ice chest and wet bar on one side and the bottle shelves and the storage on the other. So the plywood supports remained.
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With the seat out, I set out to cut the floor between the stringers only to keep the basic structure of the boat and to use these areas for bar needs. 1 side was going to be an ice chest and the other for storage. I cut it out on the top side first and then flipped the boat over and routered the edge flush with the stringers from the bottom side. It was no easy task flipping this HEAVY ASS boat hull over by myself. Well my wife did help with cranking the come-a-long! Thanks! :wink2: and then back over again!!!
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The extra area under the front deck was cut out to make room for a mini fridge that would be housing my "kegerator". The design of having three legs up front would also act as a tri-pod to support the fridge so it would be part of the boat.
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After all the cutting was done it was woodworking time and I built all the legs out of 4x4 pine, cut to length routered the edges to give some lines to them and then mounted them with castors and to the bottom of the boat. Also did all the filling of the stringers holes with dowels and plugs so that they were smooth all the way down their length and sanded them off clean. I left a drain hole in the bottom of the ice chest area and would use a boat plug for that. Sanding and more sanding came along the way and more paint prep time would be on the following weeks list of things to do. But it was a roller now!!!!
I sanded most of the old stuff off with 120 grit during the evenings after work and invited my kids and their friends over the last weekend I had to help out. I gave them a quick lesson in sanding and then wet sanding. They finished it all off over that weekend!!! it was a great effort!!! Then it was fun getting the painter scheduled around his own shop time and visiting my backyard for a paint job too! and then also throw in a pinstriper to get involved too and only a week left to do it all!!!
...:bananadance:
Then the first color was layed down.... the charcoal looked nice against the gold background. The gold didnt look so hot at this point... the next day would get the clear on it.... its all coming together!
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Then it was cleared !!!
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And all the pinstriping was done ....
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The boat made its debut at the party on time, but it is still just needing some final completion finishes done to it. I have plans to do some more pinstriping, the kegerator will be completed soon and the tap will be coming out of the dash. Also the gauges for the CO2 and the Beer regulator will be in the dash and sized to look like car gauges, the reg adjuster will come out the dash too and look like a fuel shutoff valve, Im also having some custom instrument panels painted. I have a metal flake steering wheel to go on it now too that I found recently.
I will keep the updates and upgrades coming along as they progress.
