Riva Ariston Restoration, a journal

dustoff135 · Post by **dustoff135** » Fri May 13, 2011 8:13 am

Awesome, good things seem to happen for me also on Friday the 13th.

mfine · Post by **mfine** » Fri May 13, 2011 8:25 am

Try to get more stain on the wood than on you and it should be a success. Congrats on the milestone!

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Sun May 15, 2011 8:05 pm

Yes, even being very careful I got stain on me. Wouldn't be a good day without it.

Back from a 5 day trip can ended with stain on the boat. I arrived first thing Friday morning and Rudy have the boat fully sanded and two coats of sealer on the deck. The Kaya deck does not get stain so he sealed to protect it in case any stain got on it. First was to mask off the deck area that included the outer strip of spruce. Then we were ready. Dave Lobb and Rudy have developed their own stain over many years and it is not a traditional paste stain but rather a thinner liquid with ink dies etc. Rudy applied the stain and I rubbed off. It went on great and I am very happy with the color match of our original parts. Keep in mind these pics are with my crappy phone camera. The boat started getting sealer and varnish Monday morning. Target for the completion of 20 coats is July 1st.

Thanks for reading.

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Sat May 21, 2011 10:03 am

Just a quick couple of pics with varnish. The color is a bit off due to the flash on the camera but Rudy and I are very happy with the stain results. Also the contrast from the deck to coverboards was just what we were looking for. The deck is not bleached just sanded and straight varnish.

mfine · Post by **mfine** » Sat May 21, 2011 10:20 am

Dayem! If the steering wheel wasn't on the wrong side, I might be jealous of that beauty!

Reginald Down · Post by **Reginald Down** » Sat May 21, 2011 2:07 pm

Don - It's so much fun to click on this thread and join with you to experience your Riva's successful restoration process. Rudy and the guys at Northwest Classic Boats are certainly doing a great job.

With every update it just continues to look better, and better. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Mon May 30, 2011 11:08 am

While Rudy continues with the varnish I continue to work in the garage on the interior panels and a few little parts.

I can't think of a better way to spend Memorial Day. So this weekend I got the panels final prepped, stained with the hull stain sent from Rudy and moved into varnish.

Rudy's stain is not a paste-filler stain exactly but rather uses natural ink's and earth dye's. Northwest Classic Boats sells one of the most accepted pre-war CC stains you can get. Not cheap but well worth it as it is very easy to apply.

I put on two coats of thinned Captain's and then will put on two coats of full strength today.

Also, I started working with the other vendors on the parts for the rest of the boat.

I hope to post pics from both Van Ness on the engine and Dale Kocian on the instruments.

Safe Boating

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:39 pm

Fourteen coats and first coat of bottom paint.

Reginald Down · Post by **Reginald Down** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:49 pm

Looks great Don. You can almost smell the varnish by looking at the large version of the photo!

jfrprops · Post by **jfrprops** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:18 am

Way beyond my level.....unreal.....

John in Va.

Jim Godlewski · Post by **Jim Godlewski** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 4:46 am

Don,
She's coming together and looking great. Very nice!

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:04 am

Thanks for the comments.

It's interesting that Rudy likes the last four coats to be Epifanes over the Captain's. He said it has something to do with the hardness. He waits two to three weeks and then does the final coat to allow it to shrink then he wet sands with 2000g, then polish with 3m stuff.

I think from that point it will be all down hill as I mar and scuff the finish putting it together.

If you think wiring a Chris is fun check out what I have in store for myself in the fall.(similar boat pictured)

I'm not starting from scratch but I have to get it all back looking 100% new. See pic of what was there when I bought my boat.

Mark Campbell · Post by **Mark Campbell** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:00 pm

Don, no words to describe how nice this will be.

If you find a brief moment for my eternal curious learning nature, could you please describe how too whats and whys of the green (what is the green material), does the hose trickle water? What layer is there besides green material.

Never having seen this, it strikes me as a must know. I have a 1942 17 special with completed wood (no stain) it was as tight as marble when done (not by me) and has sat for 2 years. I wish to continue and do not want to miss a method that looks like swelling of some kind. Thank you for your time. Mark Campbell

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:09 pm

BenAbout, I believe the green that you are referring to is the plastic sheeting in the first page of photos on this thread. Correct. If so, that is part of the vacuum bagging process, with the tub sucking the air out. Eliminates voids in the lamination and acts like a big clamp over the entire hullside.

mfine · Post by **mfine** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:28 pm

Hillside? Bill, I think you are spending too much time at woodyboater!

Think of vacum bagging as an incredible dream come true clamp. It always pushes perpendicular to the surface, even with complex curves, and with 12-14 lbs of force per square inch, you can get close to 130,000 lbs of force squeezing a 4x8 sheet of plywood from both sides.

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 5:25 pm

Ha. Good catch. Fixed. Spellcheck would at least pick up some of Woody's though.

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 9:15 pm

Gang;

A fantastic day in Auburn CA.

Got to Northwest Classic Boats at 9 Am with John Freeman and a 26' Penske truck. John and Rudy made short work of loading the finished Riva inside the truck with just 1" to spare on each side. I on the other hand was nervious as Hell watching it all go down. The boat is on the road to Oklahoma and should be home late Sat.

I took pictures with a better camera and can't download here at the ariport but I did snap this pic with my cell phone. I'll post more pics as the weekend unfolds.

PS, Matt, did you notice I'm wearing my WB shirt??

mfine · Post by **mfine** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 9:46 pm

I gotta ask...why not just tow it if it is already on a trailer? I would think it would be easier to wrap it to protect the finish from road hazards than to slip her into a truck.

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:22 pm

A resonable question...

1. Completely safe and protected inside truck
2. Trailer not the greatest
3. An extra $500 cost to shrink wrap
4. 20 coats of fresh finish, I don't want anything touching it
5. Another boat being towed behind the truck so cost is being split.
6. I sent the boat out with a bunch of interior parts and all the lumber. Got some 24' lumber left over so can't haul that on a boat trailer.

So all in all it just worked out.

Pics

raymondwhite · Post by **raymondwhite** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:32 pm

Let's see some closeups of that dash. Looks awesome. Fun day.

mfine · Post by **mfine** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:35 pm

That boat looks incredible in the photos! Get her in the water and tell me when to visit.

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:06 pm

The dash was a fun experience (I jest). It took me nearly a year to get the right Formica made. I was very fortunate to find that Wilson Art (out of Texas) has a custom design lab for small runs. I was able to talk with them about doing it and then the next challenge was the art work to replicate the original. They weren’t using computers back in 1959

That is where Basler stepped in. I sent the original sample to a graphics person and after looking at it said no way. Basler said he would take a crack at it.

Everyone thinks the Bell is a great looking publication but that is not all the Bazz can do. This guy is a true professional graphics designer and an expert with the tools to create. Thank you Bill for your passion and for helping me make it happen. Bill can't work for free so I partnered up with Alan Weinstein to be the world supplier moving forward. Alan gets a lot of credit here as he took all the set up cost on the chin to make the production happen.

In the next issue of the Bell we have a neat story that talks about the extraordinary efforts it takes to make "old" stuff for our treasures.

Thanks for the kind words about the boat.

The ball is in my court now so it's put up or shut up time.

Next is the engine, stay tuned.

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:33 pm

Today was an eventful, uneventful day thank God.

John freeman arrived at 4 pm today with the boat. He is a real pro on this stuff and he made great time coming from Sacramento, CA to OKC in a little over 2 days.

We got my extra wood and all the old parts unloaded and then headed to the local public loading dock by the rail tracks. There it was a simple process of rolling the boat out by hand and then hooking it up to the truck. Boy, as it came out into the afternoon sun I was speechless to how beautiful the stain was. I'm very pleased with the work Rudy has done. A short tow back to the house and in the garage it went.

Phase 1 is complete.

Then we headed over to Jim Blake's (the woodshop ltd) to put a 1941 19' barrel in the back of the truck. Only hitch was there was no trailer this time.

A little head scratching and we solved the problem. This project is heading to OR for restoration.

Freeman hit the road and I'm hitting the pillow because I was wound up like a yo yo today. Enjoy the pics and thanks for all who have followed and commented on this thread.

kwmpa · Post by **kwmpa** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:13 pm

don boat looks unreal...youre a lucky guy

Riva Ariston Restoration, a journal

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