36' Eliminator Daytona Coupe

Building a new "Coupe" for a customer back east. This build will have everything!!

Carbon Kevlar layup with exposed Kevlar areas
Front / Rear Cap
Merc 700s / #6 Drives
Air Conditioning
1/2 hardtop with removeable panels
other stuff

Target Delivery Date is Desert Storm 2016.

Started cleaning up the molds ...

Nice!! Do a lot of people order the AC option?

There have been a few ... so humid down South they almost need it ... using an engine driven system.

Wow, it's actually refreshing to see someone put moderate power in one of these.:thumbup:

Awesome design.

FreeBird236 said:

Wow, it's actually refreshing to see someone put moderate power in one of these.:thumbup:

Awesome design.

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It's just gonna be his "cruiser" ... wants the dependability that the 700s offer.
It's a pretty complex build ... DS 2016 is not that far off :thumbup:

shueman said:

It's just gonna be his "cruiser" ... wants the dependability that the 700s offer.
It's a pretty complex build ... DS 2016 is not that far off :thumbup:

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Understand completely, and I'll bet it still runs a buck twenty.

Looking forward to the build.:thumbup:

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The description says "...exposed Kevlar areas"

how are the Kevlar areas exposed and become visible?



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noli said:

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The description says "...exposed Kevlar areas"

how are the Kevlar areas exposed and become visible?



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My mis-spoke ... it's Carbon Fiber that gets exposed, like this:

Start taping the gel scheme next week ...

Gelcoater laying down the scheme ... should be in the booth this week-end ...

Awesome. This is going to be a cool build to watch. I might have to come down and see it in person. :thumbsup

Gelcoater was at it pretty much all week-end. Finished taping up the hull mold on Sat and in the spray booth all day Sun.

I was down there around 12:30p and he was "watching paint dry" as the cool temps slows down the catalyst process.


Doing the red pin lines around the black (still to spray).


Final design color was the pearl white; all other colors done. This was 6p tonight !.


Last spray is always black (for lamination).


In this case, the "red" is actually the mold itself with just "clear"; that's where the exposed Kevlar will show through.

Long day; the hull goes tomorrow :thumbsup

Laying down the exposed Carbon Fiber and first layer of lamination ...

Laying up he Carbon / Kevlar today (Sat) ...

Was a rather long day.
Started cold,almost got warm then got cold again.
Arrived at about a quarter to 8 went home about 6:30.

The process went like this.
Blow the mold out of dust,mop it down then blow again.
Lay down the white running surface.

Let it dry so I could tape up around it.

Lay down a viper red pinstripe
Let it dry so I could tape around it.

Remove masking to expose the black stripe.
Shoot the black stripe that runs low from front to back.Cover the running surface with black.

Remove the masking to expose the red section.
Shoot the red fade that runs from the side around the transom to the other side.

Remove a shit load of tape and masking.
Shoot the white on the sides,this is a 3 stage shoot.Clear,clear again loaded with HOK silver mini flake then white.
Why not do that with the white on the bottom you ask?
Because being 3 layers thick it would pull a shitty line.

Remove more masking to expose the areas that will be black fading to carbon fiber.
I don't have a pic of this last stage completed but..
Shoot clear,shoot black and fog it out to just exposed clear. Then shoot more clear to protect the black from smearing.The exposed clear is where Jose wil work his magic with the carbon today.
Once he does that they will have to cover all the exposed carbon and any other color showing with another layer of black and let it kick before the laminators can make it a boat.

Well done by Gelcoater on this process ... need some young bucks to set up and learn this trade. :thumbsup

Eliminator Boats said:

Well done by Gelcoater on his process ... need some young bucks to set up and learn this trade. :thumbsup

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Try prying them away from their ps4's.
Finding a younger person that has ambition is a rarity these days. If you find one, keep him/her.

Lamination ... Deck is done


Hull should be finished by tomorrow


All hand laid


Our lamination crew are just about "done" with big boats, actually most boats in general.
Ready to retire; anybody want to learn a trade ??

Eliminator Boats said:

Well done by Gelcoater on this process ... need some young bucks to set up and learn this trade. :thumbsup

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Eliminator Boats said:

Lamination ... Deck is done
View attachment 454668

Hull should be finished by tomorrow
View attachment 454669

All hand laid
View attachment 454670

Our lamination crew are just about "done" with big boats, actually most boats in general.
Ready to retire; anybody want to learn a trade ??

Click to expand...

when do I start?

TLAW719 said:

when do I start?

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Come on down T ... piece work ... you can train in early Feb with the upcoming 28' Speedster Twin 1100 Teagues ... :thumbsup

Eliminator Boats said:

Our lamination crew are just about "done" with big boats, actually most boats in general.
Ready to retire; anybody want to learn a trade ??

Click to expand...

It's funny you say this. About 5 years ago I was talking to Danny Donahue about getting into the industry and all that. Obviously it was the wrong time to do so. Now, I've moved, and am very happy with my job.

After the first few weeks, one starts to get used to acetone baths!

Shueman this is a great opportunity for someone willing to learn a new trade or pick up a few treasured industry secrets before these veteran laminators call it quits. If I didn't have a million other projects, I would be bugging you guys on a weekly basis!

Thanks for the feedback and positives on the industry. Yep, it's a "dying art" and is going to take that special someone to come in and carry the torch. They are out there, I have talked to them and met them; it's just takes the "passion" to make the investment in learning the craft.

Your not going to play Bach by buying a piano; you've got to invest in yourself to turn it into music.

I think it's good you guys recognize the need to start training someone now. We have guys super close to retirement and no one ready to replace them, and it would take years for someone to learn what they specialize in. It takes a lot of expensive mistakes to gain years of experience the hard way.

shueman said:

Thanks for the feedback and positives on the industry. Yep, it's a "dying art" and is going to take that special someone to come in and carry the torch. They are out there, I have talked to them and met them; it's just takes the "passion" to make the investment in learning the craft.

Your not going to play Bach by buying a piano; you've got to invest in yourself to turn it into music.

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Icky said:

...It takes a lot of expensive mistakes to gain years of experience the hard way.

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Poetry right there ... :thumbsup You nailed it

shueman said:

Come on down T ... piece work ... you can train in early Feb with the upcoming 28' Speedster Twin 1100 Teagues ... :thumbsup

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Now that sounds fun. Gonna be one bad ass boat for sure. I'll have to make it down for sure. :thumbsup

Any updates on the 36?

Out of the mold and getting pinned together ...


Exposed carbon fiber on the sides and nose ...

Come on powerball:drool
Turning out awesome:thumbsup

Icky said:

Come on powerball:drool
Turning out awesome:thumbsup

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You hit the Powerball and you can buy the whole damn company.:thumbsup

Gelcoater said:

You hit the Powerball and you can buy the whole damn company.:thumbsup

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Buy a boat company
That's a great way to make million bucks...out of the billion that you'll start with LOL

Gelcoater said:

You hit the Powerball and you can buy the whole damn company.:thumbsup

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That sounds like work, maybe I can just buy a position in the company that lets me go on the test drives

Gelcoater said:

You hit the Powerball and you can buy the whole damn company.:thumbsup

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That's my plan. Would you like a six figure plus salary, or stay a contractor?

Of course I'll need a new company car and a gas card.

Gelcoater said:

Of course I'll need a new company car and a gas card.

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You got it, all I have to do is win.

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Richard.E said:

I'm curious if you guys are actually thinking about hiring a trainee. I have little; to no/experience in gel coating, but it seems like something I would be willing to learn as a trade. Im a younger guy, just turned 21, and I currently do sales for my grandpas Segway company in Anaheim, but I have a lot of free time during the week, and this is something I am pretty interested in.

If you have any need for extra help, send me a reply or give me a call 909-732-7030.

-Richard

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Best to come in and talk with Bob Leach directly. Sat / Sun are best (but not this week-end).
Bring a one page resume type sheet for him to preview.
Gary

Richard.E said:

Our lamination crew are just about "done" with big boats, actually most boats in general.
Ready to retire; anybody want to learn a trade ??

Click to expand...

I'm curious if you guys are actually thinking about hiring a trainee. I have little; to no/experience in gel coating, but it seems like something I would be willing to learn as a trade. Im a younger guy, just turned 21, and I currently do sales for my grandpas Segway company in Anaheim, but I have a lot of free time during the week, and this is something I am pretty interested in.

If you have any need for extra help, send me a reply or give me a call 909-732-7030.

-Richard[/QUOTE]
Hey Richard.
I'm thinking Gary was referring to the laminators as the ones "about done".
Consider the two at Eliminator are over 60 years old.Other shops I work are in the same predicament,very experienced laminators of the age to want to retire soon.The pool of quality laminators is going to shrink to almost none here real quick.
Like gelcoating it's a trade that you will get dirty doing,your back will hurt,your eyes will sting at times.
With a few months training you could pick it up and actually make some money.
The gelcoat trade,you're going to have a lot tougher time learning.
No reason you couldn't try to master both and see what sticks,but become a laminator,learn the techniques and one day you will "own" the industry as you will be one of the only guys around.

Cap finished ... no the fun begins ... another 2 weeks of work

Cap coming together, working on the hardtop ... Hours and hours of all hand labor ...

shueman said:

Cap coming together, working on the hardtop ... Hours and hours of all hand labor ...

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What are the chopped tomatoes for ?

Icky said:

What are the chopped tomatoes for ?

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Those cans get around, Ultra in SD had a very similar collection. Use for dinner one week and boat construction the next

Been 2 weeks, 2 guys, full time, doing the cap and putting the roof together ... very labor intensive

After 3 weeks of hand labor, the coupe is about ready for the spray booth ... coming together nicely.

Headed to the spray booth to complete the cap job ...

Wow ... it's been 2 months? Yes, that's how much time it takes to get to this point ... just about ready to start rigging the 700's ...

This would be the perfect Parker boat

Beautiful boat:thumbup:

I'd like to see some finished pictures of this one. Is it still being built?

AZRiverRunner said:

I'd like to see some finished pictures of this one. Is it still being built?

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Yes it is.
They're finishing up the gel work.
I imagine it will be on the rigging floor getting holes drilled shortly.

Yes, transom cut, vents installed, etc. Will get some pix Friday :thumbsup