Howard sportdeck rehab

[236eaglexp]

So, a couple years ago I bought a 2008 Howard Sportdeck from an estate sale in South Carolina. Bought the boat site unseen after talking to the seller for a few hours. In the meantime my wife and I sold our pristine Howard Bullet to an RDP member.
Needless to say, when the deck boat arrived, it was in pretty bad shape. The interior was fried, and it had gel coat blisters on the bottom from sitting in a slip for who knows how long.
My wife and I were quite shocked that a boat with under 100 hours on it could be in such poor condition. After wiping up our tears, we set out to de-rig the boat, and make it new again. We sent the motor to Teague for an upgrade, re-gel the boat, refurb the trailer, and basically replace everything on the entire boat.
We started the gel work with a Havasu shop but after 6 months of broken promises, ended up having to pull it out and bring it back to California.
Rick at Islander handled the complete re-gel.
Teague freshened and bumped the 600sci to stage 4 Whipple. Gonna have an scx drive, my buddy Scott in Havasu handled the trailer paint, Eric Barker handled the fab work on trailer. Barrett will handle the complete rigging.
It's been a long road, but it's finally coming together and we will finally have it ready for next Spring.

Here's a few pics of the boat, finally back on its trailer, picked up from Islander and dropped off for interior today.

 

[NicPaus]

Looks great! Hope all is well with Rick. I know it took a while but it sure looks like it was worth it from the pics.

 

[236eaglexp]

Having a hard time posting pics on Tapatalk.

 

[G. Faulk]

I went 1 pic down, 2 pic down, 3 pic oh my God..

Looks fing awesome . Best Deck boat on the planet, congrats and enjoy.

 

[Meaney77]

Looks awesome!! Keep posting progress pics!

 

[renodaytona]

That is absolutely bad ass.

 

[236eaglexp]

Rick did a great job. Capped front and rear, reworked dash for gps, filled all the speaker holes that were at floor level, and the list goes on and on..... The gel work is amazing, the fades are perfect, the pearl in the red is exactly what I wanted. There will be a lot of things not found on Sport decks done on ours. It's taken forever, but we can finally see the light!

 

[Icky]

Wow came out great, I remember seeing that at Islanders when my boat was there

 

[Dirtbag]

Beautiful!!!!

 

[rush1]

Wow what a difference, looks great:thumbsup

 

[relaxalot]

Who did the gel work in CA? Looks nice!

 

[4Waters]

I'll be honest it was a nice looking boat before but the wow Factor on it now is amazing.

 

[236eaglexp]

Rick at Islander did all the gel work.

 

[236eaglexp]

Who did the gel work in CA? Looks nice!

Thanks, spent alot of time coming up with graphics

I'll be honest it was a nice looking boat before but the wow Factor on it now is amazing.

 

[johnnyC]

the gel is completely out of sight, would have a hard time thinking it not original great color combo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[the510]

looks great. Cant wait for you to get back on the water, and start enjoying it.

 

[rivrrts429]

Awesome work. You are going to have yourself a very unique and beautifully done Howard. Well done [emoji106]

 

[BasilHayden]

Great Job,

That's a lot of work for sure.

 

[milkmoney]

Very nice, looking forward to more pics [emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji202]

 

[Boat Bling]

Wow! What a difference! I'll bet this is a boat that must be seen up close to appreciate the detail.

Not taking anything away from the rebuild as it's clearly badass but I've heard that fixing gel blisters can be troublesome and they tend to reappear over time. Can you shed some light on the process they went through to make sure they stay away?

-Zack

 

[236eaglexp]

Wow! What a difference! I'll bet this is a boat that must be seen up close to appreciate the detail.

Not taking anything away from the rebuild as it's clearly badass but I've heard that fixing gel blisters can be troublesome and they tend to reappear over time. Can you shed some light on the process they went through to make sure they stay away?

-Zack

That would be more of an explanation for the pros, but the boat was flipped and all the gel was removed down to the glass. Months were spent making sure everything was true and straight and then new gel was sprayed. Very tedious work.

 

[28Eliminator]

Looks fantastic Jeff. I remember you telling me how disheartened you were when the boat showed up and you saw it for the first time. Glad it's coming together for you:thumbsup

 

[Lavey29]

Wow. great restoration project on your boat. I think the new gel colors and design really work and enhance to overall boat lines. Looks awesome but I have to ask, sure seems like a massive undertaking from what you have described. Boat completely re-done including wiring and interior. Engine re-done and upgraded also with new Imco drive. Trailer re-done also. After all this work would it have been better to buy a new 2018 Howard deck or are you still way ahead of the game with out of pocket expense here?

 

[236eaglexp]

Wow. great restoration project on your boat. I think the new gel colors and design really work and enhance to overall boat lines. Looks awesome but I have to ask, sure seems like a massive undertaking from what you have described. Boat completely re-done including wiring and interior. Engine re-done and upgraded also with new Imco drive. Trailer re-done also. After all this work would it have been better to buy a new 2018 Howard deck or are you still way ahead of the game with out of pocket expense here?

You are right, it's been quite an undertaking....lots of money spent on the project. Luckily I was taken care of on the purchase side after the boat arrived in such poor condition, so I'll be in decent shape vs buying new. Although it's been quite the headache, which is tough to put a price on.

 

[236eaglexp]

Looks fantastic Jeff. I remember you telling me how disheartened you were when the boat showed up and you saw it for the first time. Glad it's coming together for you:thumbsup

Thanks! Finally have the major hurdles covered, so it should be smoother sailing from here on out.

 

[Stayin'ontop]

Thanks! Finally have the major hurdles covered, so it should be smoother sailing from here on out.

Really looking forward to watching the progress on this.
How was that rub rail done? I see the half cap, but it looks like something i havent seen as far as the way the rub rail meshes with the capped fron and rear.
Also is it just painted to color match? Looking to have our sportdeck capped eventually and very intrigued by how you did it. Looks great.
Keep the pics comjng!

 

[RiverDave]

Really looking forward to watching the progress on this.
How was that rub rail done? I see the half cap, but it looks like something i havent seen as far as the way the rub rail meshes with the capped fron and rear.
Also is it just painted to color match? Looking to have our sportdeck capped eventually and very intrigued by how you did it. Looks great.
Keep the pics comjng!

I was looking at that as well. It kind of looks like there is no rubrail and they blended the shoebox on the front and back, but left it on the sides but gelled it.. It's a unique look and honestly I really like it.

Looking forward to seeing the OP's response on this!


As well what other custom little things did you do while at Rick's? He does some great glass work!

RD

 

[Outdrive1]

I was looking at that as well. It kind of looks like there is no rubrail and they blended the shoebox on the front and back, but left it on the sides but gelled it.. It's a unique look and honestly I really like it.

Looking forward to seeing the OP's response on this!


As well what other custom little things did you do while at Rick's? He does some great glass work!

RD

I don't think they've installed the rub rail yet.

Looks great Jeff. Congrats. Another amazing job by Rick.

 

[236eaglexp]

I was looking at that as well. It kind of looks like there is no rubrail and they blended the shoebox on the front and back, but left it on the sides but gelled it.. It's a unique look and honestly I really like it.

Looking forward to seeing the OP's response on this!


As well what other custom little things did you do while at Rick's? He does some great glass work!

RD

So when they half cap a sportdeck, because it's a shoebox, the bottom edge of the rub rail is still mounted flush with the shoebox line, and the gap where the top and bottom hull meet (maybe between 1/8" - 1/4") is siliconed.
When Gene explained it to me it didn't make sense, I even started a thread here awhile back trying to figure it out.

I found a couple sport decks that were half capped at pirate's one day and then it all made sense. The graphics carry across the shoebox, but it will have stainless or black anodized rub rail on the sides.

As far as little things that set it apart, the bilge is gel coated, the carpet was removed on underside of hatch and will be fully gel coated as well (I haven't seen that on a sport deck).

It had all analog gauges which I had livorsi refurb, then decided I wanted a 7" GPS, so Rick filled the holes and flattened the center of the dash to accommodate my template.
I didn't like the speaker holes at the floor level, so they were filled and I'll be adding fiberglass recessed cup/speaker holders. There will be a pair in the bow like the 288 uses and another matching pair in the rear. It'll take the place of the blender/liquor bottle storage on one side, and the other will be in the sidewall behind driver. I was told the sport deck wouldn't accommodate them but I found someone to build them and it's going to work perfectly.

 

[Stayin'ontop]

So when they half cap a sportdeck, because it's a shoebox, the bottom edge of the rub rail is still mounted flush with the shoebox line, and the gap where the top and bottom hull meet (maybe between 1/8" - 1/4") is siliconed.
When Gene explained it to me it didn't make sense, I even started a thread here awhile back trying to figure it out.

I found a couple sport decks that were half capped at pirate's one day and then it all made sense. The graphics carry across the shoebox, but it will have stainless or black anodized rub rail on the sides.

As far as little things that set it apart, the bilge is gel coated, the carpet was removed on underside of hatch and will be fully gel coated as well (I haven't seen that on a sport deck).

It had all analog gauges which I had livorsi refurb, then decided I wanted a 7" GPS, so Rick filled the holes and flattened the center of the dash to accommodate my template.
I didn't like the speaker holes at the floor level, so they were filled and I'll be adding fiberglass recessed cup/speaker holders. There will be a pair in the bow like the 288 uses and another matching pair in the rear. It'll take the place of the blender/liquor bottle storage on one side, and the other will be in the sidewall behind driver. I was told the sport deck wouldn't accommodate them but I found someone to build them and it's going to work perfectly.

So it'll have the glassed inserts like all the new boats? That will look awesome. Serious overhaul on this boat. Where are you having the interior done?

 

[Outdrive1]

Half cap is capped front and rear. Because it's a shoe box the rubrail will have a lip on the bottom edge. There are two types of rub rail. One with a lip for shoe box and one that's flat for butt fit.

 

[236eaglexp]

So it'll have the glassed inserts like all the new boats? That will look awesome. Serious overhaul on this boat. Where are you having the interior done?

Yes it'll have glassed and gel coated inserts like the 288 does up front. I'm using the same ones front and rear, so the rear won't be a fully glassed wall like the 288, but it should look still look good. I'll pm you about interior.

 

[Sbarry]

When life gave you a lemon, you sure as crap are making lemonade. Fantastic build. Subscribed!! Really liking this...

 

[236eaglexp]

When life gave you a lemon, you sure as crap are making lemonade. Fantastic build. Subscribed!! Really liking this...

Thanks. Couple pics of trailer upgrades.... Frenched lights, Backlit water jetted Howard logo, runway lights, reverse lights , made deeper steps to make it easier for kids and wife to board. View attachment 587288 http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/59c037c077d1a/Screenshot_2017-09-18-14-14-13.png?

 

[236eaglexp]

More trailer pics

 

[LGETT]

You have put so much Heart, Time, and energy into this build and its paying off in a Big Way.

Cant wait to hit the water this summer with the Fam's and see that Beast tearing it up!!!


Nice Build Jeff