82 Diplomat cosmetic restoration

[Diplomat82]

Well I'm just about done with my Upholstery and here are some pics. This whole process started with me contacting Checkmate to see how much they charge for new skins for all my seats and pads. The price seemed very reasonable at $800 and another $300 for bucket seats. When I called Mike to place my order everything was going smoothly until…I told him my interior was brown. He was not going to be able to help me out. Even though they weren't able to help me they are great people at Checkmate. I ended up talking to one of their Upholsterer for at least an 1/2 hour quizzing her on her craft.
After seeing photos of the work merc245 did on his boat I decided to tackle it myself.
Surprisingly the whole process was fairly simple, all I have left to do is the rear bench seat and my Upholstery job is done. Next it's restore the hull color (I'll probably use Aqua Buff and see what that does for me) then put down a new carpet.
The hardest part of this process for me was finding a good quality brown carpet and brown vinyl.

Thanks to everyone on this site, you guys gave me the courage to tackle this project!

Next year a may tackle the engine.

 

[BullittBen]

That looks great. Did you sew everything yourself? My wife has a nice sewing machine, so I've been thinking about us trying that also. I thought it would be possible. Great Job.

 

[Adam L.]

Looks awesome. I just had mine done, they came out great, but it cost me a buttload of $$$$ I should have had you do them.
Nice Job!

 

[175checkmate]

Very, very nice. Had you done that before. Came out great.

 

[Diplomat82]

This was my first job sewing anything....I just took my time and made sure a had some liquid refreshments around at all times.
I guess I really got to see my feminine side...sort of scary!
I used my old upholstery as a template, which helped out a great deal.

 

[TRsCheckmate]

Awesome job!

Very Inspiring!!

 

[aaronmt]

Looks great,i just ordered mine for my starflite from mike 2 weeks ago. i just didnt have the guts to try that my self ,great job on yours!!!!!!!!!!

 

[danfrsc]

I think you are a god. My 84 Diplomat needs the same job done, maybe I'll try it in the fall. How long did the project take, In hours or days?

 

[Diplomat82]

Thanks!!

It wasn't as hard as I thought......the toughest part was applying the vinyl onto the buttons. I actually had to heat the vinyl up so it would bend easier.

Time wise....I think it took me two weeks....mostly working after work and on the weekends.

It helps to have good patterns to copy off of.

I'm now in the midst of installing the carpet...bow area is done...main seating area is next. Once that's done the Aqua Buff process will start.

I'll try to load up some more pics.

 

[wickedrister]

"LOOKS GOOD 82"

Nice work

 

[JUPITER PULSARE]

Looks great!! Just think how much enjoyment you're gonna get using those new drink holders!!!!

 

[Diplomat82]

Here are the latest pictures of my restoration project. I'm putting the boat in the water tomorrow. Thanks everyone for answering all the questions I had.

This is before buffing out the entire boat.....4 step process......8 hours long....4 beers

The results....not to bad....I hope it lasts.

After replacing the wood in the bow and engine compartment, I used herculiner on top of the epoxy instead of paint. It really made a durable surface. Herculiner was the only product I could find that can be used on epoxy/ fiberglass or even raw wood.

 

[Boston Predictor]

That shine is nothing far from spectacular. It looks brand new again. what a diffrence. Makes me wonder what I could have done to some of my old boats if I only knew better
Enjoy it tomorrow. It turns out I have to install a new stator tomorrow on my rig. Hopefully tomorrow will be her maiden voyage

 

[aaronmt]

looks great, i would of pegged that to be more then 4 beer job :cheers

 

[Reed]

your work looks Great

the work you did to your interior looks Great, awsome work

 

[chuckcrowe]

Looks good! Could you explain the 4 step process. I have the same problem with my Diplomat.

 

[Diplomat82]

Thanks....The first two steps were to go over the entire boat with Aqua Buff 1000 & 2000.....Then I used the product Checkmate recommends "Flitz".....The last step was to use Maguiars Machine Glaze.

Just make sure your polisher can run at 2500 rpm.

This was a long process...but my boat never looked better.

 

[ablane05]

Amazing job!! BTW, how much of each product did u need, and what kind of buffing equipment did u use? Thanks, Bruce

 

[Diplomat82]

Thanks Bruce,

I bought way to much product....but I have a couple other boats I can use it on.
I bought a 2lb can of Flitz and used only about a quarter of it.
The Aqua Buff you could probably get away with the 16oz. containers.

I used a Dewalt "Dw849" electronic polisher w/ variable speed. This thing is awesome.......you cand dail in the max speed you want and it keeps it at a constant speed even under load.

 

[Big Dave]

Man, That thing looks great. I will do anything mechanical that is needed, but I think I will order mine from Mike. (Yea, Im too chicken to try it myself)
You did a fantastic job with both the interior and the paint.
We went up to the factory last year for the poker run and got to meet Kip, Mike, and Bill, and the whole staff. Great bunch of people and genuinely seem to care. I was told then that the old colors are not available anymore, but they could make my interior out of any choice of the newer colors in any combo we wanted.