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Re: The old Harris Flote-Bote revival and name search!

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:17 am
by HandymanHerb
Just keep at it, we are going up on a year since we started rebuild ours and still have a few things to finish, but then we used the heck out of it and didn't even miss not having the radio in yet.

Re: The old Harris Flote-Bote revival and name search!

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 1:25 pm
by OK Toon
Yes, you will probably see cracks in the Restore at the seams between boards. We used the same stuff on our boat dock and we have cracks at the board seems due to movement of the dock. Not a big deal though. That stuff is great for a non-slip surface but it still gets hot in direct sun. It doesn't go as far as they advertise though. We used 3 of the 5-gallon buckets on a 30 x 8 section - putting down 2 coats. But it looks great!

Re: The old Harris Flote-Bote revival and name search!

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 3:55 pm
by maddad
Really enjoy reading about your rebuild. I'd do the same to keep those memories, which are going to be full blown when you christen it this year! I"ll let you know that I used Herculiner 3 years ago for a livewell I cut into my jon boat bench seat. It has held up great with no cracking, despite the flex (twist) a 18' experiences.

Re: The old Harris Flote-Bote revival and name search!

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:13 pm
by Overboard!
OK Toon wrote:Yes, you will probably see cracks in the Restore at the seams between boards. We used the same stuff on our boat dock and we have cracks at the board seems due to movement of the dock. Not a big deal though. That stuff is great for a non-slip surface but it still gets hot in direct sun. It doesn't go as far as they advertise though. We used 3 of the 5-gallon buckets on a 30 x 8 section - putting down 2 coats. But it looks great!
Yes, I'm planning to use some type of aluminum t-strips to fill the gaps between the plywood sheets to give it a more finished look. I had read that it doesn't go all that far, too. We have 6 gallons to do our 20x8 floor. I hope it's enough!

Re: The old Harris Flote-Bote revival and name search!

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 11:34 am
by Overboard!
Wow. Time flies, huh? Shortly after my last post I had some health issues which set me back a bit. Then our home HVAC system went out and had to be replaced. At the same time our refrigerator went out, then I had to pull the transmission out of my wife's car not once, but twice to be rebuilt. So, needless to say nothing at all was accomplished on the old pontoon over the last year. It's shaping up to be a much better year for 2015, so I am now making another run at getting some things done on it.

The Restore product directions suggested to let the wood season for a while before applying it, so I suppose a year is good enough :biggrin2 I got all the plywood remounted to the boat and installed new bolts all around. My daughter helped out a bit. Couldn't have gotten those last few bolts tightened down without her standing on them for me!

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And we FINALLY caught a break with the weather...two whole days with little to no chance of rain! Since it had been quite some time since I'd bought the Restore paint, I made a return trip to Home Depot to have the paint shaken up again. I can tell you this stuff is THICK! I automatically began to panic a little bit when I first started. This was because it was so thick, my mind was tricking me into thinking it was already drying, so I rushed a bit at first. After I got calmed down and got into a rhythm, is went smoothly. Be forewarned if you ever use this stuff.....wear shoes that you have absolutley no care in the world for because if you go too fast with the roller, it slings the stuff worse than any other rolled paint I've ever seen. My old Vans are ruined :|

First coat:
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As per the instructions, a wait time of 3-6 hours is required before the second coat can be applied, so 4 hours later we laid down the second coat:
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There are a couple of areas I may go back and readdress, but all in all I like it. As I said, I'll give an honest review of how well it holds up (or doesn't lol).

Now I have to focus on getting the motor running again. I've heard it fire over on starting fluid a couple of years ago so I'm sure it'll run, but I had a friend go through the carbs sometime last year and it turned into a giant fiasco. Let's just say I'm glad I work in a machine shop so I could make a part that he lost....which didn't need to be removed in the first place....and couldn't be purchased without replacing the whole carb.

So that's where I am as of today. I haven't given up....life just got in the way and set us back a little bit.

Re: The old Harris Flote-Bote revival and name search!

Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 7:31 pm
by kcdaniels
Looking good ! Any more updates ? I was going to use the restore paint but have decided to go with vinyl..have a friend who owns a flooring business and will give it to me for cost...Will cost about the same as the restore...