Posted by Gary Baker on July 28, 2003 at 18:24:55:
In Reply to: squirt and general questions posted by matt on June 05, 2003 at 23:45:43:
If you have a West Marine store in reasonable distance, they will order you 12' half-oval direct into the store as a special order-- no freight, you just wait until their next order comes in. It took about 3 months, but way cheaper.
Don't even consider Stainless-- it is virtually impossible to bend unless you know how. The aluminum can be polished with Mother's Mag Wheel cleaner to a Chrome-like Gloss.
For a windshield, watch ebay-- look under Chris Craft once a week. There are often three piece windshield brackets like old runabouts. You can mount on Squirt, cut cardboard templates, and have tempered glass cut from the templates. Be patient, have seen brackets from $55 (not Chris Craft) to $350 (you can avoid these).
(Alternatively check out your marinas, boatyards, etc for junk boats. I got most of my steering hardware and running gear , etc from a 11' junk boat for $25 (in Iowa). Have seen other whole boats on eBay that have steering, controls, etc that adapt well.
Good Luck
: I finshed my squirt about a year ago for a school project, and was slightly rushed in the last few steps to get it finshed on time, and am now refinishing it to get all the details just right. First off, what should I use to paint the boat? Im looking for a gel coat type look, Does anyone know of a good 2 part paint system thatr will acheive this? second, Im looking for a place to find some hardware, I could really use a windsheild that would fit, is there any other way than making a template and having plexiglass cut for it? Also, Ive noticed metal rub rails along most of the home made boats I see out there, and was wondering where i could find some of these, Ive looked through most of my boating catalogs, but can only find those big rubber rails for a dock. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
: If at all possible, please email me, I dont check this forum very often.