Harley 42'

Check with Rik Wimp at Arneson - most informed guy I know.
Arneson Industries <RikWimp@Arneson-Industries.com>

 

Hey there "boating", are you in Atlanta by chance? I saw that other Harley a while ago. they were trying to sell the running gear at the time.

I am on Lanier - restoring (a 2 year project) a 42' and hope to launch in April.

 

Just checked this late I suppose. I found one in TN - $1000 Will keep you in tow in case I need another one or parts in the future.

 

Miami Boat Show 2013?

Are any of you guys going to be in Miami this year? I am heading down on the 14th late afternoon and heading back to Atlanta on the 17th. Would love to meet up or catch up in some cases.

The boat is finally coming together. Motor 1 is going (and pretty), cabin is stripped out, wiring out. Upholstery is done for outside.

The miami boat show is the trip to decide on interiors, goodies, and electronics - gauges, radar, chart plotter, controls, lighting, etc - lots of shopping to do!

message me back if you will be there and we hope to connect!

Sorry about the motor pic being sideways - It was rotating by itself and can't fix it.

 

Dreamchaser, what engines do you have in yours? They look l like they are mounted pretty close together.

 

They are the original Merlin's - 450HP running Arneson ASD-8 below is a pic of what they looked like before I pulled them out to do an OEM rebuild.

Cranking Motor #1 tomorrow!

 

Dreamchaser, if you don't mind me asking, what props, gears, rpms are you running, and what does the boat normally weigh? I ask because I think your Merlin's are a different beast than my little yanmars.

 

Maryland

I am in Maryland my son is going to clemson and he saw the boat some time ago the boat is in bad shape and the sales people wanted to much for a project like that so I bought a 1971 magnum marine 35 with V-drives and gassers 454. Working on project now should be ready in April as well . I live close to Lee . I saw his 42 harley and what a beast. Good luck with your April launch

 

To be honest - I bought the boat 2 years ago and have never had her on the water ---- YET! It's taken a while and lots of $$ and more time, but we are now on a roll to get it going and out of the warehouse. The motors are Ford 7.8L / 500hp / 1250 ft/pds of torque. Props are made by Ellis Propeller in Jacksonville FLA - 24" diameter and 36" pitch (I think). She has ZF gears - not sure of the model, but will get that later today. I have heard that the boat weighs anywhere between 16,000 and 22,000. She will get weighed the day we splash her so I know how much it is when it's time to take her to the salt. It's a lot like Pizzacutter's boat except he has CAT's. The guy that used to own the boat kept really good logs - his reported speeds and time and fuel were great. She is supposed to run about 67 - 70 mph / 55mph cruise - so we shall see. he logged a trip from Port Everglades to Bimini in 1 hour 4 minutes - that's about 58 nautical miles, so I would agree based on his logs that she cruises around 55. He also only used 1/2 tank for the trip and back - about 150 gallons I suppose - including 4 days on the gen-set. Below is a pic of the props.

 

Wait, are the Merlins different than the Fords? The picture you sent was of an inline 6 diesel, what are the Fords?
Ellis Propeller is also going to be cutting my props. I was hoping to get a more accurate weight or possibly some real numbers before I had the props cut.
I'm expecting my Welcraft to come in at a max weight of about 18000. Yanmar 6LP is 700 ft/lbs of torque 315hp @3800rpm. 2.5:1 gears. John is recommending a 24x30P 4 blade round ear for our props. Won't be the fastest option but hopefully a good cruise, and low planing speed.
If your props don't end up working for you I would love to rent them to give them a try on my boat. Just to get some real numbers. I know they'll be too much prop, but hopefully from the numbers John would be able to figure out just how much, too much.
I'm excited to see what you get for numbers, close to the previous owner would be tremendous. You'll definitely be a lot faster than me. John is predicting a max speed of around 40mph. Hopefully a cruise of around 32mph. At 8 gal/hr per motor that is 2 mph, impressive in my mind for a 42ft boat doing 32mph.

 

The Merlins were made from the Ford 7.8L (Brazilian) (inline 6 - 474 ci) or sometimes other versions (lower HP) were called Lehman's. Merlin took the basic 215 / 300 hp for 7.8L and marinized them and modified the pistons, injector pump, turbo, head, valves, added the after-cooler and water jacketed exhaust - and had several versions ranging from 350 to 500HP below is the before and after. Also a Merlin tech sheet.

before:


After:


Merlin Tech sheet
View attachment merlin data sheet original.pdf

 

Dreamchaser, how do you like those engines? They seem to have everything I love in an engine. Diesel, In-line cylinders, mechanical injection, good power to weight. But I guess my criteria is rather easy to fulfill. Other than that how are they? The little I read about them online wasn't the best. I can't think of many other straight six's that put out that much power. Especially not mechanical. Yanmar 6lp is only 315. 6-71 even less. Cummins 6BT about the same as the yanmar.
I know Dave Gerr's H.M. Pope iii called for Merlins in his design. At the time I think they were the best Power/weight out there.
Stumbled on a pair of 450's for sale on craigslist in Norfolk, VA if you need a set of spares... haha. Actually how wide are those engines? If I can't get this boat to get out of its own way with the 6lp's I might have to track down a set of rebuilts for myself.

 

FP - well they are not the easiest to find parts for. it takes a lot of digging and some internet "smarts". There is a place in FLA - US-1Marine that has parts for these and the old Daytona Diesels as well. these guys were the ones that originally made them, so getting the parts is not hard, just pricey. They used them in a lot of sport fish boats as well - like Hatteras, Trojan and older Vikings. The best advice I can give - wait for me to get these running and in the boat and I'll let you know. You are spot on about the power to weight - nothing else compared at the time, but that will change over time I suppose. The best thing - mechanical and in-line. easy to work on and lots of torque.

heading to Miami today for the boat-show this weekend to pick out all the goodies for the boat and if all goes well, hope to have her in the water by mid April.

 

Merlin is Alive and VEEDIMS and KEP Marine step in to update the boats controls

The beast is ALIVE! We finally got some decent weather and got the first Merlin fired up. runs like a champ.

So - we found some fractures in the hull which will be repaired when we do the other fiberglass work next week. She will be in the glass shop for about 2 weeks.

Leigh has the interior designed and getting ready.

LED lighting has been acquired and waiting patiently for the install

I have formed a partnership with KEP marine and VEEDIMS to bring her up to the 21st century. She will have touch screen controls for just about everything. The project will be in collaberation with them and hopefully SIMRAD will jump in too since we are working on coordinating efforts between the companies and using the Harley as case study. This will be the coolest thing ever

Hopefully this mov file will load for you - she's alive!

View attachment Harley - Merlin 500hp.mov

 

Great to see others getting their Harleys in top condition. The only problem that I see with this thread is; NOT ENOUGH PICTURES!