Harley 42'

[Swamplizard]

Thanks Steve! We have had winds in 15-20s but relatively cool temps (80) and lower humidity making the work actually pleasant.....for a change.

Any ideas on what to do to improve the rub rails?

 

[Steve H]

Are they stainless or aluminum? Either way, fine steel wool will help alot be sure to wash them real good afterwards to get the steel wool off! The residue will rust instantly), then hit it with a buffer. I have used a sander at times with 600 to 1,000 grit paper for the rough spots.

 

[Swamplizard]

Thanks Steve - they are aluminum and almost look like someone along the way urethaned them - or perhaps it was some sort of very old (1988 and Florida sun) anodizing.

I think I might have to sand the coating off (they are pretty beat up) and then move to higher sand paper types and then polish them....trying to avoid removing them from the boat to do this but we will see. She splashes tomorrow so I may have to do it dock side.

 

[Steve H]

I replaced mine with Taco Brand stainless.
It's spendy, but looks great and lasts along time.

http://tacomarine.com/product/S11-4690/1-1-2-x-077-Gauge-Hollow-Back-Stainless-Steel-Rub-Rail

 

[Swamplizard]

Swamplizard is back in the water after 3 weekends of hard work

Still have lots of work to do above water line but at least the other stuff is done for a while.

I forgot how big she is out of the water and how pointy her entry is:

 

[Swamplizard]

another pic

 

[sharper]

Fishtales

Merry Christmas from the engine room of Fishtales
Substantially done with the cabin tho lots of wiring and rigging to finish up. I gutted everything in the engine room and ground all the existing glass and add-ons down to the Kevlar. Replaced with multiple overlapping layers of 2415 fab mat and 1-1/2 oz mat. After that I faired the bilge with q-cells and resin to make the surface more uniform. Replaced the floor ledgers with coosa board and capped the entire compartment with 1708 fab mat. Now its high build primer and sanding. Building new engine mounts now. Posted a few new pics at the end of my drop box file.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pvbqmv5ophqivl2/F9bE7YuU4G
Still along way from the water!!!

 

[Swamplizard]

Damn that is impressive work - you are talking about materials I have never heard of ;-)

Wonder how much she will weigh when you are done.

cheers and Merry Christmas

Swampy

 

[sharper]

Fishtales rebuild

She's going to be a chubby lady but i don't think I'll had the hull flexing problems that I was having way offshore in heavy seas. Will weigh the next time I pic it w the cranes. May need more power but that's not in the budget for now.

 

[Swamplizard]

Chubby is good IMHO if you plan on wave splitting at 40 knots

Merry Christmas and New Year to all - I suspect I will be spending half my time off working on the old girl.

 

[Swamplizard]

Today I washed her down in and out and pulled everything in it - all life jackets, safety gear, pillows, cushions, dishes everything to clean as well as possible. Amazing how much crap ends up on a boat.

Cleaned it all, hooked up 2 extra pairs of speakers in anticipation of adding the 8 channel marine AMP....and of course, checked oil, filters, trans fluids, trim pumps and belts. One alternator belt seems to squeak at various rpms so will need to change that out tomorrow.

Also ran engines at the dock - put it gear to test drive shaft alignment etc and something on port motor was vibrating a ton. Check everything I could think of and then dove in with mask to check arnesons - lo and behold port side nut which holds on prop had backed away and was against the cotter pin - prop was wabling around. Pulled nut and it was very thin thread-wise, worn out. I should have noticed this when I re-assembled the props etc on the hard....of course its sunday - no one has it...grrrrr

Will pick up to fresh ones tomorrow morning with a few belts and off we go.

 

[Swamplizard]

Took a trip and despite new tightened nuts on prop shafts one prop is slipping badly and making weird wobble - pulled it and replaced it with old set of props - problem went away. Must have stripped out the splines on port prop of the other set of props - aaaaaargh. Too bad - I liked those props better.

Anyway - got a few good days out of her this Holiday despite ALL the work - always worth it on the water.

Rams working well for arnesons so got on plane a few times for short bursts but it requires WOT with these weak 330HP 454s and one carb never seemed to kick into into the secondaries so it lagged way behind on rpms, need to look into that. Would love to replace both carbs with a fresh set of bigger CFMs - ones that I know are healthy and set up close to what I need....or go the way Steve did with EFI setup but cash poor for a while longer as wedding bills are still being taken care of.

Otherwise - focused on more cosmetics inside, re-organize the safety handles for getting back on transom from water, upgrading VHF antenna, and looking into LED light upgrade inside, outside, and engine room.

 

[Swamplizard]

hey guys - what have you done to hide the crappy finish work below the gunnels?

 

[Steve H]

hey guys - what have you done to hide the crappy finish work below the gunnels?

picture?

 

[sharper]

I'm not that far along yet but I was at the Miami boat show and Seahunter had some interesting stuff hiding the gunnel work on their new boats