Putting it all together.

Been running random epoxy coatings and fillings around the boat. Water damage is repaired, cutout in to sole for the battery box is coated, and the windshield frame has additional coatings in the glass rebates.

Got the tach working. If I can get a hull ID number and registered this week it may see some water before Friday. A teaser, but I want to see how the motor performs with this hull. I've got the chase boat standing in case things go south. Good or bad, the boat will likely go back in the shed until spring when it will come out completed. Fingers crossed.

 

No fast tracking the NY bureaucracy. Gotta apply for a hull number through the snail mail. Argh!

Dropped the lower unit off and took it to the shop for prop shaft seals. A was going to wait and see how the engine performs before dropping a chunk on the lower end. With the hull number delay, I'll just go ahead get the LU situated. Plenty of things to work on. Windshields, floor/sole paint, some minor wiring, deck hardware and trim, upholstery and a dozen other minor details. Most everything from here on out will have a visible impact on the boat's appearance. It's back in the fun stage.

 

Hurry up, the water will be getting hard pretty soon and I want to see it up on plane.

 

Hey, Paul, Ditto!!!

Last year the water didn't even get hard. Big worries about big storms though. Apparently, a warm lake means big chance for big snow. I bought a garage heater last year and kept things cozey, but no sweat off my back if
I don't have to use it.

I'm hoping to get the paperwork done up before my next set of off days (two weeks +/-). Once the fereralies show up to ingrave a Hull ID on my stern, it's just a matter of going down to the DMV and paying the stinking taxes. Depends on the LU also. It's funny. The application for the Hull ID doesn't question the age of the boat, only the age of the motor. Thank goodness for old motors! It's an exciting time right now and I'm really hoping the 50 will push it around with a bit of dignity.

Painted floorboards/soles today with Toplac. The color is almost an exact match to the upholstery. Pulled the engine off and prepped and painted the splashwell with the same. Big improvement over the dirty primer thats been there for years. Pulled the motormount plate off and drilled for the mounting bolts. Did the first round of installation of windshield/window glass in the windshield frame. What messy friging pain in the anus! I wasn't sure if my fingers would ever stop being black. Oh well. The glass is positioned and attached. I will go in tomorrow for the final fill and fillet around the exterior side/edge of the glass.

 

Glass work is one of the few things I job out. I've done plenty, broken plenty and if I have it in the project budget, the local glass outfit gets to screw with the stuff.

I was just talking with a client in Nova Scotia and they said they hardly got any snow last year. Noooo, there's no such thing as global warming, in spite of the last 11 years out of 12, being the hottest ever recorded. I guess this means all you need is a sweat shirt and you can be cruising by Christmas (assuming NY is as bad as other states in their paper work processing).

 

Got the lower unit back today. Got the once over by someone this is familiar with outboards. Minor accomplishments today. Put the motor mounting plate on the transom. Attached the speedo sending unit and installed the hull drain plug. I am contemplating a second drain plug for the "other" side of the keel(son). I had a collection of water in the hull from it not being able to cross over. In the interim, I have mounted the bilge pump on the non-draining side and that should keep the accumulation there to a minimum.

Placed some foam under the soles and attached the soles. Installed the battery tie-downs and put in the battery. I'll add some pictures, but boats a mess right now.

Started sanding the seat frames in preparation for varnish. Remind me next time that removable furniture doesn't need encapsulation. A couple of coats of varnish on natural wood is good for me. Maybe, in the long run I'll be glad I epoxied the seat frames, but right now, I'd be further down the road if I hadn't. The side slats I made to trim out the interior are varnished only and they have held up well. Those would have been a a large amount of work to epoxy and varnish.

I need to make one more protection plate before I'm remount the outboard. I want a scuff plate on top of the transom to protect the finish in that area. I've set a dunk date for the September 29. I hoping the stars will be alligned that day and all goes well. Knock on wood, I'll have that picture for Paul. For now, the shop will be quiet for a few days while working for a living steps to the forefront.

 

Some photos the keep the thread active.

A photo of my engine wiring harness before reconstructive surgery. Strategic heat shrink and wire replacement has given new lease to these old wires. Notice the the splice with two wires that go into one. I have to open the new repair and split those apart so I can connect a tach lead there.



Wiring harness post initial surgery. Opening it up again is a pain, but the results will be worth it.



A little proof that the engine runs. No, I didn't light a smoke bomb behind the boat. Anybody have suggestions for removing gasoline varnish from the bottom of an old gas can/tank?



Motor removed for final prep for permanent installation. The Toplac looks good in the splashwell. Note the holes in the side of the splashwell. The top one is for access to hose clamps for the filler neck and will need to have a cover. A stainless cover will most likely do the deal. The lower hole is for the filler vent. A catch basin is built intothe splashwell below it.



This is the, "There is always something else to do" photo. Note the two holes at the top of the photo with notches in the surrounding structure. These are the lower mounting bolt holes for the outboard. This whole area will be filled with the fuel tank. I was considering just "lagging" the lower mounting holes. Once the engine is in place I will make an epoxy/ silica putty and capture the nuts and washers so the bolts can be removed without fuel tank removal.



The last photo is my battery mount and bilge pump install. I wanted to install the pump fully aft at the transom. Again, I didn't want to necessitate fuel tank removal for pump maintainance. In this location, only the battery needs to be removed. The battery location is directly under the rear seat.

 

I used to do consulting work fro Sika, but despite this, I'm no fan of Sikaflex. Despite their claims, it goes hard over time and tends to leak.

If you can get it locally, Fixsil fs200 is a much better product for bonding and sealing either glass or acrylic. It is a silicone type and if you mask it properly and wipe any excess off immediately with "spray and wipe" it does a good job. Also, unlike Sikaflex, you can use a finger sprayed with Spray & Wipe to "polish" the bead.

Good luck

Alan

 

Fixsil FS200 is an adhesive sealant, available in south east Asia and the big island below. I don't know of any north American distributors, but it can be purchased online. Given shipping from down under, I suspect a more local outlet would be more economical.

As I've mentioned before, one of the few applications for a silicone based sealant that I recommend is with glass and plastic windshield, port and light installations. It's the only thing that seems to stay stuck.

 

After a few days of feeling like I was DE-constructing things, I finally was able to put some things back together.

I pulled out and dusted off my seat frames, smoothed the epoxy runs and gave them three coats of varnish.

I opened up the side panels and ran the rest of the wiring in those areas. The only wires left were the courtesy light wires. I've wired for two sets of courtesy lights. I'll have white boarding lights and red "working" lights.

I finallized the design and construction of the power quadrant support. These were cleaned up, given muliple coats of varnish and reinstalled.

All of the wiring inside the sides of the boat has been secured with wire ties and cable clamps to the boat structure. All courtesy lights have also been installed. I went with all LED lights to minimize battery consumption. I opted to try something a little non-standard. I researched automotive underlighting as an alternative to the standard set of lights available through marine sources. I figure the underbody of a moving car is a pretty harsh environment. The neon stuff would not be suitable, but I ran across some interesting LED products. I settled on some flexible strip LEDs that could be mounted inside or outside of a vehicle. The ones I purchased were 12"L x 3/8"W x 1/8"T and have an adhesive backing. The self adhesive bit concerns me a little. I have a backup plan though should the adhesive fail. I was able to attach these to the boat structure conveniently behind the coamings, which is also extends below the structure by a convenient 1/8". They are completely invisible from normal viewing angles.

These photos are looking up at the undersides of the coamings.



I also installed more standard type lighting to illuminate the floor area below the dash and also to illuminate a storage area in the bilge underneath the forward bench seats.

A day was spent upholstering the seats and those are done except for a couple of places where I want to retuck the corners. I chose a pleated type upholstery fabric to add some interest as this is just a simple wrap job around plywood and padding. I think they turned out OK and they will certainly serve their purpose.



A couple of photos with all of the courtesy lights on. They are all wired together for now pending the arrival my next parts shipment, to include the last of my switches. I was concerned about having enough illumination as the LED strips are partially obscured by the cockpit trim strips. I don't think this is a problem. It's pretty bright in the seating area. It's all indirect though so you don't get lazer beamed by any of them. :idea::idea::idea:



Dunk day has come and gone and still no word from the hull ID people.


Dunk day is now a floating date to be determine...........

 

Splash it anyway. Most harbor patrol (assuming you're caught) will permit a test run or two on a recent restore and you're boat will easily display it's recent renovations. Looks good, drop it and and get her wet. Are you going to put an air bag in that wheel?

 

LOL

I've got the motor off and I'm waiting until it's remounted before tightening the wheel nut. It's a nylock and my aviation training says you don't reuse nylocks so I'm just making d@mn sure that I don't have to remove it once it's on. Call me crazy...or something.....

"Get her wet" I like your thinking.

 

Nylocks are used many times.

 

Nylon lock nuts shouldn't be reused Frosty, though many do. On high yield applications, you be crazy to trust them twice. A steering wheel bolt isn't one of these applications, so go ahead and reuse it. Apply some LockTite if you're nervous.

 

Most vehicle steering wheels use normal nuts with a spring washer or star.

Im sure the manufacturer would love you to believe they can not be used twice but in the automotive and not the aircraft industry they are. A nylock is infinitely re usbale as long as it offers resistance , never use a power tool that will overheat the nylon. Again this comes down to the skill of the mechanic

Infact in the aircraft industry they would be castle nuts with locking wire or at least split beam nuts.