Hey guys, havent made any updates in a while. Been extremely busy working on the boat. Il give you a brief summary of what I did and when, then hopfully get some pictures because I forgot to take some...
Last Week:
Steering system went in. Didnt have a large enough hole saw so I had to improvise. Lots of holes from drill bits did the job
Seats were installed along with the splashwell and side pieces. Seats went on very easy but for those who are planning on or in the middle of a restore, have someone help put the side pieces on. I spent around 4 hours trying to line all the holes on for one rivet. I went as far as using tie down straps to squeeze the hull together to bring the holes together. Also, installl the outside dash screws after the side piece install or the boat wont compress in.
I custom made the switch panel. A screw in each corner and BAM it was installed.
The throttle I decided to mount on the side piece itself so 2 holes and hours of racheting nuts in, it was installed.
All the hardware went on very easy as I had a helper. I wasnt making that mistake again.
I started to run the electrical on wednesday. I installed the fuse panel and even ran and connected the front NAV light. The rest was going to have to wait until I arrived in NC because I decided it was time to splash the boat. I forgot to let you all know, the engine was taken to a shop. After lots of hard work, it was deemed dead. No compression what so ever. And that wasnt all. I looked for an engine all day thursday. Had a lead on the engine, called the guy and everything, when I got there, I looked at the engine. After 30 minutes of waiting for him to come out, I left. So there went that idea. But hey, coastal NC has many more vintage outboard motors for sale then Northern Virginia, right?
So I left for NC. North of Richmond, the trailer tires start to smoke...Pull over and check it out, turns out the nut vibrated loose. Just my luck! The nut holding the fender and spring/axle to the trailer fell off! the only one remaining was extremly loose. So loose I could hand tighten in...The fender dropped in the front where the bolt came out and cut the entire side of the tire all the way around it. I bought the tires 2 days before this incident...brand new tires. Thankfully, I had a spare tire and spare bolt. Tightened the bolts, put the spare on and we continued the drive. We reached the VA/NC border and stopped at the rest area. Go to check the trailer and more loose bolts. Luckly, all of them were still on the trailer. So I went around and tightened all except one. It wasnt going on or off. Thankfully, a truck driver had tools and a lock washer and we got it on. Finally, 9 hours after the 4.5 hour trip started, we arrived. Next day, I woke up and finished all the electrical. White light, Check. Bilge Pump Automatic, Check. BIlge Pump Manual, Check. Ok, I lied all the electrical except the LED lights. I wanted to splash the boat and had to leave in 15 minutes.
Load the boat up, take it to the ramp, back it down the ramp, pull the trailer up, and I go an sit in the boat. IT FLOATS!!! I cant say works as there is no engine but you can paddle til your hearts content. After pictures (which I will try to find), loaded the trailer up, and parked it. Since I had a 3 hour drive in front of me (which the boat and trailer were supposed to come on), the boat and trailer were going to have to stay at my families house. It was to unsafe to drive it those 3 hours.
SI am looking into options for shipping the boat and trailer back to Northern VA so I can work on it. I made a rookie mistake, I used normal nuts and washers rather than lock nuts and washers on the trailer. SO when I get back to working on it, Im going to put lock nuts on it. That way, all that will be left is to put an engine on it.
So if there is anyone out there with a lead on a Johnson/Evinrude from the 60s/70s era, please PM me!
Thank you all for your help. UNtil next time,
Have a good evening,
BB
