1959 Lone Star El Dorado "Project Texas Tornado" - Winner 2016 Resto SOTY Award

[Woodonglass]

Post a Pic of your current Throttle/Shift control unit. Some of them had T/T switches and or places to mount them. You could prolly rig one and get the switch on eBay.

 

[monriverguy]

Good find on the Motor Luke, I am still looking here, how are you going to do your floor? i just got out all the old flooring in mine and the PO had a 4x8 sheet down the middle with to smaller strips on each side to get the 5 foot. Have you thought about single planks?? Just a thought tring to figure out what i am going to do to mine also.

and thanks again luke for all the help i should start making my transom this week if i can find the right wood.....

 

[Watermann]

You can get the TnT switches online, be sure to get 2 of them. besides one on the helm panel or controls, I put one on the transom of my SN so I could tilt it and set the motor toter. It sure beats running back and forth or having 2 people.

 

[Luke000]

Good find on the Motor Luke, I am still looking here, how are you going to do your floor? i just got out all the old flooring in mine and the PO had a 4x8 sheet down the middle with to smaller strips on each side to get the 5 foot. Have you thought about single planks?? Just a thought tring to figure out what i am going to do to mine also.

and thanks again luke for all the help i should start making my transom this week if i can find the right wood.....

Thanks! For the floor I am going to use 1/2 ply, with the rear deck area in two pieces, one between the seats and one in front of the seats. I measured it up and we are 1/4 inch short from being able to use two sheets of plywood. So I am just going to use 2 sheets and fudge it somewhere. as far as I am concerned my measurements were slightly off. Single planks might look good done right, but I am most likely going to do some sort of carpet so I want a flat surface.

This is what I used for the transom- http://www.lowes.com/pd_12229-99899-...nded%20plywood

WOG: I will try and get a pic of the controls up later tonight!
‹Waterman: I like that option!

 

[monriverguy]

I saw that plywood at lowes didnt think it would hold up, sure had a few bad reviews... did you glass yours at all or just seal good?? also that is only 23/32 how did your transom fit if you got it in yet? i got the knee brace back looks good so i should start on mine soon... thanks again luke

 

[Luke000]

I saw that plywood at lowes didnt think it would hold up, sure had a few bad reviews... did you glass yours at all or just seal good?? also that is only 23/32 how did your transom fit if you got it in yet? i got the knee brace back looks good so i should start on mine soon... thanks again luke

I saw the reviews and the bad ones looked to be from a lot of people who were too lazy to sort through the pile of wood and pick out a good sheet without warping and as few voids as possible. I found one that was just fine and I glued it up so that any future warping would cancel each other out. I have not done anything yet to seal it up, I just have it sitting on a flat surface for now underneath some weights. The board might be slightly undersized but I can shim it up with aluminum if necessary. Would you mind posting a picture of your knee brace? I am curious to see the weld job

Here is a picture of my controls- sorry it has taken so long, I started a new job and its been hectic.

 

[monriverguy]

No problem here it is luke what do you think ?? also a few pictures of all the stuff i have to wire wheel off......

 

[Woodonglass]

Yup, Very similar to mine. It should be No Problemo to drill a hole in the side of the control and mount a TnT switch on the Control Box.

 

[monriverguy]

Hey Luke, can you tell me what the hull plate says as far as hp and weight, the hull plate is missing from mine...... hope all is well with you ,you have been quiet on here......

 

[Luke000]

Hey Luke, can you tell me what the hull plate says as far as hp and weight, the hull plate is missing from mine...... hope all is well with you ,you have been quiet on here......

For HP on the El Dorado it is 25-80HP (or twin 40's ) the weight without a motor is 755 pounds but I am unsure of the maximum weight capacity, its not on any of the plates I have. I have been pretty good, thanks for asking. It has been busy for me with a new winter job, the semester at school is also getting pretty busy. I have also been spending most of my free time refurbing that welder I bought with the Evinrude but that project is almost done, should be finishing it up by thursday.

 

[Tnstratofam]

I still think these are some really cool boats, and look forward to your updates as well as moonriverguy'sl. I saw a crestliner earlier this year with twin 40's on her. She had a very similar hull design to your lone star's, and she looked awesome coming up the lake. The sound those twin 40's made was cool to say the least. Keep us posted when you can.

 

[Luke000]

Well I figured I would share what I have been working on for the last few weeks on instead of the Lone*Star. 1972 Miller AEAD 200LE welder with an Onan twin cylinder engine. It is a 200 amp/%100 duty cycle welder and a 5Kw generator. I put a lot of work into it not knowing how long it has been ran in (at least 10 years, my guess)
I did the following:
-rebuilt carb and fuel pump (all new rebuild parts)
-adjusted valves
-replaced plus and wires
-new points
-degreased engine
-oil change (new oil in air filter too)
-new spun aluminum fuel tank and lines
-cleaned slip rings and brushes on generator
-adjusted RPMs
-replaced the plugs on the 50 foot leads
-new ground clamp
-new battery (my old, but still good, subaru battery fit perfect!!)
-new battery ground cable and terminal on the positive
I also wanted to put this on a trailer so it would be portable to wherever I needed it; so I built up this harbor freight trailer. It has a 1000 pound capacity and I also put a jack on the front. It tows great and the welder runs and welds like a top! Maybe next year I will tear it all down and repaint it to get it nice and shiny





​

 

[Tnstratofam]

Nice job on the welder refit. I love seeing good tools refurbished. Nice setup with the trailer also.

 

[Mark72233]

That's an awesome setup. Good job.

 

[Watermann]

Have arc welder will travel! Looks great :thumb:

Just be sure to lock up that 100' of heavy copper leads, the crank head freaks would steal those in a heartbeat.

 

[nurseman]

Love the welder and trailer! Got some welding to do on my trailer, so feel free to swing by!:lol:

 

[Luke000]

In all seriousness- If any of the Iboats crew need some welding in the detroit-ish area, I am certified and cheap! And now mobile! :lol:

I got a little bit of work done on the boat today, my little brother and I bucked some rivets on the hull. Him on the outside with the pneumatic hammer and me inside with a forging hammer head. After some trial and error on the first one, I figured out that it goes much better when you let the bucking bar do the work. We got 16 done today, 19 more to go on the stern and then a few dozen more for the transom.





New rivet on the right, factory rivet on the left:



New rivet on the left, factory rivet on the right:

 

[64osby]

Hate to say it but the right (new) rivet in the third pic above looks a little short. What size are you using?

 

[Luke000]

Hate to say it but the right (new) rivet in the third pic above looks a little short. What size are you using?

I noticed that in the picture too, but I ran back to the boat this morning to check it out and it looks almost identical to the other rivets. I know when I took the picture it was a really funny angle that I cropped and the lighting was coming from the side. I know they were the longer of my rivets, i they were 1/2 inch.

 

[Watermann]

Ah yeah I can remember well the sweet music of an air hammer on tin! Looking good!

So did you dip the through the hull rivets in some Pelican poop (5200) before driving them home?