69 Woodson Tri-hull with 68 Johnson 55hp

[Hab]

I hope everyone had a good 4th. We sure did. Dad came back on Sunday to help with getting the motor mounted. Put it back on the cherry picker and checked that we had everything lined up. I drilled it in several stages. Initial holes were drilled out to 7/8" then filled with resin and milled fiber. Once that set up we lined everything up again and drilled 1/2" holes. The fit was a little tight, but seated nicely with a few taps from a chunk of firewood. Next we lined up the steering bracket mount and made the final 2 holes in the transom. I had intended to fill those holes last night. We quit about 6 and went in for supper. Went back out about 7:30 and it was raining. Weird. We've been bone dry for 2 months, but got a bunch of water back this weekend.
The cap fits, but not perfectly, I'm slightly off in several places. Motor mount holes at the splash-well were off from original placement by 3/8" and some of the rivet holes on the starboard side are off by 1/4" or so. Ill get the transom finished this week and hopefully get the cap re-seated by the weekend.
Motor seems to be working right. I cooked one coil over the weekend, and was getting to much heat in the second one. started to get some misfiring at higher RPMs Going to add a ballast resistor and test it again before final wiring and installation.
I figured I was close enough to the end I took down my flipping frame.

 

[Hab]

Making a little more progress. Got the cap mated to the hull. Had to tug on it with a ratchet strap a bit and push it around some. Got the holes lined up with the top and bottom and the rub rail sections. After I popped in the 50 rivets ( still need 25 more), I went ahead and installed all the hardware on the transom. I also put in the brass drain tube. Its ready for field trials, but I have to wait a bit. Got too close to someone with the "rona" so were in quarantine again. Yay...., Good news it gave me extra time to finish the motor. I wrapped up the wiring today. I'm only waiting on a regulator to finish the charging circuit. Next chance i get ill put the motor on the boat and start on the controls. Hopefully I can get a basic set up in the next few weeks and get her on the water. I'm getting close. Time to pay the tax man.

 

[archbuilder]

Looks like A boat again!

 

[Hab]

I took some time away this month. Took the family out for some camping and adventures. It was a good time, saw some old friends and enjoyed some better weather. Made it back in time to celebrate a milestone birthday for the admiral. After that I spent a day with the boat, before returning to work . I got up early and put the motor on, then wired up the helm and connected the steering. went to the tag office to get the taxes up dated. Made it back to install seats, and get the trailer wired up. I headed out to the lake to get some initial testing in. I have good news and bad news. The good news: the boat did not sink or take on water, and it seemed to sit like normal on the water. The bad news: my motor seemed to be H2O intolerant. It ran just fine on the test stand, and ran great in neutral on the water, but would not go while in gear on the water. I also broke a U-bolt on the trailer while launching, had to make a field repair just to get it out and get it home. Brought it home and jacked up the trailer enough to put the motor in a barrel. I started testing and again with the prop submerged it wouldn't go in gear. Made some adjustments to the carb needles and finally got it to work right in the barrel. Hopefully I can get the trailer fixed up and get back to the water this weekend for more testing. Its nearly there for basic functionality.

 

[archbuilder]

Congrats on the splash! Seems like there is always a shake down period, hopefully everything else will go smoothy with the adjustments and trailer repair.

 

[Hab]

Man this engine worked me over the past few weeks. Engine kept giving me troubles, so I started diagnosing stuff. First off I suspected the hot rodded ignition set up. This old motor was one of the first with a CDI ignition and the factory points were used only as a low voltage trigger. Rather than purchase a $ 400 power pack. Dad put on an auto coil and standard breaker points. I fried 1 coil during testing and replaced it with a low dollar coil. after alot of goofing around I finally figured out the coil just wasn't hot enough, so i bought a 45kV coil. Worked much better. we also set the timing ahead 10 degrees at idle. I also had a fuel problem. seemed i was getting limited fuel to #1, plenty to #2 and none to #3. The carb rebuild kit i purchased may have been for later models, the float needles and seats, never would line up like the manual said they needed to. I swapped the old seats and needles back into #1 and #3 and now its running like crazy. I may have to go back in and put the points back at the 0 degree timing, but for now i can at least get it to idle in gear in the barrel. Lake tests to follow soon.

 

[kcassells]

Sorry to hear that Hab. Hope all gets squared away with the motor.

 

[Hab]

More failures, but also more progress. I made it out 3 times over the long weekend. Wasn't too busy if you got to the ramp before noon. After noon, well that was different. Either way I'm calling it. Splashed. I was able to launch it run it and anchor it out so we could swim and goof off. I still have some adjustments to make but, if I do nothing else to it, i can get to the fish and remain safely above water. see the proof below, for at least an hour anyway.

On another note: I doubted I would actually make to this point. But, since I have, can I get an admin southkogs to change the title of my thread to "69 Woodson Tri-hull with 68 Johnson 55hp" .

 

[kcassells]

That is GREAT! Very glad for you and some good time with the family! This forum rocks!

 

[kcassells]

No doubt Nurseman I bought 8 more for this project. Thanks for the well documented stringer fabrication techniques. Now I gotta ask, I'm on the fence about the ooze holes in the transom. How did they work out for you? Would you recommend them. They seem legit, but I'm leery about blessing my transom with a holely baptism.

Happy birthday everyone.

nurseman wanted me to ask you if you could send him your left over clamps. He got a fetish for them ya see.

 

[southkogs]

I doubted I would actually make to this point. But, since I have, can I get an admin southkogs to change the title of my thread to "69 Woodson Tri-hull with 68 Johnson 55hp" .

Gotcha' :thumb:

Congrats on gettin' it splashed. It's really nice to see someone get farther along than they planned, and have a good time doing it.

 

[Willyclay]

Attaboy! Looks like the QFT has already started.

 

[nurseman]

nurseman wanted me to ask you if you could send him your left over clamps. He got a fetish for them ya see.

Thanks for looking out for me Kev!

Not sure I would go so far as to call it a fetish, just they are really useful, and you can't really ever have too many...
On a side note, is it unusual to walk down the clamp isle in every home improvement store I go into?

 

[JASinIL2006]

Awesome job! Congratulations!

 

[archbuilder]

Looks like you got to the fun part of a rebuild!

 

[Hab]

Thanks everyone, I couldn't have done it without reading through your builds.

 

[Timr71]

Congrats!