Looking forward to what ya got going Mark ! Maybe something like seastompers
Photos of a few stages of progress soon!
Actually tried firing up the 85hp and after 10 minutes of checks decided I didn't want to find out why it didn't have spark... That was easy.
Put it on craigslist and sold it to a guy with same motor who just took out his lower unit. For what I paid for the boat.
>>>SIDENOTE. Sad to see like almost no activity here in MFG. Don't want to rustle up old threads either. But there used to be good regular stuff in this subforum- what I can do?
Anyway, I got the keel completed and some paint on the outside of the hull. That was it until recently.
Donned coat and fired up the jeep and headed to the barn with some temps in the 30s and fishing coming soon. I hoped.
I took a sawzall to the window decks/seats and cut it all out.
Did some careful measuring from the splashwell sheer and used a length of unused moulding to pencil a fair line across the bow deck where the raised area for the windshield will be fashioned. Also faired 15" lines forward from the windshield to meet the faired line across the bow. This will form the base of the hump. (I have to rise from the OEM window ledges almost straight up in order to use the Edinboro windshield. From there forward, however, I can curve and lean and angle the structure to please the eye better.)
Then I decided to finish getting stuff out of the interior, like the aforementioned fiberglass panels/ski racks that I won't be re-using. (Where did that post go?)
Oops. Should have taken them out first! Removing them revealed very bad structural damage. And I also know why, too. Because in the course of evaluating a "fix" I discovered what caused it: the trailer has a 'tilt' release that is worn out and has over 2-1/4" of up and down movement even when locked. Every substantial bump basically hinged the boat which led to the floor to hull bond to completely separate and fail for almost 40". This damage extends from behind the seat position forward to about 11" forward of the raised underdeck bulkhead. Catastrophic. But I think I have a repair that will not only be stronger than factory by almost 50%, but it should also afford me substantial structural improvement for the planned coaming. This is important because I want to raise the windshield top to 54" (factory is about 44") and there was a lot of need to restore longitudinal support when I cut the factory dash and helm station out.
And yes! I'm welding the stupid "tilt load" trailer beam into a solid beam like I did on the Niagara around 2001. That tilt trailer is what wrecked that boat!
Oh, you wonder what I'm doing for a motor? Well I *want* to buy a 70 horse, but money won't let me right now, so the very nice 90hp Johnson intended for my Starcraft Holiday 18 is currently hanging on the transom. Same size as the 85 that I sold, but I think 70 would be fine. And lighter. This is a fishing boat build, not a ski boat.
That's it for today. Come alive MFG people! Let's have some fun!