1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

[classiccat]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

I hear ya on the iboats.com withdrawal jb :madgrin:

the glass heap finally coughed-up her bounty!!!! :clap2:

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Good to see you won the battle over the fuel tank, I wonder how much more than the posted weight that glasser is

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

I hope you still remember why you were pulling the tank. Wow - It was a long struggle!

 

[Watermann]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Oh cool, a Flintstone glasser!

That's a good size belly tank, I sure hope it doesn't have any holes or bad pitting.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

No need for a tow vehicle anymore! Yabbadabbadoo.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

No holes were evident, cleanup pending. I didn't have a tape measure w/ me yesterday so I could measure it & figure out how many gallons.... Seems to be 27-28" wide, so likely too wide for a below deck belly tank on a tinny, which is too bad, because it's really low profile.... It may bring a few sheckles on CL or fleabay....

Finally figured out why it was so well stuck, fully glassed in corners. Zero clearance between tank & extremely well glassed & resin filler full height corner blocks along both sides on every corner. They did NOT want it to move I don't guess. There was really very little foam actually under the tank 'holding it down.

Headed that way now for some steering setup extraction.

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Great work on getting the tank out.. Hope the steering goes better for you..

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Is the tag still readable by the fill/vent/suction tubes?

I think by the time this glasser gives up all the dosh, she's gonna resemble swiss cheese.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

I think by the time this glasser gives up all the dosh, she's gonna resemble swiss cheese.

Um, yeah, about that ^^^

Got tired of the fat man squeeze everytime I walked between the back left corner of the Dakota bed & the port corner of the transom, so instead of tearing further into the steering, there's a whole port corner of the transom missing. And yesterday after success w/ the tank left time to cut open the other side of the splashwell to access the steering......

NOW I really need to get the 1350 BEAST off the back of the hacked up fiberglass hulk......

BTW: The tag is intact, but no the text is all non-legible.... Forgot to take measurements of the tank :facepalm:

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Maybe you should slow down until the TOP is resting on a stand. Cut away too much and timber.

I like whacking off the port corner to make room for you. :smile:

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

I did do the fat guy bounce on the lower unit, transom didn't flex even missing 25% the splashwell & a whole corner connection between transom and gunwale..... Panther built a pretty substantial boat. The PO made a mess of the interior, screwing down PT fishing fore/aft & swapping in cheap pedestal seats.

Until the sawzall got in to it, the lower hull and transom all appear to be fairly sound. The interior, float foam, stringers & deck were a disaster because of the cap modifications the PO made to it.

oh well :rip:

Get the steering free & off the back the OB shall come. Already have the stand lumber cut & casters at the ready

 

[Watermann]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Yes making the rotten beast suffer by slowly hacking away at it, sort of like our own serial glasser killer 'Dexter' named Jas.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Seeeeeee that wasn't as hard as you made it out to be was it?

The best tool I had available for stripping my donor was the circular saw.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Yes making the rotten beast suffer by slowly hacking away at it, sort of like our own serial glasser killer 'Dexter' named Jas.

As long as it JB to find the secret to pulling the tank, maybe "Marathon Man" without the dental drills. :lol: I think at one point, Jas tried to remake the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in a new locale.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

GA, this pix for you:

As for the donor tank, it's 44" long, 24" wide, 5" deep at the keel, and 3" deep at the outer edges, so it's about 18gal.. Hmmm, may have to find a home for it....

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

JB - If you move the tank up front with the batteries and relocate the helm to the extreme bow, you could take a prospective buyer on a test drive. That's after the Flex Seal dries over the Flintstone outdrive hole. It comes in three colors now, including clear! Glass bottom boat anyone? :lol:

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Got to swing by the boat shed after work for a little while this evening....

The donor tank will be my test dummy for aluminum prep & paint, so to that end, grabbed some supplies while on an errand for work:

And this showed up, so there is likely some fab work pending, at some point:

And the sawzall got a little bit of a workout on the other donor boat today, sorry no pix. I can assure you, it took quite a beating :watermelon:

I need to get a workbench over to the shed after the donors exit the premises. Sat a week is the target. The parts I cut off the 2nd donor are already tossed into the 1st donor's gapping hole where the tank used to be.

 

[Watermann]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Oh yeah a double donor autopsy with the guts mixed up! :heh:

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

I hope the FF is somewhere it can't witness all of the donor boat carnage . :cold:
It may start getting nervous ! :faint:

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Looks like your going to need something to bolt down the new bending brake..

Looking forward to seeing how the paint goes..

I think SP might just be onto something..:lol: