1965 Jet Star restoration

[lakelover]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Glad it ended well with the repair shop. It's good when it works out that way.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Here is the first iteration of the windshield. We are going to the lake today for sea trials, and if she rides like I think she will the height is about right. But if not, I will remove the two top pieces and just go with 1/4" Lexan with a curve at the top.

This is a trial installation. There is still a lot of detail to attend to. Notice that the aluminum brackets are inlaid. The Lexan will go over them.

 

[lakelover]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Looks neat, really retro. It will be inbteresting to see how the wood holds up over time.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Well. We took her to Fontana Lake this morning. The mechanic swore that she would fire on the first try and by golly she did. We had an excellent time cruising within three miles of the marina. The little yacht rides well, is quiet (the cedar deck contributes to that) and does not throw spray in your face even when quartering into decent wake swells. Top end is about 22 knots and gas consumption about 1.75 gal/hr.

But all is not well.

About two miles out from the landing I slowed so idle speed to peruse the shoreline. When I called for more speed I didn't get it. All ahead 1/3 was the best it would do. So I poked along toward the landing and made the turn for the dock. I pulled her into neutral and she went nuts. The engine went to red line and set the water aft to boiling. If I'd killed it I'd have had to go over the side and tow her in. Forty years ago, maybe. Not now. So I called for forward--a huge clash of gears--and we lurched forward. I knew there was no chance of fetching a civilized dock landing, so I headed for the ramp and killed it 20 yards out. We coasted up and I hopped over the side and grounded her. The spectators had the grace to say nothing. It turns out that either the throttle cable or the control is at fault.

A fun day.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

You won't believe this.

Yesterday (Sunday) I opened up the controller. At some point in history the nylon pivot in the lever must have broken so someone had the brainstorm of replacing it with---a piece of 1/2" wood dowel.

The nylon slide is so badly chewed up that I marvel that it functioned at all. But, truth to tell, Providence saw to it that it quit for good in the best possible place: right at the landing. Half an hour before we were miles away on a lake whose shore line is nearly vertical in most places. And all that has to be replaced is the cheapest part, the cable.

 

[lakelover]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Glad it worked out for the best. I've been known to cobble up some repairs, but I do have my limits! It's a good thing that sometimes thngs work out just-so. Would hate to be bouncing off those vertical shores for hours! I'm lucky, my lake is small and I can put in just about anywhere I need to.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Well, not actually the cable. What I needed was the plastic piece that pivots inside the throttle lever. There are used Shipmaster controls on the net anywhere from $50 up, as is. Fortunately, I work for Continental Automotive Systems and we have a world class machine shop. I displayed the offending part and shortly was handed a replacement center piece that should work quite nicely until I can locate the proper part at something like a reasonable price.

 

[lakelover]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

...Fortunately, I work for Continental Automotive Systems and we have a world class machine shop. I displayed the offending part and shortly was handed a replacement center piece that should work quite nicely until I can locate the proper part at something like a reasonable price.

That's the advantage of inside connections! Sure comes in handy to have friends in the right places sometimes.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

I finally got the windshield done and permanently installed. I need a few more small ss screws around the edges. Other than that I'm happy with it. But spending all that time messing about on the fore deck made me think about something else. Namely how nice it would look if I covered the entire topside with mahogany. It is fairly expensive, but I could get 5/4 x 4 and resaw each one into three. I doubt there is 25 sf gunnels and all. I just wish I had thought of it before I put the windshield on because it is mounted on twice sticky foam tape and sealed tight, besides having 8 screws securing it. Oh well. Maybe later. It has been raining for the last few days so I don't have pictures yet. I'll get a couple shortly.

I have put about 130 miles on the trailer. It pulls well, but I didn't really trust it. I put bearing buddies on it, and packed them full of grease but noticed that the back side of the wheels was covered in slung out grease. So I went down to Northern Toy and Equipment and got a set of new hubs, and it's a good thing I did. Let's just say "Worn out", would be an understatement. The new hubs have a nice feature. There is a zerk on the back side, and the dust cover has a rubber plug. You pull the plug and as you pump in new grease the old comes out the front. Neat. I'll still keep the rubber covers on them though because I don't know for sure that the plugs are watertight.

Still to be done:

1. Replace transom wood (winter project).
2. Install instrumentation (volt, tach, fathometer, etc).
3. Get a modest chartplotter.
4. Build and install rear seating/storage.
5. Maybe, or maybe not, replace the splashwell.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

The windshield:

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

3. Get a modest chartplotter.

Check out this one: http://www.cabelas.com/sonars-eagle-cuda-350-s-map-sonar-gps-fish-finder-1.shtml Cheapboatkev and I both have it and like it a lot. Tough to beat for the price.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Check out this one: http://www.cabelas.com/sonars-eagle-cuda-350-s-map-sonar-gps-fish-finder-1.shtml Cheapboatkev and I both have it and like it a lot. Tough to beat for the price.

That looks like a winner! Do you know where I can find out if it has my local lakes like Fontana, Lake James, Hartwell, Jocassee, and Keowee? I found the manual on-line and this looks more than adequate.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Well it doesn't take "chips" with specific lakes on it. However, I had it out on a dumpy little section of the Susquehanna and it even knew the names of all the little islands. So I would assume, based on that, that it's reasonably complete.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Many thanks. Your say so is good enough for me. Of course, if it tries to tell me I'm grounded on an island in the Susquehanna we will have to discuss it further.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

I got another nasty little surprise yesterday. I bought a used Johnson Shipmaster control box on Ebay. The pictures looked fine, but when I opened it up and removed the plastic piece that the cable end goes into I discovered that it was far too small to take my cable. Mine has a flattened end with a hole in it, and this one takes only a wire tip so the brass tube is a lot smaller. I sacrificed one of holders to see if I could hone it out, but that didn't work. I wound up using the chewed up one I had and putting in the little center plug. I had to drill out the plug quite a bit, and taper the end of the brass tube so it would pass freely. My opinion is that it is a sloppy design that no first year engineering student would try to pass off as functional. I should have just bought a new aftermarket box (which I'll have to do anyhow) and saved the $90 odd bucks I paid for the junker. The seller let on like it was just old, but worked fine. He concealed the fact that the knobs were worn completely through, and the idle stop was badly bent.

 

[lakelover]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

Too bad on that control box. I've often found on Ebay that when it's listed as "working", they should add "barely". I was too chicken to try to get used controls (due to my own lack of knowledge in the area) and I'm glad I went with new.

Nice job on the windshield and the wood look you are achieving looks real nice.

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

More adventures in the wonderful world of old motors.

First, in the interest of full disclosure, the Ebay seller did give me a partial credit (even offering to take it back on a 'no return' deal) and we parted on good terms.

So, after piecing my control box back together I decided to fire it up and check the adjustments. The po had a stainless strap holding the top of the starter in place and it broke when I hit the start button. It turns out that it was not just holding the starter in place, but physically pulling it into alignment with the flywheel. After looking it over in detail I figured the best thing to do was take it to a mechanic. I gave up on the place I had it before, and took it to Greybeards Marine in Clyde. He has a clean shop and a good name locally. We shall see, but I can't seem to shake the old adage that a boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money.

 

[lakelover]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

We shall see, but I can't seem to shake the old adage that a boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money.

It is an expensive hobby. I'm afraid to total up what I've put into mine so far. I'll probably do that at the end, but only after I've had time to prepare myself!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

It is an expensive hobby. I'm afraid to total up what I've put into mine so far. I'll probably do that at the end, but only after I've had time to prepare myself!

I've recently decided to abandon and sell off my other expensive hobby in order to better fund the boating hobby!

 

[TM-1(ss)]

Re: 1965 Jet Star restoration

I suppose it is like restoring an old car. The profit is in the doing. What I would really like to do is build a submarine. There is a man in Germany who built a ~50' Type VII U-boat that looks and works like the real thing. Sadly, that will not happen.