New Boat For Christmas

[Willyclay]

WOOO HOOO!!! Hang in there, it's looking good.
FYI, my old sailboat-friend told me Teak floats and Mahagony does not. Got those results when I tested mine. Good luck!

 

[cptbill]

Looking good, I'd sat the stuff that's in still in pretty good shape is the teak. Sometime it's had to tell from mahogany but the stuff doesn't seem to rot

 

[wooky30014]

I got some more done today, a bit warmer here. The helm is sitting in place and for now being held with just one screw, it's sitting on a piece of wood along the bottom edge so no worries. Wiring is exposed a little but I'm not going to worry about that right now.

Most of the wire feeds are in place (and some are even hooked up to the end results). Steering cable is greased with some grey neverseize and tightened down (and the wheel is even in the "straight ahead" position ). The cabin doors are ready to install but first will go in all the wood in the cockpit, pics as I go

As far as the wood types, I'll just let it slide and use the good pieces, some has bad / soft / rotten spots while others are the Rock of Gibraltar. The upper windshield will be all new 3/4 ply similar to the cabin bulkheads and will be epoxy sealed after the cuts are made then varnished (juss thinkin' ahead here) I've got a piece of 1/2 cut that needs a little trimming to fit across and under the front edge of the hardtop for the windshield frame to screw to, no gaps this time.

 

[cptbill]

That is looking great!

 

[wooky30014]

Thanks Cap, on the wiring, the engine control cable (pulled from a former project boat) that covers the electrical operation was JUST long enough so I ordered a few items, a bundle/pack of 11 different color wires in 16Ga 50ft each, a 25 ft braided cable sleeve to make a new cable with adequate slop tolerance for each end (making sure it's long enough with extra at each end for connections), remember she's a 20 footer and don't know if that counts the engine bracket and tilt gizmo I installed, another 2 1/2 ft). I also ordered just for giggles a solar battery tender/charger and plan to install it on the hardtop Yep, she's gonna be, for all intents and purposes, a new boat when I get done (my OCD and the learned "while I'm in there" mentality from working on my Mercedes hotrod sometimes is a PITA but afterward I seldom have any more issues from that area of the repair.

Speaking of, my "bankers hot rod" as they were called back in the day, a 1991 560SEC now with many "Euro" parts instead of the American versions. The day I bought her and brought her home

And how she is today, let's see if the differences can be spotted, other than the wheels, I will give a hint, she's slightly shorter in length

She'll do 90+ in third gear and well over 100 in 4th (automatic tranny)

 

[cptbill]

Looks like it has different bumpers on it and the stance looks different, but that could be the angle. Nice looking ride

 

[wooky30014]

Yeah, I think its the angle. I bought a "grey market" Euro SEC, it was a non runner, for the Euro parts which the bumpers were a big plus along with the AMG Penta lookalike wheels. I snagged a bunch of stuff off that parts car including the headlight switch panel with the thumbwheel for adjusting the headlights (yeah, no lie), the complete exhaust from the manifolds on back (no more chokepoint with the crossover pipe, a true dual exhaust now). I also bought (a group buy, limited run) a stiffer rear sway bar which eliminated most of the leaning in turns and curves. I also have on hand parts that I hope will never be needed but more and more are getting harder to find, hood, fenders, doors, boot lid, and all the glass w/regulators minus the windshield. I also hooked up the "City Lights" in the headlight pods, hard to explain but they are dim lights used while running at night in city limits, there are also the standard low and high beams as well as driving / fog lights. OH so much has been done to this road machine, also overhauled the hydro self leveling rear suspension, almost like a new car

Too chilly outside for boat tinkering today, some stuff out for delivery that was ordered. Getting ready to install the refinished interior wood in the cockpit

 

[wooky30014]

Well, it's been a month since I posted anything. LIFE happens LOL, betwixt the rain , some cooler weather , an electrical issue with the house, now fixed, an early morning trip to the Flughafen to pick up my son and soon to be new daughter-in-law , they came in for the weekend over in LakeCountry near here for the Masters and for my birthday WOO HOO. He was also here to see the house that he bought, sorta sight unseen but since Micki and him think so much alike and he had told her what to look for, they now have a 26 acre Estate just 1/2 mile from Lake Oconee and 5 minutes to the hospital that he'll be working at starting in July.

SLOWLY I've been doing some work to / on Riff Raft and can now say that except for the anchor light on the hard top (which is still off for now) all the electrics are completed and operational. The batteries are in their trays, with drain holes and "Battery One" needs it's hold down belt installed

I've got a question for those in the know and maybe even have one of these

no, not the Chihuahuas LOL, those be Darla and Daisy gettin' ready to bark at the neighbors dog. Back to the ???, the seat base, pedestal, with 8 screw holes and at least 3 of those will have screws going into either the stringers and / or the crossways stringer (or whatever they are called. I want to use it for the helm and it will be set higher than seen now while underway. It'll be screwed to / through the 3/4" marine ply which has been epoxy sealed and painted, a stout piece of ply in other words. Will I need a thicker platform to screw or thru-bolt this down, I can remove the deck if need be. Thanks in advance for any suggestions as I don't want this toppling over when I give it some gas. Planning to build a shorter bench / box for a matching seat I have and later possibly a bench type seat across the back, lockable to keep the batteries and tanks from walking away

 

[wooky30014]

And yeah, did a partial systems runup / check, bilge pump and tilt-o-matic work, and the motor spins over like it should, didn't fire as the kill switch was "off"

 

[cptbill]

AS usual it's looking great!, 26 acers, wow just think of the garage I could build on that. But your looking forward to having then close. We got on in Pa. one in Connecticut, and one traveling around the country

 

[wooky30014]

AS usual it's looking great!, 26 acers, wow just think of the garage I could build on that. But your looking forward to having then close. We got on in Pa. one in Connecticut, and one traveling around the country

Thanks Cap, yeah he could but the 26 acres were bought (and he tried to get another 10 acre tract next to his, 2 of them owned by the same guy) for deer hunting. I looked on Google-Earth and looks to be another 100 acres or so backing up to his and the other 2 tracts so not as much worry about stray lead. Robert has already mentioned right there in "the yard" to planting some fruit trees, a "small garden", bee hives over in the far corner of what's cleared and later maybe a pool and party deck. A 3 bay garage is already hight on the list to house the Caddy, the Benz, and have a bay for oil changes and such, yeah he's a Doctor but not afraid of grease and oil or even saw dust. He still has his first house down in Albany Ga and rents it out for now

 

[Willyclay]

...yeah he's a Doctor but not afraid of grease and oil or even saw dust.

As a doctor, he should know there is no escape from the gene-pool!

 

[wooky30014]

As a doctor, he should know there is no escape from the gene-pool!

Yeah Willy, he knows of the good Scottish stock he comes from and he's proud of the Clan we come from, he did some research of the family branches and one I knew of, two brothers in the Olde Country were fined for not making their hooch strong enough and another that I didn't know was some sort of Royalty (no, ya don't have to call me "Your Highness", yet) and with that in mind I'm tempted to buy one of those square foot of forest to be able to get an Official Title Of Laird (aka Lord) for being a Scottish Landowner LOL. Not a bad pond we be a'swimmin' in ay

 

[dan t.]

Sshhhh, don't say that too loud, the Admiral might hear ya Seriously though, those look like they came out of a cheap New Orleans brothel LOL. I know those Ladies gotta make a living too but not on my boat Back in the day / a previous life, LOL, I'd have welcomed a or two aboard, the more the merrier, but not now, not my style unless the Admiral wore one

On another note, I've got the water pump changed out and the foot back on the engine, had to slip the prop on and turn the shaft to get the splines lined up and it all simply slipped into place WOO HOO all the splines have been given a smear of Neverseize (something that wasn't done by any PO) so they aren't "dry" now. Ready for some adjustments to be made now or do the electrics needing to be done
View attachment 355260

 

[dan t.]

Sshhhh, don't say that too loud, the Admiral might hear ya Seriously though, those look like they came out of a cheap New Orleans brothel LOL. I know those Ladies gotta make a living too but not on my boat Back in the day / a previous life, LOL, I'd have welcomed a or two aboard, the more the merrier, but not now, not my style unless the Admiral wore one

On another note, I've got the water pump changed out and the foot back on the engine, had to slip the prop on and turn the shaft to get the splines lined up and it all simply slipped into place WOO HOO all the splines have been given a smear of Neverseize (something that wasn't done by any PO) so they aren't "dry" now. Ready for some adjustments to be made now or do the electrics needing to be done
View attachment 355260

Do not use neverseize on prop shaft splines, use a good waterproof grease only! Ask me how I know, I only made that mistake once, took me 2 hours with a puller and a heat gun to get the prop off after a year. Some kind of weird electrolises, turned the neverseize into cement

 

[wooky30014]

Do not use neverseize on prop shaft splines, use a good waterproof grease only! Ask me how I know, I only made that mistake once, took me 2 hours with a puller and a heat gun to get the prop off after a year. Some kind of weird electrolises, turned the neverseize into cement

Lieutenant Dan , Thank You for the heads up on that, I'll go check that out. This particular one / type is the grey / silver Permatex Neverseize and this is the first time used on a submersible assembly and I'll put what I find on here

 

[wooky30014]

Been a little bit but have's ya ever had a string of days that ya juss din't feel like doin' much 'cept maybe ta melt into yer chair, yep, had a few of them but still piddled a little here and there, plus an MD appointment and yeah, everything is "normal"

The other day I reconfigured the tarp and using some of the tent poles from a well used, old, and not used much any more camp "cabin" I now have shade AND headroom to go along with keeping the rain off

And today, juss finished installing the cabin hatch, had to trim the frame just a hair but finally it's in. The hardware will go in tomorrow.

You can tell a difference betwixt the wall with just spar varnish and the hatch with epoxy then spar varnish, oh well, still looks good. The darker strips are mahogany with epoxy, needs a coat of varnish for the UV protection. I've got some mahogany ordered to start the build of the upper windscreen frame WOO HOO, gettin' there

 

[cptbill]

The older I get the more of those days I have. Looks good! keep up the good work

 

[wooky30014]

Oh, just saw where this thread was moved to Boat Resto, no problem, juss so's it's on here somewheres

 

[wooky30014]

I went and picked up part of the mahogany wood ordered, the other shorter pieces will be delivered tomorrow (don't ask me, it's how they do things LOL) Now so's I don't mess up some fine looking planks, I've got to figure out how to put the ever so slight curve into the bottom edge to match the cabin roof. I've got the lean back angle figured by using the old pieces plus a new toy here, a table saw for cutting longer straight pieces. I'm going to do a search on building wood windshield frames and see what I can find