Finally got around to doing this but here is where we are on my boat. We first bought the boat from River Dad. It was in pretty good shape when we got it but had some work on it to be done. We first had Tom and Josh do a complete rebuild on my panther jet. Thanks guys. After that there were some bad spots on the floor that had to be fixed. We glassed the whole floor twice. I didnt like it but it had to be done, especialy in 90 degree weather. We got better at it as we went along though. Next we installed the new steering rack and cable. Boost came over and helped with that.
     Finally took the motor over to A&D engines with Dave. ( Thanks Dave you helped us tremendously and did great detail on the block and crank) The motor is a 454 CHEVY!! punched out 30 over. It came together pretty smoothly besides the stupid ring compressor. Didnt work at all had to do it by hand with my dad and brother. This is our 1st time building a motor but had a great time doing so. Thanks to erveryone who helped us with parts and advice. (GT jets, IR Rebel, Boost, Tom and Josh, Beerjet, Luckie Stiff)
     Next came the bilge area. It had to be sanded a lot and we glassed that in too to get it smoother. We just got done painting it white but have to do another coat. It is coming along so great and cant wait to get on the water even though the season has passed.
     Over the summer when I was gone my dad suprised me with pollished snail and logs and now are getting the intake and engine plates pollished.
 

P.S- Since it is our first build beerjet we might need that rope!!
     

Few more pics!!!!

Thanks Ray. Looking forward to seeing you on the water.

I gotta give Bebo his props for getting thru all the glass and tedious stuff. It is not a lot of fun sometimes as you all now. Especially in the hot summer month's we have had recently. We did not make our goal of July to be on the water, but hopefully we can get this thing on the water soon. Time is our only enemy at the moment being as school has started, wrestling practice after school and Boy Scouts take a good deal of Bebo's time.

We will do our best to keep up on this thread.

Frank

Bebo
i know - glass work stinks, even in 75 degree weather. keep up the good work it'll all be worth it when you take it out.

jet boats can teach good life lessons, one being to finish what you start (I'm still working on that one )

i'm sure your dad is proud of you props to him too.

 

Looks like a whole lotta work in the heat hehe. Will be well worth it when you take it out, point at the vessel and say " I/we did that". Good job and keep up the good work.

Thanks guys. I hope to be on the water soon and see and meet all you guys. Also a thanks to challenger for some parts too and anyone i missed.

Great Jobs Guys , also Great and rewarding family project !! Keep up the good work ! Tom

We are looking forward to getting this thing wet as well. I can't wait to see the look on Bebo's face when we first light up the motor, and the day it finally gets wet. I'll bet he doesn't sleep the night before!

We have already come up with a name for the boat. Being as it is such a low dollar build and we have received so many parts from so many people; the boat has been dubbed "Bits and Pieces"

I can only assume that he will use that to his advantage some day with the ladies. "Hey wanna see my....

Congrats guys!!!!   Great family project and you should be very proud to have a teenage son that is interested in spending time with "the old man" and working on a project like this instead of hanging around a bunch of mopes playing video games and seeing what kind of trouble they can get into. I hope I can get my two boys into the same thing when they reach that age. 

I think back to my time at his age and the excitement for this boat crap just never stopped!!   Great job fellas!!!!

Update - Since the wife and the girls were gone with the weekend Bebo and I were able to make a little progress. We had painted the bilge but were not happy with the outcome. So on Saturday we sanded it down and resined it it to smooth out some spots. Today we gave it a couple coats of single stage bright white again. It looks a lot better, just some  minor alligatoring at the back. I also had the home made rail kit and the engine plates polished for him. Just need to rebuild the carb and we will be done with the motor. Drop that sucker in, plumb it up and fire it. We are getting very close.

Actually the white bilge was a twofold reason. First it matched the boat and looks clean. Second since we have never built an engine before we wanted to be able to see right away if anything was leaking. The white bilge will help.

I'm very proud of both of you guys! I think everyone on this site is!

Could very well be the flagship boat I beleive we need around here and at the "unofficial" gatherings to liven things up a bit. In point of fact, I kinda used Frank and Bebo's story in a regional presentation a couple weeks ago when I was being questioned about MY boats.

I think I started with, "lemme answer that by telling you about the boat I'm most proud of.............it's not mine and it has NOTHING to do with me, I only know about it first hand..........."  I'm not gonna get into what the question was, but it was an attempt to slam me. 

Keep it up guys!    And GET THE THING WET!!!!!!

Ray