Author Topic: Here's my 78 Brendella (Read 39979 times)

jrork · « **on:** September 16, 2007, 08:09:41 PM »

Though we're damn near 2000 miles from Socal and at the request of some of the folks here, I'll offer up my project for grins

We picked up this 78 18’ Brendella in Oregon about 5 years ago as a bit of a basket case. It had a stock big block Chev and a Panther pump. It’s a full stringer boat that looks to be splashed from a Southwind (isn’t everything?) and seemed to be very solid. The motor ran but that was about it, Paint looked good from a distance but was pitiful up close. Interior was really nice except for some cheapo black Astroturf for carpet which I replaced right away.
I put together a nice rumpity 468 balanced big block and threw some Bassetts on there along with a ton of Stainless Steel lines and ran it in this configuration for a number of years. This thing was as turn key as they come. I know many have struggled with MSD setups but my complete MSD setup worked like a champ. One thing I found out talking to folks is that grounds are a pain on these systems so I ran separate grounds to the box, alternator and starter. Never had a problem.

Here is what it looked like for a number of years we used and abused it.

Unfortunately, like many Panthers, excessive rpms were an issue. Cavatation was a killer for me. No matter what I did I couldn’t get over 67 mph @ 5900 rpm (where I had my rev limiter set)

I had been following the Panther Energizer concept from the initial mockup through the design and into the production and thought I might give it a try as an alternative to a complete swap of the Panther. I talked Tom at Jet Boat Performance and we came up with a plan.

One of the things that many have told me are an issue with Panthers is a limit of around 500hp. With this new Energizer that is no longer an issue so I have started to gather up parts for a new blower motor I had in the back of my mind for awhile. We're stepping it up well over 500hp

.

Since the blower belt will intrude into the seating, I’m gonna have to fab up some new seating but am going to really try to keep the same style as what it has.

cont......

jrork · « **Reply #1 on:** September 16, 2007, 08:10:36 PM »

Continued..
With a new pump, new interior and a new shiny blower motor, the paint was gonna be an issue for me. I was bitching about it when my wife walked into the shop and said “if it’s gonna bother you, why don’t you paint it?”. That did it, that was noon on Sunday and by 4pm it was off the trailer and on a dolly I had just built.

I picked up some 4” razor blades and proceeded to take the paint off. It was pretty easy since there were a number of different paint jobs stacked on top of each other.

Thru this I did find shadows of license numbers from Nevada and Montana so this boat has been bounced around a bit. Wish this thing could talk and tell me of the fun it had back in the day.

I carefully pulled the rubrail off only to find that this boat was seamed so nice that you couldn’t even see a seam at first. The thing looked so sexy that I made the decision it wasn’t going back on.

Here's a closeup picture of the seam where the deck meets the hull. It was this way almost everywhere on the boat.

Through the advice of a number of folks on this board and others, I came up with a plan on how to cap it for good. I used West System epoxy for the entire project and though spendy, it’s really nice stuff.

I took my 4” grinder with a 80 grit flapper wheel and ground into the seam and out approx 2” to 3”. Then I took my little air angle grinder and fine tuned it a bit with a 40 grit speed lock and then finished it with 40”grit on my DA. Right about now is when my wife had to hide the guns cause I just took a cool looking boat and ground the shit out of it……..

Wiped everything down real good with acetone and then wetted the seam out. I followed that with some narrow fiberglass tape and laid that into the seam. They suggest all kinds of tricks to work the bubbles out but I found my finger did the best. I followed that with multiple layers of epoxy mixed with some Colloidal Silica and wider runs of tape till I had only a slight groove left. I filled this in with some epoxy mixed with microballons and smoothed that out. Hot Damn! That looks good.

Ignore my hands in the picture. I put them there so get some contrast so you could see the shape. As far as the ripples, thats just water. This thing is smooooooth.

I also filled the thru the transom exhaust holes, decked the boat of the stern and bow light, fixed some slight cracking on the deck , filled a notch in the gunnel that they had cut to clear the old exhaust and a bunch of miscellaneous holes on the dash..

Cont.....

jrork · « **Reply #2 on:** September 16, 2007, 08:11:35 PM »

Been messing around with some ideas of what to do paint wise. After seeing what the original gelcoat was, I was thinking along these lines.

Punk kid of mine thought this was funny......

I wiped the boat down real well and shot some MP170 epoxy primer to seal up everything real well and then laid some Evercoat Rage Gold on a few areas to get some of the roughness out. Blocked that out and then shot MP282 2K High Build primer reduced 10% and blocked that down with some 180 grit.
I’ve since followed that up with some wet sanding using 400 grit

By the way, my wife is a gem. That's her trimming the hedge in the back ground while I get to play boat. I havent had to mow the lawn or nuthin since I started this project..... wonder what it's gonna cost me? :eek:

Other than some pin holes in the bottom that I’m currently addressing with some UCS Icing, the bottom is ready to shoot and the sides are damn close and will only need a slight touch up when I get ready to shoot them and the top.
I’ve talked to many folks and pretty much everyone universally recommends a single stage urethane for the bottom. The rest of the boat will be Base Coat / Clear Coat.

Well, that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the pics......John

flytime · « **Reply #3 on:** September 16, 2007, 08:22:45 PM »

That is one sexy lookin boat John. Keep the pics coming. Love that motor. Next summer you will have to make a trip down to Socal and go out boating with us. We got a great crew.

Bob

jrork · « **Reply #4 on:** September 16, 2007, 08:31:51 PM »

Thanks Bob. Man would I love that but jezus if you guys could do something about making California a bit shorter, that would help a bunch of us out. Did a road trip down there this summer checking out the beach and by the time we gotdone with all the sightseeing and driving back, it was almost 4,000 miles...........

Thanks again......John

GlassCutter · « **Reply #5 on:** September 16, 2007, 08:40:28 PM »

Man you do nice work. You are doing all yourself, one guy? It sure is coming out sweet tho. I think it would be a same not to add a bit more pizzaz to the color scheme, at least 3 or 4 different colors. Make that boat get noticed! Thanks for sharing the pics.

GAWnCA · « **Reply #6 on:** September 16, 2007, 09:12:53 PM »

Hey John, Nice work and I'll keep watching and learning. I think I need to get s et of those twisty tuned headers. They look so cool!

jrork · « **Reply #7 on:** September 17, 2007, 06:48:17 AM »

Thanks guys. Yup, it's a one man show (even got it down to where I flip the boat by myself (scary though)). As far as the colors

, you might in deed find something like that! I'm pretty much a keep it simple kind of guy but I gotta admit some of the color combos I see coming out of that Socal gang is pretty damn cool.

Thanks again

pw_Tony · « **Reply #8 on:** September 17, 2007, 05:51:02 PM »

Just something to think about.

The boat looks great, way better than anything I've done lately. But I noticed you wetsanded the primer with a 400 grit.

There's a give and take when it comes to sanding primer. The finer sand paper you use, or wetsanding, then the glossier the panit will be with the least amount of orange peel. But if you used 320 grit without wetsand, then the paint would hold to the primer a little stronger, but will have a final outcome of more orange peel.

Like I said it's a give and take, you get shiny, easier to buff paint, but not as strong.

Or stronger paint that's more difficult to wetsand and buff.
Just throwing it out there.

You are doing a bitchin job and doesn't look cheap by any means, I wish I could do something like that!

beerjet · « **Reply #9 on:** September 17, 2007, 06:01:01 PM »

You are doin some killer work up there ! Dont short change yourself . You NW's have some awsome water up there .

-beerjet-

n8dawg · « **Reply #10 on:** September 17, 2007, 07:05:01 PM »

Good read man! Makes me want to go out in the garage and start tearing down my boat!
Keep up the good work!

2savage4you · « **Reply #11 on:** September 17, 2007, 07:29:59 PM »

Really looking good. Do you have some pics of the stand you built? I think i need one of them

2sav

jrork · « **Reply #12 on:** September 18, 2007, 05:34:26 AM »

Quote from: pw383426 on September 17, 2007, 05:51:02 PM

Just something to think about.

The boat looks great, way better than anything I've done lately. But I noticed you wetsanded the primer with a 400 grit.

There's a give and take when it comes to sanding primer. The finer sand paper you use, or wetsanding, then the glossier the panit will be with the least amount of orange peel. But if you used 320 grit without wetsand, then the paint would hold to the primer a little stronger, but will have a final outcome of more orange peel.

Like I said it's a give and take, you get shiny, easier to buff paint, but not as strong.

Or stronger paint that's more difficult to wetsand and buff.
Just throwing it out there.

You are doing a bitchin job and doesn't look cheap by any means, I wish I could do something like that!

I really appreciate the advice. I havent done this stuff for 15 years and EVERYTHING has changed. When I was told to wetsand the primer with 400 I did a big gulp too. Seems awfully smooth. I remember the days with you did 220 to scuff it up and call it good. I'll talk to some peeps about the 400 and get back with you. Once again, thanks for the advice......John

jrork · « **Reply #13 on:** September 18, 2007, 05:36:50 AM »

Quote from: 2savage4you on September 17, 2007, 07:29:59 PM

Really looking good. Do you have some pics of the stand you built? I think i need one of them

2sav

Nutz, I really dont have any good pictures. There was really nothing to it though. My boat is a full stringer boat so I just built it so I had a couple 2X6s that spanned the stringers. Just slap one together and go for it. I love pictures of boats upside down in the garage.

jrork · « **Reply #14 on:** September 18, 2007, 05:37:37 AM »

Thanks for the compliments guys. I apprectiate it. Makes me wanna get back at it but that's gotta wait for the weekend

CHROMEY · « **Reply #15 on:** September 18, 2007, 09:36:12 AM »

looks like u got a few toys up there.....a layed out chevy extra cab, and a monster lifted 4x4, and a huge azz garage, you could just about work on anything there....looks great and good luck
!!!!!

TCRUSH · « **Reply #16 on:** September 18, 2007, 12:05:57 PM »

That looks awesome.That's exactly what I need to do to mine.What's the best way to cover up the bass boat flake? Also what do you use to fill stress crack? I have a 6 inch da sander.Do you think it's the best tool for sanding the boat? Sorry for all the questions,but thanks for the help.You can see my boat here.It's the Trophy custom.

jet boat performance · « **Reply #17 on:** September 18, 2007, 01:28:17 PM »

See Johnny I told the folks would love your Project here ... Tom

jrork · « **Reply #18 on:** September 18, 2007, 06:39:26 PM »

Quote from: CHROMEY on September 18, 2007, 09:36:12 AM

looks like u got a few toys up there.....a layed out chevy extra cab, and a monster lifted 4x4, and a huge azz garage, you could just about work on anything there....looks great and good luck
!!!!!

Thanks but show me one garage that isnt stuffed to the rafters with stuff. mine sure it. As far as the rigs in the background, they're my sons. We put a 6 link cantilever air bag setup in the back and fast bags up front off of an engine driven pump. The blazer's got a rumpity 406 sbc with 1ton running gear, no interior but a couple buckets. Both are pretty damn cool but I tend to go to the older stuff to match my age

Of course, he's trying to get me to go this route now which I gotta admit I think looks pretty cool

jrork · « **Reply #19 on:** September 18, 2007, 06:51:35 PM »

Quote from: TCRUSH on September 18, 2007, 12:05:57 PM

That looks awesome.That's exactly what I need to do to mine.What's the best way to cover up the bass boat flake? Also what do you use to fill stress crack? I have a 6 inch da sander.Do you think it's the best tool for sanding the boat? Sorry for all the questions,but thanks for the help.You can see my boat here.It's the Trophy custom.

As far as advice from me, I'll be the first to admit I dont know anything and stumble my way through everything I do. Just ask Tommy...

With that said, I'd be happy to help you anyway I can but I'm sure others on this board have more knowledge than I do. Please let me know if there's something I can do to help.......John

Yep Tommy. This is a damn good board, just a looooong way from home...

FORKEDUP · « **Reply #20 on:** September 19, 2007, 09:06:04 PM »

all i can say is WOW, you are doing some fantastic work on your boat, i can't wait to see the finished product

jet boat performance · « **Reply #21 on:** September 20, 2007, 08:35:12 AM »

Jrork wrote:
"This is a damn good board, just a looooong way from home..."

John ,Cali is a hop skip and jump from Wa just hook up that trailer you & Jan can camp out in my back pasture (homemade beer ,Santa Maria BBQ & Hot Rod Boats what more could a guy want? Hell if you retired you could get the Brendella done real quick lol ... Tom

jet boat performance · « **Reply #22 on:** September 21, 2007, 08:51:55 AM »

John Josh wants to know whos silverado is in the first pic ,hes got a bitchen steel cowl induction hood he'd like to oft... Tom

jrork · « **Reply #23 on:** September 21, 2007, 09:11:48 AM »

Quote from: jet boat performance on September 21, 2007, 08:51:55 AM

John Josh wants to know whos silverado is in the first pic ,hes got a bitchen steel cowl induction hood he'd like to oft... Tom

Sorry Tommy, I've been traveling on business and didnt see your emails and stuff till this morning. The truck in the background is my son's Ian lowride. I'll let him know about it.

Keep a spot mowed in your pasture for us. You just might get sick of us.

GlassCutter · « **Reply #24 on:** September 21, 2007, 01:07:43 PM »

(homemade beer ,Santa Maria BBQ & Hot Rod Boats what more could a guy want?

Next time I'm in Paso I'm going to have to disable my boat. MMmmmm homemade beeeer . . .