SoCal Jet Boats
Tech Talk => Projects => Topic started by: holorinhal on June 14, 2014, 10:04:44 AM
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I know its not a jet, but thought i would share what i have been up to lately. Besides, Im bored and need something to do!
My Spectra makeover project. Provided, i can figure out how to post pictures from my computer!
81 Spectra 20, 260 Merc IO I have had and used this boat for a few years, but has been appart and sitting asside, while I was building other boats and finnaly getting back to it.
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A couple more pics.
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I purchased My 81 Spectra 20 back in 2010, for $3000. After using it for two seasons I totaly love the boat,but it does needed some TLC.
The gell is in decent shape for its age, with the exception of a couple of spots up front on the lower hull, and a few stress cracks on the upper deck and I do like the colors, so the gell will stay for now and maybe get a cut and buff.
The boat needs to be updated with new gauges and interior and hardware. It has a bench in the front ,that I hate,so it will be converting the bench to buckets for the front.
One thing that has bugged me, is that when hitting rough chop, the boat feels kinda loose and not as solid as it should, so I started with ripping out the carpet, to see what was going on with the floor.
Here is a couple shot of what it looked like when I brought it home.
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Pics
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Ok, so when i got the interior out and the carpet riped up off the floor,the wood was resin coated but did not apear to be glassed in at all.
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I pulled the floor out and it was just srewed to the stingers,on the inside edges and loose on the outer edges and most of the screws were stripped out.
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I had a pretty good trickle leak comming in thru the transom plate ever since I have had the boat. It is ok for the day trips because the pump keeps up, but it was preventing Me from making the over night camping trips. I pulled the engine out so that I can see the transom plate and inspect the condition of the transom itself.
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I needed to get the belly tank out, for one to replace the two bulkheads in front and behind and another to check the turning fin, for any possible damage.
The tank was encased in foam. I was able to dig out the foam in the front and then was able to pry and lift the tank out.
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when I got the tank out, I found the area to holding quite abit of water.
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Next I cleaned all the foam out of the area and sucked up the water. Under the tank there was some soft foam that the tank sat on and expandable foam was poured in around it. I was surprised to see that there were no drains in the bulkhead to allow any water to escape. I will have to change that.
Hmmmm, so this is how the turning fin is mounted. does this seem right? I am going to have to fill this uup with water and see if there is any leaks thru the fin,
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Well after getting things cleaned up, I found some disturbing news. I found some delamination, inside the tub that holds the tank, on the port side stringer.
The glass is delamenated at the base of the stringer where it meets the bottom of the hull and the stringer is loose from the hull. The damage is contained to the inside of the belly tank well.
It was not My intention to do a full restore on this boat at this time, it was just supose to be a facelift. I want to be able to use the boat for a couple more years before doing a full on restore, so I am going to attempt to repair the loose area of the stringer by injecting under the stringer with epoxy and grinding away and relaminating the glass.
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Got every thing cut out and ground back, even the carpet glue. The glue was a bitch. I tried every thing and it came down to grinding it away with some flapper discks.
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interesting "studs" with the turning fin... great progress. man id love to have a belly tank. how many gallons is it?
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Did sone glass work, on the stringers. I injected the stringer bottom side, then made a filet, then retabbed the stringer.
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I used the old bulkhead, as a template, then cut out the new bulkhead.
I then resin coated the new bulkheads and skinned them, with a layer of CSM and woven cloth.
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I fitted the forward bulkhead and the stinger bulkheads, the tabbed them in with 6" strips of 1708.
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I cut out the new floors and got the bottom sides covered in glass.
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3/4" floor boards being installed.
I cut up some 1 1/2" strips of mat and laid over the stringers wetted out to bed down the floors.
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Floors, tabbed in.
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laying out glass cloth on top to seal floors.
entire inside resin coated to seal up all wood and grinding areas.
I laid up some 1708 in the engin bay to make it a little beefier and nicer looking, because the engine bay wil be nicely gelcoated to make it look purrdy.
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Shit Hal, I'm glad you're keeping this to a minimum and only doing a little face lift. :screwy: You've been a busy boy. This is very close to the same hull I'm doing, only mine is a Sleek Craft. Love these cruisers. Good Job buddy! :thumbup:
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Lol! Greg, i have been working on this, for a couple of years. I put it aside for a while, when i bought the yellow open bow and to build the blue Advantage.
Just getting back to it.
A lot of this work i did a while ago.
Just thought i would share, with the awesome folks, of SCJB!
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The tank was originally sitting on a bed of upholstry foam and then expandable foam all round. This time I decided to bed the tank with some rubber foam padding that we use at work. It will give a nice firm but soft cushion between the hull and the tank. I left some space between the pieces ,so that water will not get traped and can run out of the drain hole, which i added, that was non existent, before.
I set the tank in place and centerd it up and wedged it, so it would not move. I had to weight one end down because it was rocking a little. once the foam gets in there it will take up the space and remove rocking.
After that I started putting in the expandable foam allaround the void between the stringer/ bulk head and the tank.
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Nice thread Hal :) all these numbers you speak of 1708 etc etc care to elaborate lol.
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got some goodies! New Autometer marine chrome gauges and bezels. It will be a 100% improvement over the old Faria gauges.
New ano steering post also.
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I sanded down the bilge area, with 80 grit and wiped it down with acetone, to prep for the gell coat.
The idea is to have the spatter paint look. I took white gell and mixed pigment, to try and match the exterior off white or cream color gell.
After I mixed the gell I used a roller to roll ot the gell base.
I mixed up some gell color to match the burnt red on the exterior , and some yellow and went to splatering.
It kinda came out looking like a bad slasher movie !
After the engine and all the assesories are back in hopefully it wont look so bad.
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I installed the gimbal housing, with a new transom seal, and inner transom plate. I repainted the inner transom plate, red. I hate the way Mercruiser paints the entier engine and every thing , black.
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The boat did not have any gunwale supports in it. I could not see where there ever was any, but I wanted to put some in any way.
I made a template and cut out some from 1/2' ply, Then covered with one layer of CSM and one layer of glass cloth.
After they were cured I ground all the excess glass off, then sanded the whole thing down and then tabed them into the hull using two layers of CSM.
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After getting the belly tank set and foamed in, I installed the tank floor cover and got it all glassed in.
I had left it off for a while to make sure the foam set up properly.
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Got some more goodies. EMI THUNDERS BABY!
I had been looking for a set of center rise exhaust, to uprade the old Merc log exhaust. I was looking for a set of oem, or GLM cast iorn's , but i ran accross a set of EMIs on one of the boards, for a really good deal, so I snaged them up.
Just need to find a set of tips and get a Y-pipe blockoff plate.
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Ok so the gelcoat was all dull and hazed up and a little chalky, soooooo I did a wetsand and buff.
I started out with 800 and did a light wet sand around the whole top deck, making sure not to aply too much preasure as not to cut too deep. The idea was to just cut off the oxidation.
I then did a thurogh wetsand with 1000, 1500, them moved to 2000 to finnish up. The i mounted up a wool pad ,on the buffer and did a compund cut with 3m perfect -it rubbing compound, over the entire top deck and sides
After the compound cut, I screwd on a black foam whaffle pad and buffed the topdeck and sides with 3M finness -it polishing cream. After that I threw on two coats of carnuba wax.
With the exception of a few stress cracks, I am extreamly pleased with the was the gel turned out. It shines again! here are a few pics.
I do not really have any before pics, but in this pic You can kinda see the dullness of the gel.
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A few more.
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Nice when can I drop my vdrive off for you to wet sand and replace the stringers
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V- drive! Justin, you going to the dark side?
Doh! I guess I'm on the dark side, with an i/o!
Bring it on out, we will fixer right up!
We will have it converted to jet, in no time!
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Well every body loves motuh pics!
Mercruiser likes to paint theire engines solid black and they have no color at all. So while I had the engine out , I thought i would purdy it up a bit.
One of the first things that had to go is the cast iorn log exhaust and Y-pipe!
When I baught the boat a couple years ago, the previous owner said that the engine had just been freshly rebuilt.
So I flipped it over and poped the pan, to have a look see at what i really had.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is a 4 bolt block.
I tried to get a glimpse of the cam, but hard to tell.
Roller Rockers and Edlebrock Performer intake and a stock marine quadrajet carb.
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I powdercoated the pullies and timing cover and alternator adjuster arm, with some shiny chrome powder , from Eastwood co.
I painted the block with Rustolean Chevy red orange, the waterpump with Rustolean aluminum and cleaned up the intake.
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All the paint was worn off of the carb, so i gave it a couple coats of black appliance epoxy paint.
because of the new EMI Thunder exhaust, I had to buy a different thermostat housing. I was lucky and found a brand new one still in the box,
on e-bay, for 50 bucks. these things usually go for around $300.
Got the EMI manifolds on. I also had to go a different rout with the alternator bracket. Not 100% sure that is going to work untill I get it back in the boat.
And to top it off a nice polished aluminum 15" oval air cleaner. Thanks Ralph!
Now at least the engine has a little color and wont look so humm drum.
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The engine is back in the boat.
I do have some issues with the new exhaust. The risers are too long and I will probably have to cut them, unless I can find some one to trade for a set of turn down risers.
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This is what I need to do. If I cut the riser, I can make the turns with some exhaust hose and some mandrill bends.
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I also have interference with the engine hatch and will have to modify it, some how, to make it work.
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My risers are essentially the same as this short riser, only with a longer tail pipe.
That last pic, is really what i need, to the tune of $1400!
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Ok, so here is the plan.
I am going to cut the outer tube, then cut the inner tube, take a section out of the inner tube to shorten and weld the flare end back on. Then take a section out of the outer tube, to shorten and then weld the piece with the finnished end back on. With Me? Ok lets get started !
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First I used a 4" pipe cutter, to cut the outer and inner tubes.
I took the risers to the boat to fit and measure what i need.
I took some measuements and took them back to chop them up.
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I broke out the chop saw and went to work. i cut the pieces to the lengths i needed
This is how it all stacks up and will look like when welded back together.
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Alright, I got the risers all welded back together. I mocked them up and it looks like things are going to work out.
I might have left them a litle longer than i needed to, but I wanted to leave a litle length to them.
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That came out clean
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interesting "studs" with the turning fin... great progress. man id love to have a belly tank. how many gallons is it?
I think the tank is about 40-45 galons, maybe 50. I honestly cant remember righ of hand, because its been a while since i filled it up.
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Nice thread Hal :) all these numbers you speak of 1708 etc etc care to elaborate lol.
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Hey Justin, i would love to elaborate. I gives me a woody, talking about fiberglass! ;D
1708, is a E-glass Biaxial cloth, with chop strand mat backing.
The fiberglass tows are held together by light nylon stitching, as well as the mat backing.
The flat non-crimped fibers give reduced print-thru and higher stiffness than other woven fabrics
The mat backing adds extra thickness and makes for a smoother finished product, as well as a goog bonding layer, because glass cloth, with out a first layer of csm, tends to peel.
Now before you go scratching your head! E- glass is basicly, your every day, woven glass fabric and chop strand mat.
Biaxial, means that the tows, or strands run at a bias, to each other, which in the case of 1708, the strands run at +/- 45* to each other. With chop strand mat(CSM), the strands run random directions to each other and held together witha bonding agent that is disolved in the resin.
Biaxial fabric takes on compound shapes or curves, better than a 90* woven fabric.
By the way tows, are a bunch of strands, grouped together, in one direction.
The number 1708 means it is a 17oz biaxial fabric, with a 8oz chop strand mat, sewn to the back.
1708 is ideal for repairs, tabbing, and reinforcing.
Hope that helps. I am not an expert by any means! I have just used alot of glass and done ton of research on it.
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Now that's the informative Hal I know. I've always had the vdrive it sits in my parents garage til I get around to fixing the stringer. And ps since you gave me chit I started a build thread for ya :)
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Now that's the informative Hal I know. I've always had the vdrive it sits in my parents garage til I get around to fixing the stringer. And ps since you gave me chit I started a build thread for ya :)
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Yea I have been checking you out! That is some nice work, you have been doing on that Sprint.
You some one else we know, is probobly chomping at the bit, to out do you, on his!... ;D
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Damn. Not sure how I missed this thread. Just skimmed through it. Amazing work hal....keep it up!
What ever happened to that motor you picked up for the advantage?
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Damn. Not sure how I missed this thread. Just skimmed through it. Amazing work hal....keep it up!
What ever happened to that motor you picked up for the advantage?
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Im working on the motor. with all the bad luck i have had lately, I had to check things out. Waiting on a couple parts, and it will be going back together.
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Time to cut some holes. This is gonna hurt!
I contemplated, for a while, about where to locate the exhaust tips, above or below the swim steps. after much deliberation, i decided to put them just below the swim steps.
I wanted to cut the holes, so that they would work, with a possible, future, Bbc install. So I laid out the holes from the center line of the crank shaft and outdrive, and up as tight as i can to the steps. I had to buy a 4 1/8" hole saw and then went to town.
I first drilled a small pilot hole, just to make sure that I wasnt cutting int the floor, inside. Then I chucked up the hole saw and cut the hole.
I drilled the hole from the out side and because the transom is 2 1/2" thick, i had to drill from the inside ,also.
Gota find a used set of 4" ss angle cut tips, with internal flappers.
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New carpet installed.
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Holy smokes, that's one thick ass transom! So water test this weekend??????? ^-^ Come on down to Blythe for the 4th Hal, good place to test it out.
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I had to make a bracket, to mount the slave solenoid, because it use to mount to the rear of the old logs.
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I put a mew water pump, in the drive, and stabbed the drive back on the gimbal.
You can see that the old impeller was shot! This drive is a replacement, from another boat, that had a pair of 302 fords in it. Still 1:50 gears.
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Lookin good hal! You'll be back on the water soon it looks like :)
sent from the garage...drinkin cold ass coors light
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Nice work Hal !!!
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If you remember back in the beginning, i said the hatch would not fit with the new exhaust.
Well now it is time to make the necessary modifications, to make it work.
I baisicly had to tear it all part, cut out some reliefs for the risers, then build a depression, fo the risers yo fit in. I had to then build a deck over that, to create the cavity.
I wanted to make the under side a lil mor purdy. So i carpeted it and lined the depressions, with som mirror diamond plate. I also had to modify the air cleaner hole to accept the new oval air cleaner/ flame arrester .
I needed s little more clearance, height wise, so i had to shim the hatch up about 3/4".
It was a major job, but i finally goter done!
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More hatch pics.
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More hatch pics.
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Hal,
You did such a great job on your engine hatch, I just might let you do mine for me.
Whaddaya say? ;D :thumbup: :beer:
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Damn Hal, You sure are one handy guy... Im loving all the progress work.. :thumbup: :thumbup: Makes me feel like a lazy ass haha
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Remember, i also said that the boat has a front bench seat, and that i hate it!
Well time to fix that!
The plan is to modify the bench and make two buckets, while using as much of the existing materials as possible, to save money.
I started tearing the bench apart. The plan was to only make two new arm rests , but after thinking ( and thinking is dangerous, for me!), about it, i decided to make four new armrests, so that they weren't so wide.
I used the old armrest as a template and made parts for the new ones. Then i glued an screwed them together.
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The new arm rests being built.
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Next i took the one long back rest frame and cut it down to make two individual ones.
I had to make new ends, for the two halves and then wrap the vinyl back over and staple .
The last picture is the way it would gave looked, if i wouldn't have made them thinner.
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I put the arm rests on the back rests and bolted them together.
I put a strap across the font, yo hold them to the right dimension, while i made a bottom for it.
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how much do your seats weigh? those armrests are super solid. mine are just 3/4" plywood and they weigh a ton.
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I made back panels for the seat backs.
I need to cut the angles for the head rest, as you can see in the picture, as soon as i decide how tall i need it.
I need to get a dimension from some ones seat, like Brads or Donny.
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Hal,
You did such a great job on your engine hatch, I just might let you do mine for me.
Whaddaya say? ;D :thumbup: :beer:
Brad, when you get ready, ill be glad to come give you a hand.
We will geter done!
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Damn Hal, You sure are one handy guy... Im loving all the progress work.. :thumbup: :thumbup: Makes me feel like a lazy ass haha
Thanks Sam.
I am a glutton for punishment !
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looks great hal!