ralph's liberty project

« **Reply #200 on:** May 23, 2010, 09:02:58 PM »

IMO...always use the f/glass..with the resin...being a corvette guy, thats the way I do it

« **Reply #201 on:** February 07, 2011, 07:47:18 PM »

i just want to say thank you for posting pics of this entire process. my dash is pretty dry and rotten and it has a crack thru it. the pictures and everything are a great help to knowing that im going to be on the right path of digging the rotten wood out from behind and glassing in new wood.

curious to know if you have any tips? and how you glassed upside down like that without getting it all over yourself.

« **Reply #202 on:** February 07, 2011, 08:04:12 PM »

let me know when you are going to do it and i will come over and give a hand

« **Reply #203 on:** March 01, 2012, 07:18:16 AM »

how did you mount your gas tanks.? i see thats you have alum round tanks and the clamps are bolted to the floor of the boat.. but did u just drill straight into the boat or did you do something else? thanks

« **Reply #204 on:** March 01, 2012, 07:33:47 AM »

Quote from: 1972Challenger on March 01, 2012, 07:18:16 AM

how did you mount your gas tanks.? i see thats you have alum round tanks and the clamps are bolted to the floor of the boat.. but did u just drill straight into the boat or did you do something else? thanks

liberty's tanks were through bolted to the bottom of the boat from the factory. they would use a button head bolt.

this is what those tank mounts look like. you can get them from www.imcomarine.com

« **Reply #205 on:** March 01, 2012, 07:38:52 AM »

so lets say that there werent any bolts from the factory.. how would u bolt them to the floor? would you have to do fiber glass work? or what?

« **Reply #206 on:** March 01, 2012, 07:40:48 AM »

Quote from: 1972Challenger on March 01, 2012, 07:38:52 AM

so lets say that there werent any bolts from the factory.. how would u bolt them to the floor? would you have to do fiber glass work? or what?

yeah, thats what the factory did....no extra fiberglass work to thicken it up. you could if you wanted to i guess.....overkill isnt a bad thing when mounting 15 gallon bombs

« **Reply #207 on:** March 01, 2012, 07:46:08 AM »

how thick is the bottom of a jet boat? i have a challenger that needs new tanks so i was wondering if i could just put bolts in the floor..

« **Reply #208 on:** March 01, 2012, 11:06:28 AM »

not very thick. best thing to do is to take a block, countersink a bolt into it, turn that upside down and glass that to the floor so you have a stud sticking out of the floor that you can mount to.

« **Reply #209 on:** March 01, 2012, 11:13:45 AM »

Quote from: ka0tyk on March 01, 2012, 11:06:28 AM

not very thick. best thing to do is to take a block, countersink a bolt into it, turn that upside down and glass that to the floor so you have a stud sticking out of the floor that you can mount to.

that wont work as those tanks are tucked up in the gunnels. the bottom of the libertys arent any thicker than any other boat.

« **Reply #210 on:** March 01, 2012, 11:32:48 AM »

Quote from: Brad @ SCJB on March 01, 2012, 11:13:45 AM

that wont work as those tanks are tucked up in the gunnels. the bottom of the libertys arent any thicker than any other boat.

why wouldnt it work? i made brackets/straps that hold the tanks in the gunnels and i have a mount on the floor and a mount on the top to hold it in. i dont have a pic of MINE but its like kinda like this with the bottom mounts being a block with a bolt in it glassed to the floor.

« **Reply #211 on:** March 01, 2012, 11:43:52 AM »

i think what im going to do is take a piece of sheet metal and put press studs into it... then glass in the plate to the boat...

the only prob is i have never glassed before...

« **Reply #212 on:** March 01, 2012, 11:46:59 AM »

Quote from: ka0tyk on March 01, 2012, 11:32:48 AM

why wouldnt it work?

ok, maybe this is hard for you to understand, but ill try to spell it out for you.

the distance from the bottom of the boat to the gunnel is 11"

the tank diameter is 8.5"

that leaves 2.5" of clearance.

NOW factor in the 2" of lip on the fuel fill.

that leaves you 1/2" of room between the tank and the fuel fill. Where are you going to put this block with a bolt countersunk into it?

How do I know? I have the same exact boat. I've spent hours cussing at my boat removing and installing those tanks in my boat. myself.

« **Reply #213 on:** March 01, 2012, 07:02:06 PM »

Most manufacturers that used round fuel tanks through bolted the brackets right to the floor. Unless you have a light weight racing hull you should have no problems doing the same.

My Hondo has counter sunk holes on the bottom so when everything is assembled there isn't any bolt heads hanging down into the flow of water.

« **Reply #214 on:** July 21, 2012, 08:08:14 PM »

been a long time since i did any thing to this boat and now i have to

took it with me to parker last month for a week and had a great time but, i noticed a few problems. the first one is a fuel issue, when i am WOT 5200rpm for more than 10 or 15 seconds the motor lays down. i let off the gas to about 48-4900 rpm and get back in the gas and its ok for a few more seconds.. the fuel system goes like this, both tanks -8 line equal lenth to a -8t then to a -8in -8out filter to the clay smith pump, -8 to fuel press regulator set at 6.5lbs to -6 at the carb.. now i dont know if im losing psi because i cant see the guage..

#2
after running for a bit i shut it off and it has a hard start and fuel pressure guage shows 0psi. all fuel leaking past needle and seat flooding motor(i think?) so i am going to put a kit in the carb

i got some more probs but would like some input on this first
thanks ralph

its an 800dp carb and this is a new problem

« **Reply #215 on:** July 21, 2012, 09:06:54 PM »

it souldnt be to much of a prob.....you wont need all those parts ....they come with parts for all standard carbs....the trick is tuneing after your done with the rebuild

« **Reply #216 on:** July 22, 2012, 05:07:30 AM »

took the carb apart secondary float bowl on right, anybody else see the problem

« **Reply #217 on:** July 22, 2012, 08:18:43 AM »

on a side note, i did find this original scoop just need to paint it now

« **Reply #218 on:** July 22, 2012, 08:28:09 AM »

Quote from: Ralph Brunt on July 22, 2012, 05:07:30 AM

took the carb apart secondary float bowl on right, anybody else see the problem
(Attachment Link)

Good eye Ralph, some people wouldn't check float level on disassembly.

« **Reply #219 on:** January 07, 2013, 07:05:58 PM »

so here i go again

i want to race in the nostalgia jet class with this boat

i have my old 502 from the hornet less the top end, i sold it to Brad for the 888. im going to do this on pump gas now as im a broke dick and cant afford race gas. i bought a set of 95cc edelbrock heads that were in Canada that Gord brought down to me at the big river deal.. so this has been planned for a while, ive just been trying to get things together... I sent the heads with lakesonly to be gone through and have roller springs installed, (more on that later)

when i pulled the motor from the boat it ran fine prolly around 7-750 hp and its been sitting in short block form for a few years. Sunday i tore the short block down for inspection and i found a few things, 1st was the oil pump pick up tube had broken from its mount. all the bearings looked good until i got to the #7 rod where i found the bearing had rotated 45* and broke both tangs. i got really lucky that the bearing did not spin completely and take out the crank and rod.. so i think i will be able to get away with a polish on the crank and check the rod for being round.. i then got the crank out and i could see where the main caps were walking

this thing has ARP main studs in it and it still walked (yes i beat this motor like it owed me money) i have pics on my phone and will try to post them up. i will keep updating this thread as i progress

« **Reply #220 on:** January 07, 2013, 07:25:43 PM »

« **Reply #221 on:** January 07, 2013, 07:45:45 PM »

« **Reply #222 on:** January 07, 2013, 07:58:31 PM »

You know the routine Ralph. Check ur dimensions and move on! Good luck:)

« **Reply #223 on:** January 07, 2013, 08:19:46 PM »

Quote from: enginedoctor on January 07, 2013, 07:58:31 PM

You know the routine Ralph. Check ur dimensions and move on! Good luck:)

good to see ya Dave

going to get the crank to Castillo's and check the rod. If it needs to be resized it will be coming to you

« **Reply #224 on:** January 07, 2013, 09:05:28 PM »

Ralph, tighten those main caps to specs, and make them fit into registers properly.
here if u need me, as always

enginedoctor

ka0tyk

Ralph Brunt

1972Challenger

Brad @ SCJB

1972Challenger

Brad @ SCJB

1972Challenger

ka0tyk

Brad @ SCJB

ka0tyk

1972Challenger

Brad @ SCJB

crewchief22

Ralph Brunt

jetjunky101

Ralph Brunt

Ralph Brunt

crewchief22

Ralph Brunt

Ralph Brunt

Ralph Brunt

enginedoctor

Ralph Brunt

enginedoctor