08’ DCB F26

[02HoWaRd26]

I don’t have a lot of plans as of yet, this boat is fully loaded but i really cannot leave anything alone and really enjoyed rereading stuff i did on the Orion so figure wtf let’s start this off right away.


2019 Desert Storm! Rolling through the channel, “that will be our next boat” her reply haha ok.

My buddy sent me the link to the Craigslist ad, had been listed for 25 minutes when i first talked to the guy. Everything sounded good, so i sent the link to the wife, her reply was “buy it, or I’ll divorce you”. Well that’s what we did. I want to name the boat “Cheap’r 2 Keep’r” because of that, but for some reason the wife hates that idea.

Night we picked her up.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

The boat had already been fully updated with new interior, as well DCB did the top end on the 525.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Picked her up Friday, Monday morning it was back in Havasu to have the trailer cut back 13” so it’d fit in the garage. That was an absolute nightmare, and well i know where not to go again unless i want the boat painted again...... but it’s all done and fixed.

Tuesday morning we swapped the drives from the XR to the drive i had built for the Orion by MMW. Had an inspection on both then swap.

Thursday spent all day in Havasu having the boat detailed by Deluxe Detailing, he had to get all the overspray from the paint job on the trailer off, was a long day but the boat came home all pretty once again.

Friday we played on the river

Saturday was the Damn Dam run. Boat ran absolutely flawless all day, we did learn that above the water exhaust sounds bad ass..... but will wear you real quickly. The boat straight ate up the basin and seemed every RDP guy who saw us came up and congratulated us and complimented us on the purchase. The wife truly was still on cloud 9 and that kept her there.
We’ve not been back on the water since and will be headed out today when everyone else wakes up. And I’m sure the upgrades and updates will soon follow but the fun has just begun.

 

[lenmann]

Great looking boat! Congrats and enjoy

 

[DWC]

Great start to the thread. Love the boat and the story. Looking forward to seeing the build progress over the years.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Arizona’s new MVD website is bad ass btw.
trailer plate is ordered.

If you don’t have an account go get one.

AZ MVD Now

www.azmvdnow.gov

 

[renodaytona]

Awesome. Not sure what more it needs but I'm sure you'll find some add-on's that you can't live without. Also I have Gibson mufflers on my Daytona and they are still loud.

 

[ToMorrow44]

An intercom system works great to reduce the noise especially on long runs. I have one and I’ll never have another boat without them.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

An intercom system works great to reduce the noise especially on long runs. I have one and I’ll never have another boat without them.

We have in the buggy, and actually talked about that today. May be on my Black Friday list from PCI

 

[RitcheyRch]

Congrats and enjoy

 

[Shlbyntro]

I don’t have a lot of plans as of yet, this boat is fully loaded but i really cannot leave anything alone and really enjoyed rereading stuff i did on the Orion so figure wtf let’s start this off right away.


2019 Desert Storm! Rolling through the channel, “that will be our next boat” her reply haha ok.
View attachment 913744 View attachment 913745

My buddy sent me the link to the Craigslist ad, had been listed for 25 minutes when i first talked to the guy. Everything sounded good, so i sent the link to the wife, her reply was “buy it, or I’ll divorce you”. Well that’s what we did. I want to name the boat “Cheap’r 2 Keep’r” because of that, but for some reason the wife hates that idea.

Night we picked her up. View attachment 913746 View attachment 913747

You are 1 lucky dude!

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Got on the trailer hubs, that had supposedly just been serviced, 3 of 6 had no oil at all, one was due to a leaking cap, but replaced the one cap and drained and refilled all the hubs. Will be replacing the caps and seals soon for grease. Wonder why Extreme was so into oil hubs a while back vs grease hubs. Next to dig into the wiring and brakes on the trailer.
Had the smaller of three trailer shops in Havasu do my cut back swing away, brakes were said to have been bled, but yea i have no trailer brakes at all. Don’t get how some of these shops stay open, but it explains why he was able to get me right in.

 

[renodaytona]

Oil bath was all the rage, everyone thought that was the way to go not knowing the absolute shit show it is when they fail.

 

[Singleton]

Oil bath was all the rage, everyone thought that was the way to go not knowing the absolute shit show it is when they fail.

bingo
2006 through 2010 oil baths were supposed to solve all the problems.
When I ordered my trailer and options in 2007, first thing I told JW, no oil bath Hubs. Give me the tried and true grease.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Just found out you can ship material to Isotta and they will wrap the wheel whatever color you send. Kinda thinking the lime green or just the gray from the seats now.

I think that is a good call. Green or grey would be cool.

 

[Blownbillybob]

So my buddy has an 08 F26 that has gone threw 3 different friends!! Which none of them had a problem with the boat !!

1 day we’re headed to the DCB regatta a few urs ago and we had the boat hooked to the RV doing a last walk A round before headed down the road and my buddy grabs the OD and shakes it up & down jus for fuk shake ????? And we hear this little squeak ??? WTF !!! Do it again !!
Turns out the transom was moving at the up/lower seam!! And his boat does not have the hockey stick stringers at the transom!!!

so we talk to a few DCB guys and they remember the boat build and we told them about the issue and they said that’s why the went to the different style stringer!!!

jus wondering which style U have ??

 

[havasuhusker]

She's a bute! Congrats.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Nothing big, but i hate a dangling cord, so added the plug to the trailer and got a removable power cord for the lights etc.

As i posted in the thread this afternoon, i got and installed all new steering ram bushings.

As well added a center boatpluglight.com drain plug, already had the outer two.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Got a T-shirt and an Isotta Carlotta today from Jim over at CP Performance.

Now to decide if changing the boots on the rockers to Gray or Green would be too much. Really like the ones from Livorsi that the nut is green and the boot is white but i need 7, and they only come in a pack of 6, and are 75$ for the pack of 6

But Green

 

[HAP]

You might find that the other colors might get dingy faster, especially the ones most used.

Great looking boat!
R,
HAP

 

[Duramax]

Got a T-shirt and an Isotta Carlotta today from Jim over at CP Performance. View attachment 918512

Now to decide if changing the boots on the rockers to Gray or Green would be too much. Really like the ones from Livorsi that the nut is green and the boot is white but i need 7, and they only come in a pack of 6, and are 75$ for the pack of 6
View attachment 918515 View attachment 918516
But Green
View attachment 918517

I have been effing with boots for 2 months, lol. None of them I find are the correct length, so I went with the half booties...

 

[02HoWaRd26]

I have been effing with boots for 2 months, lol. None of them I find are the correct length, so I went with the half booties...

I ordered the green and white Extreme’s they didn’t fit, however i think it’s already a thought that’s passed now as well.

 

[MeCasa16]

This is such an awesome boat. Congratulations.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

So there were two wires that were i assume not done by DCB upon the build of the boat, one for the bilge plug leds and one for the mood lights. Bugged the shit out of me, so o decided to start cutting zipties one at a time to fix and clean that up. As i was realized my zipties weren’t the exact same as what they used, so went ahead and kept going. Used metal barb uv zipties, so they should be good for yet another 12 years i hope.
Before:

And after:

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Back and forth I’m pretty sure I’ve driven their Art gal half insane. We’ve received a total of 9 proofs and have it narrowed to these, mind you the colors are much more bold when actually printed, but we are pretty sure we will be doing #4

Also as there is no carbon in the boat, we’ve decided to go platinum vs the carbon which means we will also be having the Isotta Carlotta rewrapped or possibly sending the gray material that DCB used when they redid the interior two years ago to Isotta, and having them wrap it there.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

We decided on #4 now awaiting some printed proofs to arrive from Livorsi then we’ll order. Doing the blue print green needle and green back light.
Also got some way brighter leds than what was in the boat. The old green ones we’re basically useless even in the dark.
I need some more money dammit so i can do more to the boat.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

So long ago, i saw this bimini and thought it was the cleanest bimini I’d ever seen.

So tonight sitting here sick got my mind going, decided to play around with some colored pencils. I’m sure more ideas will come about, but pic one is self explanatory, and the second one is to more just follow the flow of the two side vinyl pads on the hatch.
Any opinions?

 

[02HoWaRd26]

The on board charger plug was just loose under the rear seat. So i did the NoCo 6’ power port plug. Think it came out pretty damned good.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Hey @02HoWaRd26 did you replace the interior courtesy light bulbs with the green LEDs? I have the same lights as what you have pictured near the Noco plug, and of 2 LED bulbs I tried, both were too tall to get the cover back on. I would just want white LEDs

They are 194 wedge style bulbs.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Hey @02HoWaRd26 did you replace the interior courtesy light bulbs with the green LEDs? I have the same lights as what you have pictured near the Noco plug, and of 2 LED bulbs I tried, both were too tall to get the cover back on. I would just want white LEDs

They are 194 wedge style bulbs.

Sent you a text
AUTOGINE 10pcs Super Bright Error Free 194 168 175 2825 W5W T10 912 LED Bulbs Xenon White 3030 Chipset for Car Interior Dome Map Door Courtesy Trunk License Plate Lights https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DTD4Q3R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fab_pU3DFbDZQ6Z1W

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Like a dummy i didn’t get a pic of the amp rack before removing, but had to pull it as the mid/high amp was dead. So once i got it all out ended up finding two new F6’s and reused the M6, but that meant build a new rack.

Decided to add some layers and depth, which will also give a cleaner end look

1/2 foam on the outer board before wrapping in the gray vinyl

Blue board no foam just the vinyl

now to decide if i want to pull the two boards back apart and do a green piping, then to decide do i want the same thickness or a more thin round piping around that edge

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Sent you a text
AUTOGINE 10pcs Super Bright Error Free 194 168 175 2825 W5W T10 912 LED Bulbs Xenon White 3030 Chipset for Car Interior Dome Map Door Courtesy Trunk License Plate Lights https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DTD4Q3R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fab_pU3DFbDZQ6Z1W

These worked great in my courtesy lights. I also popped them into my gauges. Came out really nice.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

These worked great in my courtesy lights. I also popped them into my gauges. Came out really nice.

Hahahahaha i ordered another batch of green to do my gauges, how i didn’t think of it till your post lol Yes way better than the ones that were in my gauges.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

When you get the quote from your stereo guy on cost to do the system there’s a reason labor is so high lol. I bet i have 10-12 hours in doing my amp rack, waiting on a last Amazon delivery hopefully tomorrow and it’ll go back in the boat.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

So the 10-12 was probably 2/3 what i ended up on it, and get to redo the whole damn thing, it is the wrong direction. I got the green piping done and picked up but a week later i still cannot get over the rack facing the wrong way.
When i get the time I’ll redo it all, but this time I’m letting the interior shop do the labor, also thinking it’ll be gray back plate not blue as well white on the far left edge the opposite of the front panels.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Also had the grab straps done for the rear seat dividers. Think it looks a lot better as well gives a place to grab vs the seat backs of the front seats.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Little stupid things but.....

Of the 10 bulb holders on my gauges 3 were broke, so went ahead and replaced all of them as well replaced the bulbs with the same green bulbs i did in half the courtesy lights.

Also bugged me that there where no lights at all in the cuddy so went ahead and added two in there as well.

 

[LC925]

Read your complete thread on the Orion build and just finished reading this one. Part of the reason I want to make my garage a little bigger is to store the boat at home rather than at the shop so I can “do stuff” to it during the evenings. But man, all the detail and work you are doing, makes me feel I would want to be in there so much and still come up short to the work you have done.
Awesome job, looks great!

 

[Duramax]

I would like to do custom gauges also. Are you going through somebody, or directly with Livorsi?

 

[02HoWaRd26]

I would like to do custom gauges also. Are you going through somebody, or directly with Livorsi?

I’ve been dealing directly with Marty at Livorsi. He’s great to deal with.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

So the ECM bracket rubbed the bottom edge of the engine hatch, no clue how this boat had been owned by so many and yet this was just dealt with. It was definitely on my list for this winter!

I had to remove the ecm and send off for my upcoming project, so i marked it all and then removed that and the bracket. I cut a little under an inch total off the bracket, while still keeping about 1/2” above the hatch lip when it’s closed, incase of a water splash up the rear. Then i filed smoothed then painted it. Seemed pretty simple vs continue to allow the hatch to get scraped up. (can see the blue gel on the transom now, to see what and where. As well the little scuff two inches up on the hatch)

Next remove the controls and shorten the throttle handle some. The seats are fairly high containment, and low. So ergonomically it left the upper arm in a weird position to hold the throttle, while keeping hand on the trim button as well.

 

[Springfield]

That hole below the shifter, is that a crawl hole for Milo?

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Little bit of a pain to get to and out, but it’s out.

Cut 7/8“ off the shifter bar

Verify size of screw for tap

Drill and tap

Polish the bar and install knob

Now for the hard side. Got it cut, wanted 1.75” off could only get 1.175” as there’s a beauty hole in the bar. But that’s better than nothing, was able to get one hole tapped then phone rang gotta go pay the bills. TBC

 

[River918]

View attachment 927055
So long ago, i saw this bimini and thought it was the cleanest bimini I’d ever seen.

View attachment 927057

This one.. But I am a little partial to the design. LOL

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Read your complete thread on the Orion build and just finished reading this one. Part of the reason I want to make my garage a little bigger is to store the boat at home rather than at the shop so I can “do stuff” to it during the evenings. But man, all the detail and work you are doing, makes me feel I would want to be in there so much and still come up short to the work you have done.
Awesome job, looks great!

Well i take a lot from @HydroSkreamin ‘s thread as well others. As well just don’t be afraid to post it up then you get to see your own work over again and able to see what and where you can redo again or change the next time. But it takes time but a lot more thought.
So start a thread and get after it in my opinion these and the from the mold make the best reading on RDP

 

[DWC]

Read your complete thread on the Orion build and just finished reading this one. Part of the reason I want to make my garage a little bigger is to store the boat at home rather than at the shop so I can “do stuff” to it during the evenings. But man, all the detail and work you are doing, makes me feel I would want to be in there so much and still come up short to the work you have done.
Awesome job, looks great!

Agree x100. He’s the guy you wanna buy a boat off of. The attention to detail and constant improvements are impressive.

 

[BHC Vic]

Agree x100. He’s the guy you wanna buy a boat off of. The attention to detail and constant improvements are impressive.

Hey hey back off the DCB is mine... I’m just waiting for him to do the whipple

 

[DWC]

Hey hey back off the DCB is mine... I’m just waiting for him to do the whipple

Ok, ok. I’ll back off. I am looking forward to seeing what he ends up with for power. Sounds like his better half is on board for whatever. Over/under on the Whipple is 6mos. Getting parts will probably be harder than permission.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Hey hey back off the DCB is mine... I’m just waiting for him to do the whipple

Ok, ok. I’ll back off. I am looking forward to seeing what he ends up with for power. Sounds like his better half is on board for whatever. Over/under on the Whipple is 6mos. Getting parts will probably be harder than permission.

You’re both wrong but close very close. And the bet would definitely be on the under

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Well i take a lot from @HydroSkreamin ‘s thread as well others. As well just don’t be afraid to post it up then you get to see your own work over again and able to see what and where you can redo again or change the next time. But it takes time but a lot more thought.
So start a thread and get after it in my opinion these and the from the mold make the best reading on RDP

I wouldn’t follow anything from that HydroSkreamin guy

Thanks for the compliment, man. You’re adding some nice touches to this boat, keep up the good work.