1979 Schiada RC, The Boss

[Toolman]

Looking great!

 

[ChrisV]

The beautiful flange weld is Teague's work, mine, while functional aren't nearly that pretty. If I had to guess I would say yes on the positioner though, the spacing is perfect and there are only two starts.

Usually with a positioned theres only one start or stop. The stop lands on the start. lol Please keep updating this thread. I learn so much from it.

 

[Bugginout]

Brother you are doing amazing things! You make my boat look half assed. I have followed your thread and appreciate your documentation of work. Are you going to use this boat or park it in your living room lmao. I have been working on mine and getting it done nicely in my opinion. But it's going to be on the water a lot so

 

[Bugginout]

Brother you are doing amazing things! You make my boat look half assed. I have followed your thread and appreciate your documentation of work. Are you going to use this boat or park it in your living room lmao. I have been working on mine and getting it done nicely in my opinion. But it's going to be on the water a lot so

Your boat is so nice and sanitary that I would never want to get it dirty. Amazing job. I would be afraid to let my drunk ass friends get in it.

 

[Backlash]

He is definitely doing some amazing work! Hands down the BEST build thread on RDP, period (No offense Chris, yours was pretty damn amazing too!). Thanks Lenmann for the update! Now it's time to go fill mine with acetone and strike a match.

 

[Bugginout]

He is definitely doing some amazing work! Hands down the BEST build thread on RDP, period (No offense Chris, yours was pretty damn amazing too!). Thanks Lenmann for the update! Now it's time to go fill mine with acetone and strike a match.

Right!! He is a quadruple bad ass for real. I can't imagine trying to keep it clean! Hands down best build thread I've read. His skills are unbelievable.

 

[lenmann]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the compliments. Not everything has gone exactly to plan but I am happy with the progress so far. I have mentioned this couple of times already, it is incredible how much work these boats are. Nothing is an off the shelf part, and everything needs to be fit, adjusted, assembled, disassembled, tweaked, and reassembled multiple times. It's a good thing that I like doing this kind of stuff.

 

[lenmann]

Usually with a positioned theres only one start or stop. The stop lands on the start. lol Please keep updating this thread. I learn so much from it.

I went back and looked at them again, they have a single start/stop. Teague has some pretty talented guys in the stainless fab side of the shop.

 

[lenmann]

Chapter next: Installing the v-drive

Before we jump in I want to give a shout out to @Toolman for the really nice work on the billet v-drive case as well as Drew at Casale who assembled the whole thing. The case will take up to a 50 gear without mods, runs tapered roller bearings, larger cooling passages, and in general is beefier than the cast version. The third photo is a cast case for reference with 32 gears in it, the billet case has 47 gears in it.

Mounting the case between the stringers is a bit of a finicky process. The idea is to get the input shaft centerline aligned perfectly with the prop shaft centerline, which is aligned to the centerline of the strut bushings. Because the v-drive case can move with six degrees of freedom (right/left, up/down, in/out, pitch, yaw and roll) and is constrained by the stringers and floor finding the exact spot where everything lines up is painstaking. You can see why getting the strut lined up with the keel is so important. The best way I could think of doing this was using tapered shims much like a carpenter would setting a door or window. You know you have the position right when the coupler slides easily onto the input shaft and similarly the prop shaft slides in and out of the coupler. It took a couple of hours get it right but once there and it was wedged solidly in place I matched drilled the mounting plates to the v-drive mid plate and the stringers. As you can see in the pictures the sides of my stringers aren't perfectly flat so I used some blobs of Marinetex to create a solid surface to clamp to. The mounts will be bedded with gray Marintex at final assembly after everything is anodized.

Once the v-drive was set I was able to slide the log onto the prop shaft and determine the location, drilled and tapped the mounting holes and stored it away until final assembly.

Once the log location was known I could also figure out the location for the turn fin trying to get it as far back towards the log without interfering with the PSS shaft seal unit. My original thought was to use a router to cut the fin slot from the inside but the floor there is almost 2 inches thick and the fin is 3/16" wide so that wasn't going to work. I thought about trying to get a circular saw in there but wasn't comfortable with being able to control it well. I turned to technology again modeling up a single use 3d printed drill fixture that centered on the V of the keel and provided a path for a series of 3/16" holes. Once drilled, I was able file and sand the slot so the fin slipped in with minimal effort and no slop. I then drilled and tapped the mounting holes, ground a chamfer for the root weld and bedded it in gray Marinetex.

Thanks for following along and the words of encouragement.

Next up: Mocking up the motor and trans mounting scheme.

 

[RaceTec]

Completely AWESOME! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Toolman]

I’m digging those four link mounts on that midplate.

 

[Toolman]

I am also digging the tooling your building for this project!

 

[lenmann]

I am also digging the tooling your building for this project!

That little Ender printer kicks ass, thanks for that advice. It makes some of this stuff so much easier.

 

[Bugginout]

What power is going in this buddy?

 

[lenmann]

What power is going in this buddy?

540 twin turbo

 

[Boat211]

540 twin turbo

Looking forward to next summer at the lake.

 

[lenmann]

Chapter next: Hanging the engine/trans, and the long shadow of Covid related supply chain issues hits the Boss...

I have learned that engine placement on these boats is a set of trade offs between having a rear seat, how useable the rear seat is, keeping the engine over the strut to fight prop lift and pushing it forward to move the center of gravity forward helping the boat to take a more balanced "set" at speed. My plan for the boat is full interior: two front buckets, back seat, side panels and a full engine hatch so that will limit pushing the motor forward. My starting point is 20" from the inside of the transom to the aft motor plate. This puts the middle of the engine about an inch forward of the middle of the strut and leaves room for the rear seat but not a whole lot of leg room.

I have one of those foam poly block deals left over from a old car project so I drew up what I thought the engine plates should roughly look like and cut them out of MDF, 1/2" for the aft plate, 3/8" for the mid plate and 1/2" for the trans output shaft mount. I used a laser pointer in a hole drilled at crank centerline to help get the alignment front to back correct and a level to get the engine angle right.

The great thing about using MDF is that it's cheap, available at the big box stores, it cuts easily, its easy to glue additional material to it when you need more or cut too much and it even takes threads.

Once I got the alignment right I moved the MDF templates to the real motor to start mounting the accessories and electronics.

Once everything was mocked up, the parts cleared the motor, pulleys line up, and everything looked reasonably good I updated the CAD models and sent them off to the guys that do my laser cutting. Low and behold, they ran out of get 1/2" thick 6061 plate last month and don't expect to have any until January of 2022 when the container ships gets unloaded...

A mad scramble comes next and I found some 1/2" plate at a laser guy in Utah. If all goes well I should have the finished plates in the next week or so.

In the meantime I got a couple of other odds and ends moving forward:
Modeled and built prototype mounts for the oil and trans coolers to mount them on the motor rails.

Mounted up the Teague sea strainers, fuel filters, and ski pylon mount on the transom plate.

With any luck, the bearing I need for the rudder support will show this week (another supply chain issue) and I can wrap up the steering mechanism in the next installment.

Thanks for following along.

Oh, and if you have a boat project you're working on, start a thread! The boss (@RiverDave not my boat) wants more boating content.

 

[025]

Looks great Len!!!

 

[ChrisV]

very cool!

 

[BamBam]

Coming from a guy who has needed to remove the transmission without pulling the engine, make sure you are able to get the transmission mount and trans out without having to pull everything apart. Your engineering is beautiful and looks incredible. Just throwing out an idea that may help you avoid issues in the future. You have probably already thought about it though.

EFI would also allow you to get a more useable rear seat. Without the carbs the hatch can be shorter and the seat can slide back.

 

[lenmann]

Coming from a guy who has needed to remove the transmission without pulling the engine, make sure you are able to get the transmission mount and trans out without having to pull everything apart. Your engineering is beautiful and looks incredible. Just throwing out an idea that may help you avoid issues in the future. You have probably already thought about it though.

EFI would also allow you to get a more useable rear seat. Without the carbs the hatch can be shorter and the seat can slide back.

I have NOT thought about needing to pull the trans, so thank you for pointing that out.

The short term plan is to get the boat running for next summer with the TT carb motor I have now. At my current rate of progress I don't think I will have time to get the full interior done before summer anyway, so it will be a two bucket seat open boat. That will give me some time to de-bug it and make some decisions on EFI and interior layout.

 

[74 spectra20 v-drive]

I love looking at the work you do, WOW, absolutely beautiful work!!!

 

[Backlash]

Mr. Lenman has basically made it impossible for any of us to post our sloppy work and junky projects on this site. As always Sir, STUNNING work!!!!!

 

[Boat211]

Constantly amazed by your craftsmanship. Thanks again for letting us ride along.

 

[Gone_Flat]

Lenman ^^^^^^this guy boat 211 just purchased a houseboat at shasta bb also. Cant wait to see your awesome craftmanship atvthe lake next yr . Boat 211 also has a immaculate 21 rc should be good times

 

[EPL]

Lenman ^^^^^^this guy boat 211 just purchased a houseboat at shasta bb also. Cant wait to see your awesome craftmanship atvthe lake next yr . Boat 211 also has a immaculate 21 rc should be good times

What dock at BB ? do you know the slip # ?

 

[lenmann]

Lenman ^^^^^^this guy boat 211 just purchased a houseboat at shasta bb also. Cant wait to see your awesome craftmanship atvthe lake next yr . Boat 211 also has a immaculate 21 rc should be good times

I heard that! Two Schiada RC's on Shasta next summer, thats crazy talk right there.

Better get my ass in gear and finish this thing!

 

[Boat211]

What dock at BB ? do you know the slip # ?

Im on Marina 5

 

[BassLakeCruiser]

I heard that! Two Schiada RC's on Shasta next summer, thats crazy talk right there.

Better get my ass in gear and finish this thing!

@Boat211 you guys outta try to make a trip to bass lake, we will return the favor and bring our 2 up to Shasta

 

[EPL]

Im on Marina 5

Lenmann and I are on #4 . I'm in slip 483 last boat on the North side of the dock . I have a bunch of friends on 5 , what is your slip # ?

 

[Boat211]

Lenmann and I are on #4 . I'm in slip 483 last boat on the North side of the dock . I have a bunch of friends on 5 , what is your slip # ?

I’m in 516.

 

[Blownbillybob]

If needing some material ?? A great spot is Allen Steel in Redwood City !!! He will cut U whatever U want and has tons of surplus &cut offs!!
I’ve got all my material there! U can jus walk in and look around!! Great place !!!

 

[lenmann]

If needing some material ?? A great spot is Allen Steel in Redwood City !!! He will cut U whatever U want and has tons of surplus &cut offs!!
I’ve got all my material there! U can jus walk in and look around!! Great place !!!

Thanks for that lead, I found another laser shop that had some 1/2" available. Living out in the wilds of north California has its advantages, but one of the downsides is there just aren't any places nearby like Allen Steel. I am getting ready to have some stuff anodized and the closest plating shop that has tanks big enough is in Sacramento, about 2 1/2 hours from here. The good news is I don't mind a little road trip now and then.

 

[Boat211]

Thanks for that lead, I found another laser shop that had some 1/2" available. Living out in the wilds of north California has its advantages, but one of the downsides is there just aren't any places nearby like Allen Steel. I am getting ready to have some stuff anodized and the closest plating shop that has tanks big enough is in Sacramento, about 2 1/2 hours from here. The good news is I don't mind a little road trip now and then.

View attachment 1072715

Great to see the progress. I check this everyday to see what you may have posted. LOL

 

[jmeads]

If needing some material ?? A great spot is Allen Steel in Redwood City !!! He will cut U whatever U want and has tons of surplus &cut offs!!
I’ve got all my material there! U can jus walk in and look around!! Great place !!!

That was my go to spot when I lived in Cali. Great selection and service.

 

[Backlash]

The absolute best thread on RDP! Like others, I'm always checking to see your updates!! Amazing work Sir!!

 

[DBR]

Such a treat to follow your work. Thanks for allowing it to happen.

 

[lenmann]

It has been a month since any kind of real update, I have been working on it a bunch, but not carving out time for updates so the next couple of days will be a bit of a dump. Have I mentioned how much work building one of these things is?

The bearing finally came in for the upper rudder support after a two month supply chain delay. I was surprised to see it was made in Mexico and not China. Oh well, the bearing is the last piece needed to finish up the mechanical side of the steering.

I bored the steering mount to accept the bearing with a nice tight slip fit. The bearing is known as a "wash down bearing" that's fully sealed and nickel plated to resist corrosion. What you can't see is the body of the bearing has a snap ring that seats it up against the bottom of the mount, a bearing cap holds it in place, and the inner race clamps to the rudder shaft.

The beautiful tiller that @025 built uses one of the pinch bolts though a groove in the rudder shaft as a retention mechanism offering an additional means to keep the rudder in the boat. Brilliant!

Because losing a rudder seems like a really bad idea, I drilled and tapped the top of the rudder shaft for a retainer cap just in case the safety collar, bearing clamp, and the tiller cross bolt fails. Sort of a belt and suspenders deal x 2.

Once the rudder and tiller were set I drilled and tapped the mount holes integrating the whole assembly to the rails and stringers.

I got the cavitation plates back from the polisher and got them mounted in place for the last time. Loving the shiny, finished stuff!

Now that the rudder is in its final location and the plates are on I can move the hull from the dollies to the trailer. I wasn't feeling comfortable setting the motor and trans with the limited support the doilies provide. So, time to lift her up and slide that brand new Adrenaline trailer into place.

If you're thinking the rudder looks close to the prop guard you're right, thats about 5/16".

The bummer is that pic was taken with 3/4" shims under the trailer bunks which were needed to eliminate the hard collision between the rudder and the trailer. Adrenaline will fix it but because they are 600 miles from here it will need to wait for now.

Next installment, setting the motor.

 

[lenmann]

Back in 2017, when this project was a going to be a simple motor refresh I lugged my Turbo 400 trans down to SoCal to have the myth, the legend himself, Art Carr, give it a once over to make sure all was in order. He recommended a rebuild and upgraded input shaft/drum assembly to handle the increased horsepower. and I had him polish the case while it was torn apart. Art and his guys worked quick and the trans has since sat in cold storage while the rest of this project has spiraled out of control.

Fast forward to today when its time to marry the trans up to its new life partner the Grose TT 540. I dig out the spline adapter (eliminates the torque converter) from the boxes of old parts thinking now is the time to make sure everything fits the way it should. There is something about some end play measurement that needs to be just right, I can't remember the details but I will figure it out as we go.

Failed the test at step 1. The spline adapter won't slide on the input shaft. I can feel it trying to engage but I am pretty sure it should just slide on, like a torque converter would. I pull it out, check for burrs, dings, count the splines on both parts, everything looks good. I try it again. I can feel it trying to start so I decide to grab a soft hammer and give its couple of taps, its moves maybe a 1/16" with more force than I am comfortable with and then I recognize there is no way to get this damn thing off if it gets stuck. Luckily I was able to side tap it and it wiggled back off. I jump on the innertube to see if there are oversize heavy duty input shafts or other incompatibility issues and find nothing. Of course it's Sunday so I will have to wait until the rest of the world goes back to work and I can call Art. Being somewhat impatient, I bolt the trans and motor together and forge ahead. I am under some pressure now to get a load of parts off to the anodizer to be able to hit my spring splash date. The drive plate and spline adapter will have to wait.

I am not sure what the motor/trans assembly weighs but when its pulled all the way up high on my Craigslist found aluminum 2000 lb capacity A-frame hoist it just feels sketchy. I am imagining something going horribly wrong and the whole damn thing comes crashing down on the hull I have personally spent countless hours and dollars massaging into something beautiful. Take a deep breath...and exhale, better. Roll the trailer back under the motor and gently lower it into place.

It fits! I realize this is a pretty big moment and because its about 6:00 pm on Sunday night, its time to clock out and have a cocktail.

 

[cofooter]

Awesomeness!!!! Gotta feel great and cocktail well deserved!

 

[lenmann]

After looking at the motor for a while I realized it was sitting higher than I expected. I had mocked it up using the poly block to have about a 1/4" of clearance between the pan and the front of the strut clamshell and it was sitting at almost an inch over. I am guessing there must have been a difference between the two blocks? Regardless, I want it as low as possible to minimize the height of the "hump" on the hatch cover so I tilted the motor, pulled and machined the front and rear plates to get the motor as close to the clamshell as possible. Unfortunately that made the trans mount useless, so I fixed the CAD model and sent it off to the laser guy for version 2. I was able to use it to drill all the mounting holes and fab up the v-drive strut rods.

Started hanging some of the bits and pieces to help plan the plumbing.

@ChrisV had asked a couple of weeks ago if Teague used pulse TIG on the through hull fittings I sourced and that got me thinking the v-drive struts might be a good application. I did a little YouTube exploring, practiced on some scrap and gave it a try. They came out pretty good I think. Just like everything in welding, practice makes perfect and there is a technique involved but definitely a more consistent bead than I can do free hand on a round part.

Motor height is as low as it's going to get now, should be OK. For reference the old motor sat about 2 inches lower because the strut was externally mounted on the hull.

That pretty much gets us caught up to current.

Next up: Tear it all back apart and send the aluminum parts out to polish and anodize, finish up the steering at the dash, pedal assembly, fuel tank mounts, full reassembly, plumbing, and wiring. There is still a lot to do, but less than there was yesterday!

 

[74 spectra20 v-drive]

Just in AWE my friend... every single thing is spotless and perfect, outrageous and inspiring.

 

[BamBam]

Make sure you can spin that beautiful Wix filter off now that it's an inch closer to the rail.
I would guess you already checked it, but it looks so close.

You are doing exceptional work!!!

What was the verdict from Art Carr about the drive adapter?

 

[lenmann]

Make sure you can spin that beautiful Wix filter off now that it's an inch closer to the rail.
I would guess you already checked it, but it looks so close.

You are doing exceptional work!!!

What was the verdict from Art Carr about the drive adapter?

I thought the same thing and freaked a bit on the WIX when I bolted up the mount after cutting down the plates. but it clears out fine, it's close but good.

I spoke to Art on Monday and he said the billet input shafts they use are on the high end of the spline tolerance so they have drive adapters that are broached on the high side to fit. A new one is on its way to my location. Why he didn't sell me one when he did the trans I don't know? It's not like there was a budget on the rebuild.

Thanks for the compliments. As you know, these things are a ton of work but its the kind of work I really enjoy doing. Cant wait to get her wet.

 

[025]

Looking great Len. Very nice work

 

[Gone_Flat]

Absolutely awesome work . Did u say you wanted to help rig my sanger as soon as its back from . Cant wait to see floating in the water . Pray for more rain ….

 

[BassLakeCruiser]

Anything new here @lenmann

 

[welldigger00]

where did you get the shaft log?

 

[lenmann]

Anything new here @lenmann

Kinda in a holding pattern, sent all the aluminum parts (80+ pieces) out for polish and clear anodize. The polishing side of the house is backed up, short staffed, and impacted by the Omicron so going slower than hoped for. I got the fuel tanks rigged, welded the fill tubes, and they are out for powder coat.

Doing bunch of other odds and ends, I will post up a cats and dogs update when I get the tanks back.

Thanks for checking in!

 

[lenmann]

where did you get the shaft log?

Where all the top quality, super cool, stainless v-drive parts come from these days: Matt @025

It's a sweet piece of work.