'81 Hondo runner bottom "Flat Loose"

[warpt71]

Im starting this at work and will add pics later when I have access to them.

I picked up another project over the weekend lol A little back story first.

My first boat was a '71 Hondo flat that my dad helped me buy from a family friend of ours. I remember being at work and my dad calling me and asking how much money I had? Odd, cause it wasn't any of his business! He goes on to tell be about the boat and how much his buddy wants for it. I told my dad, "Thanks for thinking of me, but I don't have that kind of money right now". The next morning we got up and he said lets go to the bank! My dad co-signed a personal loan for me and made sure that this boat didn't get away.

That restoration took a couple of years and a full motor rebuild and was really well documented on another forum at the time, I have tons of pics! The first trip that boat made was to Parker for a week long vacation and it was all paid off by the time it hit the water.

I had a ton of fun in that boat, blew it up a couple of times too lol That boat ended up getting stored at my house in Blythe under a tarp and it was pretty hard on it. I had worked myself into a management position and had full access to a shop, money was good and my wife and I had bought a family boat. So, the flatty came "home" to begin its 2nd restoration. Plans included, new steering (chain and cable), fill all the holes and cracks in the dash/deck, and add a whirl-away.

Life had other plans, wedding, starting a new career in a new state (LHC!), loosing a motor in the new family boat and buying and selling a couple of houses.

That gets pretty close to current state, I did get the motor rebuilt and things seemed stable! Plans were made to bring the old flatty home again this month. Then one night at work I was cruising Craigslist.........and I found it............

I posted the original cl add to my Facebook page and left a caption that read something to the effect of, Someone buy this so either 1, I cant, 2, I can start making payments to you or 3, cause you want to gift me with it for my birthday

My dad calls me and says, "Im headed to CA this weekend, want me to go look at that boat for you? I haven't spent any money in a wile, I could bring it home" I told dad that I wasn't serious about it and I hadn't even talked to my wife about it. Then I get a text from a good friend, "Ill lend you the cash if you really want that boat" Well shit, guess I need to talk to my wife, I could make this dream a reality! My wife and I were heading to CA as well the following weekend, so I asked her, and she said go for it!

All week long I was checking the cl add to see if it disappeared, and it didn't. Friday, 11-8, I message the seller and ask to see the boat on Sat, 11-9. In the mean time Im studding the 5 pics posted and running every scenario through my mind. I put my other boat on jack stands and pull the wheels and tires off, pack them, the floor jack and some hand tools. We packed the car and took off Friday night for my moms in Indio. Sat am we head to Costa Mesa, once done there I message the seller and make arrangements to head that way (Corona) on our way home to Havasu. I was the first (and last) person to come look at the boat, it checked all the right box's and the deal was made. Wheels and tires were swapped and we were off, and I now have 3 boats; 2 Hondo's and a Carrera.

So, the newest boat is an '81 Hondo t-deck runner bottom, as the title says lol The boat was originally raced as Comp flat Flat Loose #118 and had a Dick Landy hemi in it. It set a MPH record of 134 at Chowchilla and was high points runner up in '82.

Somewhere around '85-86 the boat was taken apart and plans were made to put a Ford motor in it and make a play boat. The original paint was sanded off and the black gel was primed and painted over, plain white base. The guy I bought it from found it at the body shop 10+ years ago and bought it and put it in his garage to finish, that never happend.

This boat is soo much closer to being done than mine that it made sense, and no one would talk me out of it! I probably wont really work on it at all till next year, after tax's, but we think it could be on the water next summer, we will see, I know life is funny!!! The new Hondo is tucked into my garage with all the hardware that it came with in it, I didn't even wash it. Im still on cloud 9, I walk into the garage and do a double take! I have my 427 Chevy out of my '71 Hondo that will go in it after I get motor mounts figured out.

I own one of my dream boats now!!!

Ill try to update this tomorrow with pics and hopefully next month Ill have it cleaned up and organized.

 

[dryhoze1]

Congratulations Ryan !
I saw that boat listed and gave it a thought. Lol
Glad it went to a good home!!

cheers..

 

[warpt71]

Here are a few from the trip home and tucked nicely into the garage

 

[bagged97taco]

Nice. I saw it on cl. Looks pretty clean. Can’t wait for the build thread

 

[warpt71]

Congratulations Ryan !
I saw that boat listed and gave it a thought. Lol
Glad it went to a good home!!

cheers..

Nice. I saw it on cl. Looks pretty clean. Can’t wait for the build thread

Thanks guys.

The white paint job is less that perfect, not sure how that will play out. It was blocked up on the trailer to be sprayed and little care was given to over spray inside or on the trailer. Also the boat was not flipped over to spray the bottom. There is tons of orange peel and the previous owner started to color sand it, I figure it is good enough to get it on the water and probably good enough to be a base for some kandy kolor later on down the line. I think it is single stage white, which is not supposed to be cut and buffed vs base coat/clear coat. We figure if sanding it smooth takes all the shine out we could just clear the entire boat. Time will tell, my dad lives close, is retired and likes to paint on smaller scale stuff. Floors look good, transom wood looks good but it looks like it only got a coat of resin and no cloth/mat. The rudder quadrant when turned lock to lock actually hits the transom and has removed the resin where it touches. Ill be addressing that somehow lol The boat also has a solid drive line in it with what I know as "greek" couplers, I have all but the female flywheel side. I haven't measured yet, but it has an over sized cavitation rod connecting the pedals to the transom assembly. It looks like Ill be replacing a good amount of hardware that isn't stainless, nuts and bolts are easy though. Motor plates will be about the biggest thing to figure out. The boat came with 3 or 4 sets for various motor combos, including the og hemi, but the boat wan never rigged for a bbc, Im up for the task! I also have a good group of old boat racers to help me out and they are all pumped. Most have been ragging on me to get the old '71 back together

 

[warpt71]

Did some parts inventory and clean up today.

The motor rails that were wrapped up inside the boat are not for or from this boat. Kinda of a bummer cause its going to slow the mock up down, but all good cause I'll make my own rails and not end up with any extra holes.

All the blue aluminum pieces are 426 hemi mounts, which would be original to the boat. The red parts are powder coated BBC front and rear motor mounts and flywheel cover, I'll probably only use the flywheel cover as long as I can strip the powder coat. The Moroso valve covers will go up for sale, not my style at all lol.

I pulled the wheel and gas pedal out to get room to pull out the old wiring. The harness was cut clean just in front of the drivers seats. Oh yeah, the seats don't match! One is 17" wide and the other is 19", I'd like to get a matching set eventually but I have my buckets from my other flat to use as well. The windshield was painted black, kinds sucks but I know those are available.

V-drive is a 10° and mounted at 95½". I need to crawl under the boat and figure out what strut angle it has, from talking to there people, I'm betting it's a 7½° strut. It should make a good river hot rod, I don't have plans to competitively race it.

Last cool bit of history is the certificate from the MPH record

 

[warpt71]

A buddy sent this to me tonight

He found it in a 1983 Drag Boat USA mag.

 

[Deja_Vu]

Congrats! Sounds like you have a good support group on this build. Love it when a good project brings people together.

 

[warpt71]

I don't have my updates for you guys, unfortunately life has been crazy on top of all the corona shit!

A good buddy did find this today though

This is my boat, and it validates my assumption that it was taken apart to paint and never put back together. That add is from Hot Boat, April of '84

 

[cofooter]

I don't have my updates for you guys, unfortunately life has been crazy on top of all the corona shit!

A good buddy did find this today though
View attachment 872133

This is my boat, and it validates my assumption that it was taken apart to paint and never put back together. That add is from Hot Boat, April of '84

Awesome opportunity to bring it back to glory!

 

[warpt71]

Awesome opportunity to bring it back to glory!

Well that's the plan! I need my family to stop growing so fast though. That's probably another story to tell in it's own thread in about 6 months ....

My plan is to start with making my stringer rails. Sounds simple enough right!?!?!?

 

[69hondo]

That is awesome man. I am jealous. LOL Going to be so nice. Hondos are the best.

 

[sintax]

love the history attached to the boat. Its so cool you have those items.

take your time and restore it to its greatness. Not many dudes can claim they have a world record setting boat.

 

[warpt71]

Not an update, but I did pick up a missing part this afternoon. A couple months back I located a crank button that would accept my solid driveline. Through many hands the part was brought out here to Havasu and I was able to pick it up today.

@bagged97taco had been looking for this exact part too a wile ago and he was unable to find a new source. Wonder what ever came of that?

Now if I get rails in I can start to figure out motor placement. Praying for some cooler weather

 

[bagged97taco]

Not an update, but I did pick up a missing part this afternoon. A couple months back I located a crank button that would accept my solid driveline. Through many hands the part was brought out here to Havasu and I was able to pick it up today.

@bagged97taco had been looking for this exact part to a wile ago and he was unable to find a new source. Wonder what ever came if that?

View attachment 924301
View attachment 924302
View attachment 924303

Now if I get rails in I can start to figure out motor placement. Praying for some cooler weather

Almost the same. I was looking for the splined flange from the Vdrive. The setup in the Cole is very funky. Works but funky. I have a crank button on my canyon solid driveline but yes hard to find

 

[warpt71]

Almost the same. I was looking for the splined flange from the Vdrive. The setup in the Cole is very funky. Works but funky. I have a crank button on my canyon solid driveline but yes hard to find

Ahhhh. I knew we had talked and it was the same splines, just opposite ends lol

 

[warpt71]

I probably wont really work on it at all till next year, after tax's, but we think it could be on the water next summer, we will see, I know life is funny!!!

Well a year later and I dont have any updates on the boat. I have several family updates though! lol Im taking 4 weeks off at the end of the year, maybe Ill wash the boat....LIFE!!!!

 

[coolchange]

Well a year later and I dont have any updates on the boat. I have several family updates though! lol Im taking 4 weeks off at the end of the year, maybe Ill wash the boat....LIFE!!!!

Bump tease

 

[74 spectra20 v-drive]

Don't give up Brother, you have your priorities in the right order, take care of your family stuff then the paly stuff is that much better, looking forward to seeing you progress.

 

[warpt71]

Don't give up Brother, you have your priorities in the right order, take care of your family stuff then the paly stuff is that much better, looking forward to seeing you progress.

Thanks!

I have my wife's support too. At no point in time has she told me to just sell the boats, and that is huge!!! I just need time and a little extra $$$. Time is the hardest to come by. I don't know how some of these guys do it?!?!?! I'm the last one to bed and the first one up, first out of the house and last to come home. I've done a TON in the last year though when I sit back and look at it, and its all good!

Thanks for following along, I want to make some progress after the holidays.

 

[warpt71]

I reached out to Doug Hilak of Hilak Brothers photography to see if he had any original pics of my boat. A couple of days later I had this messaged to me.

I will be ordering a print at some point!

Hilak Bros. Photography

 

[warpt71]

Bored at work and I stumbled on this

My boat is at the 4min mark.
Cool to see the trailer, it still has the blue stripe and where the canopy use to mount there are now marker lights covering the holes. Also, I think the western wheels still have those same tires on them, and they do hold air, for a bout 9 months lol

 

[warpt71]

I went down and stared at the boat. It's kinda packed into the garage and I'm not real motivated to change that. I'm am really wondering what I'm going to do about all the overspray that is inside. I'm thinking no mater what it's going to take some serious arm work to clean up. I hit it tonight quickly with an ultra fine scotch brite pad. I don't think it did much, but, it didn't scratch the floors, so that's good. I'm hesitant to get into sand paper because that will lead to sanding all of the floors and not just the bad areas. That's probably where this is going to go though to get the best results.

Any bright ideas out there?

 

[bagged97taco]

Paint over spray. I would just wipe it with paint thinner Then Immediately clean it with water or degreaser. Then polish them floors up to a shine

 

[warpt71]

Paint over spray. I would just wipe it with paint thinner Then Immediately clean it with water or degreaser. Then polish them floors up to a shine

I'm not opposed! My wife offered her nail polish remover

It's been there probably 20 years or more though. It's definitely the worst up in the front

 

[cofooter]

Think you answered your own question, sand the surface and re-clear. Won't be that bad........ and will look fabulous

 

[sintax]

Think you answered your own question, sand the surface and re-clear. Won't be that bad........ and will look fabulous

yea, this is really the right way. I'd try to clean it up with some thinner first though, maybe you'll be able to get by.

 

[warpt71]

If I end up sanding, I will just end up buffing the resin, no reason to get carried away and start spraying clear.

 

[76 Hondo]

If I end up sanding, I will just end up buffing the resin, no reason to get carried away and start spraying clear.

Come on Man, get a Line Green target on that T-Deck and we’ll go tear up the River!

 

[warpt71]

Come on Man, get a Line Green target on that T-Deck and we’ll go tear up the River!

Im partial to blues, red, yellow maybe brown. No green for me! My first truck was a '76 Suburban and it was metallic green with a white center, it was god awful ugly! It looked like this, hub caps and all.



Besides, your boat looks soo good I wouldn't want to copy it just to come up short

 

[coolchange]

Bright ideas? Ya , commit to eating an elephant. How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
Take that throttle bracket off and clean it. Is that overwhelming? No. Will it be perfect no. Put it where you can see it. Pull the cav
pedals, same.
Can I relate? Absofuckinglutly.

 

[76 Hondo]

Im partial to blues, red, yellow maybe brown. No green for me! My first truck was a '76 Suburban and it was metallic green with a white center, it was god awful ugly! It looked like this, hub caps and all.



Besides, your boat looks soo good I wouldn't want to copy it just to come up short

Funny thing when I first saw that Hondo, I walked told the Wife I can’t do green! She told me pull over that boat has everything you want, you can do that green on a Boat.
Turned around a bought it!
But at the time here were our 2 cars

 

[warpt71]

This pic surfaced today on facebook taken in Bakersfield April of '81

 

[warpt71]

Apparently I never posted this pic either. This is another pic from the Hilak brothers

 

[warpt71]

I was looking at this pic again last night because I was chatting with a guy that remembers the boat from back in the day. I believe this was painted by Mark Lueck's Kustom Kolors of El Cajon. I did some googleing and found this site http://www.marklueck.com/biography/ and sent off an email with the few good color pics that I have. I might get some more history out of this thing yet!

 

[69hondo]

I was looking at this pic again last night because I was chatting with a guy that remembers the boat from back in the day. I believe this was painted by Mark Lueck's Kustom Kolors of El Cajon. I did some googleing and found this site http://www.marklueck.com/biography/ and sent off an email with the few good color pics that I have. I might get some more history out of this thing yet!

Are you going to try to re create the same paint scheme?

 

[warpt71]

Are you going to try to re create the same paint scheme?

I would strongly consider it! But maybe do it over the existing white and not go back to black. I grew up with a black and blue painted flat, Id rather not have another black boat lol

 

[69hondo]

I would strongly consider it! But maybe do it over the existing white and not go back to black. I grew up with a black and blue painted flat, Id rather not have another black boat lol

LOL. same here. My dads Nordic long deck was Black and blue. Looked great but not fun in the summer sun.

 

[warpt71]

I got an email back from Mark, he painted it originally! He says he should have some pictures of it still stashed away and may be able to help with some of the history.

I'll call him tomorrow and find out. Pretty cool after wondering for the last 3 years!

 

[warpt71]

I made contact with Mark the painter and we chatted for about an hour on Sunday. Super nice guy that remembers Craig the original owner as a business man that could afford all the nice stuff to go racing. He said he was a serious racer.

Here are the pics I got

From the pictures that I have seen I wasn't expecting the pink to be in there. The red I hadn't seen either but there is some red anodizing inside the boat so that makes sense now. I dig that the fenders were painted too, unfortunately they have since been painted black.

 

[coolchange]

Now would be a good time to set a goal!

 

[warpt71]

Now would be a good time to set a goal!

Yeah, get the big D done so I'm free to spend my money the way I want lol

I'm ready to take to boat to someone or have someone come over and look at the floors. I did take some sandpaper to an area and I don't like what I'm seeing. I think I could scuff it clean off all the over spray but it's going to need to be re-flowed after that to get the finish that I'm after. I don't want balsa and I don't want black stringers which is how I see most refinished. If nothing else, I need to bounce some ideas off of someone that has done this before I commit

 

[warpt71]

Very small update. I have material for stringer rails!

I also unbolted the strut braces tonight as they were in the way of the rails. I ordered 6' sections and they are too long, I need to take about an inch off then I can clamp them in and transfer punch the mounting holes. I've made my mind up to just start somewhere

 

[warpt71]

The transom braces had to come out tonight but I think I could start marking the holes.

 

[coolchange]

Is that the motor for that boat? Do you have motor mounts? Is that a Lenco splined non u joint drive shaft? If so your rail height affects the alignment.

 

[warpt71]

Is that the motor for that boat? Do you have motor mounts? Is that a Lenco splined non u joint drive shaft? If so your rail height affects the alignment.

Yes. Solid drive line and I have the original from this boat. That motor will go into this one but it's mounts are from my first boat and I will keep them complete with it. This boat will get all new motor mounts, I have a Stellings flywheel cover that should work nicely. Setting up the solid drive line is going to be a pretty big challenge for me but I'm not afraid to ask for help

 

[warpt71]

I should have been more specific last night. The motor mounts that I have on that motor in the background could be made to work in this boat, or remade. My first boat was rigged with a powerglide adaptor ring, then a flat plate to cover the flywheel. Its clean, it works, but its also original to my other boat and Im not ready to lose that. Thankfully this boat came packed full of parts, including a Stellings flywheel cover, which I will be using. Once I can bolt these rails in I will set the motor in just for fun and to take some pictures. I have a bare block and Im prety sure I have a crank and flexplate to then start the mock up process for the solid drive line. I believe I have all the correct couplers too but Ill cross that bridge when I get there. Im not sure if Ill be buying an oversized motor plate or making my own, there are a couple options out there. If I can set the motor in it and look at it every time I go out into the garage Im hoping it will keep me motivated. Getting the motor locked down will be huge!!!! After that it should really just be plumbing and wiring. Im pretty sure I have everything to get this together with the exception of a battery box. I have seats and t-tank, will need a prop and Im sure tons of nuts and bolts, but the big stuff I have. Oh, I need trailer tires lol

 

[warpt71]

Small update for y'all. I got those rails transfered punched over the weekend and drilled them last night. My dad came over and helped hold those 6' rails on my little drill press and then we got one side bolted up. We picked the harder side to do but not on purpose. The cav control rod and it's bolts really fought us but we got it all back together without taking more stuff apart. Tonight I bolted the other rail in and then moved to the cav transom assembly. There were only 2 bolts holding all of that together. I had a bag of hardware and had been going through it trying to identify where everything came from and where it would all go. I ended up getting transom assembly back together, which included the inside transom braces and the rudder top plate and bearing. I need 4 bolts to finish that area and about 6 for the stringer rails. I'm pretty impressed!

Tires will be here this week too, I feel like I'm making some progress finally. Thanks for following along

 

[warpt71]

I put the strut braces back in tonight. My rails are mounted higher that the previous set were so I think I'll be cutting new braces. At least I have good patterns to work off of. I'll also be able to eliminate a few extra holes with new plates.

While going through the parts bag I found that there were blocks made to space the pillow blocks further off of the transom. I was able to get those all bolted in last night too. Plates are completed and functioning all the way up to the pedals. Steering is as well but it was never taken apart.

 

[warpt71]

I managed to sneak out to the garage a few times over the weekend. Got my Nicson throttle pedal mounted. It had a Stellings in it that had a welded toe strap that I didn't care for. Same design but the mounting holes were not the same. Also the curves don't match up exactly and the bracket has one bolt on both ends, I may make a new one and make it taller to run 2 bolts at each end. Now that I type that, I'm not sure I'll mess with it. I'd rather not drill more holes in the stringer's.

I also brought out my Moon tank. I originally laid the cast mounts on the rails and it looked like I could use one set of holes to mount the tank and tie in the strut braces mounts. Unfortunately once I grabbed that tank and slid the mounts over it it's too narrow to catch the rails. I have some brackets that fit this tank from my other boat and they will raise the tank up probably 6 inches. I've been looking for the box that I know they are in but I haven't found it. I think I have some angle that crossed the stringer's from the other boat too, if not, I'm thinking that's the direction I'll go.

I could also probably just mount it to the strut braces inside of the rails? Definitely have options moving forward