Guess where I am

[rrrr]

It's not an exotic locale, but the drugs are good.

I had hand surgery, trying to fix this shit.

 

[RitcheyRch]

Prayers for a speedy recovery.

 

[playdeep]

Damn Ron...
Prayers.
...get well soon buddy.

 

[Mr. C]

Might not be exotic but I bet it cost more than any 5 star hotel around.
Enough sarcasm.

Hope the surgery went well and you’re out of there soon

 

[OCMerrill]

Speedy Recovery is mandatory.

 

[COCA COLA COWBOY]

Every once in a while, just scream out loud out of nowhere....when they ask what's wrong, just say you're practicing and you needed to make sure I knew what to expect.

 

[RichL]

Good luck with the recovery.

 

[Flatsix66]

Sperm donation center in the "hard to get" department?

 

[monkeyswrench]

Well, you still have 5 digits on each paw...darn. I was going to see if you had a leftover. Still looking for a replacement

I hope the nurses all have a southern drawl, and the movies tonight aren't horrible. Hope you can get to feeling better soon, and maybe fishing off the dock

 

[Joker]

Hope everything goes well.

 

[OLDRAAT]

Best of wishes for a full recovery, Ron. Positive thoughts being sent your way.
Keep is posted.

 

[SHOCKtheMONKEY]

At least the drugs are good...
Heal up quick!

 

[Ultra...Good]

get better meow den!!

coincidence?

 

[Bullet28]

Prayers sent.

 

[DUN]

Still dealing with the dog shit. Too bad. Heal up, Sir.

 

[rrrr]

Prayers for a speedy recovery.

Thanks, Ritchey. This is a band-aid scratch compared to your ordeal.

The lidocaine local is wearing off and it's beginning to hurt like a bitch. They did three different incisions, two in the fingers and one in the palm. There are a lot of nerves in the hand.

Yeah, I'm whining.

 

[rrrr]

And thanks to all.

 

[rrrr]

Sperm donation center in the "hard to get" department?

Yeah, so far no nurses have offered to give me a sponge bath.

 

[500bbc]

Yeah, so far no nurses have offered to give me a sponge bath.

Everyone has their limits...

 

[rrrr]

Everyone has their limits...

I'm not exactly pretty.

 

[Joe mama]

Hope you get all fixed up with a speedy recovery.

 

[Willie B]

…Damn… I know exactly where you are… I know exactly what it feels like… last year. I got 2 sponge baths…. One from Christine, who actually lives in my neighborhood… And another from her buddy, Jose… Jose was ready to do several return runs… Nope…:

… chose to be wheeled into the shower room by Christine..: Christine and I would start talking… I know her life story..: pretty soon the charge nurse, and various other people would pop their heads in to the shower to try to get in on the conversation… I guess???..,

… neighbor, girl, Krystal‘s brother and I paid a visit to the hospital place… And at first Christine did not know who I was… Because I was standing and walking with a cane… her eyes flittered around and she gave me a big hug

… I hope you are not there for any length of time… but if you are… You may find that some of the younger prettier nurses… Will soon be attracted to your mind…
… share your wisdom… As you did with me… It will come back ten fold… your stories are simply fascinating as it is your intellect and sense of how it is… And how it really was

… back to reality… I am pretty sure you know Get get out of there as soon as possible…
…

 

[rivrrts429]

Damn, heal up quick @rrrr

 

[530RL]

Get better.

Getting old isn’t for sissy’s

 

[Clank123]

Hopin for a quick recovery Sir!

 

[boatpi]

Get well soon, u at least another 30 years left!!

 

[86403]

Get well soon!

 

[FreeBird236]

Hoping for a quick recovery.

 

[Vamodsquad]

Get well soon !

 

[old rigger]

Get better Ron! Need you posting more Ford/Indy/flat bottom based stories, some of my favorites.

 

[Willie B]

… hope you are getting out of there today… Or at a minimum getting a sponge bath… and not from a guy named Jose’…

 

[rrrr]

Get better Ron! Need you posting more Ford/Indy/flat bottom based stories, some of my favorites.

Talking about something other than my crappy health is a good idea.

The thread about the GT-40 video hot lap at Goodwood was one of the best I've tossed up in a while. The legendary 427 FE that powered it was more closely related to the stock production engine than that of any other LeMans open class racing vehicle of the time, and it kicked ass.

When I began searching for a v-drive in 2001, I didn't really know what to buy. But when I saw the ad for a 1967 Howard with a 427 FE, I bought it within minutes. When I showed up in LHC after a 14 hour drive, I almost pulled the plug on the purchase. The engine wasn't in running condition and the boat was pretty dirty. But when I cranked it for a few seconds, the oil pressure built up 45 PSI. I had to have the experience of rebuilding that great engine and making passes with it running 6,500 RPM, so I handed the man the money and hooked up the trailer. In the end, it didn't disappoint.

That the engine was still completely stock and the boat interior was original made the deal even better. I owned it for just 11 years, but memories of the fun factor will be mine forever.

 

[old rigger]

Probably the best looking boat in our neighborhood at the river. Karen's so excited t have it back in the family.
Do you know how many owners it had since it left her dad?

 

[Willie B]

Talking about something other than my crappy health is a good idea.

The thread about the GT-40 video hot lap at Goodwood was one of the best I've tossed up in a while. The legendary 427 FE that powered it was more closely related to the stock production engine than that of any other LeMans open class racing vehicle of the time, and it kicked ass.

When I began searching for a v-drive in 2001, I didn't really know what to buy. But when I saw the ad for a 1967 Howard with a 427 FE, I bought it within minutes. When I showed up in LHC after a 14 hour drive, I almost pulled the plug on the purchase. The engine wasn't in running condition and the boat was pretty dirty. But when I cranked it for a few seconds, the oil pressure built up 45 PSI. I had to have the experience of rebuilding that great engine and making passes with it running 6,500 RPM, so I handed the man the money and hooked up the trailer. In the end, it didn't disappoint.

That the engine was still completely stock and the boat interior was original made the deal even better. I owned it for just 11 years, but memories of the fun factor will be mine forever.

View attachment 1342009


View attachment 1342011

…I hear you big time…I loved my ‘63 Hallett flatty with the FE 406…

 

[musicFunsun]

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

 

[rrrr]

Probably the best looking boat in our neighborhood at the river. Karen's so excited t have it back in the family.
Do you know how many owners it had since it left her dad?

View attachment 1342076

It was owned by @sfury01, me, Bill in Oklahoma, and back to Karen.

It's awesome to see it loaded with people having fun, 57 years after Karen's dad bought the bare hull from Howard and built a great boat.

 

[rrrr]

…I hear you big time…I loved my ‘63 Hallett flatty with the FE 406… View attachment 1342095

Nice looking ride, Willie. The 406 is a rare engine, built for just 1½ years between the 390 and 427. Ford quickly discovered they needed the bigger 427 to be competitive in NASCAR.

 

[DLC]

That is just BITCHEN, BOSS - Even Awesome !

Whats the history of that V drive?

Tell us Green Horns a story…..

 

[Dan Lorenze]

Wishing you good health

 

[Willie B]

Nice looking ride, Willie. The 406 is a rare engine, built for just 1½ years between the 390 and 427. Ford quickly discovered they needed the bigger 427 to be competitive in NASCAR.

… this block is actually a cross bolt block casting that was never drilled… Drill it 428 main caps and you’ve got a four bolt 406… I think the NASCAR guys started putting the cranks out of the bottom of the two bolt blocks, so Ford started casting 4 bolt blocks…
… the heads are what became 427 FE low riser heads…

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

prayers for a speedy recovery

 

[Willie B]

That is just BITCHEN, BOSS - Even Awesome !

Whats the history of that V drive?

Tell us Green Horns a story…..

… which V Drive…the Howard or the Hallett???…

 

[DLC]

… which V Drive…the Howard or the Hallett???…

Yes !

Either one they are both Sweet Floats…

Whats the back story / history on your Hallet?

 

[boatpi]

How is the recovery going?

 

[Willie B]

Yes !

Either one they are both Sweet Floats…

Whats the back story / history on your Hallet?

… Ok… here you go …
…What I was told about my Hallett was that a guy had purchased the hull new…put a 406 in it…and was going to go Circle racing… if that is true or not, I don’t know…

… I am not sure when the guy I bought it from got ahold of it… his story was a bit sketchy.., he really knew nothing about boats… I saw an add in the Boat Trader about 2002???…

… it was a bit rough… But the guy towed it over from a town… maybe called Seaside something like that over on the Pacific coast… Where the Reggie Jackson car collection was/ is stored…

… I told him I wouldn’t buy it unless we put it in the water… Which we did at the Afterbay to Lake Oroville… It took on water, but actually seemed pretty sound. The motor ran OK…. I ended up paying the guy $2200 for it…. A really good deal even in 2002…

… Towed it home, and the work began.., I really couldn’t see any point in a full restoration as I knew it would clean up and just look like a faded original boat..,

… I wire brushed the block and heads… and painted them gray…the boat still had a generator running off the driveshaft from 1963… which I replaced with an alternator… I pulled the aluminum tri-metric fuel tanks… and 000 steelwooled them… did the same with the Mickey Thompson aluminum, valve covers …the Edelbrock bell housing… and the Edelbrock wet logs… new U joints… in other words I put a whole lot of labor in to it but virtually no money…

… I searched for what seemed like forever to find a period correct adjustable cavitation plate assembly…
… finally found one… Can’t remember the guys name who I got it from…maybe hundred dollars???… But thank you …thank you …thank you
… made all the difference in the world, as the boat was a real porpouser…

… I buffed the hull out… the blue metal flake was through to the metal… And did require a lot of upkeep…

… when I got the boat, it had some sort of stainless metal scoop over the three holly carburetors… Yes, this 406 was a …tri power 406…

… I found a company in the inland empire,… possibly Indio… who did cast aluminum reproduction, tri, power, air, cleaners I believe they also did reproduction 427 FE blocks… the company name may have been Blue ..Thunder….I am really, not sure about that… but their products were super high-quality…

… I found some very high-quality stainless mesh in a scrap metal yard, and I proceeded to build my own spark arrestor… Complete with the correct number stampings to actually make it legal back in the day…

… used that boat forever… Including taking it to my girlfriends horse ranch in Oklahoma for a season…

… I did get it to go a legitimate 70 miles an hour …but sadly, there is not a happy ending to the story… as a forest fire came through my Lake Oroville, acreage and destroyed everything that I owned up there, …including the Hallett

… I had stated value insurance on it, which over the years I should have increased… But I suppose, including the original purchase price… I didn’t have all that much money into it… So maybe I made a slight profit… I don’t know

… here is a video of it on the lake Oroville a long time ago…

… that would nowadays read… 61 year old. V Driive…

 

[OLDRAAT]

Sweet ride, Willie. I remember when you lost it along with other treasures in the damn fire.

 

[DLC]

That’s a great story! Wish it had a Happy end to it.

Fire sucks !


Thank you for sharing @Willie B

 

[500bbc]

Talking about something other than my crappy health is a good idea.

The thread about the GT-40 video hot lap at Goodwood was one of the best I've tossed up in a while. The legendary 427 FE that powered it was more closely related to the stock production engine than that of any other LeMans open class racing vehicle of the time, and it kicked ass.

When I began searching for a v-drive in 2001, I didn't really know what to buy. But when I saw the ad for a 1967 Howard with a 427 FE, I bought it within minutes. When I showed up in LHC after a 14 hour drive, I almost pulled the plug on the purchase. The engine wasn't in running condition and the boat was pretty dirty. But when I cranked it for a few seconds, the oil pressure built up 45 PSI. I had to have the experience of rebuilding that great engine and making passes with it running 6,500 RPM, so I handed the man the money and hooked up the trailer. In the end, it didn't disappoint.

That the engine was still completely stock and the boat interior was original made the deal even better. I owned it for just 11 years, but memories of the fun factor will be mine forever.

View attachment 1342009


View attachment 1342011

One of my favorite boats.

 

[Willie B]

… I actually finished my story between 4 and 6 AM this morning.., and Mr. RRRR… here to be known as Ron … I really didn’t mean to step on your thread… But it kind a looks like I did… sorry my friend

 

[rrrr]

I dug around and found a couple of photos that are pretty cool. The first one is a montage I made of some original photos that were taken with a Kodak Instamatic camera. Instamatic prints made back in the day included the month and year the photo was taken on the border of the picture, freezing the date and preserving it for future viewers.

Three of them were taken in the Williams's driveway in Anaheim in December 1967, when the bare hull was newly purchased, another in July 1968 after it was mostly complete. Interestingly, in that photo the engine has over the transom pipes on the exhaust logs, which were later replaced by through hull pieces. The other photo shows five (!) skiers being pulled on the river.

The second photo was published in a 1973 National Geographic magazine story about the Colorado River. Karen told the story about it in a post, and I think she knew the kids jumping as her dad's boat drove by down below.

These photos were included in two CDs of pictures I took during the restoration process and later trips we took with the boat. Around 2010 I made copies of the CDs and mailed them to Karen while her dad's health was failing, so he could see his boat was still in use and being enjoyed.

BTW I'm back home. I have a post-op visit Wednesday, and should be cleared to start therapy. I'm hoping there will soon be a noticable improvement in function and reduction in pain. I really appreciate the support and thoughts expressed by my fellow inmates. Thank you.