Project StressEliminator Restomod-23 Daytona

[Sleek-Jet]

Glad to see an update, I was worried that Hulla and Hydro had inadvertently resined themselves to the hull and needed rescued!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

On the center pod, it will act like a rail at lower speeds, correct? So, the center pod needs to be centered, and parallel it's entire length...How do you check the profile or cross section to keep it symmetrical?

The center pod will be running surface and provide lift, even more so with the reflex chines that will be added as soon as I’m happy with the straightness of all facets of the pod.

If you remember a number of posts ago I stated that I marked the keels of each sponson every foot, starting with a zero mark at the transom, and forward 16’. This gives me a reference for placing the level to be used as a straightedge across those points to measure height from on both sides of the pod. Everything is pretty close to a 1/16” side to side, and definitely within 1/8”.

I’ve been using a drywall taping knife as both a filler spreader and a straightedge, checking left to right across the keel of the pod and the outside edge. I use a 3’ machined steel straightedge I borrowed from my friend Roger on the shorter surfaces, and the 8’ level I borrowed from my buddy Crash (The same one I used to blueprint the sponsons; I verified straightness within 0.0015” against the granite table in the inspection room at work ) is utilized longitudinally over the last 8’ of the pod.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

So, a local young boating enthusiast that Hula met on the water stopped by to see what it was all about. His name is Zach, and he got roped into helping me measure and mark the low spots on the pod so I know where to fill.

Using the precision ground steel straightedge and a set of feeler gauges, we measured and marked 0.030” increments and connected the dots to form iso-lines, which basically show us what to cut for filler CSM.

You can see a lot of points in the next picture; it required 8 layers of CSM to fill.

Curved lines define where material is needed.

Marking material for cutting.

Hula is chop chop chopping away.

Hula and I laminated it on the next evening.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

The front 2/3 has been sanded flat with Big Wally in this picture, but you can see the outcome of the 7-layers.

Front shot

Starting to look like something

Had to get the TV hooked up and functional so we could monitor the 2020 LOTO Shootout.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Hula says “hi”. I banished him to the rear of the boat and he took his frustrations out on Big Wally

You can see in the previous picture we filled the joint where the new and existing pod meet with Adtec P-14 machinable filler. Originally, I was going to use the structural foam, but when I saw how small the gap really was to fill, I opted for the P-14.

These 2 angles at the very front change relatively quickly, so a longboard doesn’t work here, and a handheld block sander fits the bill. In the next picture, I’m checking straightness left to right with the drywall knife.

It took multiple sessions of filling and sanding, but the StressEliminator’s nose job is complete! I think it looks good from every angle.

Ensuring the highly exposed nose is straight.

I’m extremely pleased with the results, and am steadily working my way rearward.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I wasn’t happy with the flow of the curve on the second piece from the front. It had a flat spot between two curves, and was bothering me, so I added two layers of CSM to build it up. I’m glad I did, because now I feel it looks proper, and totally bitchin.

Spent a bunch of time with Big Wally and Medium Wally over the past few days, and I’m extremely happy to say that the StressEliminator pod 2.0 is flat and straight. Everything is well within 0.010” with the 8’ straightedge. Since we’re putting at least 0.030” gel on, this will block out nicely.

I have to block out the filler I put in the low spots on the rear of the pod, and I’ve marked where I need to glue on the foams for the reflex chines.

Once the foams are sanded to match the vertical surfaces of the pod, it’s time for final lamination.

 

[KingofBeers]

Finally caught up after missing the beginning of the " lets get rid of that annoying hop" phase. Incredible craftsmanship and attention to detail! Really love the tech in this thread.

If it wasnt 110* here right now Id be down at my boat storage location measuring things and examining the bottom of my 21' with the things Ive learned in the latest chapter here. Love it! .

 

[HydroSkreamin]

To attach the foams, discussion produced a solution of using P-14 and a notched trowel normally used for installing vinyl tile or linoleum. Since Hula and I had put some tile down in my shop as an edge when he coated my floor at Christmas time last year, I happened to have one handy.

Not knowing exactly how much P-14 I’d need, I started with 150g batch. Turns out that’s enough to do an entire side!

Here I’m putting filler on even with the edge marker I had marked out earlier.

Here, I’m striking it with the notched trowel.

This is what the foams look like right after gluing them on. I intentionally left the angle on them when we cut them because I’d like to continue to be able to count to ten without removing shoes or clothes

I took the 7” grinder with the diamond wheel and trimmed the edges off, leaving enough to sand. One side I removed the excess completely with Big Wally, the other side Hula was trying out my new Harbor Freight special 6” DA with some 40 grit paper. I’ll just say his side went WAY faster than my side, and he left me just enough to finish it with a nice edge. The DA rolls the foam a bit due to the rotational action, where Big and Medium Wally are sanding horizontally only, therefore leaving a flat surface and sharp edge.

Here are the foams after sanding.

After getting the foams attached and shaped, it was time to start filleting for the lamination. I forgot to mention this earlier, but when we had put the spray rail foams on, I was experimenting with different sockets out of Hula’s toolbox, and found that the 10mm had the PERFECT size He groaned and asked me to use any socket except for that one . Well, which one do you think I used?... I figured we’d better stick with tradition since everything went so well with the spray rails...

Lamination is tonight. Stop on by, there’s beer in the fridge...

 

[lenmann]

Damn man, that is coming out really nice. I have a first hand sense how much work this stuff is, but I'll tell you its looks pretty damn effortless while viewing it here on the interweb. Any guess how many man hours are in this phase so far?

Lamination is tonight. Stop on by, there’s beer in the fridge... I would be there in minute if I could!

 

[Duramax]

Your exactness...., is that a word, lol, is amazing. Love this thread.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Didn’t have enough room to park all the help. Pretty nice hardware showing up fresh from a river run as well.

Lamination begins

Then the other side

Then the bag goes on

Then we pull vacuum, look for leaks and repair them

Go have supper and let it kick, come back and pull the bag off

Celebrate! I cannot thank my crew enough!

Left to right: Hula, Roger, me, Nick, and Remington. Perfect amount of guys, wouldn’t have wanted any less.

 

[evantwheeler]

I don't have anything to add other than some drool over your skills and motivation.

What is the deal with your shop - is that in a personal hobby shop community? Or is that a commercial industrial park? Cool concept if it is all for personal hobby use/storage.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

What is the deal with your shop - is that in a personal hobby shop community? Or is that a commercial industrial park? Cool concept if it is all for personal hobby use/storage.

It’s not my shop, it’s HeadlessHula’s.

They’re considered “Storage Condominiums”; I call it hangars without an airport

It’s zoned commercial but I believe there’s only one functional business out of approximately 33 units. It’s near a large lake, where it’s prohibitive to have a shop/storage facility on prime water real estate, so this is a great alternative. There’s some cool toys parked in these things, and you usually get to see them come out to play Friday and Saturday, and get put away on Sunday.

There’s a community bathroom and it seems to work. The lawn gets mowed about once a week.

I’m very fortunate to have been able to use this facility since May 31. I’d like to be out of here before October comes around. Our season is winding down quickly. There’s boating left until November, but this week is an early reminder that fall is days away; it’s 45° and raining now. My days of wearing shorts are numbered.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

It’s time to work on capping the front. In order to do it properly, I needed to remove the dock lights. I was hoping to crawl under the boat and forward into the cabin, and Hula was to run the screw gun to remove hardware. It wasn’t happening with the boat at the height we’ve been working on it (I just couldn’t fit...), so Hula grabbed the forklift and we lifted the stern and added more foam at the transom. Full OSHA compliance

I cut some plywood to fill the holes and sealed them with leftover Tacky Tape from the bagging process. The goal is to keep the gel out when we’re spraying the tunnel.

Prepped the forks for grinding. Hula drilled the rivets which were holding the old rubrail on and removed it once free. He scraped all the blobs of silicone that were there, and I hit it all with wax and grease remover, as well as acetone. I really don’t want any silicone residue mixed in with anything I want gel to stick to.

Crash helped me remove the fiberglass fenders from my trailer, as I bought polished stainless fenders which will be mounted a couple of inches lower than the originals. Before we mount the new fenders, Crash’s nephew has agreed to do a handful of trailer mods for me, including moving the axles back 10”, as well as shorten the bunks 2” to get the boat lower, and move the bunks in 2” each side so they’ll clear the newly added spray rails. I’ll get the trailer blasted and painted next spring, as well as upgrading and adding LED lighting.

This week is focused on sanding all laminated surfaces so I can apply P-14 over all of it and sand it level in preparation for gel.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I just realized this thread is 4 years old...I guess time flies when you’re having fun!

Doesn’t look like much, but got the inside of the forks ready to start filling a bit, and took some of the lumps off the front of the spray rails.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Used my router to mill out about 1/8” deep. Hula cut material, ran out of time to laminate.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Got the transom of the pod filled with the CSM we cut last night, and filled the aft end of the spray rails as well. The spray rails were covered when we laminated and bagged them on, but they were intentionally left short so we could fill them and make them flush.

Got the port spray rail about ready for a skim coat.

Tomorrow is sanding...lots of sanding.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I wasn’t happy with the outcome of using the air file for flattening and feathering the tails of the laminations of the spray rails and pod, so I got after all of them with the 4” grinder, then went over them with 36 grit on the air file again. I’m glad I did that, the surface is much smoother.

The tunnel tops look good, and the pod is ready for sanding and sharpening. With rounding the edges so the 1808 could wrap sufficiently, the characteristics I want are no longer there, so they’ll have to be built back up, as well as sharpening the keels again.

I sanded most of the pod transom flat with Big Wally, less than 0.020” to go to be flush. About the same for the tail of the port spray rail, starboard aft surface is done.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

My arms hurt looking at that!

FYI...... the water will be hard soon, hurry up!!!

 

[Duramax]

Here is my 21 Daytona with twin outboards. This off season I am having the engines pulled and the bottom cleaned up, regelled, and sharpened/blueprinted as you can see it is beat up a little. I am also taking the pitot tube off. Interesting to see the differences in bottoms. When I had the bottom of my HTM sharpened-blueprinted, I gained 3mph on the big end which I thought was pretty neat.

 

[KingofBeers]

View attachment 924641

Here is my 21 Daytona with twin outboards. This off season I am having the engines pulled and the bottom cleaned up, regelled, and sharpened/blueprinted as you can see it is beat up a little. I am also taking the pitot tube off. Interesting to see the differences in bottoms. When I had the bottom of my HTM sharpened-blueprinted, I gained 3mph on the big end which I thought was pretty neat.

Dont want to hijack, but seems my 21 Liberator bottom is lacking the lifting strakes(or would that be considered a spray rail?) on the sponsons that your Daytona has...interesting.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Dont want to hijack, but seems my 21 Liberator bottom is lacking the lifting strakes(or would that be considered a spray rail?) on the sponsons that your Daytona has...interesting. View attachment 924722 View attachment 924723

Also not to jack, but SOB that prop shaft is way above the bottom! What is that, 2, 2.25, maybe 2.5 inches above?

 

[KingofBeers]

Also not to jack, but SOB that prop shaft is way above the bottom! What is that, 2, 2.25, maybe 2.5 inches above?

2.125". Well within Merc limits as Im told by Merc themselves. Still have TONS of water pressure at neutral trim.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

View attachment 924641

Here is my 21 Daytona with twin outboards. This off season I am having the engines pulled and the bottom cleaned up, regelled, and sharpened/blueprinted as you can see it is beat up a little. I am also taking the pitot tube off. Interesting to see the differences in bottoms. When I had the bottom of my HTM sharpened-blueprinted, I gained 3mph on the big end which I thought was pretty neat.

This is the first 21 Daytona I’ve seen with spray rails. They’re not huge, but they’re there.

This usually helps keep the boat flat while cornering instead of leaning out at medium to lower speeds.

Is this the case with this hull?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Dont want to hijack, but seems my 21 Liberator bottom is lacking the lifting strakes(or would that be considered a spray rail?) on the sponsons that your Daytona has...interesting. View attachment 924722 View attachment 924723

All pod and hull discussion is welcome here.

The spray rails add running surface, lift, and water deflection, more so in turns. The running surface aids in planing and acceleration. I don’t know of a defined minimum width, but I do know I’ve never seen a race boat or fast production boat with less than 2” width.

I made mine 2” wide, similar to 340X MTI.

 

[Duramax]

Dont want to hijack, but seems my 21 Liberator bottom is lacking the lifting strakes(or would that be considered a spray rail?) on the sponsons that your Daytona has...interesting. View attachment 924722 View attachment 924723

That is interesting, as it looks like our centerpods are identical though. Are your trim tabs set in position, or do you manually adjust them? Also, I have heard the Liberators like yours are a splash of the original 21' Daytona?? Is that true?

 

[KingofBeers]

That is interesting, as it looks like our centerpods are identical though. Are your trim tabs set in position, or do you manually adjust them? Also, I have heard the Liberators like yours are a splash of the original 21' Daytona?? Is that true?

I was under the impression they were a splash, yes. Those tabs are electric and wired to move together with a single button. They work well to add compression to the tunnels to get rid of the hop this has right between 70-80. Under normal conditions and load usually in the boat it accelerates through that range quick enough that I dont notice it. I honestly hardly ever use them.

 

[Duramax]

This is the first 21 Daytona I’ve seen with spray rails. They’re not huge, but they’re there.

This usually helps keep the boat flat while cornering instead of leaning out at medium to lower speeds.

Is this the case with this hull?

Really? That is interesting and kind of neat actually. Not many 21's were rigged with twins, I have heard 6-8. Some went back to singles, some blew over, and at least one went to the this strange OCD guy typing.
As I was told, this boat and it's sister, was built with Eric Simmons help. Maybe they added the rails? Too answer your question, it turns extremely flat. How did your turn before this?

To get on plane, I burry my drives and it pops right up, hops twice, and away we go.

 

[Duramax]

I was under the impression they were a splash, yes. Those tabs are electric and wired to move together with a single button. They work well to add compression to the tunnels to get rid of the hop this has right between 70-80. Under normal conditions and load usually in the boat it accelerates through that range quick enough that I dont notice it. I honestly hardly ever use them.

Do you drop them to get on plane? I get a decent amount (not crazy) of bow lift coming on plane, it then hops twice and that's it. I don't get any hop up to and past 100.

Since Hydro mentioned the spray rails and turning flat, how does you hull turn?

 

[Duramax]

All pod and hull discussion is welcome here.

The spray rails add running surface, lift, and water deflection, more so in turns. The running surface aids in planing and acceleration. I don’t know of a defined minimum width, but I do know I’ve never seen a race boat or fast production boat with less than 2” width.

I made mine 2” wide, similar to 340X MTI.

Have you spoken about or touched on the subject of a notch on the rear of some hulls? I know some builders simply have a plug they install when laying up a hull so it is notched or not?
What are they for and why did you not go with one?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Have you spoken about or touched on the subject of a notch on the rear of some hulls? I know some builders simply have a plug they install when laying up a hull so it is notched or not?
What are they for and why did you not go with one?

Notches generally are like adding more setback, and you generally see them more on West Coast sterndrive boats. At least that’s generally more what they’re geared towards.

You’ll see that the faster OB cats don’t have notches, or very small ones. It affects Longitudinal CG by moving the edge of the running surface (fulcrum of the teeter-totter).

You’ll also see that those hulls with the filled notches, spray rails, and well-placed strakes also plane effortlessly.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Notches generally are like adding more setback, and you generally see them more on West Coast sterndrive boats. At least that’s generally more what they’re geared towards.

You’ll see that the faster OB cats don’t have notches, or very small ones. It affects Longitudinal CG by moving the edge of the running surface (fulcrum of the teeter-totter).

You’ll also see that those hulls with the filled notches, spray rails, and we’ll-placed strakes also plane effortlessly.

I have my 25 Daytona for sale, and hope it sell, but if it doesn't I am seriously considering having the notches filled on it.

 

[Duramax]

Notches generally are like adding more setback, and you generally see them more on West Coast sterndrive boats. At least that’s generally more what they’re geared towards.

You’ll see that the faster OB cats don’t have notches, or very small ones. It affects Longitudinal CG by moving the edge of the running surface (fulcrum of the teeter-totter).

You’ll also see that those hulls with the filled notches, spray rails, and we’ll-placed strakes also plane effortlessly.

I see, I see...yes, my HTM had them, but so did my Spectre (36) and so did my Skater (40)

I would love to come run the Wolf River with you next year.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I see, I see...yes, my HTM had them, but so did my Spectre (36) and so did my Skater (40)

I would love to come run the Wolf River with you next year.

I plan on running it in a few weeks! Get your ass out here! Hula runs it weekly

 

[Taboma]

I'm not posting for anyone's benefit other than whoever can learn something from this thread.

Regardless of the intent of past or current contributions, there's always something to be learned from your posts.
Hope you're doing well sir.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Got everything sanded to my satisfaction in prep for P-14 skim coat

Hula mixed 200g batches for me, and I started with the fillets; using the trusty form tool cut from the Bondo spreader.

Tomorrow night I’ll hit the edges of this stuff and we’ll skim coat the flat surfaces. You can see we did a little with the extra we had tonight.

This thing is really shaping up.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Sanded the high spots from last night’s corner filling and got the vertical surfaces coated with P-14. It looks good with white on it.

Focus for tomorrow will be getting the pod shaped back the way I intended it to be, then smooth out what was applied tonight.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I focused on getting the details taken care of on the pod splice at the front. The original pod wasn’t exactly centered, and my new one is, so I had to shift the keel over about 3/16”. Medium Wally was up to the task.

I’m really pleased with the results, it’ll look great once gelcoated.

Sanded out the port sponson vertical surfaces, as well as the radii at the top and bottom of the spray rails. I’m pleased with how they turned out as well.

There were some low spots, so I prepped and filled them last thing before I left tonight.

I brought some supervision with the last three days. Unfortunately the mutt has had a tough week and is having stomach problems. He chilled and got some of his appetite back.

It’s funny how all the noise doesn’t phase him in the least.

Tomorrow I’ll finish out the touch-ups, and get after flattening the starboard sponson vertical surfaces.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

I was under the impression they were a splash, yes. Those tabs are electric and wired to move together with a single button. They work well to add compression to the tunnels to get rid of the hop this has right between 70-80. Under normal conditions and load usually in the boat it accelerates through that range quick enough that I dont notice it. I honestly hardly ever use them.

Did you add the tabs or were they added prior to you? Looking to do a set of the new MIW either fixed or hydraulic tabs on my F26 as she’s got a little hippety hop and well it’s from 62-70 and well that’s a good cruise speed for us we are being robbed of. So curious what exactly you’ve gained from the tabs.
Plan is if we go hydraulic it’ll be just a single switch and single ram per tab, or double turnbuckle as pictured.

I focused on getting the details taken care of on the pod splice at the front. The original pod wasn’t exactly centered, and my new one is, so I had to shift the keel over about 3/16”. Medium Wally was up to the task.

I’m really pleased with the results, it’ll look great once gelcoated.

View attachment 926733

View attachment 926734

View attachment 926735

Sanded out the port sponson vertical surfaces, as well as the radii at the top and bottom of the spray rails. I’m pleased with how they turned out as well.

There were some low spots, so I prepped and filled them last thing before I left tonight.

View attachment 926736

View attachment 926737

I brought some supervision with the last three days. Unfortunately the mutt has had a tough week and is having stomach problems. He chilled and got some of his appetite back.

It’s funny how all the noise doesn’t phase him in the least.

View attachment 926738

Tomorrow I’ll finish out the touch-ups, and get after flattening the starboard sponson vertical surfaces.

That’s crazy and so much work, looks slightly to be the port side right? That’s just for your own ocd as the nose shouldn’t ever really see water, but at this point yes you’ve gone to all the way and she’s going going to be amazing.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

That’s crazy and so much work, looks slightly to be the port side right? That’s just for your own ocd as the nose shouldn’t ever really see water, but at this point yes you’ve gone to all the way and she’s going going to be amazing.

You are correct; it's only to quench my OCD. The pod was offset to the port side. She's pretty straight now.

I'm not going to get much time on the water (at least in my home waters) this year, but I WILL be running it yet before the water is hard.

 

[KingofBeers]

Did you add the tabs or were they added prior to you? Looking to do a set of the new MIW either fixed or hydraulic tabs on my F26 as she’s got a little hippety hop and well it’s from 62-70 and well that’s a good cruise speed for us we are being robbed of. So curious what exactly you’ve gained from the tabs.

They were on the boat when I bought it. Randy puts them on pretty much all the Liberators he rigs. 12x12 Lenco electric. It is nice to be able to shut down any hop if thats where you want to cruise.

There is a guy out here with an outboard f26 that has big tabs on it and from what I am told gets RIGHT on plane with a quickness. I'll probably see him this weekend and can find out how big they are.

 

[jperog]

Something tells me this guy isn't normal but I like him.... what a pile of thought, work, and energy-

Perfection is an obsession-

Joe

 

[HAP]

If decide on the Lencos, get the extreme duty electro polished versions with the 3/8" hinge and pins. They are super nice. They are most likely not found on any vendors shelf and are made when ordered.
R,
HAP

 

[King295]

I can't be the only one that checks this thread daily for updates... I feel like we are overdue. Can't wait to see the next update. Keep up the profound work.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I can't be the only one that checks this thread daily for updates... I feel like we are overdue. Can't wait to see the next update. Keep up the profound work.

Sorry guys. Sick dog, false COVID scare, and my favorite aunt passed this week kind of shot any attention that I would have spent on the StressEliminator right in the ass.

I’ll be back on it shortly. There’s just other stuff more important right now. I’ve literally missed less than 10 days since May 31 other than work travel or family/guest activities.

HulaHut is about 50 minutes from my house, so it’s really been like a second job. I’m truly looking forward to getting this done and running yet this year before the water gets hard.

Thanks for following, fellas, and I’ll update it soon.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

No need to apologise to us, sorry to hear about the rough patch... 2020, ya know?

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Sorry guys. Sick dog, false COVID scare, and my favorite aunt passed this week kind of shot any attention that I would have spent on the StressEliminator right in the ass.

I’ll be back on it shortly. There’s just other stuff more important right now. I’ve literally missed less than 10 days since May 31 other than work travel or family/guest activities.

HulaHut is about 50 minutes from my house, so it’s really been like a second job. I’m truly looking forward to getting this done and running yet this year before the water gets hard.

Thanks for following, fellas, and I’ll update it soon.

Sorry to hear. 2021 is around the corner...

 

[Fonz69]

Looking good! You guys sure are becoming a fiberglass fab shop, I hope to get mine finally on the water next spring, maybe if I get it dialed in I’ll have to come run the wolf!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Looking good! You guys sure are becoming a fiberglass fab shop, I hope to get mine finally on the water next spring, maybe if I get it dialed in I’ll have to come run the wolf!

Hopefully your remodel is about wrapped up and you can get back on it.

If you decide to run from Oshkosh to New London with us, that’s about 100 mile round trip. Hula and I might need to carry fuel for you! We could probably just start out with a trip to Fremont. Hula has done Winneconne to Fremont in 11 minutes during the week when there’s not any no wake zones, skiers, tubers, or fishermen parked crossways in the middle of the river

 

[footer]

Hopefully your remodel is about wrapped up and you can get back on it.

If you decide to run from Oshkosh to New London with us, that’s about 100 mile round trip. Hula and I might need to carry fuel for you! We could probably just start out with a trip to Fremont. Hula has done Winneconne to Fremont in 11 minutes during the week when there’s not any no wake zones, skiers, tubers, or fishermen parked crossways in the middle of the river

Man I love running that river in the fall. Do they still have 50 cent tappers at the VFW in New London?