Project StressEliminator Restomod-23 Daytona

[HydroSkreamin]

I think you explained it before, but why the holes on the center pod? Where do they lead inside the boat?

Hey, RK, hope all is well.

Those holes are drilled into the PVC cross tube you can see in the top picture a few posts back. It is to vent the notch made by cutting the center pod, and is meant to break the water free from the front wall of that notch to help the boat plane faster. Otherwise the water will cling to that area and not want to break free, causes vacuum and holding the back of the boat to the water until it can break free itself. Hopefully this explanation makes sense to you, it's obviously easier to explain in person.

 

[J.P.]

Now we savey,..the holes go thru into the bottom of the pipe. I'm guessing it will run low-mid 80's with merc 400. The 23 is a pretty big boat. Man that's a lot of work for a part time job, cant wait to see it done.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Now we savey,..the holes go thru into the bottom of the pipe. I'm guessing it will run low-mid 80's with merc 400. The 23 is a pretty big boat. Man that's a lot of work for a part time job, cant wait to see it done.

Yessir, you got it. We'll see where the speed ends up, I know it ran in the 80's with twin 200's, and this will have one less leg in the water..., besides the center pod not dragging anymore either. I'm expecting low to mid 90's, based on friends cats with similar power. We shall see! I know with twin 260's they run 105-108, so it's not unrealistic.

I hear ya on the lotta work part. I've never even driven this thing, I've just transferred it on and off the trailer a bunch, so I'm excited to make it go under its own power. Haven't locked down a date with interior yet, but we'll probably know more this next week.

We're dynoing HeadlessHula's new 411" powerplant tomorrow, so at least we're working to achieve one boat on the water soon.

 

[cicchetti_24]

Hey, RK, hope all is well.

Those holes are drilled into the PVC cross tube you can see in the top picture a few posts back. It is to vent the notch made by cutting the center pod, and is meant to break the water free from the front wall of that notch to help the boat plane faster. Otherwise the water will cling to that area and not want to break free, causes vacuum and holding the back of the boat to the water until it can break free itself. Hopefully this explanation makes sense to you, it's obviously easier to explain in person.

Just so I can reconcile this in my own head, so they are exposed to water all the time? Obviously it's sealed from the inside so water doesn't leak in? If the theory does not work is it going to be easy to plug? I'm very fascinated by this as I've never seen it before.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Just so I can reconcile this in my own head, so they are exposed to water all the time? Obviously it's sealed from the inside so water doesn't leak in? If the theory does not work is it going to be easy to plug? I'm very fascinated by this as I've never seen it before.

Yes, and the tube will fill up when at rest. This isn't anything new, Fountains and other smaller V's have had tubes for venting steps and notches ages ago. This application is a little different because the "notch" is 62" long, needing a much longer feeding tube.

It wouldn't take very much to plug temporarily or permanently if needed. Expandable rubber plugs like people use for bilge plugs would be a quick temporary fix, it's still fiberglass, so permanently glassing them is not an issue either, but I'm pretty confident it will help planing, or I certainly wouldn't have gone through all the work for an experiment. It added a ton of thought and work to this project, that's for sure. We'll see if and how it works right away when it gets on the water. I plan on capping the tube at the top and getting pressure measurements every 100 engine RPM to see what it's trying to do before I uncap it. Then we'll time holeshots to see the difference. Time will tell...

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Got an update from Dean at Checkmate. Transom fiberglass and gel repair is being worked on; boat is off trailer and on a cart so all the work on touching up the bottom can get done.

Once all the gel is done, it will head to interior.

All I can say is, I'm not used to having other people working on my boat....

As soon as I have any pics, I'll update.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Update:

No pics from gel or interior yet, but I'm told gel should be done this coming week, with pics forthcoming. The wait is killing me....

Meanwhile, it's probably been a blessing in disguise as I did not have my dash panel completed to my liking. I finally found some time to finish it, here is one version of it.

Used 8-32 flathead socket capscrews as studs, sanding the heads to make sure they laid flat on the panel for welding. My friend Gary welded them on for me after I strategically laid out their placement.



I used 2 pieces of plywood screwed together to hold it on the mill, so I could use the DRO (Digital Read Out) for the "jewelling" placement. I drilled the plywood with the stud pattern of the dash.

Setting the panel in the wood, I made sure to center the piece so I could reach all 4 corners, and using a 3M sanding disc, I just made spot faces every inch. I made sure to follow the same pattern each row, which was basically start at the bottom right, go up one inch at a time, traverse back down to the bottom zero and move left one inch. Pretty basic. I've never done this before, but always liked the look when utilized on old street rod dash panels. My choice to go with larger circles is just a personal preference, and I wanted to see how it looked.

Here's the setup:





I wiped it down with acetone to get the grit out of the grooves, and decided to put some blue tape on the back to simulate the backlighting it will have.





We'll see, this may be a little busy, but I'm guessing once it has the Translucent Blue powdercoat on it, it'll be a little more tame. I have one more good dash panel that Kevin from Motion Metalworks (http://www.motionmetalworks.com/what-we-do) cut out for me, so we have a backup plan if this looks too gaudy. I'm excited to see it in the sun with full powdercoat.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Kevin at Motion Metalworks does not disappoint. He did a semi-gloss powdercoat finish so the dash wouldn't be retina burning in the sun. By the looks of the picture he sent, I'd say we nailed the look we were going for.



Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked.

Dean sent me some pics of the front seats with foam and vinyl sewn for patterns. Not turning into an Arctic Cat or Kawasaki diehard anytime soon, but as patterns I like the shape of the seats and stripes. They integrated the throttle and shift control exactly the way I asked, and are adding memory foam in the back of my wife's seat for more lumbar support. I'm feeling pretty good that this thing is going to turn out to my satisfaction. The real skins will be white/blue/carbon silver with blue piping.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I got a shot of the transom with all of it's ugly holes filled and a fresh coat of white gel. I'm very pleased with the results. Interior is in process.

 

[Toffen Gunnufsen]

Soon water now ! Cheeeers, Toffen

I got a shot of the transom with all of it's ugly holes filled and a fresh coat of white gel. I'm very pleased with the results. Interior is in process.

View attachment 576584

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Well, our boating season is more near the end than the middle right now, and I'm trying like crazy to get this thing on the water before it gets hard.

Checkmate got the 'glas work done as seen in the previous pix, and they also got the dash looking like new. I was blown away at how nice all the gel blended and how well they smoothed everything out. They did a fantastic job, pictures don't do it justice.

In talking with Dean from Checkmate, we decided it would be a good idea for me to come down so we could go over ideas in person and sort out the prototyping and ensure all my ideas and wants made it into the production interior. There wasn't a lot of room to work with between the deck and the fuel tank, and he wanted to make sure I was happy with the final product. We picked one of the last weeks of August, and HeadlessHula decided he'd like to do some more road trippin', so off to Ohio we went.

Not without a stop at the WI border for some cheese, sausage, and shenanigans...







Got to Bucyrus, OH, checked in at Checkmate, asked where we could get our foot caught in the funwheel, and they sent us downtown to the Crazy Fox Saloon, a documented hangout for Al Capone. Great burgers and wild stuff on the walls and ceiling inside. HeadlessHula was representing RDP







Dean had the idea to use a hatch from one of their 30' boats because it had gussets, and we could trim away what we didn't need. I wanted the seatback to be integrated into the hatch for easy storage access by anyone. I don't remember what the seat base was out of, but it fit width-wise like a glove. They got trimmed to fit, so we could check out foam profiles.

Hatch just popped out of the mold


Seat base just out of the mold


Initial trim to fit




I decided to install USB/12V power in all four corners of the cabin, and came up with these from Amazon for $8 a piece. They'll be tied to house power. The USB port flange has an LED indicator to show power and light its location.







Kevin from Motion Metalworks sent up all of my powerdercoated parts so we could have them for prototyping. Here's a look with a grab handle position and some of the initial chunks of foam we tried, along with the LED cupholders from Great Lakes Skipper.



Front speaker/storage tub w/aux power and LED cupholders


Here is what the proto looked like when we left. The top crash panel will have the colors from the top of the gunnel at the angle they are gelled into the boat, the side panel below it will be white, with 2" carbon silver and 3/4" bright blue around the tub openings. There will be a break at the seat on the angle just ahead of the rear grab handle, and those gunnel colors will run all the way down to the bottom seat cushion. The seats and seat cushions will be white with carbon silver and bright blue accents.



Passenger grab handles. We decided to paint the dash area behind the windshield silver, as the original blue gelcoat actually has fades in it and is extremely hard to match, and the blue powdercoated parts will really pop on the silver as opposed to blue anyway.


Dean sent me some pix of the finished and attached side production panels. They are covering them, and we are talking of a pickup date in the next week or two. I have to say, I'm ready to get her back in the shop and GIT 'ER DONE!





My old racing buddy Bobby D sent me these to remind me why I liked these so much: Marv Jorgenson's 23 Daytona with triple 2.4 Mercs. He used these very powerheads in his snowmobile, Jaws III to set a NSSR snowmobile speed record of the day at 212 MPH!! Those things went through more nitrous than a dentist convention. Marvelous Marv is still overpowering everything he touches with the BossHoss bikes.





I'm hoping the next update the boat is back in my possession!

 

[Kbach]

Looking great!

I put the exact same USB power outlets in my Ultra when I did the interior and it's the best addition I did. Great for keeping phones plugged into when on the water and using them for music and such. Looking forward to seeing more progress in the near future.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Looking great!

I put the exact same USB power outlets in my Ultra when I did the interior and it's the best addition I did. Great for keeping phones plugged into when on the water and using them for music and such. Looking forward to seeing more progress in the near future.

The JBL stereo is Bluetooth, so my girls will be 15/18/21 next summer, and each one with an iPhone that wants to stream music, that's exactly why I put them there. The second cupholder in each corner will probably be for holding phones, wallets, and glasses cases, that's why we doubled up on those. It's not exactly like I have room for eight people, so there should be a holder for every drink.

I'll do my best to get this thing done once it's back in WI. Chomping at the bit to rig this thing and get it floating and propelled under its own power!

 

[J.P.]

It won't be long now the interior will be a one off for a old school classic 23 Daytona.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

It won't be long now the interior will be a one off for a old school classic 23 Daytona.

That's what HeadlessHula says. I'm a little nervous to blend new and old, I just can't see spending money to recreate the old multi-colored pleats when that's not what I want.

The whole goal with this was restomod, just like in the car world; old school body with modern guts, and that's what this is going to have. Dean and I were careful in planning this to pay respect to the awesome gel work and just tie it into the upper pads, then let the seats be modern. I think painting the area directly behind the windshield (the entire dash) silver will be the break it needs up there, too, otherwise the silver carbon doesn't tie to anything. l'm definitely not looking for gaudy on the interior, but I do think tying the gunnel colors in will be just enough.

No matter how you look at it, this thing's loud in the color department, we'll see if we can tone that down a bit on the interior, and the newer Eliminator logo getting embroidered into the seatbacks will make it more modern, too. I did have the side graphics repopped with old school font, couldn't bring myself to put the new logo on the outside, but it is used everywhere in the interior; dash, seats, etc.

The graphics lady sent me an email that she finished them Friday, so we'll have those to look at this coming week. I had her add "Stress" in yellow letters on an angle to the old logo in orange with red outline. Should be interesting! If we don't like them, they're only vinyl....

 

[Fonz69]

Amazing build!
I spoke with you earlier this year regarding my 21 "Obsession built in Wi" Daytona that I picked up. I have some fiber glass work to start on regarding doing a setback on the jet drive and can finally start as after 2 months of waiting I was able to get my title from the DNR this was due to no MSO as it was never titled ever and was just a showroom hull and never rigged. Had to find and call Bob Omelina the last president of Obsession to sign a DNR fact sheet to get it!

Anyway if you ever find your way coming past Plover Wi off I39 shoot me a PM and swing in to see my mess.

Keep those pics coming of yours it keeps me inspired to dig into mine.

 

[Fonz69]

Amazing build!
I spoke with you earlier this year regarding my 21 "Obsession built in Wi" Daytona that I picked up. I have some fiber glass work to start on regarding doing a setback on the jet drive and can finally start as after 2 months of waiting I was able to get my title from the DNR this was due to no MSO as it was never titled ever and was just a showroom hull and never rigged. Had to find and call Bob Omelina the last president of Obsession to sign a DNR fact sheet to get it!

Anyway if you ever find your way coming past Plover Wi off I39 shoot me a PM and swing in to see my mess.

Keep those pics coming of yours it keeps me inspired to dig into mine.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Amazing build!
I spoke with you earlier this year regarding my 21 "Obsession built in Wi" Daytona that I picked up. I have some fiber glass work to start on regarding doing a setback on the jet drive and can finally start as after 2 months of waiting I was able to get my title from the DNR this was due to no MSO as it was never titled ever and was just a showroom hull and never rigged. Had to find and call Bob Omelina the last president of Obsession to sign a DNR fact sheet to get it!

Anyway if you ever find your way coming past Plover Wi off I39 shoot me a PM and swing in to see my mess.

Keep those pics coming of yours it keeps me inspired to dig into mine.

Hey, great to hear from you. You PM'd me 9/10's of your phone number on screamandfly. HeadlessHula said he talked to you. PM me your complete number and I'd love to have a chat with you.

Looks like we both have Shawano built boats, and black Denalis!

My tanks were originally held in just like yours. I couldn't stand to do that again, and I wanted to make them moveable for weight distribution, so I made flanges for the top and dropped them 7" and moved them rearward 7", with the option to put them back to the original forward position.

If you look in HeadlessHula's build thread, you can see he hangs at the sandbar regularly with another local Obsession that is more Stoker-esque.


Thanks for the kind words, as I had said in a previous PM, I'd love to see you get yours running.

 

[Headless hula]

It's a 1990. 350/alpha boat.

All original. Even the carpet.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I figured since my hands are tied getting anything done with the boat at interior, I'd chase all the details that I could. I wanted a repop of the Eliminator decals that were originally on the boat, so I went to sticker lady with pictures and she said she preferred a trace of the original to elimate any effects the camera may have. That was going to be tough with the boat 500 miles away, until I remembered I had the same decals on a golf cart stored in my buddy Crash's barn. Took the youngest daughter out there and she held the light while I took a pencil to parchment paper and made a stencil.

Here's the results with a twist: I morphed it into the boat name.



I had sticker lady make them with red outline and orange center, with "Stress" in yellow. I've not laid decal on decal before, but I guess I'll be experienced, as the registration numbers are decal on decal as well, silver base with blue centers.

While I was at it I obtained newer style Eliminator and Mercury Racing decals for the trailer. I'm ready to represent whenever it comes home.



The funny part about the Eliminator decals on the golf cart: they've been on it for 20 years! I've wanted one of these for a long time, and we're almost there...

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Not finished, still tweaking, but I'm loving what I'm seeing!

 

[shueman]

Lookin Good Johnny !

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Lookin Good Johnny !

Glad you approve!

Wait until you see the dash lit and the cowls. This thing is really turning out nice, and thanks for your help, it's much appreciated!:thumbup:

 

[SBMech]

MORE MORE MORE!

So excited for you, your boat is going to be bad ass! It looks fantastic! :thumbup:

 

[Headless hula]

MORE MORE MORE!

So excited for you, your boat is going to be bad ass! It looks fantastic! :thumbup:

Dude, were going as fast as we can....

Get it?😂😂😂😂

 

[HydroSkreamin]

MORE MORE MORE!

So excited for you, your boat is going to be bad ass! It looks fantastic! :thumbup:

Thanks man, we're trying. I'm ecstatic how it's turning out, and can't wait to get it rigged, weighed, and running.

This 3 year project needs to NOT turn into a 4 year project, at least not the first ride. They're never done, right?

Once it's back I'll do my best to make that first ride a reality. Believe me, I've had plenty of time to figure out how I want it!:thumbsup

Thanks for following and for the words of encouragement!

 

[J.P.]

HydroSkreamin, any new updates on your 23 Daytona,... your not sand bagging on us I hope we have been watching this resto thread closely.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

HydroSkreamin, any new updates on your 23 Daytona,... your not sand bagging on us I hope we have been watching this resto thread closely.

You busted me!

Actually, I don't have it back yet, but am scheduled to go pick it up in a week. Checkmate had some relocation within their manufacturing facility, and that took precedence over my boat. Dean has been sending me pics when they do have progress, and I'm extremely pleased with how things are turning out.

Dean sent me these while I was at SEMA. The letters are cut out, then the other color is sewn on from behind.

I'm very pleased with how the embroidery turned out. The headrest material is not pulled tight here, but shows the general idea.

HeadlessHula stopped in there for a surprise visit this week on a return trip of his, and took some pix. That's Dean looking over the port gunnel.

I'm liking how the side panels match and line up with the gel on the top of the gunnels.

Seat back will attach to the hatch.

The silver is just behind the windshield, and should match the carbon silver material nicely.

I dropped the blue powdercoated stainless dash off at a local pinstriper to add some orange accents to the cutout lettering and add the yellow "Stress" lettering above the cutout Eliminator logo to match my embroidery. He does some neat work on local Tri-5 gassers that guys are building, and he himself had a 23 Daytona back in the day, among other Eliminators, so he had a smile on his face when I dropped the project off.

The goal has never changed, and that has been to get this thing on the water before it's hard. That may become a challenge, as the small lakes near me are already hard. Rivers and larger water are usually open til near Christmas, but it starts getting dangerous to be on the water due to hypothermia from cold water if something would place a person in the water, and also there is little help available if a mechanical issue arises. I have nothing to prove by completing by any certain date, but this project needs to wrap up, as it has been 4 years since we purchased it, and it's time to use it!

As always, thanks for following along, we'll see if we can have a complete boat yet in 2017!

 

[J.P.]

Will look great when completed with the new interior material matching the old school gel. I remember when this boat was for sale didn't realize it was 4 years ago..

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks, I'm really liking what I am seeing, and can't wait to finish it with the dash and superclean rigging I have planned.

I didn't realize it was 4 years either until I started looking at timestamps on pictures... all the more reason to finish it! I told my wife I intend to use it 2 hours for every hour I put into it, so there is a lot of use planned!

 

[shueman]

Gawd that looks GREAT !!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks Shueman, that means a lot coming from you. I told you I was going to try to represent! I think we’re doing pretty good.

I put in for vacation the rest of the week of Thanksgiving, so picking up and driving home Monday, rigging the rest of the week. I don’t have everything I need, but I can get a long way with what I do have. There’s some custom fabrication left, but not a ton.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Got some more pix today

There was a 4’ scratch here that’s gone now

Cabin looks like new. Pad is being sewn up.

Monday can’t get here fast enough!

 

[SBMech]

WOW!

The interior is going to be AMAZING BALLS!

Love it man, hope you get her on the water soon!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Picked up the dash from pinstriper

Seats are done

They added the StressEliminator logo to the cover in the front of the cabin, and made the pad one piece.

Floor is gelcoated white and will have snap in carpet.

 

[AZMIDLYF]

Epic build sir

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks much, it’s been a long time coming. It wouldn’t be at the stage it’s at without all of the help from my friends, and for that I’m thankful.

Heading out to pick it up now!

 

[Headless hula]

He just swung through here...


The look of excitement on his face is pretty hard to hide.

Safe travels bud.
See ya Tuesday!

 

[J.P.]

Hope you got it home safe,..anymore progress, if not its the holidays you get a pass.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Awesome side panel detail.

I’m loving the seat patterns and colors. Just enough to make it modern but not too loud.

Dash looks good against the silver. Dean added the orange pad after I had sent him a pic of the painted dash. I like it!

We did get it home safely, although in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

The folks at Checkmate took very good care of us. I had a few tweaks to be added to the new cockpit cover, so we left later than anticipated but we motored right on through Chicago and all the way home. When they were buttoning up the cockpit cover nearly everyone in the shop was doing something to help finish it.

Dean and I installed the decals while everyone else was working on the cover. I’m pleased with how they turned out.

Going to weigh, unload, and get it in the heated garage shortly. It sat outside last night and it got down to 14°! That’s not happening again...

We’ll get more pics when it’s inside and warm.

Time to finish it!!

 

[SBMech]

Woo Hoo! MAN it came out AWESOME!

Can't wait to see it rigged and done!

 

[J.P.]

Looks great, man I know it has to feel good getting the project to this stage. The gelcoat still has a good shine to it and matches the interior.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks man, it's good to have it back in my possession, no doubt about that!

I’m so very happy with how this thing is coming out, but frustrated at the same time knowing the water is going to get hard for 3 months straight here shortly. I’m going to finish it to the best level that I’m able, and not racing a clock. We’ve put too much into this to screw it up now!

Finish fitting dash currently, then I’ll get the steering in, then start wiring. I’ll post pics when I actually have something worthy of posting.

As always, thanks for following.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I forgot to mention, since I had to use an alternate method of removing the boat from the trailer, I wasn’t going to be able to use my scales but I still wanted to know the weight with interior.

HeadlessHula and I took it to the local gravel hauler and disconnected the complete boat and trailer and weighed them together. I weighed the trailer earlier, so I subtracted it from the total and the boat came out at 2020 lbs. Interior and hatch are exactly 400 lbs. I’m keeping track of everything I’m installing and we’ll see what the final rigged weight is. I’m guessing it’ll be close to 2900 dry.

Hoping to make more progress this weekend.

 

[WavetoWave]

Love this restoration, thanks for sharing. And great work with the colors and updates.

 

[Gelcoater]

Looks great.

 

[coolchange]

Came out nice. Are those Todd rotationally molded front buckets?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks much guys for the compliments, they’re appreciated.

As far as the brand of seat, I don’t remember the name on it, but I do remember thinking it was ironic that I was modifying a rotomolded seat sent to me from Ohio that was manufactured in Milwaukee Wi.

I’ll see if I can get a brand name for you.

When I pulled the cockpit cover off, I saw that some color had transferred to the tops of the seats and sunpad. I FREAKED just a little, I’m not going to lie. I contacted Dean to get his advice on “approved” cleaners and procedures. I used a citrus based cleaner and all came out fine.

Haven’t got much time rigging, but I did get the dash cut for the VesselView7 and made a drill fixture to predrill the holes for the push button switches.

That’s all I got, more in a couple of weeks, very busy at work until Christmas break.

 

[coolchange]

Thanks much guys for the compliments, they’re appreciated.

As far as the brand of seat, I don’t remember the name on it, but I do remember thinking it was ironic that I was modifying a rotomolded seat sent to me from Ohio that was manufactured in Milwaukee Wi.

I’ll see if I can get a brand name for you.

When I pulled the cockpit cover off, I saw that some color had transferred to the tops of the seats and sunpad. I FREAKED just a little, I’m not going to lie. I contacted Dean to get his advice on “approved” cleaners and procedures. I used a citrus based cleaner and all came out fine.

Haven’t got much time rigging, but I did get the dash cut for the VesselView7 and made a drill fixture to predrill the holes for the push button switches.

View attachment 606411

That’s all I got, more in a couple of weeks, very busy at work until Christmas break.

Don't sweat chasing the name. Pretty sure they are.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

It’s official, even though I’ve been in denial, the reality is that boating season is over for 2017. I guess I’m just going to have to get this thing rigged and drive south to find water or succumb to the reality of not seeing water until April.