Project StressEliminator Restomod-23 Daytona

[02HoWaRd26]

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.

So you are going to cut and backlight the dash where the Eliminator and Merc cut outs are in the aluminum??

Be hard cause the white looks bad ass behind as a pop but.... with the rgb smd led lights would be fun to use those as you’d be able to set it for any color and easily change often, between Blue yellow and orange of course.
Literally just read the whole thing and so so many times stopped and thought to myself “wtf is he doing or wtf is he thinking” crazy crazy to see my wtf moments of your build transpire from wtf to holy shit!!!
Like the mix of emblems and interior twist etc but all i can say is w0w the twist took shape beyond for sure.

I geek out on the making thoughts actually come to reality and know how extremely complicated that is and All i can say is w0w again and cannot wait to see the next and soon to be final stages of this.
ps would have used the like more but was to busy racing to the next post to keep reading.

 

[Headless hula]

Some if the best parts of this have been reading the comments. Really proud to have a small part in your project.

Whaddya say? Rigging party over the holidays?

 

[02HoWaRd26]

I won’t lie I’d be 100% game to Help and play, well if you weren’t like 6 tanks of fuel one way, away!!!!

 

[Headless hula]

I won’t lie I’d be 100% game to Help and play, well if you weren’t like 6 tanks of fuel one way, away!!!!

I think it's closer to 10....

 

[HydroSkreamin]

So you are going to cut and backlight the dash where the Eliminator and Merc cut outs are in the aluminum??

Not cut the dash, just sandwich lighting between silver painted fiberglass and the powdercoated stainless panel. I haven’t decided completely if I’m going to edge light/backlight with LED’s, or I’ve been looking at illuminescent panels that are 0.025” thick. I’m leaning toward them, but they have a frequency box that runs them and they’re not dimmable, but they aren’t overly bright either. I need to finish my research on them before I make a decision.

As far as your comments on the project, I’m beaming because you actually “get” what this whole thing is about, and I didn’t know if we were going to able to pull it off, but the vision is starting to become clear to people outside my garage. Glad you like it, and there will be some sort of holiday break push, but I’m not rushing anything now.

Wait til you see the engine, working on finishing paint on that before the holidays.

Thanks for following and thanks for the offer to help. I’m flattered, it’s much appreciated!

 

[02HoWaRd26]

I haven’t decided completely if I’m going to edge light/backlight with LED’s, or I’ve been looking at illuminescent panels that are 0.025” thick. I’m leaning toward them, but they have a frequency box that runs them and they’re not dimmable, but they aren’t overly bright either. I need to finish my research on them before I make a decision.

As far as your comments on the project, I’m beaming because you actually “get” what this whole thing is about, and I didn’t know if we were going to able to pull it off, but the vision is starting to become clear to people outside my garage. Glad you like it, and there will be some sort of holiday break push, but I’m not rushing anything now

Hmm tell me more about these panels!!

Yes it’s a trip a lot, well most of my buddies are just cool with having what they have, where i can have less but with the expectations or dreams of what to do to make it “mine” and most have no clue how easy the dream is or really how easy the post and saying yea it turned out perfect. The near impossible is the actual fact, specially when you gotta source things out, to take the dream of the creation or alteration to the actual desired finish.
And being you were very descriptive through the thread and i truly get the headache of “thought to reality” and it turn out correct was the fun part of reading this. The whole (and yes i think i was doing it to myself semi intentionally) wtf is he doing, wtf is he talking about..... then getting further on and seeing it and seeing the beautiful twist of use play out with perfection is what makes it so bad ass.

Like my thread it’s turning out great in my opinion, but i also am pretty damn sure the second i have nothing else to do it’ll get a for sale post as i think i enjoy the tinker and the process more then actually using the toy lol.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I think we hit all the marks in the looks department, now let’s hope we hit them all in the performance department too. It’ll be a little while before we can explore that realm, but dialing it in is the hunt I enjoy and am looking forward to.

There are absolutely no intentions of selling this thing, I built it exactly how I wanted it to use it. The only reason I’d ever let it go would be to get into a 28 Skater or 29 Outerlimits. I don’t see either of those boats in my budget anytime soon, so I guess this’ll have to do!

I’ve got a few car projects hanging out there that will allow me to keep being creative and making creations that are just a tick off base. My wife’s Corvair is next. Bored, stroked, supercharged and fuel injected is a pretty large chunk to start with. My 61 Impala with an aluminum headed, tunnel rammed, fuel injected 409” small block is after that. I’m thinking the Impala with a hitch and StressEliminator behind it might be bitchin.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

You can always add some paint to make the impala match the boat as well, great part of those cars is “the more different the more better”

 

[HydroSkreamin]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/41...UMNvO-5lbmgHvF8xNbmFCwv7zYNL2JEBoC1pAQAvD_BwE

This is a sample of what I’m looking at. Not this supplier necessarily, but it’s a good example to get the point across.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Omg that is rad!!! I don’t know if a use for it, but you better believe I’m going to be looking to find a use lol.

 

[Headless hula]

Omg that is rad!!! I don’t know if a use for it, but you better believe I’m going to be looking to find a use lol.

You use it to backlight your new stainless steel dash panel....

 

[02HoWaRd26]

That woul

You use it to backlight your new stainless steel dash panel....

That would be rad, but it’s just a polished aluminum plate with the holes cut for the switches and the names laser etched into it.

What I’m totally lost on tho is how Hydro came to find this stuff. Would like to look at other platforms of it and other sizes etc. also like to see how bright the rolls are in comparison to like the led strips i used on my interior.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I bought some rope stuff off eBay and it’s easy on the eyes when looking at it directly, but I don’t feel the ropes are bright enough to light from the edge, that’s why I turned to the panels. I’m going to try to get some samples coming after all the holidays are done.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Details, details. The devil is definitely in them.

I still need to paint the midsection but I’m liking how these are turning out. I have way too many hours in sanding/paint/clear/block sanding/clearing these. I want to hit the top cowls with 2000 grit and buff them, but I think I’ll wait till the engine is mounted so I’m not chasing them around.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

View attachment 608823 Details, details. The devil is definitely in them.

I still need to paint the midsection but I’m liking how these are turning out. I have way too many hours in sanding/paint/clear/block sanding/clearing these. I want to hit the top cowls with 2000 grit and buff them, but I think I’ll wait till the engine is mounted so I’m not chasing them around.

That Blue is epic i love it!!! But i like all things Blue lol. You going to do decal graphics to tie into the gel a little also??

I’d so so do some Merc 200 stickers on it, then very very small under or tied into the 200 do a x2 in there so it’s not a lie it’s just an optical illusion of size lol.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Did i say i like all things Blue

Ooops back to the boat thread!!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Looks like I might need to add a mount...



I’m going to run the graphics from the black 400 and possibly add the colors of the boat as well.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

How boring....... like my thread!!

No updates through the holiday break, thought you had all kinds of time off and we’re going to do a shit ton of work....

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Yeah, me too. Seems there’s always other stuff that gets in the way.

I did manage to get my godson to hang out on a Friday night over a week ago and we pulled all the stereo components out of their boxes and wired everything except the subs up and made sure everything worked. That was fun, and I don’t know who enjoyed it more, him or me.

So, the goal for this week was to continue stereo work.

Got the dimensions for under the dash between the supports we had glassed in. Made a tray with rubber isolation mounts for the amp. I was originally going to mount the amp upside down under the dash behind the radio, but after reading the manual Polk Audio recommends against it due to overheating concerns, so this is our option.

I tapped the amp for 1/4”-20 fasteners, and used stainless 1/4-20 x 1/2” button heads to fasten the amp to the tray. I was going to cut out a bunch of lightening triangles but decided the minimal weight of the 0.060” aluminum wasn’t worth my time. I cut the panel, laid it out, drilled the holes, chamfered and deburred everything, then took it over to my buddy Crash’s shop and he and I used his pan brake to make the bends. I brought a 1” test piece so we could get our bend radius right, so it would fit exactly between the supports. Came out perfect first shot!

The longitudinal bends really stiffened this thin material well. I was going to add some bead rolling but it isn’t necessary.

I’ll send this to Motion Metalworks to get the translucent blue treatment.

The amp/tray assembly will be hanging behind the round radio in the center of the dash. So far I’m impressed with the little JBL. Bluetooth was working good in the garage from my phone, didn’t check the range. I’m going to add a remote at the transom and just leave the phone in my cupholder. It has provisions for USB stick and RCA auxiliary input, as well as traditional FM antenna.

Simple is my game, and I’m really pleased with dash and stereo. If I can keep the wiring on theme this thing’s gonna be clean.

I did get frustrated because I was overwhelmed with how much there is to do and not knowing where to start. I decided to make a checklist and proceeded to sit in the comfortable Captain’s chair and generated two pages worth of things to do. I’m working from the dash back, and it’s good to have order and direction. It’s exhilarating to cross things off!

 

[02HoWaRd26]

[QUOTE="HydroSkreamin, post: . I’m working from the dash back, and it’s good to have order and direction. It’s exhilarating to cross things off![/QUOTE]

Don’t forget the front Nav lights!!!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Here’s what it looks like in its new home.

I’ll pull it apart, DA all surfaces and send it for powdercoat with some other parts.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

[QUOTE="HydroSkreamin, post: . I’m working from the dash back, and it’s good to have order and direction. It’s exhilarating to cross things off!

Don’t forget the front Nav lights!!! [/QUOTE]


I guess I should have said “working from the dash back for mounting items”. There’s some goofy docking lights this thing had that were all cracked; I bought new replacements that will need mounting and wiring as well.

That front lighting is hard to get to with the boat stuffed tightly in the front of my garage. Probably have to do them when it’s back on the trailer.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

So, an update is due here. After much deliberation, I’ve decided to flip the StressEliminator and blueprint the bottom. It’s really the only other modification that I can do to this thing to help handling and performance. Originally, I had intended to do it next winter, but as I’m laying out my rigging, I realized I didn’t want to do it twice.

A lot of thought and conversations happened, and a plan came together. As much as I wanted to do the operation at my house, with snow and ice on the ground, it made more sense to do it indoors. HeadlessHula had made provisions to flip his boat and take the hook out of it, so he offered up his facility and time. My buddy Crash came over and helped me pull the new interior on Friday night, and the three of us loaded and hauled the StressEliminator 18 miles to the HulaHut on Saturday.

We used my car hoist to get the boat on Crash’s snowmobile trailer, which was chosen due to its low height. A group vote got the original jig we used for all the glass work a trip to the HulaHut as well, with intentions of modifying it to fit inside the interior once the boat was upside down.

Decided to get the boys some ButterBurgers for the ride to the HulaHut.

Lifted it off with chain hoist and a large strap from Crash on the stern and HeadlessHula’s forklift on the bow.

We welded up a pipe and plate for rotating at the stern, and used the strap on the bow. Once we got it vertical, it didn’t want to go over, so we hooked my 110V Warn 2000 lb winch anchored to Hulas Ford diesel to persuade it over.

Once it was flipped over, it was time to modify the cart. Different strokes for different folks. Looks like HeadlessHula prefers 2-strokes!

Got it back on the trailer on the well modified wood cart.

Had troubles with casters trying to unload back at my place, but we prevailed and the StressEliminator is awaiting its refreshed bottom. I’m really happy with the height the sponsons ended up, it’ll be a really comfortable work height.

This shot shows the center pod notch job complete with vent holes. Hopefully this helps people understand what we were trying to do with this mod.

I’v got work travel keeping me out of the garage but rest assured I’ll be hitting this one hard when I’m around.

 

[Headless hula]

Even after flipping 2 of them over, it's still a bizarre thing to do....

 

[HydroSkreamin]

View attachment 614642
Even after flipping 2 of them over, it's still a bizarre thing to do....

I forgot to give props to Hulas buddy Corey. I wasn’t very nervous at all during this operation, but he was nervous enough for me!

I’m pretty sure he’s not flipping his DCB anytime soon. We’d have to sedate him!

His help, watchful eye, and humor were appreciated throughout the afternoon.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Loving this project!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[Headless hula]

I forgot to give props to Hulas buddy Corey. I wasn’t very nervous at all during this operation, but he was nervous enough for me!

I’m pretty sure he’s not flipping his DCB anytime soon. We’d have to sedate him!

His help, watchful eye, and humor were appreciated throughout the afternoon.

He admitted he would have to sedate himself. He's wound pretty tight...

 

[lenmann]

Holy shit! After all the work and effort you have put into this hull I am with Corey...nervous as all get out! I would be having nightmares of a strap slipping or breaking and that thing comes crashing to the ground. Kudos to you sir.

That said Hula has a pretty nice set up there, a low ceiling, but a pretty nice setup.

As always, thanks for taking me along on the ride.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

We knew his boat was vertical on it last summer, so we were comfortable knowing it would fit but we’d have to be careful.

We unloaded the boat with 2 chain hoists, but one of them started giving us trouble so we opted to omit the troublesome unit and go solo with the other. It worked but made it a touch more difficult, nothing we couldn’t handle.

I was waffling on my decision, but once it was flipped, I knew I did the right thing. She’ll be flat!

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Ok so please explain what you are doing to the bottom by “blueprinting it” also the holes you drilled in the bottom

 

[Headless hula]

Ok so please explain what you are doing to the bottom by “blueprinting it” also the holes you drilled in the bottom

He is going to make the running surface perfectly flat. He is also going to sharpen the corners of the sponsons.
You can go back a couple of pages and see that there is a tube molded inside of the center pod. It is to vent that notch.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Ok so please explain what you are doing to the bottom by “blueprinting it” also the holes you drilled in the bottom

So, did you see post 151 about the center pod venting? Does it make sense?

Blueprinting is just like HeadlessHula said, ensuring the flat surfaces are perfectly flat, and corners are as sharp as can be practical. This allows the water to flow across smoothly with the least amount of interruptions and to break off the edges cleanly, usually helping boost performance and handling.

Hope this helps.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

So, here’s why we flipped the boat. There shouldn’t be a gap under the level. I’m going to sand high spots and fill low spots.

I was advised by my friend Roger (who used to build and repair his own racing tunnel boats, and sometimes competitors too) to mix 10% steel bluing with 90% isopropyl alcohol to make a guide coat for sanding the sponsons. It will all eventually get sanded off and this will all get regelcoated once it’s all flat. You can see a repair here.

Meet “Big Wally”. Roger made this tool from some extruded aluminum tube, welding some handles on to make a longboard for sanding. He just glued some 36 grit 3M self-adhesive longboard paper to it, and you’ve got your Popeye training kit. (Forearms not included). I’ve not personally done this before, but crewed on an F1 tunnel boat team with Roger decades ago and watched him perform his magic on boat bottoms. I’ve never seen a boat that Roger worked on ever not gain speed and handling. I trust his judgment, and have for this entire project. Why would I turn down this resource?

I took Crash’s levels into work and checked them against the large granite inspection table. I needed a good long straightedge and after taking some burrs off with a fine file, the 6’ Stabila was within 0.003” of straight and the 8’ Bostich was less than 0.0015” over all 8’! That’s incredibly straight for something that long. Suffice to say, I’m pretty sure it’s past my tolerances...

You can see the highs and lows with the level spanning it all.

So, I marked off every foot from the transom and made marker lines, adding notes after using the straightedge and feeler gauges. This gave me an idea where to work first. You can see the severity of the highs and lows. This is just the beginning, but I’m feeling really good that we flipped this and it’s going to be super flat when it’s finished. Now to block off some time for sanding!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Been traveling for work, today is the first chance I’ve had in weeks, and will be for a couple more.

Enjoying a beverage and taking notes. Looks like the stringers really tweaked this bottom. Glad we flipped it, got a definite path to get this thing back on track.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Damn, once you get this process perfected I’ll bring you mine......

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Damn, once you get this process perfected I’ll bring you mine......

I don’t know if you’ll like the completion timeframe. I’m my first and only customer and it’s taken 4 years! I’m convinced it’ll be worth it!

 

[poncho]

Love me some Culver's....outstanding boat.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Love me some Culver's....outstanding boat.

Thanks. This project would only be 1/3 of what it is today without the help of my buds, and the least I can do is feed 'em!

It's handy that Culvers is 3/4 mile from my house, although it makes it a little too easy to get the Flavor of the Day...

It's just nice to see the StressEliminator outside the confines of the garage, but unusual in WI to see one out on a snowmobile trailer in winter. HeadlessHula saw the photo op and took it.

It's going to be so gratifying to see it on its own trailer in a few months headed to the water. That's driving me to get it done, and curtailing it to a 5-year project. Time to use it!

 

[lenmann]

Any thoughts on how much of the distortion on the bottom is factory original vs. created during the restoration process? I know you built a really nice cradle for it.

Oh, how do you operate a three handled long board?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Any thoughts on how much of the distortion on the bottom is factory original vs. created during the restoration process? I know you built a really nice cradle for it.

Oh, how do you operate a three handled long board?

Lenmann, that’s a really good question I wish I could give you an honest answer to. I’m positive all the layers of glass over the stringers caused the puckering. I talked to Roger about it and he said it’s normal. Had I mapped the bottom before we started this process, I could give you a better answer.

At this point, my belief is the stringers definitely caused about a 1/16” pucker, but the one that confuses me is where the sponsons meet the vertical surface of the tunnel. There’s a curl there about 3” from the edge that baffles me. Maybe just losing the core out of it caused warpage, or cutting the skin out that covered the core allowed it? Regardless there’s a bunch of spider cracks in the gel caused by lack of core. We’ll get all of it squared away so the bottom looks as good as the top. The only people that’ll know about it is you guys

The cradle was supporting inside the tunnel, but nothing was under the sponsons except jackstands on each sponson up front to prevent sagging. With the boat leveled upside down the sponson angles match when measured with a digital protractor at even intervals on each side, so I feel we did something right there.

I’ll have to look at some hulls of this vintage that aren’t trashed and see what they look like. I’m confident it was decent from the factory and deteriorated from running with no support and all the glasswork we did to it.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Time for an update here.

Winter travels kept me out of the garage for any significant progress, but in keeping with tradition of the previous two years, I’ve taken Easter Week off to make progress on the StressEliminator.

I’ve worked both sponsons to get some semblance of straightness, and as I work each side with the longboard and an airfile on the really tough spots, I’ve gotten the middle of each within 0.010” of straight, but the inner portion of each is showing they need filling. Look how much material got removed from the rear edge to take the hook out.

This means in order for fresh fiberglass to adhere I need to remove the gelcoat where filling is needed, so I got the trusty 7” grinder with Zek wheel and started the process. I’ll finish grinding this side today, as well as the other.

The dust collector is earning its keep again.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

So, progress is being made, although slow. Both sponsons are coming around, each has a low spot between the stringer and inner sponson face. The starboard sponson had a huge hook at the rear and a large high spot at 8’. I ended up losing power on my Menard’s special 7” grinder; probably the switch, but in the interest of keeping progress rolling, I borrowed HeadlessHula’s Makita. Port sponson is ready for glass, I’ll be doing that today. Starboard sponson is fully sanded within 0.010” of level, but needs the gelcoat ground where the fill is going in so it looks like the port.

I’m looking forward to turning the corner of destruction to enter the straightaway of forward motion. I’m going to keep at it through the weekend and see how far we get.

 

[J.P.]

Looking good!

 

[SBMech]

Every time I see an update I get the jones to go fix my tub, loving the progress!

She is going to be one bad ass hustler when you are done!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Every time I see an update I get the jones to go fix my tub, loving the progress!

She is going to be one bad ass hustler when you are done!

Thanks man. I know you’ve been patiently following this whole thing, and I appreciate your vote of confidence. I’m driven to finish this thing as right as I can to do all this effort by everyone some justice. I’ve become friends with a guy on another forum that has this identical boat and engine setup, but without the bottom mods and he’s hit just shy of 98, and that is extremely encouraging to me to make this old girl shoot for triple digits.

If we can inspire you to work on your sled, that’d be cool. I’ve been working on this thing for 4 years now. I was inspired by other build threads and obviously jumped in with both feet! The tips and encouragement from this site are awesome.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Apparently they remember from the last session...

The resin has been sitting in this container for a few months so I decided to go to Dollar General and spend $3 on a colander for straining the chunks out.

HeadlessHula and I joined forces for old times sake and did a short 3 layer lam to fill the low trough on this sponson. He had his RDP shirt on for luck. Actually, he had it on for supper, and stopped in on his way home and offered to help. Our photographer was supposed to get a full shot of his back but must have misunderstood. We’re just happy to have the shots we do.

Tomorrow I get to work Big Wally and take away all the new high spots that don’t belong.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Well, I’m feeling OK about what I got accomplished on my week off. Of course we’ll always wish for more, but my goal as stated was to get past the last curve of destruction (hopefully!!) and get onto the straightaway of progress, and I feel I’ve achieved that.

Here’s where the starboard sponson ended up after attacking it with Big Wally. From the stringer out it got pretty flat, but between the inner sponson and the stringer it had a huge curve.

I started by getting the keel straight.

In doing so I got thinner than I liked at the edge, so I ground it out and filled it with CSM “fluff”, basically about 1/2” squares. I prepped the cut through that was missed or miscommunicated when I had the transom outside done, so now was as good of time as any to fix it. I ground it out with the 4” grinder and cut strips of CSM full length and glassed them in. I didn’t quite fill the cut through enough, so I’ll have to fill just a bit more next lam.

You can see the rest of the sponson is ground for the next lamination.

Check out how much I have to add to get this thing flat! Four layers should do it. Glass is cut and ready for a lam one night this week.

I tickled the port sponson while my repairs were kicking. Looks like it’ll come in, we’ll know more at the end of the week.

Back to a real job now so I can relax. My shoulders are sore!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Finally got the lam done on the starboard sponson, just in time to cure for the weekend for more sanding! My buddy Crash came over in the middle of the lam and mixed resin and then ran the roller for me.

Tentatively planning to shoot gelcoat a week from Sunday.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Well, my timeline is slipping with work and family obligations, but I’m trying to sneak an hour or two of sanding in when I can.

The port sponson is coming in, I’m going to have to fill a few low spots yet.

I’ll start hitting the high spots on the starboard sponson after I get the lows filled on the port.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m sick of sanding, but seeing it flatten out is rewarding. The new glass and resin definitely sand harder than the gelcoat. I’m having to change my paper more often. At least it doesn’t clog. The dust is like confectioners sugar.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

So, I blued the port sponson so I could hit it one more time with Big Wally and get after filling in the low spots

View from front:

View from rear:

After Big Wally:

The low spots look huge, but they’re not that deep. I’ll prep them tomorrow night and do a single layer of CSM, and move on to sanding the starboard sponson.

I had wanted to shoot gel this weekend but that’s not happening, as we’re expecting around a foot of snow this weekend.That means I’ll have snow removal duties and travel will suck. Sounds like a good weekend to be in the shop!

I’m thinking of capping the front between the forks while we have gel in the gun. I’m working on getting another batch of gel mixed from the supplier that mixed it for my transom repair/cap. I want to just put solid stainless spears down the sides and not wrap around the tips. We’ll see...