Project StressEliminator Restomod-23 Daytona

[HydroSkreamin]

Time for an update.

I finished getting the midsection painted and got the cowls and chaps back on the 400R, and put the graphics package from the black cowls on the newly painted blue cowls. A two year vision finally made real!

I’m extremely pleased with how they came out, and also how easy the graphics went on. Mercury Racing does a nice job with giving measurements and alignment tips with cowl features and premask alignment so everything lines up properly. It takes a little patience and time, but the results are great for a rookie!

I don’t know if these pictures do them justice, but the block sanding on the cowls paid off nicely.

Unfortunately, despite 3 months worth of thrashing, I missed finishing this for our summer vacation. My wife and I were both really bummed that it wasn’t ready, but got to use another boat for the week so all was not lost.

Trying to get finished as soon as possible, obviously. Wisconsin summers are short and the leaves will be turning within 2 months, so in between taking daughters to college and the rest of life, we’ll keep hammering away. That first ride is going to happen soon!

 

[RCDave]

Wow. Cowls look amazing

 

[n2otoofast4u]

OH MY!!!!! Quit your job and get that thing together!!!! The cowls look amazing!!!!

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Time for an update.

I finished getting the midsection painted and got the cowls and chaps back on the 400R, and put the graphics package from the black cowls on the newly painted blue cowls. A two year vision finally made real!

I’m extremely pleased with how they came out, and also how easy the graphics went on. Mercury Racing does a nice job with giving measurements and alignment tips with cowl features and premask alignment so everything lines up properly. It takes a little patience and time, but the results are great for a rookie!

I don’t know if these pictures do them justice, but the block sanding on the cowls paid off nicely.

View attachment 672711

View attachment 672712

View attachment 672713

View attachment 672714

Unfortunately, despite 3 months worth of thrashing, I missed finishing this for our summer vacation. My wife and I were both really bummed that it wasn’t ready, but got to use another boat for the week so all was not lost.

Trying to get finished as soon as possible, obviously. Wisconsin summers are short and the leaves will be turning within 2 months, so in between taking daughters to college and the rest of life, we’ll keep hammering away. That first ride is going to happen soon!

Wow, yea nothing more just WOW

 

[AZMIDLYF]

Nicely done!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks, fellas, glad you like them. Believe me, I’m chomping at the bit to finish this thing out.

Vacation did wonders for me, spent the whole week in northern WI watching eagles pull fish every day from the lake we were staying on. Sunny and 80° every day. Boating whenever you feel like it. Totally relaxing.

Taking middle child to college 5 hours away tomorrow, eldest to O’Hare to fly out of country for school on Friday, and wife is having some surgery next Monday. That leaves me with 2 days of vacation the rest of the year, or I’d be finishing this thing. I just might use one of those days for a fall color tour if the weather beckons!

Until then, it’s nights and weekends to get this thing done. It’ll happen, I just have to keep pushing.

Thanks for all of your interest and support!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I went to install my new fuel level sending units and they were a touch too long.

So I machined a couple of spacers and we’re back in business.

Should be able to get a ways along rigging this weekend.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I drilled and tapped the jackplate for some hollow studs from a Kiekhaefer K-plane (tab) in order to not run hoses over the transom.

I took the unit to NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) Hydraulics where my buddy Crash gets hoses made for his equipment. Originally I was going to do all the hard elbows in stainless, until I heard the price of $90/elbow!!

These will have to do.

This’ll come out clean...

I’m traveling for work right now but will pick this up before the weekend and get it mounted to the transom. There won’t be any excuses to not hang an engine anymore...

 

[Boat Doctor]

View attachment 678096

I drilled and tapped the jackplate for some hollow studs from a Kiekhaefer K-plane (tab) in order to not run hoses over the transom.

I took the unit to NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) Hydraulics where my buddy Crash gets hoses made for his equipment. Originally I was going to do all the hard elbows in stainless, until I heard the price of $90/elbow!!

These will have to do.

This’ll come out clean...

I’m traveling for work right now but will pick this up before the weekend and get it mounted to the transom. There won’t be any excuses to not hang an engine anymore...

Blame it on me why don’t you! Now that work is out of the way let’s see this thing fire up! Can’t wait to see the first picture of it on the lake and see that vent tube for the notch do its thing.

Kyle @ Nordic

 

[HydroSkreamin]

HeadlessHula and I stopped at Ace today to pick up bolts for each of our projects. Mine was a 5/8 bolt to make a drill guide so I could accurately drill for the hydraulic hollow studs to feed the hydraulic lines to activate the jackplate ram.

My buddy Crash let me use his lathe to center drill the bolt to 7/16”. This gave me a good size to start with, increasing 1/16” at a time out to 11/16”, so by the time I coat the holes with epoxy there’s still room for the stud to pass through.

I wanted the thinnest jackplate I could find for the least amount of setback with the big Verado on the back. This Stainless Marine unit (no longer in production) has 4-1/4” setback, requiring the pump be remotely mounted. That’s what all this is for.

Not having the hydraulic hoses come over the transom offers a clean look and makes me happy.

A look from the inside:

I modified the water in fuel filter from 1/4 NPT to 3/8 NPT, and drilled all internal passages to 9/16”. After drilling and tapping the outlet, I decided to eliminate all 90’s and added a push lock fitting right out the top of the filter housing. No unnecessary flow restrictions here!

I really don’t want any of the rigging in view when the hatch is open, but since I’m pulling from 2 tanks with one engine, I’m trying to make everything as equal length as possible in an attempt for even tank drainage. We shall see. I do intend to add ball valves to the filter inlet in order to be able to even the tanks out if necessary. You can see the WIF sensor on the left and the water drain on the right side of the bowl in the above picture. I like that you can do a visual on the clear bowl anytime to see if there’s water or sediment present.

So, here’s where that filter is going to live:

There’ll be a plate that is a backer for the jackplate mount bolts that will also be the mount for the filter housing.

I made a mount plate for the jackplate pump as well, removing the factory steel mount plate, and placing the solenoids where I can service them and attend to the wiring.

It will live in the port aft storage area along with the electric power steering pump. I intentionally haven’t mounted the jackplate pump yet because the hose lengths available may dictate the pump location. Here is where I intend it to go, and the power steering pump is located, but not permanently mounted. I cannot for the life of me find the box of stainless 1/4-20 t-nuts I got last year. Very frustrating! I’ll get more tomorrow and get it mounted for good.

 

[paul76]

HeadlessHula and I stopped at Ace today to pick up bolts for each of our projects. Mine was a 5/8 bolt to make a drill guide so I could accurately drill for the hydraulic hollow studs to feed the hydraulic lines to activate the jackplate ram.

My buddy Crash let me use his lathe to center drill the bolt to 7/16”. This gave me a good size to start with, increasing 1/16” at a time out to 11/16”, so by the time I coat the holes with epoxy there’s still room for the stud to pass through.

View attachment 679135

I wanted the thinnest jackplate I could find for the least amount of setback with the big Verado on the back. This Stainless Marine unit (no longer in production) has 4-1/4” setback, requiring the pump be remotely mounted. That’s what all this is for.

View attachment 679137

Not having the hydraulic hoses come over the transom offers a clean look and makes me happy.

View attachment 679136

A look from the inside:

View attachment 679138

I modified the water in fuel filter from 1/4 NPT to 3/8 NPT, and drilled all internal passages to 9/16”. After drilling and tapping the outlet, I decided to eliminate all 90’s and added a push lock fitting right out the top of the filter housing. No unnecessary flow restrictions here!

View attachment 679133

I really don’t want any of the rigging in view when the hatch is open, but since I’m pulling from 2 tanks with one engine, I’m trying to make everything as equal length as possible in an attempt for even tank drainage. We shall see. I do intend to add ball valves to the filter inlet in order to be able to even the tanks out if necessary. You can see the WIF sensor on the left and the water drain on the right side of the bowl in the above picture. I like that you can do a visual on the clear bowl anytime to see if there’s water or sediment present.

So, here’s where that filter is going to live:

View attachment 679139

There’ll be a plate that is a backer for the jackplate mount bolts that will also be the mount for the filter housing.

I made a mount plate for the jackplate pump as well, removing the factory steel mount plate, and placing the solenoids where I can service them and attend to the wiring.

View attachment 679134

It will live in the port aft storage area along with the electric power steering pump. I intentionally haven’t mounted the jackplate pump yet because the hose lengths available may dictate the pump location. Here is where I intend it to go, and the power steering pump is located, but not permanently mounted. I cannot for the life of me find the box of stainless 1/4-20 t-nuts I got last year. Very frustrating! I’ll get more tomorrow and get it mounted for good.

View attachment 679142

very nice looks way cleaner then how my eliminator looks back there. trying to see how it all works. outboards r new to me

 

[HNL2LHC]

Incredible attention to detail. It is great to see how things are done at a higher level. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks for the compliments, guys.

All I’m doing is applying what I’ve learned doing street rods over the years to my own boat. These ideas grow in my head and get built in my brain two or three times before I ever even start executing. Sometimes they get built and thrown directly in the trash!

I like things functional, clean, and serviceable. I try to make anything I build or fabricate fit those three requirements, in that order, and things have turned out pretty well.

 

[HNL2LHC]

Thanks for the compliments, guys.

All I’m doing is applying what I’ve learned doing street rods over the years to my own boat. These ideas grow in my head and get built in my brain two or three times before I ever even start executing. Sometimes they get built and thrown directly in the trash!

I like things functional, clean, and serviceable. I try to make anything I build or fabricate fit those three requirements, in that order, and things have turned out pretty well.

Good to hear the street helps on the water. I hope to make that jump in a couple of years. I assumes it was different in some sense but much less difficult in others. Just started the learning process myself. Keep the project going and the updates as well

 

[HydroSkreamin]

When I purchased my jackplate, I was aware that it was missing some hardware, particularly the backing plates that have threaded holes for the mounting bolts to attach the plate to the transom and the engine to the plate. They’re nothing fancy, just 1-1/2 x 2-1/2”, with 2-1/2”-20 threaded holes and a single 1/4”-20, and it takes 8 of them to be complete. They are NLA from the original manufacturer, so they needed to be made from scratch.

I finally found some time last Saturday to make them, and finish the plumbing on the water separating fuel filter, as well as make a bracket for the fuel filter.

The finished product looks exactly how I wanted it to.

You can see the backing plate tucked inside the extrusion.

Some clearance cuts were necessary so the plates would clear.

Here’s the whole unit mounted and hydraulic hoses in place to operate the jackplate ram. The hoses will tuck up under the deck. I’m sitting on the floor to take this picture, you won’t see the ball valves with the hatch open, just the filter bowl.

After I took the picture above, I installed the fuel lines from each tank to its respective ball valve, with the fuel tanks in their forward-most position, so if I do want to slide them ahead to move weight around, I can.

The jackplate pump and power steering pump are each mounted as well. These items will be behind the panel.

The rear of each fuel tank has the t-nuts located, I need to make the front mounts, and it will be on to wiring.

 

[AZMIDLYF]

Neat that you can play with the fuel tanks for CG adjusting.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

When we started this project, I reached out to a bunch of people, especially 23 Daytona owners, and no one could tell me what CG they were running, but half of them would say, “You gotta put at least 10” of setback in it”. Well, I’m a believer in knowing WHY you are doing something, not just to do it “because that’s what we’ve always done...”. So, being that the center pod is notched, it narrows down the pool of similar boats, so I’m shooting for 25% of overall length, based on a compilation of friends with Skaters and DCB’s.

Since this boat could end up with twins on it, I figured I’d better be able to put the tanks back to original location if necessary, and even with the single should I want to try it.

The tanks ended up 5” lower and 7” back from their original location. In talking with other 23 Daytona owners, our tanks are not all in the same location from the factory.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this thing handles right out of the box. The nights are dipping into the 40’s around here, so I gotta keep after it so we can run before the water is hard. There’s plenty of fall boating, but the days are definitely numbered.

 

[footer]

How do you measure the CG?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

There’s a few different ways to do it, I use scales on each end and do the math, I’ve seen guys use yardarms and keep moving them and lifting the boat until it balances or teeters, I’ve used a fence post (on a Vee hull) and moved it until the boat balances or teeters.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Progress is slow due to work, travel, and family responsibilities, but I’m trying to order parts and get smaller projects done during the week.

Since I was needing to add filler on the transom due to the banana effect from transom installation, I procured more P-14, and worked on enlarging the holes for the jackplate fasteners so they could be coated with epoxy and still have clearance when installed.

So I made a drill fixture in order to keep the holes on center and square to the transom. HeadlessHula showed up as I was starting the drilling process and held the fixture for me with a Vise grip while I drilled. Wouldn’t you know it, while we were drilling, Crash showed up with a Forstner bit for drilling the bilge drain holes. I figured if I was mixing epoxy, I might as well have everything ready to go.

Well, there’s not room for 3 people back there, so I left Crash and HeadlessHula on the hole project and started clearcoating uncoated parts for the jackplate. It was like the band was back together!

The transom is too thick to get a complete cut with a holesaw, so Crash cut with the forstner bit until they could holesaw their way through. HeadlessHula brought the core over to my spray table and put epoxy on both cores because they show we achieved our goal for transom integrity. You can see the thickness of the overlapping layers on the wood transom, the fibers from the “fluff” we mixed with the microspheres, as well as the thicknesses and radius of the inner transom. Beefy!

HeadlessHula epoxied all the holes, and the bilge drains fit snugly. I need to drill for the screws and 4200 them in.

The original through hull fittings for bilge pump exhaust were very small, so I got larger ones.

I wasn’t entirely happy with the fuel hose routing to the ball valves at the filter inlet, so I got some 1/2” NPT to 1/2” hose barb 45’s. Not liking the hole interception on them, I modified them so they intersect properly, and used some of my cylinder head porting experience and used thin strips of emery paper to take the sharpness off the short turn (inner radius) in an effort to disrupt flow as little as possible at the turn. This pic is the before shot:

The intent was to get the jackplate on this weekend; it didn’t go as planned, I’ll do a separate installment for that. Let’s just say all the dust in these pictures give you an idea it didn’t go well. I did, however, get to take out some frustration with a 36 grit Zek wheel...

Almost forgot, I’ve been working on getting my cool foot pedal Kevin made me mounted.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Sunday afternoon was beautiful outside, sunny and mid 70’s. I decided it was time to fill the small void between the banana’d transom and the jackplate with the P-14 filler I had received from Express Composites. As I was looking for the church key to open the fresh gallon of filler, I ran across a half quart I didn’t know I had.

That half quart was exactly what I had estimated that I was going to need to fill that gap, so I was happy to not have to open the new gallon.

Three coats of mold release wax was applied inside the boundary I had taped around the jackplate perimeter, as Roger suggested roughing the jackplate face to have the P-14 adhere to it rather than the transom.

Being such a nice fall day out, I was working on parts on sawhorses in front of the garage in the sun. I mixed the P-14, applied it to the transom, used the edge of the jackplate with tape on it to strike it off, taking the excess off with a Bondo spreader and reapplying it across the middle of the jackplate face, in order for it to squeeze out when I tightened it.

Well I’m here to tell you, I was quite surprised to find that I couldn’t start the bolts to tighten it, due to the fact that it had kicked already! Man I was peeved! In hindsight, working in the sun probably wasn’t a smart move on my part. That, and being the largest batch of P-14 that I’ve mixed probably played into me making a plastic ball of goo.

In order to not take my rage out on the very boat I’m desperately trying to finish, I went outside and walked it off, went and looked at the interior panels to see what work was necessary to get the speakers and lighting installed and wired for final installation, instead of getting out the sledgehammer or acetylene torch...

After cooling down, I called Crash and borrowed his airfile, sanding the 15”x15” section as flat as I could, then took the 4” grinder with a 24 grit Zek wheel to the jackplate face and proceeded to remove the white plastic glob, turning into white powder which I dispersed over my entire garage, reverting my clean boat back into the dusty pig it was before...

It did me some good to get away from it for a night, and I talked with Roger about a plan of attack on recovery. He suggested bolting the jackplate on and carefully using a sharp wood chisel on the edges and squaring everything up.

Crash came over and helped install the jackplate, allowing me an opportunity to measure how much thread needed to be removed from the attaching bolts. I followed Roger’s instructions and all is not so bad. I have a 0.020” gap on the port side, and a 0.030” gap on the starboard side. This will allow a thin layer, which is what I’m used to applying. Man, I feel a LOT better.

I had forgotten that I had the folks at Checkmate make templates of the panels for the aft storage areas, so I called Dean at Checkmate and had him send the completed panels and my repaired storage cover. I think I’d better clean the boat before I think of using that cover....

You’ve already seen that the power steering and jackplate pumps will reside behind this panel:

The engine and house batteries, as well as on-board charger will reside behind this one:

Crash helped me measure for steering lines, I’m going to attempt to get them for the weekend for installation.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Got the “Go pedal” made by my buddy Kevin at Motion Metalworks in Wrens, GA adapted to the base.

Can’t wait to mash it!

Hmmm, do I need a “whoa” for a dead pedal?....

 

[HydroSkreamin]

On to wiring. I’m working on pre-wiring the side panels so they can be easily removed for tank access should it become necessary.

I also ordered LEDs for the transom and strips for under gunnel lighting, as well as the electroluminescent panels I’ve talked about previously for the dash.

It all showed up and of course, a guy has to put power to all of it to ensure it works!

I was a little leery about the EL panels, but I really like how they look with a rudimentary setup. I’ll figure out where to cut it and splice for a clean look. Also, I need to make a call and see if I can run all the panels from one frequency box. They give a very faint, hi-pitched squeal when powered up, and I mean faint. The calipers say they’re 0.013” thick. The panels can be cut and resealed as long as you don’t cut the copper power strips.

The vision is finally becoming a reality!

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Not to push something i have listed but.... they make awesome a capitalized word AWESOME


https://www.riverdavesplace.com/xenforo/threads/rigid-industries-courtesy.181595/

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks man, but I'm covered. I'm going for a more subdued lighting in the cockpit as I do quite a bit of night boating and need to keep things dim around me so I can see.

Bright is cool looking at the dock but treacherous for navigation. LED strips shining down into the speaker/storage coamings and LED cupholders is about it.

That being said, I will have the dash backlights on a switch so I can eliminate them if they become a distraction. My biggest reason for integrating them into the dash was to know what all the switches are for when night boating, as that's always been an issue previously.

Thanks for the offer though!

 

[pwerwagn]

Man, that EL panel looks great!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks, pwerwagn, it'll be interesting to see if these start showing up more now....

 

[HydroSkreamin]

The side panels got some wiring attention this week. I’m wiring them so they can simply be unplugged should I need access to the fuel tanks behind them. Sloppy wiring has no place in my boat, so I’m trying to make it as clean as I can.

Each storage pocket has a 12V auxiliary power socket and dual USB power socket, fusing each corner of the boat separately.

The LED cupholders will be switched with cockpit lighting, which will be LED strips above the storage compartments.

Got the bolt pattern drilled and speakers installed.

I still have to wire the speakers and power to the cupholders, the attached pic has a power supply running them just to check the connections there that will splice into the feed line.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

The trailer bunks needed replacing, so my buddy Crash helped me get material when we were on a task for him, and he helped me cut, carpet and install the bunks. Not a huge deal but a necessary one.

Someone turned the switch on for fall weather around here, so we worked in a balmy 46°.

HeadlessHula lent me his air stapler, complete with stainless staples, making short work of the carpet job. I’m pleased with the final product.

I plan on paying attention to the trailer next spring, adding LED taillights, runway, clearance, and reverse lights. Also, I plan on ditching the fiberglass fenders for polished stainless, and a set of 17” rims.

After receiving the aft storage area cover panels from Checkmate, I realized My 6” access covers weren’t going to fit with the cover panels, they’d overlap. So I ordered some 4” ones from great lakes skipper.com, screenshotting the dimensions so I could plan the placement of them and cut the opening with the proper holesaw.

There will be a mounting plate for the breakers and battery studs, as well as a small fuse box.

Mocking up possibilities for battery switch placement. I’m thinking of mounting it on an L-bracket to the tank bulkhead, and having the face recessed into the cover panel.

Wiring continues evenings this week.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

The battery switch doesn’t have to hang by painter’s tape anymore, I made a mount out of non-conductive delrin (plastic). It’s pretty simple, and I hollowed it out with a holesaw for access to the studs on the back.

Remember, there is a panel that covers this area, and I don’t want to have to pull the panel every time I want to shut the batteries off, so I mounted the switch so it will protrude from the panel after modifying it for clearance.

Here’s a view from the front of the switch. I cut all the sides in the mill to square it up, then drilled and tapped all the holes while I had it clamped up. It’s quite solid, and I’m very happy with the finished result.

I’m trying to get everything mounted that needs wires run to it so I can work on wiring this weekend.

Scratch that one off the list!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Started trimming the EL panels to make them fit. The outside edges don’t light, and my lettering goes out near the edges, so I trimmed the edge and used a gasket punch set to cut for clearance for one of the studs on the back of the dash. I decided to check the lighting functionality each step of the way so if I did damage the panel to malfunction, I’d at least know what not to do on the next ones.

Here is this portion completely trimmed for the switches and steering.

Then I turned my attention towards making a drill fixture in order to locate and drill all of the switch holes. Once the switch holes are located and drilled,then I can use the back spot facing tool to plunge the cutter concentrically and generate clearance for a socket. I’ll make some inserts to go in this steel piece, using the bushings for drill guides, as well as a backstop for the spotfacer.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Here’s the drill fixture attached and ready to use. I actually had planned on it being right on the fiberglass, but since I had an identical practice dash, I used it to precisely locate the drill fixture.

Here’s with the switch holes holesawed out, and drill bushing ready for action.

This is the back spotfacer pieces. The shaft has a flat and notch for the drive pin. The cutter has the drive pin just in view inside the bottom of the hole. When the shaft is turned clockwise, the cutter is engaged and active. Spin it counterclockwise and it comes off. This is used when you can’t get machine access but you need a flat surface for a fastener.

Here it is assembled.

This is what it looks like from the backside. When I made the guide for the shaft I made the drill bushing the proper length to be the stop as well.

In action:

She’s lit!

There’s powder coating in the switch holes that I’ll need to hit with a sanding roll for clearance.

It looks pretty bitchin in the dark, too. Unfortunately the phone gets washed out with all that light and doesn’t hold true color, but I can tell you it’s easy on the eyes in the dark.

Finally got the hatch and adapter plate properly fitted. That’s been a long time coming.

Now that the switches will be in place, the wires will have a destination.

That’s this week’s focus, wiring and plumbing.

 

[footer]

How's it coming? Did you get that big blue hammer bolted on the back yet?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Getting time to work on it has been sporadic at best. Winter prep, last grandma passing, work and work travel have kept me struggling to get much accomplished.

I did travel to the HulaHut a few weeks ago and made subwoofer boxes (pics forthcoming when finished), and I finished wiring the interior side panels last night. I’m really happy with how clean the wiring came out, everything is j-clipped, strain relieved and labeled.
It sure felt good to have everything pass QC check, light up, and load up in the truck and haul back home.

I got the fuel level sensors and the goofy docking lights terminated as well.

Over Thanksgiving I took the week off and did some pre-winter home stuff and got enough time to get all the steering lines made to length and sweeper 90’s crimped on. Shortened bulkhead fittings and recut o-ring grooves back in the face seal units. The short pieces on the left plus the thickness of the parting tool is how much I shortened them.

I got a start on the filler necks. I cut the original hose barbs off the OG flip top filler necks and machined them flat, then made matching stainless flanges to be able to weld stainless mandrel bends to get the top connected to the tank.

Hoping to get the sub boxes close to finished this weekend and work on the fuel filler necks.

Thanks for checking in!

 

[lenmann]

Nice attention to detail, you're a meticulous son of a gun.

What are you using to make the labels for the wiring?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Brady BMP21. You can do wire labels, banners, etc. Different width and color tapes as well. Really nice to use.

https://www.bradyid.com/en-us/product/bmp21-plus

 

[lenmann]

Nice!

Thanks.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I was working on laying out electrical circuits for the StressEliminator on Friday night when I got a text from HeadlessHula that his house was on fire, call 911. Turns out his phone was in his house and he could only text from his tablet. The numbers on the right are his address I called in to 911. He lost his entire house, truck, the Hula, VFR 800 and all his belongings. It’s been a long weekend, so to take my mind off it just a little, I got back after the circuit thing and have a rough road map. I’ll double check the requirements and figure out wire sizes and lengths so I can get this thing wired.

Got the side panels home and lit them in the dark. I don’t think I’m going to need LED strips above, these are bright enough.

 

[coolchange]

Are you pinching the hlul between your fill line and your filler necks, leaving the hull exposed to the fuel?
Are you putting any kind of flex joint in the fuel fill line? We used to leave the rubber hose loose on the fuel fill cap so it would float in the hose and not cause stress cracks around the filler neck.
Interior looks great, like the side panels with the LEDs.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

If you look in the above pic, see the thin stainless plate under the neck that matches the perimeter? That will sit on top of the deck, no fiberglass exposure to fuel. The filler neck will be face sealed on top of the flange, sandwiching the new stainless flange to the deck.

Welded to the flange will be a stainless S-pipe of my design, with a single rubber joint at the tank spud.

Make sense?

Thanks on the side panels, I’m very pleased with the final results.

 

[coolchange]

Gotcha. Hard to see on my crappy a little phone.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Got the steering hoses that we made during Thanksgiving week ran down the gunnel, except for one I cannot find

Also located the transformers for lighting the dash that I couldn’t find when my buddy Kevin from Motion Metalworks was here visiting yesterday. It was gratifying seeing his reaction to all of the detail implemented in this build thus far. He and I built a few rods together and have mutual respect for each other. It was also interesting hearing suggestions from him for remaining components I need to have made. I may take him up on his offers to laser out certain remaining components.

I’m going to run some endurance today on the dash running all the dash panels off one transformer. That would clean up under dash wiring considerably.

Working on fitting sub boxes today.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Ran the dash for 75 hours continuously on one transformer for the four panels. Some transformers are louder than the others, so I sorted them from quietest to loudest, using the loudest for endurance, with intent to use the quietest unit to run the dash permanently. The others will be retained as spares.

This is the transformer wired to run the four panels. I terminated one more transformer as a backup, so it can literally be plug and play if the first one fails.

The sheathing supplied with the blinker trim system was thick and had kinks in it, most likely from being wound up in the packaging. It got caught in the dash and ripped. The holes at 3-9-12 o’clock are to fasten the helm, the smaller ones tight to the cylindrical helm body are for the triple wires from each blinker trim switch. You can see the torn off sheathing in the left hole.

My remedy for this was to remove the factory sleeve, taping the wires together in a triangle keeping them parallel for the full length, keeping the OD as small as possible so I could put smaller sleeve on to fit through the holes better. You can see the size and jaggedness as well as the tearing of the original sleeve on the left, with new smaller, smoother sleeve installed on the trim switch wires.

The next shot shows the internal wiring path I drilled into these parts to keep the wiring clean and hidden.

Here’s the assembly in place.

Here’s the pass-through to the backside of the dash.

HeadlessHula called the NAPA shop up the road from him to try to track down my one missing steering hose. Good thing he did, they found it right where I left it a month ago after they put my ends on. It’s been driving me nuts looking for it. I’ll work on making pieces to mount all four hoses for a clean install.

The sub boxes did get some attention, but are not finished yet. I’m bummed that I didn’t figure the size of them properly to fit in the cabin, and now they’re an afterthought. They’ll be fine where they’re going, but I could have integrated them into the bulkhead up front instead of working with a fully laid up piece. Once finished, they’ll be fine. Not looking forward to cutting the large, precise holes in a tight space. Whaddyagonnado, huh?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I had purchased some cheap underwater LED’s to mount on the jackplate facing rearward. I’m not willing to spend the big bucks on them, but I’ll give these a shot. When I filled the kitchen sink with water and tried just one when I received them, it lit the whole sink up nicely, so we’ll see how four of them do in the real environment.

Not wanting to rifle a bunch of holes in my jackplate for something that’s not a sure thing, I made a plate that can attach with minimal fasteners and remove easily if I don’t like it. The wires will run in grooves machined into the back of the plate, and up through the lower cowls of the outboard with the trim wires. This will allow me to not run the wires through my transom, and use the engine rigging tube instead.

This is just shining against the garage door. It’ll be interesting to see how they do in the lake. They should shine around either side of the midsection once the engine is installed.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Made an electrical panel to feed the components in the port aft storage compartment, consisting of power steering module, hydraulic jackplate pump, port bilge pump, and the horn. Everything is fed from the batteries on the starboard side, with fuses and breakers on this panel.

It’s not finished, I need to radius corners, chamfer edges, and other details, but it’s a pretty good dent toward the final product.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Idk i dig the whole enchilada for sure but this pic in itself is just awesome. The little shit you’ve thought of is amazing.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks, man, I drive over an hour each way to work so I have way too much time to think this stuff through. The follow through is the hard part, because you know what it looks like in your head, getting the process rolling to make the real thing is the biggest issue.

I don’t even want to know how much time I have in that dash. I do know it looks even better than my initial vision, due to help from my good friend Kevin at Motion Metalworks. Obviously a second unit would take less than a third of the time. Hopefully someone is inspired by this thread and makes their own!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Made progress on battery boxes. I’m happy with the size, don’t know if I’m going to do any lightening or not. Maybe Kevin at Motion Metalworks will come up with a laser program when I send it to him to powdercoat.

Top battery is engine, bottom is house.

I’ll put a thin layer of plastic on the bottom of the upper battery base so there’s no wrench contact.

These go right in the bottom of the sponson, outside the stringer in the starboard aft storage area. I’ll probably add a brace to the stringer and another to the bulkhead ahead of it for stability.

 

[Xring01]

Love the updates..
Keep em coming

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Should be able to get out in the garage more regularly now, holidays are over, kids are back in college, and we’re past the worst of winter here.

The lists of things to complete stare me in the face every day, so it’s not like I don’t know what needs to be done.

Subs, fuel filler necks, front fuel tank brackets, and making a floor for the battery area, (complete with t-nuts from the back and glassing it in) are on the agenda of parts to make. There’s a few things that need powder coating yet as well. Then it’s wiring and assembly/rigging.

Once I get it in the water, I’ll figure out swim steps. Then I plan on enjoying it as much as possible this summer!