Leigh's 1975 Skicraft Clinker Deluxe - "HORNET" - Restoration Project

[Leigh_G]

Looking really nice man. You've done a great job of it!

Thanks mate, I've been keeping tabs on yours too, getting jealous you're actually out using yours and having some fun, haha!

Couple more pics:






Since these were taken, I've gone over the whole boat with 1500/2000 wet rub and then buffed with cutting compund. MASSIVE difference to the finish, comes up very glassy. Gotta love 2 pack clear, hard as nails but comes up a treat with some paper and elbow grease.

Also completed:
- Resprayed steering wheel insert gloss black
- Clean up and resprayed the shaker scoop gloss black
- Got new flooring ply cut out, ready for fibreglassing
- Wired up engine-loom.
- Half wired up the dash-loom, with new bilge pump switch
- New set of gauges for dash, and new bilge pump and blower all ordered.. BUT TAKING FOREVER TO GET HERE FROM THE USA :ranting::ranting:
- Chrome dash surround fixed (old threads busted, new threads welded in)
- Reinstalled and adjusted plumbing system for water pickup, add new fittings
- Wired up new battery main HT leads with new isolator and battery tray
- Installed all the transom fittings, cav plate and rudder
- Fuel tank reinstalled with foam inserts to stop noise/movement/vibrations
- Cleaned up, resprayed and reinstalled transom brace
- Reinstalled new exhaust system
- Reinstalled steering system
- Installed new plugs and leads with separators
- Refitted chrome edging to dash and pockets
- Steel rollers welded into rear of trailer frame to stop it from dragging on things

Still to do:
- Fibreglass floor panels to seal, and paint.
- New carpet on floor and ski pockets.
- Install gauges and test.
- Install bilge blower and pump
- Un-bend windscreen some more, trim down perspex a few cm and fit new aluminium edge
- Fire up and tune motor
- Buy some new trailer lights and finish trailer wiring.
- Paint rear panels of trailer where we've added ****

Hoping to have it running and ready for water by xmas. Gotta pull my finger out seriously... :banstick:

 

[Sabbath']

You've certainly been busy Quite a list of stuff left to do though...hopefully you can get it ready in time. Are you fibreglassing then flowcoating the floor panels? Or are these just the removable panels that expose the bilge when removed?

Keep us updated. And want to see some pics of this in the water!

 

[Leigh_G]

Yep these are just the removeable panels over the bilge, got the new ply cut to shape, still going to glass over and then flow coat them before they go in
. Then carpet goes down. Windscreen is baking in the sun with some weights to get it straight. Spent all day on it yesterday, got the steering adjusted to get it 100%, and got the bump strip cleaned up and back on.

 

[Ed]

Paint job = amazing. Wanna see some action shots!

 

[Leigh_G]

Paint job = amazing. Wanna see some action shots!

Thanks mate, I appreciate it!

I'm also eager to get this thing out on the water.. There will be plenty of action shots when I do!
As a bit of an update, no it won't be ready by xmas, seeming as it's tomorrow... so poo.. but I got damn close.

Got the windscreen bent back to a reasonable shape today, and sprayed an entire can of night shades over it to make it black as, looks pretty good so far! exhaust is now properly fitted and tightened up, log/floor brace trimmed to fit the fatter stainless pipes that pass underneath, and I got the fuel tank sender wired up. Only got one or two things left to do:

- Connect battery-lead/start/ballast-bypass/alt wires to the starter solenoid and bolt it on
- Glass and paint the floor panels and then lay carpet (not that big of a job considering the size of the boat)
- Terminate dash wiring to old gauges for now (new ones still not in Aus yet....:censored
- Hook up old bilge pump for now (new one is in the same order as gauges)
- Fill motor with some more oil, fill dog clutch with oil and fire 'er up!

Having chrissy up the in-laws tomorrow so I'll hopefully hook up the starter and a couple gauges and fire it up. I'll try film it and whack a video up if it runs.
Hope I get TDC correct! Especially after a few! :beer chug:



:spew:


Edit: oh and the in-laws got me a sick xmas pressie, coz they're awesome:
http://www.jetpilot.com.au/products/C4-Segmented-FE-Neo-Vest_893_327.htm

 

[Leigh_G]

Almost got things fired up, finished a few more loose ends, but had a bit of an issue this morning.... too long to go over, but in short, almost lost the boat and trailer down a hill and through a shed. Read more here:
the Hornet Project | Assumption is the mother of all..

All good news though, no damage at all, and lots more bits n pieces finished after the morning's drama.
Here's how it's looking now:

Polishing up paint and engine cover

Windscreen blackened, installed, and bimini hardware re-installed

 

[HamaTime™]

Wicked paint job mate, and looks ready to hit the water!

Looks about what, 15foot?

Probably put out a very minimal amount of wake judging by the hull. Perfect for skiing!
You going to invest in a high pole or at least a mid mount half tower?

 

[Leigh_G]

Wicked paint job mate, and looks ready to hit the water!

Looks about what, 15foot?

Probably put out a very minimal amount of wake judging by the hull. Perfect for skiing!
You going to invest in a high pole or at least a mid mount half tower?

Thanks man, yeh it's almost ready for a test-run up the river, getting excited now.

Close, it's 16 foot. It puts out a pretty small wake as most ski boats this era were designed for just that, skiing. But if you tweak the ballast a little (these Skicraft are apparently drive very nose-up without any frontal weight) you can get a small wake that's high enough for wakeboarding and very clean (I should also learn how to ski though, haha). The previous owners already had a high-pole and bimini installed recently so it's ready to roll. Next on my list though is the rear ski pole. It's too high. I'm gonna ditch it and replace it with a stainless tube with a milled ski bollard welded into the top. Wanna keep it looking low and smooth, and the current ski pole is old-skool (tall with two prongs sticking out either side). I'm keen to get this done before I put the swim platform on the back as the prongs in this one could do some damage to someones shins/legs when stepping out onto the platform if they're not careful.

Speaking of the swim platform, got two stainless brackets made up but they come back a tad heavy as they are something like 6mm thick stainless bar with 25mm square tube for a gusset.. Looks mint, but I'm not sure if I'll whack these on or get some aluminium ones made up instead to keep weight down.

Oh and Bunnings are making an absolute fortune off me buying so much stainless fixings. It's bullshit. Had to get all new hinges today for the engine cover and rear seat, and by the time I walked out, I was $105 lighter and had sweet FA to show for it :hmmm:

Also got something special uploading to youtube at the moment... :boxing:

 

[Leigh_G]

Got the old girl fired up for the first time today:

This clip wasn't the first shot we had at it. This one had pretty average battery and we'd flooded it a bit..
First go it fired up after a single crank rotation. Surprised us all hahah!
I'm pretty pleased considering I just eyeballed the dizzy position (it's idling at about 10 - 15 deg BTDC) and our fuel floats weren't set up right.

 

[Leigh_G]

Some more of the same:

Now off to celebrate and get plastered!