Losh's New Ride

[losh1971]

More progress. I started to paint the bump mould and I wasn't overly happy as it stood out too much. Even matt, it still had too much shine for my liking. I have since sanded it all and have just now run some 1500 over it and already I'm liking it better. I will definitely not paint it now. I just need to see what's out there in the way of a black restorer, basically I want it flat as I can get it but without the wet rubbed finish. But definitely do not want any shine to it.

 

[losh1971]

Getting there now. The bump mould came out really good. Stoked now that I sanded all the rubbish paint off. I ended up getting it really smooth. I decided to wipe the paint off the small section at the stern with thinners. It came up nice. 30mins later I thought what if I wipe over the whole moulding with thinners? Well it took all the fine sanding marks out. I wanted to tidy up the edge line and saw I had some left over pinstripe. Actually pretty happy with the way it's come out. Undecided on whether I should buy some more and run another line underneath the moulding? Wife reckons it looks good as it is.

 

[losh1971]

So spent from about 11am this morning until now working on Taylor. I decided to run another pinstripe underneath just to really tidy up the line. Turns out I'm short by the same amount I was last night. This is weird because I had already used about 500mm off the old roll and I wasted at least another 200mm and last night I was short but about 400mm. Today I was short by about 300-350mm, when I thought I'd have more than enough. I will wait now until it's on sale and grab another roll.

I got the waxing done inside and on top, but I have left the sides as I don't want to upset the pinstripe, so I will do those sections in a week or two. I spent a good 2hrs on the windscreen this arvo wet rubbing and buffing. I'm not happy with it and have decided over winter I will dismantle it, sandblast it, fill any holes, and then paint it, possibly black or silver. I have both. But I might get a solid silver in case I need to touch it up.
I've run into a bit of a snag with getting new perspex though, I can't find anywhere who sells it. So not sure what I will do there. But the current gear is beyond repair and one piece is already breaking down. I look at how Taylor looks now, and the windscreen lets it down, so it will need attention at some point. This is what happens when you're quite anal about things, and can't be happy with good enough.

This arvo I have ordered new Pioneer 2 way speakers, and a new facia kit for the HU, as mine was yellow and should be white. It currently has a DNA marine system, which is about as cheap as a Sum Ting Wong. So since I'm fixing dodgy work that will be going and replaced with a single din car stereo, likely Pioneer and SH as they can be bought for $75 or less. Speakers are car speakers and I picked them up from eBay for $55 including freight. SCA had them for the same price but of course they were sold out. I figure if you're going to fit an audio system in a boat, it should at least be done reasonably well. The PO must have been proud of his installation, as he mentioned it two or three times in his sales pitch, of which to me was not something that persuaded me to buy it regardless. Started writing up a list of screws, nuts and bolts I need and I will try to get to Nuts & Bolts tomorrow and buy what's on my list. Next step will be to try and mount the controls and see if I need shorter throttle cables, or whether I can put a wide bend in them and use the ones I have.

I've also been looking at the trailer and it's looking a bit average. I seen online there is a mob sandblaster. So one day I will get it sandblasted I think and repaint it, with some cold galv and a fresh coat of grey over that. But that will be next years project as I have enough on at ATM.

 

[losh1971]

Been at this boat fix up pretty much daily going hammer and tong and have dropped about 50 or so hours on it over the last two weeks, not including the whole day it took to pick up the motor and I feel like I still have another 30hrs to put into it..... The painting of the hull is now finished, just need a bit more pinstripe.

I'm up to the stage where I am mounting the controls. Got stuck into it and got the controller where I was happy with it and drilled the holes to mount it, being really careful to make sure they were right. All goes well until I clean up the spacer and fit that behind the controls and realise the spacer is not the exact shape of the controls, so where I thought I had covered the two old cut outs it didn't cover the back one fully. So now I have had to epoxy a block of timber in the hole and now am waiting for it to set enough that I can bog up the hole.

So more time spent on things that were unexpected. Two weeks ago I would not have thought I would be spending this much time fixing a few things on the boat. Although I probably should have known, because nothing is ever what it seems when it comes to my projects. It's like the old saying "every 20 min job is just one broken bolt away from a three day ordeal".

 

[afstruct]

Might be sometimes like 1 step FWD , 2 steps Back , but you're still kickin goals.

 

[losh1971]

Might be sometimes like 1 step FWD , 2 steps Back , but you're still kickin goals.

Took the day off work today to work on the boat. Stayed up into the early hours last night working on, and probably five - six hours today. getting close to the finish now. I've relocated the battery, to under the back seat. I've had to leave the top of the battery box off for it to fit, which although it was nice having all the extra functions I really hated it sitting in front of the rear passenger. Even just relocating that was around an hour in itself. I've now cut the hole in the side and fitted a boot for the controls to run up the side and underneath. The cables are about 300mm too long so I have to put an additional bend in the to shorten them up. I'd get new ones but they are $125ea and I need two.

Tomorrow after work I plan to connect up the cables and tie them all back. Then hopefully do another wipe down on the inside. I need to go to Nuts & Bolts for about the fourth time in a week to buy more hardware. So many screws and things you need and you can't really work out everything you need until you start pulling it apart. Even then you find you've bought some incorrect fasteners. Getting close to the end of what I need though.

I should have some goodies hopefully by the weekend which will fill some holes and make things look pretty. Hopefully buying a new tank this weekend off Marketplace, one that will also fit under the seat. That will mean the tank is right under and not half out. Ideally I will have everything except the windscreen finished in another week - 10 days. I've found a place that can supply and cut new perspex for my windscreen. I imagine it will be a few hundred at least for the five panels so they will be down the track. I now have the paint for the frame which is good. Probably 5-6 hours in fixing that alone so I will get to it when I can.

 

[losh1971]

Another big night working on Taylor. Started at 6:30/7:00 and have been going until about 11:30 tonight. One thing I realised tonight the bloke I bought Taylor off wasn't BS'n when he said he had dropped $5k or so on repairs and upgrades before I bought it. Everything, takes so much longer than most people would think when it comes to boats. Pretty much the only thing I have achieved tonight is connecting up the controls and getting them working.

I battled for close to two hours just connecting the power controls and the gearbox and throttle cables. Then that's where a two hour job turned into a pretty much five hour job. Got it all together after I worked out how they go together, and what do you know. The controls are as stiff as a bastard. Stuffed around and stuffed around. Eventually I worked out a way to get some RP7 down the cables from the motor end. That made a huge difference. But then I had to tackle the controller end. This too turned into a **** fight when one screw rounded out and had to be drilled out. Got that out and lubed the cables from the other end and put some lithium grease inside the controller. The controls are pretty good now. I just never even thought I would need to lube the cables otherwise I already would have and I probably would have bought a cable lubing tool to make life easier and the finished job done better.

While putting it back together I couldn't find two screws, even though they were all put in the same place. Then suddenly they appeared right where I placed them. I had to find a screw to replace the damaged one, it's not stainless but I have squirted lithium grease in the threaded hole so hopefully it doesn't seize. I have one last job to do tonight and that's to cable tie everything up underneath and then I will call it a night. So hopefully I will be in bed by 1am. Good thing is I'm really on the home stretch now another five hours and I reckon I will be ready to take it out.

 

[losh1971]

Been absolutely flat out working on the boat again today in-between mowing and spraying weeds. Learning as I go, so everything takes 2-3 times as long. On top of that some things I do I end up having to go and redo as it causes an issue elsewhere. Working on steering controls right now and bolted up the bracket, then motor wouldn't go all the way in one direction. Turns out I had tied back too much of the power cables to tidy them up. Had to get under the back seat and chop off a few cable ties. All fixed now. Then I had to take the bracket off I just fitted as the hole for the rod was too small. Drilled that out and repainted bracket, now waiting for paint to dry so I can refit it.

On another note the motor turns over so that's a step in the right direction. I'm about to go out and tackle the Sampson Post in a few mins and see if I can get it screwed down on my own as I don't have a helper today or tonight to hold the screws from the top. The nose post I will also attempt but chances of getting it are slim as it may need to be tightened from the top. Plus getting under there sucks big time as it is a really tight space.

 

[losh1971]

So I just managed to get the screws and nuts done up on the two front posts. I tried on my own without success. Fortunately the FIL was able to swing around and hold the screws for me. I did offer for him to get up underneath, hahaha, but as I expected he said no, he'll hold the screws on top with the screwdriver.

 

[losh1971]

Picked up two SH fuel tanks today for $40 the pair. Got them home and oh, dear. They were not in the condition as advertised. They had crusty hard petrol gum over a fair amount of the bases. The guages were seized and the outlet valves were jammed.

I managed to clean one with the pressure washer. The other I had to get caustic soda to dissolve the petrol gum. I tried acid first but it did nothing. One of the guages and outlets. I gave an acid bath but I couldn't leave it long as it would have melted the alloy. Left it long enough to work and then washed it out and blew some air though it, freed up the spring valve. Then got some sump oil and petrol and soaked each unit in that for about 15mins each. Then washed all the oil out and scrubbed them with soapy water. Cleaned up the dials and made sure they were rust free and working smoothly. Probably spent an hour or more on each tank.

They are good tanks now I will sell one, hopefully for $30. I need a fitting to fit the new tank and I need another fitting to fit my new motor. Hopefully Tamar Marine will have the bits I need. And hopefully the sale of one tank will be enough to cover the bits I need.

I've done alright so far I sold a Hydrofoil for $30, which I got with the motor that I also sold for a profit. Also sold an old inverter for $10. So that paid for the tanks, hahaha. Now to sell a tank to pay for fittings I need for the new motor.