Ongoing Progress

I took some pictures today so I can take them down to Jason to see if he thinks we are ready for paint.

 

Since I don't have the engine re-assembled yet, I want to ask him if he can come here to paint her or should we wait to paint it down at his shop after we get the engine back together.

 

A couple of pictures are from before I started the repair, during the repair and now hopefully ready it is ready for painting.

 

I think it turned out pretty good, especially since I haven't a clue what the heck I'm doing

 

Slowly, but surely we are making progress.

 

Today the second coat of epoxy filler was applied onto the first coat of epoxy, after being sanded semi smooth.

 

The first epoxy that was applied inside the sponson time was SHOT into the inside with a mechanics oil squirt can. I missed about 6 oz of epoxy and shot it as deep as I could into the under side of the deck.

 

Today I tapped all around the top of the deck and it sounded solid as can be. I would bet just about as strong as it was before the little start switch incident.

 

Tomorrow I will sand the latest applied epoxy smooth and if necessary, apply a little condo to insure smoothness.

 

I will go down and see Jason about repainting the tip (I'm thinking I can just make a new blue line from the bottom of the tip on an angle back up the to current spot on the bullnose and I bet it will look 100%.)

 

Put the new piece of aluminum rub rail and defy you to see or find the little oops we had.

 

Today I started the first phase of the pickle repairs. After the epoxy dries, I will mix up some more epoxy with filler and fill in the crushed area. I'm thinking about laying in a layer of fiberglass cloth with the epoxy to see if that will help seal the area.

 

I bought an oil squirt can and filled it with epoxy. This allowed me to shot as much epoxy as far as I could under the front deck area.

 

This is the last item that needed to be attended to from the Moses Lake opportunity (other then finish re-assembling the engine).

 

Since I lost my to do list when the computer crashed, I have to try and remember the final things (Jim Waddle says since the list no longer exists, I must be done). I think was and wax was the only remaining item after the pickle gets fixed.

 

Progress Report from our first heat @ Moses Lake.

 

Today our NEW flex plate returned from the engine balancer. I can't believe it, he only charged us $35 to balance the flex plate to the same weight as the new/OLD one. I have already installed it, so I guess we can say the engine has started going back together. YIPPEE!!!

 

Today we also took our new eccentric thrust bearing over to Merle to have the inside diameter opened up slightly. That way it will slip and slide down the propeller shaft. That might be a whopping $5 to have that done.

 

 

One of the possible issues with Moses Lake was the fuel, I have replaced the 90 degree outlet fitting with a 45 degree fitting (picture enclosed) and I bought a new one way air valve. I had to have the fitting welded onto the tank so that the new fitting can screw into the tank (picture enclosed). The guy I found today who welded it for us, charged us "$0".

 

We are finding more and more people who are willing to help us. YIPPEE!!!

 

The other photo's are of the new cover that I built to go over the steering pulley's. I applied fiberglass over the wood to add strength. I will put some sealer under it, screw it down and watch the water level inside the boat again..... That should eliminate the water issue we had from water coming over the transom and into the boat. All before our FIRST heat. The painted cover will go back over the new cover so that it will look pretty.

 

One by one the "To Do" list is getting shorter and shorter - I like that....

 

The NEW pulley cover is progressing along. I made a wood cover and today I covered it with fiberglass. It should be strong, light and NOT allow the water to come in. We had this issue @ Moses Lake (unless it came in from someplace else). We will be using some putty that Del supplied around the bottom edge and the rear area.

 

After I get the glass cures, I will mix up some West System Epoxy and coat the inside of the cover to keep moisture out or off.

 

The new wood/fiberglass cover when finished, will fit underneath the painted fiberglass cover and seal the pulley area from water that splashed over the transom before our first heat.

 

If I ever need to get into the pulley area, the two can be easily removed so that I can get into the water fitting, steering cables and pulleys.