Restoration progress (with pics)

Great Jet, thanks for the info. I need to find out if that is legal here or not. My first thought is that is not but I want to find out for sure because I would love to have a sundeck. And when I say "I would love it", I mean that my soon to be wife would love it. That is her only complaint with the Comp. Yes, I said soon to be. We are getting married the day after Christmas. I know it's a big plunge but I met her on the lake and she wants nothing more on a nice day than to be on the boat, so it must be meant to be.

just remember your tsm6 will never yell at you. lol Goodluck man.

Haha! Very true. Thanks a lot. I gotta get some pictures of the boat on here also so yall can give some advice on what to do next. It's a pretty sleek boat already. Black and off white(or bone color). I removed the original striped decals and put on simple black Supra decals.

Yeah. I love black. Show us your boat man.

I will work on getting it on here tonight for sure.

Jet, could your deck not be modded to flip back on itself? A hinge in the middle? That would allow it to be folded back for rear seated people, and flipped over for the deck and to provide seating above the sack in the floor.

Yes.. My back half is based on the 07' Mastercraft X-7 direct drive. It had a rear hatch in the rear for storage and then a rear seat for 3-4 people in front of the small storage area. You could pull the bottom seat cushion out and put it on top so you had storage underneath for equipment and fat sacs. After seeing that I knew my seat was going bad anyway from people standing on it, throwing heavy fat sacs on it and Laura didn't have a place to lay out..and I really like watching her lay out. lol. So I did one better and made mine the same but made it larger and hinged. Just like in your boat people always sit on the rear pad and put there feet in the seat and the same with mine. When my sac is full and the deck is top is down, people just sit on it and put there feet on the floor..same but different. so seat not really needed. I still havent put the piano hinge and gas shocks on it yet Im thinking I might make it 2"-4" larger for another 100 lbs in there. but I do see your idea, mine is just a little diff. Any other ideas out there..Im not afraid to copy someone with a better one. lol

It's looking good. Glad to see you got a major step completed.

Another progress report. I've spent more time than I anticipated finishing a lot of small projects. I adjusted the removable floor sections, cleaned several rats nests of wires around the engine, installed the bilge pump and float switch, installed a new thermostat, temp sending unit, new water separating filter, new hoses and clamps, painted rear vents, buffed interior gel coat and patched holes from old bimini hardware. I've got to sand the gelcoat patches and do a little more buffing and I think I'll be ready to install carpet. I'm hoping to have some time over the holiday break to hit it hard. We'll see what takes precedence, my boat project or the wife's to-do list.

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/front_bilge.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/rear_bilge.jpg

Nice job man..I am right behind you on this one.

Carpet is mostly in. Still wrapping it around corners and such. Installed my new radio. You'll see the wired "commander" in the picture. This will be mounted in the rear of the boat so I can control the radio without having to get out of the water.

I've been slowed down over the holidays as I've taken on a new project shown in the last pic. Hopefully it'll be completed soon and it'll be full-time boat again.

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/carpet1.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/carpet2.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/radio.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/shed.jpg

I've got a question. Have any of you dealt with fuel expansion or slosh coming out of your vent line? I've been looking at how to deal with it and have found a new style of fuel fill that is vented and supposedly deals with this issue.

http://www.iboats.com/Perko-Fill-And...view_id.259667

One thing I'm contemplating is that (call me silly) I really like the older style of fuel fill. I mean, this isn't a new boat and I'm proud of that. Any thoughts? The existing fuel fill is like this one:

http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SSDF-66127

I had a time that I filled the boat up to the top with gas. Then drove 3 hours in the hot sun and parked it for a couple days. One of those days the fuel expanded and leaked out the vent, ran down the side of the hull and has permanently stained the driveway where it spilled out onto.

It just wiped off the side of the hull though

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Originally Posted by TitanTn

I've got a question. Have any of you dealt with fuel expansion or slosh coming out of your vent line?

http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SSDF-66127

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My Malibu Skier did that. I secured the 5/8 vent line in a way to take out any dips or level spots and pitched it as sharp upwards from the top of tank to the vent. I think it works better when your tank vent fitting and hull fitting are on the same side, then you can vent rapidly upwards with no sags.

Some of you may remember that a couple of months ago I found out that my transom has built in threads for the top swim platform bolts. Kinda cool, except that the strength is just in the area where the threads are. I wanted to make it stronger while I have access. So I've installed some stainless plates and run a bolt back OUT through the transom. I'll put a nut on the outside when I install the platform. All of the pressure is pulling from the top as the bottom lag bolts just hold the bottom of the bracket still. I'm thinking this will be a huge improvement.

The other photo is a shot of the rear gunwale (buffed and polished), newly painted rear vents, and my newly redone teak rail.

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/platform_bracket.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/vents.jpg

Thats a pretty color boat?? You have a better picture?? Shes looking good!! Jet

Nice upgrade on the bracket mounts. Lookin' good.

What did you use to paint the vents? I'm gonna try a good cleaning and saturating in 303 first, but if that doesn't bring em back to my satisfaction...

Yeah the vents look great! Does anybody have a upgrade replacement idea on these. I would like something ressed or a updated look. People always sit on them and brake them, so I am replacing them constantly. Any ideas??

the vents look like a standard bolt pattern for cooling fans used in electronics. Its hard to tell scaling, but it looks like a 4" fan cover would fit on there perfect. Possibly 3" if my eyes are just wrong.

If thats the case you should be able to go the non conventional way. Maybe look into what the PC cooling market has for case mods on fan covers. Something like those may look cool?

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Originally Posted by sybrmike

Nice upgrade on the bracket mounts. Lookin' good.

What did you use to paint the vents? I'm gonna try a good cleaning and saturating in 303 first, but if that doesn't bring em back to my satisfaction...

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Thanks! I already feel better about people hanging out on the platform with these new brackets.

I'm not sure what 303 is, but I just cleaned the vents really well and let them dry completely. I then sprayed some primer and then followed that up with flat, black spray paint. I had to order a new vent and I painted that one as well so it would match the others. It turned out good enough that you won't notice they've been painted unless you start micro-inspecting.

Jet - thanks. It's a red boat. I just don't have enough room or light in the basement to take a good picture. You can see how close the back of the boat is to the basement wall. The true color is closest to the color shown at the back corner of the boat.

Stinky - I like the idea and computer fans might work, but you'd have to figure out how to attach the air pipes to the underside. These vents are at least 3.5 inches tall to allow for the bilge vent pipes to be connected. I'm sure something could be fabricated. Flush mount would be cool, but I'll see how long these last before deciding it I want to fabricate something.

I bought replacement vent covers at West Marine, might've been 6 bucks a piece...Mine had most of the louvers broken out so painting wasn't an option....

Am I reading that right? You've got a Saltare in your basement??? I love it......

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Originally Posted by mapleleaf

I bought replacement vent covers at West Marine, might've been 6 bucks a piece...Mine had most of the louvers broken out so painting wasn't an option....

Am I reading that right? You've got a Saltare in your basement??? I love it......

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Yeah. I bought one from West Marine too.

:) Yeah, in my basement. I had to apply generous amounts of vaseline to get it in there. I'll never put it in there again, but so far it's working for my restoration work. I'll have to try to take a picture of the whole boat in the basement. It's rather comical. In fact, if you noticed the shed picture from a few posts ago, this is why I built the shed. To move junk out of the basement and into the shed.

Shed? I thought it was a boat garage.

I feel your pain. I built a large garage with the house so I could store a boat (but not restore one). @#$% HOA wouldn't allow a high bay door, so it's real tight at the top. Even so, with only one lifting point - the cap off resto has been pretty keystone coppish at times. You'd be surprised what you can do in cramped quarters. Keep up the good work.

Loved the shed shot, but somehow knew a Salty wasn't going to end up in it. Love that shed even more knowing its early existence will be to create room for a Supra!!!!

quick note. i'd weld those bolts to the plate or jbweld them so you can take the swim deck off in the future and not have two bolts just spining away back there

jsandy - thanks for that note. I had thought about that as well. I think I'm going to JB Weld it as I don't have any materials to weld stainless.

Here are the shots of my Salty in the basement. It's a tight fit, but at least I'm indoors doing the work. I've also added another one of the shed as it just needs some doors now.

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/front_basement.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/left_side_basement.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/right_side_basement.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/shed_done.jpg

Love the Salty's home, the shed is a familiar site I usually do 5 or 6 each spring basically identical to that one!!

I'm trying to compete with Oldman for most clamps used. I think he's got me in total number, but I might have some kind of record for most clamps per inch or something like that.

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/clamps.jpg

I like those fancy red handled ones on each end!

Titan , I think you've got him beat in the safety clamping dept. too.....No helmets in Oldy's shots!!

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Originally Posted by mapleleaf

Titan , I think you've got him beat in the safety clamping dept. too.....No helmets in Oldy's shots!!

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Yeah, that's because he has more room in his garage! I'm lucky to find a walking path through my garage. I'll also be lucky to find all the parts as I put her back together.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TitanTn

Yeah, that's because he has more room in his garage! I'm lucky to find a walking path through my garage. I'll also be lucky to find all the parts as I put her back together.

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oh I hear ya, space is an issue here as well........

Think of it as a continual scavenger hunt - never know what you'll find or where, only that it's not where you left it when you need it. I've got baggies, buckets, and boxes of parts strewn throughout the garage, shelves, attic, office, etc.

Man! That makes me feel better! I've got baggies, parts, buckets, screws, etc, spread all over. It seems I can never find the right screws when I need them, so I go buy new ones. It looks better going back together but it sure is inconvenient!

stainless fasteners- backyard shed
drive shaft, strut, prop, whats left of a broken rudder-backyard shed
extra set of gauges, wire, steering cable- basement
swim platform- behind furnace
rear bench-kids play room
impeller-laundry room
ballast bags- deep in basement
boat- 2.5 hrs from home!!!!!!!
Early spring's a treasure hunt 'round here.....

Yes..Im stumpped to. I want to pull my cap and repair a small spot, but NO ROOM. If I cant do that I want to drop my boat off somewhere so I can paint my trailer and also get to work on my auto ballast system..BUT I HAVE NO ROOM!! Cant get to my back yard..no friends with xtra land..what can I do?? Jet :(

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Originally Posted by jet

..no friends with xtra land..what can I do?

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Make new friends. :-P

Lol..I know. We have our lakehouse but Its 2hrs away and know one is there during the week, dont want to leave my baby there. People sneak in and fish our big bass out of the ponds so Im worried my boat might get stripped down.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mapleleaf

Titan , I think you've got him beat in the safety clamping dept. too.....No helmets in Oldy's shots!!

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I always follow the safety rule when clamping, but it gets a little dark sometimes.
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...r/P1030501.jpg