My Resto Project

[KNOT-RIGHT]

Originally Posted by aex

Ah u doin' Knot right ? Your Skater is awesome .
I'm from Cranston .
Today I got good news , the hull & bulkheads are all dry and solid the bad news the engine beds were bad ( I knew this ) and the transom is wet and partially delaminated ( suspected but now confirmed ) .
No big deal I guess , We're going to replace them with foam / carbon / epoxy . This will take some weight off the rear of the hull . I'm going to have to shorten the driveshafts to maintain CG .
We know this hull came from Chris with #4 drives and Y pipes because the rear is all original , unplugged and uncut . The Merc tags on the 540's match up .
Notice today I cancelled the engine classified ad . My brother thinks I should use the 540 EFIs instead of the Big Chief EFI motors I just bought .
Any thoughts on this out there , speak up ! Now I'm suddenly undecided . I like the fact the newer engines are super exotic , performance wise there's probably little if any difference and either way I'm running #5 drives with crash boxes . Do you think the crash boxes will hold up ?

My GF works in Cranston!

I just got rid of my big chief PSI blower motors.
Chiefs love to REV and make high rpm power.
The problem with the Chiefs is ya get no longivity with the
valve train. More maintenence then Britney Spairs!
Depending on spring pressure and lobe angle it could
be as low as 25 hours.
What are the specs on the 540,s????

Dont forget to post some pictures on the work Itchiban is getting into.

I will never forget that day the govenor closed the credit unions.

[nocigarette]

Originally Posted by Dude! Sweet!

That's a great analogy. Every time I see a '69 Z28 sell at BJ for $200k+ I shake my head. Not that they aren't great cars, but heck they made 20,000 of them and if you got a Year One catalog you could build a new one... Even the ZL1 Camaros, there were 69 of them. Heck it's not like Scaglietti hand formed every '71 Hemi 'Cuda! (Don't get me wrong, I LOVE muscle cars, but the prices are absurd).

I've asked Pepe about the number of 28 Panteras built. He said around 300 would be his best guess. I asked Martin Sanborn how many '35 Canopy Fountains... 2. How many Apache 41s? 47s? Cougar Cats?

CUV V-hulls, 12 - 14 boats (Marco, I know I still owe you an email!). And in my mind these boats are the Ferrari GTO of offshore race boats.

This old heavy metal is RARE stuff and it's great to see people taking an interest in preserving these boats before they are all cut up, sunk, scrapped and made into Center Consoles.

I have often thought of this........Why are the old race boats not more valuable........My old man once said and i quote......"HEY DUMMIE EVRYBODY HAS A CAR NOT EVERYBODY HAS A BOAT"
He has always been brass and to the point.......

I really love what you are doing with that cat......I wish i could afford one of those old school motors, i would love to stuff it in my mag and have it vinyl wrapped like its glory days.........

Keep the pics coming winter sucks.....

[aex]

Originally Posted by KNOT-RIGHT

My GF works in Cranston!

I just got rid of my big chief PSI blower motors.
Chiefs love to REV and make high rpm power.
The problem with the Chiefs is ya get no longivity with the
valve train. More maintenence then Britney Spairs!
Depending on spring pressure and lobe angle it could
be as low as 25 hours.
What are the specs on the 540,s????

Dont forget to post some pictures on the work Itchiban is getting into.

I will never forget that day the govenor closed the credit unions.

Hey KR what powers your Skater now ?

The 540 EFIs are rated by Merc 850+ HP @ 6500 rpm . These are the motors guys ran in superboat class in the mid through late 80s .
They are Bowtie Blocks , modified Brodix heads , 4.25 stroke 4.5 bore , Carillo rods , full roller , basically the best of everything . Merc builds good stuff .
The Class 1 , 980s I bought last week are 2000 vintage , newer tech ,titanium , dry sump , more exotic , you know the drill , saw them , they were a steal , had to have 'em , wrote the check . Merc rates these 980 HP @ 7200 rpm . These have a shorter stroke and are 510 CI .
I just added more confusion to my life .
Here are side by side shots , the 540 first . There are other shots of the 980s earlier in this post .

[aex]

Originally Posted by nocigarette

I have often thought of this........Why are the old race boats not more valuable........My old man once said and i quote......"HEY DUMMIE EVRYBODY HAS A CAR NOT EVERYBODY HAS A BOAT"
He has always been brass and to the point.......

I really love what you are doing with that cat......I wish i could afford one of those old school motors, i would love to stuff it in my mag and have it vinyl wrapped like its glory days.........

Keep the pics coming winter sucks.....

How true , my brother said I could have a 40 ft Skater for the investment I'm making , however I loved my Chris , won a lot of races with her and will continue her resurrection , after all I can't tow a 40 Skater with my Vette !
Remember , every guy on this forum is eccentric in his own way and basically " Knot - Right "
If we were normal we'd be at the yacht club ironing our sails . ( God forbid )
Thanks for the words of encouragement Nocig .

[KNOT-RIGHT]

Originally Posted by aex

Hey KR what powers your Skater now ?

The 540 EFIs are rated by Merc 850+ HP @ 6500 rpm . These are the motors guys ran in superboat class in the mid through late 80s .
They are Bowtie Blocks , modified Brodix heads , 4.25 stroke 4.5 bore , Carillo rods , full roller , basically the best of everything . Merc builds good stuff .
The Class 1 , 980s I bought last week are 2000 vintage , newer tech ,titanium , dry sump , more exotic , you know the drill , saw them , they were a steal , had to have 'em , wrote the check . Merc rates these 980 HP @ 7200 rpm . These have a shorter stroke and are 510 CI .
I just added more confusion to my life .
Here are side by side shots , the 540 first . There are other shots of the 980s earlier in this post .

My next question should be how do you plan on running the boat?

From a pratical approach I would run the 540,s.
They will last longer. The idea they were original to the boat
is cool also. However you know the deal you will want the xtra ponies .
If it was me I would say **** pratical go for the big guns!

I,m running Helicopter Turbines. I took the pratical and through it freakin overboard

Never the less ya got some really cool choices to make.
I look forward to the progress!

[aex]

Originally Posted by KNOT-RIGHT

My next question should be how do you plan on running the boat?

From a pratical approach I would run the 540,s.
They will last longer. The idea they were original to the boat
is cool also. However you know the deal you will want the xtra ponies .
If it was me I would say **** pratical go for the big guns!

I,m running Helicopter Turbines. I took the pratical and through it freakin overboard

Never the less ya got some really cool choices to make.
I look forward to the progress!

Good morning Skater Brother ,
I thought those were turbines in your avatar photo , I can't believe we have a cat on Narragansett Bay with turbines , you put us on the map !
I've always been one to say screw to practical , my wife asked if the Chris had any cabin or a potty for the kids . She doesn't want me racing again , we were dating in those days and she knows the time commitment and expenses involved are great .
I'm pretty familiar with motors and do believe there will be little if any speed difference between the motors , the 540s will make up any horsepower difference with better torque , also the roller cams Merc used in 1986 I'm sure are obsolete and a 20 year newer cam profile will probably garner some sort of gain . The only hurdle with running the Big Chiefs , since the heads are wider and the exhaust ports raised are changes to the exhaust exit point which will at least require new Y pipes . I had Big Chiefs in my Rock & Roll Rodeo 31 , but rules mandated Gils and they were literally against the inside of the boat .
I'll get it figured out , and again one of the leftovers is going into my 67 Camaro pro tour . I had a 427 in it I sold a while ago so they won't go to waste .
Here are a couple of photos from when I raced .
We set an avg. course speed record in 1990 of 117.8 mph and smoked the film chopper in the process . The chopper jocks were amazed and came looking for us after the race . Those guys got big nuts , flying 10 ft over the water at 110 mph . The pilot was a Vietnam vet , I'm sure the risk was minimal in comparison to his military service .
I'm also going to post some photos of the 62 cat we just finished and will be sea trialing soon .

[aex]

Here is a link and some photos of the 62' cat we just finished . Our company is M2 , I call her Andromeda . I know this doesn't belong here , it's just an fyi .
http://www.m2motoryachts.com/m208/home.htm

[Top Banana]

Jimmy
Let me know when you are going to Sea Trial that thing...I'd love to go for the ride.

[aex]

Originally Posted by Top Banana

Jimmy
Let me know when you are going to Sea Trial that thing...I'd love to go for the ride.

Charlie , how are you ? Any progress on your projects ? I'm going full steam ahead .
Today I talked to Tommy A. who is getting ready to restore Betty Cook's Kaama cat , found out there was a turbine Skater on Narragansett Bay , had a conversation with Keith Eickert and got all my work done .
The Kaama project seems very interesting , I don't think many of those early cats survived , especially any with that provenance .
We ran the 62' in January and after some adjustments got 46kts . She weighs almost 50,000 lbs and only has 800 Mans . The next one will be much lighter and have twin 1200s . We are targeting 75 kts in a safe , comfortable , reliable , fuel efficient package .
Charlie when we resume testing I'll give you a shout . She's presently sitting in East Greenwich . We were going to send her south , but decided to wait till spring and conclude our testing here . Our first production boat is about 16 months away and should be a ringer .

[Elite Marine]

If any of you resto guys need gauges, let me know, maybe I can have Livorsi make some "old school" looking without logos or with something else on the gauge to try and match the era.

Kirk