Produced blockoffs for the exhaust ports on the inside of the boat. Made them out of delrin. Used plenty of silicone and bolted them in, should hopefully keep the boat from sinking.

Tonight I cleaned the whole boat, prepping for the work that needs to get done. I'm going to try to finish the mechanical assembly, then move onto finishing the electrical. I cleaned up the trim pump, that was a mess.

Looking good, cant wait to see it out and about on the Madtown lakes!

Updates: Got the steering in, mostly.

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._3242892_n.jpg

The new cable I ordered was the perfect length, but the bloody bolt pattern on the rack for the steerign wheel is off by 1/8" inch or so. Really pisses me off that something so expensive wouldn't even fit, so now I'm stuck drilling it out to get it to bolt up. Argh. I hope the power steering assembly doesn't leak... Still need to order the nylon washer/spring washer crap for the steering arm connection, so that isn't tight yet.

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5521300_n.jpg

What's all that stuff hanging down from the dash? Oh, that'd be...

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5349788_n.jpg

GAAHHHH WIRING!!!!!! This hacked together harness better work. It's been completely butchered but hopefully I can get it working without starting anything on fire. :) I was going to make a new one, but after specing how much wire I would need, the cost was well over $500 in wiring alone, not even including connectors. Also mounted the trim pump, as you can see in these photos.

Does anybody make an attractive trim pump cover? Because it is UGLY.

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._2038773_n.jpg

Werd.

This is one of my favorite threads in a long time, you remind me of myself 20 years ago! Keep up the good work, Smitty

Thanks! Been keeping up, but alas, no real great photos to share since I've mainly been dealing with wiring.

The original harness was fairly screwed, as there were splices everywhere with butt connectors, exposed wire, melted insulation, so I've been slowly repairing it. New harnesses are $250+, and I can't justify it when I can fix the old one. I've been cutting out the butt splices, soldering, heat shrinking (double layers for extra protection).

I >THINK< I have the wiring figured out. Converting from a boat with an ammeter to a voltmeter was relatively confusing, along with the switch from a standard distributor to HEI. Wiring should be done early this week; I've taken off Thursday and Friday just to work on this thing, hope to have it running this weekend!!!

Geat job...you remind me of myself 40 YEARS AGO.

You are learning things that will stay with you the rest of your life...enjoy it!!:evilb:

Update: Wiring is coming along. I bought a battery isolator so I can run dual batteries, which are located behind the gas tanks. Mounting the battery boxes was a PITA, I wound up screwing them to pieces of wood, then epoxying the wood to the floor. I'm going to further reinforce them with expanding foam.

My harbor freigh bilge pump ($15!!!) was awesome, except the output hose was about 1" ID, and the port on the transom was small, and I was having a lot of trouble finding a reduction adaptor, so I made one using a bunch of other hoses and some heatshrink:

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5895506_n.jpg

The main harness is now wrapped in a mesh loom, which looks classy. Need to do something to treat the end correctly though:

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._3283265_n.jpg

Things are starting to function now.. the bilge works, the trim pump works (YES! No leaks!), and oh yeah, the lights work!

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5718007_n.jpg

Great thread and great picturs .

Get that thing runing. I want to see some pictures.

Boat
 

I have one like it for sale as a project,I want to sell it. JOHN SR