Offshoreonly.com - 1978 Sleekcraft Aristocrat Budget Build Thread

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Well, I could put the regular log style manifolds back on... but I really don't want to do that. The scoop/header combo looks so freakin' cool. And it sounds BADASS.

NooooNoNo...I meant a way to bring down the header db's to 86 if that's you're legal limit...

Update: Finished adjusting valve lash. Temp sender was bad. Had to remove the headers (one of them) in order to change it. *@#^$*&!!!!!!!!! New one is different size, with different connector. Annoyed. Reinstalled header. Boat was full of water due to temp sender removed. Mopped that up.

Wired DPDT switch for fuel tanks, it switches the senders from the left to right tank, to the gauge, and activates the fuel selector solenoid. Mounted the switch sideways so that throwing the switch left shows the reading from the left tank, right shows the right tank. Much more intuitive than up/down operation and translating that to the value of the left and right tank.

Dremeled the dash. Installed the horn button. Looks great. Right now there are two dummy switches that do nothing except fill holes in my dash. Eventually one will operate the LED strips that will illuminate the interior, but that will be in a little bit.

Fuel selector solenoid wire was bad, had ground for some reason. Just ran another wire. Eff it! Zip tied all the wires up and out of sight. Vacuumed the interior. Mounted the seats, just with stainless screws for now, want to seal them up later. Will definitely get back to them, as I don't want to replace the floor again. Mounted bottle opener. Cut holes in the base of the rear seat so I can store things underneath the cushion.

PROBLEM: Shift cutout. The shift cables are adjusted so when I shift, forward is forward in the lower unit, and reverse = reverse, and nuetral = nuetral.

However, the shift cutout lever NEVER MOVES, and NEVER ACTIVATES the switch. Why? I am pretty mechanically inclined but i do not understand why or how this is supposed to work. The boat shifts into gear fine, but the cutout lever and switch are doing nothing whatsoever.

3am. Going to sleep now. Tomorrow: Life jackets. Change oil in lower unit. Cover batteries. GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks great how did it run!!!

AWESOME! I had a few hiccups; my temp gauges wasn't working (it came unplugged, figured it out after a few minutes), and it really does NOT like the river. The oversized prop = even at idle, the thing is moving at 5-7mph or more, so I'll have to figure out a way to make it so I don't rearend other boats in the river.

Once I was on the lake though.. HELL YES!!!!!!!!!! I've driven a lot of fast boats, but I really like how she rides! Very smooth over light chop, and really "grippy" handling. Not used to it yet. The strangest thing is having the throttle on your left hand... bizarre. I'd say she'll do over 60mph, no problem. I drove for about 20 minutes between 2 and 3 thousand RPMs to help gentely break in the engine... but at 3800, she's really, really, REALLY going pretty fast. I'll bring my GPS unit with me next time to see how fast she'll go.

Not my style of boat but..... Wow bud you've done a great job and will inspire guys to restore boats all over the place. She looks really good and I hope its a TON of fun!

Updated Budget:
$1200, initial purchase price.
$140 waterproof boat cover
$13 exhaust manifold gaskets,
$60 SBC dress up kit.
$8 distributor dress up kit
$40 stainless bolt kit for SBC
$25 exhaust manifold rebuild kit
$35 red LED light strips
$30 SBC gasket kit.
$30 ~25 disposable brushes.
$65 disposable buckets for mixing
$75 fiberglass mat
$75 fiberglass cloth
$250 5 gallons of fiberglass resin
$75 two cans fiberglass structural filler.
$18 2"x8" 12 ft long
$3 2"x4" 6 ft long.
$23 4'x8' 5/8" plywood
$20 vinyl renewal products
$15 silicone hose reducers
$115 steering cable
$45 throttle cable
$45 shift cable
$500 Stellings SS headers
$180 Stainless thermostat housing required for headers
$23 stainless hardware for scoop
$36 stainless bolts for ride plates w washers
$85 Alpha Bellows Kit, w gasket, waterhose, new nylon locknuts
$15 more stainless hardware for trim rams, carb linkage
$10 velcro for seat cushions to bottom of seat
$15 flip up chrome pulls for floor panels
$30 engine paint
$30 of rustoleum paint for transom, and insides of boat/floors
$7 spark plugs
$20 new magnecor red spark plug wires
$89 gimbal bearing
$15 cleats for one side of boat
$150 new SS competition gauges.
$60 bulk wiring spools
$10 bag o' heatshrink
$40 cans o' brake clean
$30 massive hose from sterndrive to power steering cooler
$50 misc hoses from autoparts store, some worked, some didn't.
$30 battery isolator
$15 gas tank vents
$60 polished stainless fuel fills
$20 flex hose for fuel fills
$50 new fuel senders
$6 new temperature sender
$25 chrome fuel pump (ebay)
-----------------------------ROUGH TOTAL, probably missing lots of stuff-------------------------

$3991. I'm sure it's closer to $4500 after you add up all the little stuff.

I love it. Let us know how fast she'll go after you break her in. Where are you runing that beast!!!!

Lake Monona, for now. Once I get the kinks worked out I need to overhaul the trailer (its a piece of ****), then I'll be more comfortable going to other lakes.