Well the cuddy is done and she's going back on the trailer tomorrow. Here's a pic of the completed cuddy without the cushions in it. I'll post a more complete set of pics when I get her home tomorrow. The dash has some updates and new cock pit snap in carpet. I don'y have any pics of those updates yet... Stay tuned!!!

Looking great, Gator!! I am actually interested in those 26' Stingers...my 23' is for sale.
Sam

Sweet...love to see a classic come back to life!!:evilb::evilb:

I like your ideas and may use some of them in my rig. As you can see I am also "Neck Deep" in a restoration of my old Formula 255...re-power, Pre Alpha to Bravo (twins no less), McLeod Bolsters, etc. Keep the pics coming.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...or-update.html

Sam I saw the post of the 260 your looking at. Nice starter. Now that your realize the extent that water damage can go you'll have a better feel for what you're getting into.

Here's a couple more pics. She's back on the trailer and will be completed tomorrow, Hopefully... Redid the dash had to lose a set of guages from the twin 350's. New cuddy doors they are clear with black curtains on each panel with a tri-fold hatch. works great. Never did find the right doors to replace the missing or broken ones that were original.I need to put the cushions in the cuddy to finish it. Still waiting for the cockpit carpet to get finished it will be a charcoal grey color. Should look good leading into the cuddy...

Very nice!!! Who did your doors?

Sprink, My buddy and I did them together. He use to work for Velocity and had the idea to use clear with black panel covers. It does look amazing, I've never seen anything like them around here. We routed out a groove in the door frame so when the doors are open I can drop in a screen to allow better air flow between the deck hatch and doors. I can also leave the screen in place when doors are closed.

It's great to have talented friends. I have a few here that have helped me tremendously.

Well, I think I'll close this thread out for the time being. My winter facelift project is complete and I want to take a second and thank everyone for the outstanding advise I received from the great OSO members. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site that's what makes it the best there is. Next off season I will tackle the cockpit area. In the mean time I will be looking for a pair of drop out bolsters. If anyone knows someone that has a pair that they would be interested in trading for my double drop out seat or sell cheap please send them my way. Thanks again for all the help and encouragement I received during this project. Here's Showtime back on the trailer and heading home...

Congrats! Its nice to finish up a project and now you get to enjoy it all summer long. Great looking boat!

Was this boat in CL last year For Sale sometime in the early Summer or before Summer? It was located in the Orlando FL area sitting on a trailer with bright red and black interior. Good luck with your Chris Craft Stinger. If you are looking for parts for your Chris Craft you might want to take a look down south around the Sarasota/St. Petersburg area. I have seen a 26ft Chris Craft at a boatyard up for sale.

Yes it was, did you ever come out to look at it? I decided to spare its life and do a refurb on it. She's to good of a hull to go the bone yard. I do live in the Central Fla. area but it was posted everywhere on CL. Everyone wanted me to give it away due to its age (30 years old and but only $6.00 to register). I figured it would be cheaper to refurbish & keep her then buy another boat and start all over again. I hope you check out my thread and the pics I posted of the refurb I have completed so far. Now its to enjoy it for the season try to save up some money and resume working on it in the winter months.

@ InstaGator Thanks for the feedback My uncle works at a marina in Sarasota FL. (part time) He does come across some classic boats and tells me about them. I will tell him to keep his eyes open for some booster seats for your Chris Craft. I will keep in touch.

ESCOBAR I appreciate keeping an eye out for the bolsters seats. Stay in touch. Thanks Gator

Showtime is back on the water where she belongs. I was having my doubts about getting her ready by Memorial Weekend. But today I floated her and ran her up and down the St. Johns River. Here are a few pics from my buddies boat, (tow boat, just in case). She ran well with only minor start up and shake down problems. By the end of the day everything is running and performing as they should. I am a Happy Camper!!!!!!!!!

Looks GREAT!!

Nice pics!! Your stinger is looking awesome! Glad to hear she is running well and that you are ready to rock for Memorial Day weekend! Ill be out on the water myself! Should be a great weekend...Have fun!

Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully we will all have a great time on the water this weekend. Be safe and keep an eye out for the IDIOTS that will also be on the water...

Well yesturday I blew up the BBC in Showtime. Just running along at 45mph and she just quit. Opened the hatches and smoke came rolling out. So now I'm looking for another BBC if anyone local has one laying around. All I really need is a short block. Thanks guys, Gator

That's terrible!! What do you think happened? Overheated...quit oiling... ingested water? Any preview in the gauges?

I always wonder about the cause of something like this. That engine was fairly fresh...was it not?

I'll keep my ear to the ground down here and let you know what I know.

Here's a re-man LB in Miami for $2k...might be what you need.

http://www.powersourcedist.com/reman...edengines.html

Thanks Sprink I'll contact them tomorrow after the holiday. I don't know what happened will find out when we open her up. The motor was not fresh had a couple hundred hours on it. But it wasn't abused. Well I did get Saturday out on her. She let go on the way back in about a mile from the ramp. Got pulled in by a couple guys in a bass boat. The rest of this weekend was a wash out. Tropical storm Beryl dropped rain all day Sunday and Monday still raining now. I'll keep you posted on what I find inside. Thanks again...

I think I found a complete motor (454 Gen VI) in the Tampa Bay area. . Buying it from an insurance company throught a friend in New Port Richie. I was told it has extremely low hours (approx. 30 hours) due to a new boat catching fire in the galley area. Hopefully the deal goes through. Keep your fingers crossed for me...

Well picked up new motor (block and heads) yesturday and already have it stripped down to QA it. It does have low hours. Immaculate cylinder walls can still see the cross cuts. There is no lip at all in cylinder walls and pistons are still clean. Should have seen the guys face when we unbolted the heads right in front of him, he was like WTH are you guys doing. Got it home and started pulling the heads apart going to clean them up alittle. Relap in the valves replace the guides. Figure why not I have the heads off and it won't take any time to do. I want her back it the water asap, there are a couple of runs I would like to attend coming up soon. Today I'll start reassembling by the end of the day.

Good to hear you found a clean block. Hopefully this one will last a while!

Here's todays progress on the block. I couldn't just put it in the boat without going through it. I don't want to be doing this again anytime soon. Looking at pulling the blown motor out Monday and start swapping over accessories. Got to paint some brackets and pulleys. I sandblasted and acid washed the intake and painted it a similar red as the hull and baked it in the oven. Looks great! Stay tuned for more pics as the motor goes back together and back in the boat. I'm going to paint the engine compartment while the motor is out with the white paint that is used on the top of RV's. I was told that it works very well in bilges and anywhere there may be fluids leaking. I will be rebuilding the old motor to be a H.O. motor all Eagle One internals, aluminum heads, high rise intake and a new carb. There's no hurry for that rebuild, just want to get her back on the water soon with this temporary motor...

Looks great!!

It looks like you got one of those"Good" engine stands with 4 or 5 wheels that doesn't tip over when you breath on it. I bought a pair of them at Harbor Freight for $125 ea. for my project...best stands I have ever had. My brother bought one for the 454 he is putting in his 22' Formula F3....I wouldn't use anything else.

Now I think I'm going to break down and buy a drive stand....Bravo is just to damn heavy to handle alone.

Keep it going Gator...i still want to know why the other engine failed.

Got mine inside today...big difference being able to work out of the weather!!:evilb:

Good find on the bbc. Hope the rebuild goes well and quick!

Started pulling the blown up motor apart today. Look what I found in cylinder #3. Note the holes in the cylinder wall and check out the top of the piston too. Can't wait to get the block out tomorrow and pull the pan. It's going to be interesting.

ouch!! Im pulling my 454 this weekend and I have a feeling mine looks similar to yours.
Doug

Drozz, let me know what you find in yours....

Well today we started putting my motor back together. Here are some pics of todays progress. It'll be a complete roller motor, roller lifters and rockers, double spring valve springs. Drilled and tapped the rocker bolt holes and put in studs for roller rockers. Will probably put the heads together tomorrow. I will post more pics as I go.

I also picked up the original teak swim platform for my boat in excellent condition. I sanded off the mold that was growing on it and reapplied about three cans of teak oil. It obsorbed the oil as fast as I put it on, probably hasn't been oiled in 30 years. I'll post up a pic when it's fnished...

interested in see this.. after pics id like to know what steps and product you used as you can see in my thread mine is dry as well

I still think your big single 260 is wicked cool. The teak platform will give it a deceptively original look

I need someone to measure their platform and let me how far below the rub rail to mount it. If some pics and measurements it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Heads are done and back on the block. Still have to put the roller rockers on then the Eddie Marine aluminum valve covers & red intake. More tomorrow,I'm getting excited to hear this thing run. Still have to pull the old block out of the boat, been raining almost everyday here...

I'm getting ready to pull out the old motor and put in the new one. It's a fresh Mercruiser 454/330 with roller lifters and rockers, double spring valve springs. Edlebrock intake and a Holley 750 Marine carb, 4" Stainless Marine thru hull exhaust with a Bravo One. I went from twin 350's to a single BBC. I'm guessing the weight didn't change much. Stock weight was 3450 lbs or so. I have three props 25, 23 & 21 pitch. Which prop should I run and what kind of speeds should I expect to see? I heard the 454 turned a max of 4400 rpm's. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Well...according to Wellcraft it weighed 5600 lbs dry with twin 260's. Removing the twin SBC's and going to a single BBC you shed about 1000 lbs and lost around 200 horsepower. According to some old boat tests the 26 with twin 260's ran out 60~65 top end with a light load. I'm guessing you will be about 8~10 MPH slower with a single BBC at 330 horsepower. You can get most of that back by adding 100~125 horsepower to the single installation.

You have a full roller set up and much more spring tension than a stock 330 or even a 365 Mag, in a street/strip car, your set-up would run too 5800ish (maybe a little less depending on rods/bearings) but I have to imagine that you are going to be in the 4600-5000rpm range now on the top end. Maybe as high as 5200. Someone with more experience than me will chime in though.

As for speed, I bet a prop that properly carries the bow, puts you right around 60. You are likely in the 375hp range