Wait why are you only putting one seat in it? It needs at least 2.

One big bench seat. No room in back for a seat by the motor unless you want to be burned or banged against it. Just one like the other boat in the video.

I guess it's time for a bit of an update. Things are not going as fast as I would like but being February I really can't expect much.
After wrapping up most of the upholstery there wasn't a whole lot more that we could do until the weather will break a little. Blistering cold makes no fun out of the simplest tasks if you can do them at all. So we went back to doing what winter is for, anything we can get done in the garage. We pulled what pieces we needed off the boat and the rest would have to wait.
During this time we are also filling what was left on the big list so to be sure that we have everything waiting and ready to go when needed. Just one or two more little things are left so I think we will be good.
We made an attempt at polishing out the aluminum exhaust tips. It would've been much simpler just to replace them but they are kind of one-of-a-kind and fit the boat perfectly. After way too many hours they came out pretty nice. Maybe not "new" but for being almost 50 years old they look pretty damn good.
We also took some of this time to tighten up what was left on the motor. Had most of the drive shaft left over from the race boat build so we ordered a few pieces that were missing plus new U joints and had the shaft cut down to as small as possible and rebalanced. Along with a new power takeoff we are pretty much done all the way back to the V drive.
As for the V Drive, It was completely disassembled and cleaned, checked and re-checked. Move the fill cup and the drain plug to the motor side so you can get to them without taking the back of the seat out. New paint and then reassembled it with all new gaskets.
Then still being in a bearing mood (and still cold out) we attack the trailer wheels. Everything was completely disassembled. Bearings were soaked, cleaned, soaked again and then re-cleaned. All the old grease was removed from the hubs and they were also soaked clean. We then repacked everything including the hubs with the proper grease then reassembled it all. They now both spin smooth as glass. And just to keep it that way we added a set of buddy bearings.
Then we cut down the new fenders to fit and got those installed. To finish it all off we installed a set of 175/65 R 15's. A little more the proper profile compared to the truck tires that were on it before. The chrome rims were not salvageable so we painted them black and added some new chromed lug nuts. We are still little undecided on whether to add chrome trim rings to the rims. Maybe???
Today we had another one of those freak warm days and not let it slip by I picked up the wood for the stringers and decks and a couple 16 foot long planks for the bunks of the trailer. We then realized that we were nowhere near ready for wood yet. It didn't look like much but there was still a lot of things to be taken apart so we spent most of today getting 50-year-old bolts out without breaking anything. It was pretty surprising on how little that we actually had to cut out. For the most part it was just soaking them with penetrating lube and use a breaker bar. But all in all it came apart pretty easy compared to some of the saltwater boats I've dealt with in the past.
I also did come across the first super bonehead thing done this boat. When they installed the trim tabs, or whatever they called those bent pieces of aluminum on the transom, they covered over one of the hull drains and other holes. They did use little extra caulk around it. They also used large machine screws with bolts on the inside to hold the tabs on. For two of these large screws per tab, when they drilled the holes in the wrong place and ran into the stringers so they just screwed in the machine screws with a little extra caulk. Now that will hold it.lol
At least now the boat is actually stripped. All the wiring is gone, steering, cables, whip strut, prop shaft, rudder, gas tanks (one had about 5lbs of rust in it), etc, etc. Everything but a couple gauge that's left in the dash to play with to see different looks. Now it's ready for wood. Or at least now it's ready to get ready for wood.
On a side note, I did find out that the boat has been white, light aqua blue, pea green and dark metallic blue before it was red and white.
Come on spring.
Mark

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-c0-apv95c&feature=youtu.be[/YOUTUBE]

I feel your pain. I have been building my Wesco V-drive for slightly more than forever. close to finishing the inside and clearing the wood and the outside is almost ready for paint. starting to assemble the engine now. it is a 13:1 454 with tunnel ram, solid roller cam and zoomies. one more eternity and it should all be done.

13:1? your allways gonna run race gas? sounds expensive

in a 18' flatbottom you dont go very far, just short distances really fast. the boat only holds 24 gals total and is really light so high test and octaine booster if all else fails and they do ok. plus with the zoomies I cant do too much running or the man with the blue light bar will come and yell at me.

Ya, even though I have wet exhaust and two 13gal tanks I wont be doing any poker runs with this one.

is the bench seat even big enough to poker?

It's 6' wide. May have to put your feet over the gunnel's.

That's funny chit right there!!!

amazing how fast a thread takes a downward spiral