Deanrw3

I have been working on my winter project for this year which is my 1980 formula 233 I bought this fall. I figured I would start a thread of the build to help me answer some questions along the way.

Right now I have everything stripped down and the motor out. I'm working on replacing the transom and engine mounts. Hopefully I can wrap this project up by spring....(famous last words).

Assuming I ever get past the transom and stringer work, what are some general "have to" items while I have the boat this far apart. I'm having all new bellows, water pump, etc put on and the outdrive pressure checked.

Couple thing I know I want to add are, cup holders, cooler space, move the porta-pottie, add hatch lift. Open to any suggestions. I'll have more specific questions once I get past the fiberglass.

Here are a couple pictures before the destruction started:




Also here is a link to the transom work I'm doing:
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...ork-233-a.html

machloosy

Having had one... Good luck! Awesome dry ride, rock solid hull, and I swear she will hang with most newer 27ft'rs in big water. I remember having mine so high off a cruiser wake you could have driven a full size pickup under it. I was positive she was going to break in half when I landed, not only did she not, my friend next to me didn't spill his beer. Mind you the cruiser wake I jumped was the same height as my bow and we were doing maybe 40-42ish. Forever sold me on Formula as the ride of choice especially for us budget guys.

Deanrw3

Haven't had much to update on this one in awhile but I'm starting to move along. Once I get the fiberglass behind me I should start making more progress. I'm looking for some opinions on a couple things.

1. Any "have to do" items in the bilge area while i have it all apart? I would love to route the gas and bilge hoses under the floor to clean it up but it would prob be more problems than its worth if they ever leaked.

2. I have done the general maintenance to the engine while its out, anything else to consider while its on the floor before it goes back in.

3. I'm looking into using some custom motor mounts i bought on a whim. Are these style mounts below really worth it? It looks like I would have to notch my stringers (which are being rebuilt anyways) and make some mods to the mount to make them fit. I really like the idea of through bolting as opposed to just the top lags.



Here is my current progress if you haven't seen it in the FB section:

rer233

got the same boat as yours (mine's a '79.) had the fuel tank leak back in '07- pinhole on the side of the tank near the top. cut the cockpit floor out for acess- what a MESS. dug out the wet foam around the tank only to find rotten stringers and bulkheads (3.) took 2 years to finish (boat's stored outside at a marina 20 miles from my house.) probably should have pulled the engine and done the transom and engine bearers too, but had no way of storing, transporting the engine and trans (454 with trs.) i used the west system stuff- really liked the super- slow hardener. i know it costs more, but with something as labor- intensive as this, think it's well worth the expense.
had the same situation with the fuel filler- vent hoses as you- hated the way they were routed next to the engine (had problems filling the tank too due to the "belly" in the fill hose.) anyway, i relocated the fuel filler to the starbord side even with the rear seat bulkhead and supported the hose with cable ties screwed to the bulkhead. left the vent thru hull where it was and ran the hose parallel to the fill hose. got a pop-up pushbutton fuel fill thru hull, and put a garden hose fitting on the transom where the original fuel fill was, added a couple of stop valves and voila-fresh water engine flush! also, didn't have to fill any holes in the hull!

Deanrw3

I'm also going to try to route the fill hose better as I had a lot of problems the one or two times I filled it up last year. I had to fill it super slow to keep it from splashing out.

Rer233, what kind of speed do you see out of your boat with that setup?

rer233

best i've seen is 67 on gps with a borrowed spinelli 4 blade. i'm running a .30 over 454 with world products oval ports, modified holley 750 3310 on a holley high rise with 1" spacer and crane 134551 cam. exhaust is stainless marine with long tailpipes. full MSD ignition (if they made spark plugs, i'd be running them too!) i figure the compression ratio is 10-10 and 1/4 to one and hp around 500- 525 @5400 ('tho i've seen 5600- kinda high for a cast crank and stock early truck rods.) not the fastest thing out there by any means but not too bad for a single-engined tank. sounds good and rides REAL good for a 23' boat. good luck with yours- keep up the good work!

Deanrw3

Thanks for the info RER, your boat sounds sweet. That is moving for a heavy boat, nice work. I had thought about some engine mods, but figured I should just concentrate on making it float again.

What is everyone using for engine motor mounts, any thoughts on the ones pictured?

Deanrw3

Little up date here. Pulled her out of the work shop for the week. I'm sending it in to get a snap cover made for the cockpit. I was undecided, but I think I'm going with the Sunbrella material and not the Aqualon. I'm going to see if I can do a double pole and extra snaps up front.

I have a couple small fiberglass spots to touch up, but hope to get the bilge painted and the transom assembly back on this weekend. I think I'm going with a gloss yellow for the engine bay color, but open to suggestions.

Couple pictures of the action. Bad lighting in the bilge again. Only good thing about snow on the ground, I have a couple more months to get this done...

Crude Intentions

iTrader: (1)

Looks good.

Deanrw3

Edit - found the answer to my question with a quick search.