2 year project is almost done!
 

In June of 2011 I bought my 87 311 SR1 with a bad 420 on the port side. I had the port motor pulled, rebuilt to stock specs, and ran the boat all summer while having a ball with it. The week after labor day I noticed a skip in the starboard motor and the sound of a dead cylinder when turning over on the starter. At that time I made the decision I was going to pull both motors and do them the way I wanted. In the spring of 2012 I yanked both motors, but I was opening my first automotive shop and decided I needed to shelve the project for the year.

Over the winter of 2012/2013 we tore down the starboard motor and found a cracked head. I ordered a new set of GM heads, bored the motor .040 to match the other motor, and ordered a set of Bob Madera cams, morel lifters, and isky valvetrain. The starboard motor was rebuilt and the port motor was recammed.I also pulled the silent thunder platform and replaced all the seals, replaced the starboard gimble since it had a fair amount of play, and all the water pickup hoses. That about wrapped up 2013 as my shop had taken off and I had very little time to even think about the boat that summer. I covered the boat for the winter and resolved that I would not spend another summer without my boat in the water.

This March things started rolling. Both motors were together and run on the garage floor. The engine hatch headed out to be recovered. Both drives were inspected and serviced. In April on probably the coldest, crappiest, rainiest Saturday I could pick, 2 good friends and myself sunk both motors back into the boat. For anybody that has never tried dropping a pair of TRS equipped big blocks in an older Formula, it is a real treat, let me tell you. After about 5 hours in the rain, we called it a day. The next weekend I got all 28 bolts back in the offshore mounts, all the plumbing and wiring done, and all the cables hooked back up. On Monday of this week I got both drives back on and it was starting to look like a boat again. It took a while to get the hydraulics operating properly, both drives didn't want to go up and down properly, but some bleeding of the rams and some exercising took care of that. The port side K-plane just clicked, and after some diagnosing I determined the motor was dead. I pulled the motor, disassembled it, cleaned the armature and brushes, and it worked like a charm. Tuesday at 5:00 I fired the motors in the boat for the first time since September of 2011. You can imagine my excitement at this point. My next project was getting the pedestals of the bolsters TIG welded as all 4 had broken from the bases. I also sent out the hydroloks and had them rebuilt, and they should be heading back from Crane Aerospace this week. I picked up the engine hatch Friday and it looks like new. I bartered some work with a local fiberglass restoration guy and he spent the weekend buffing the old girl back into shape. It looks awesome. I am hoping to get the hydroloks back this week and get the bolsters working again. I will put the engine hatch on this week after finalizing a couple more things in the bay and hopefully next weekend she goes in the water.

It has been a long couple of years and I know I have way more money in this boat than it is worth, but I love it. I have a certain level of pride in all the sweat equity I have put into my fixer upper. The dark blue color scheme is rare around here and the lines are timeless to me. I have fixed just about every nagging thing that has bothered me at this point, but still have some more projects I want to do in the coming years including more interior and paint work. I also sit here right now with a fair amount of worry about putting it in the water and having something go horribly wrong. I have had just about everything mechanical apart, and hopefully I have put it back together properly. I'm hoping the motors make as much power as Bob thinks they will and she will break 70. Wish me luck guys, because I don't post much here but I have done endless searching to answer my questions. Thanks to all of you guys who may not know you have helped in this, but you certainly have been a huge help

Congrats starting a new shop that's a big undertaking and get the boat up in running is a lot of work I hope it all works out.

I love stories like this. Good luck and be sure to update us on how she runs.

The suspense is killiing me. We are splashing it tomorrow afternoon.

Congrats and best of luck. I understand the worry factor I just finished replacing everything on the top ends of mine last month. Last time I tore an engine down was 1984. Keep us posted that has got to be a blast with 420's my last boat was a 302 with 330s.

congrats

Congrats man! I know the feeling, I finished putting the second drive back on today and hooked up the electrical to the trim pumps so I could trailer it home. Now I can finish putting the risers on and hook up the engine harness plugs and gas lines. Then test fire! Exciting and nervous all at the same time.

Plus it finally got warm here, so kinda itching to buy some fuel!

Brian

The water test went fantastic. Boat is running strong, the midrange is brutal, and with the fuel tank completely full and glass flat water, she broke 70mph on my GPS. I couldn't ask for any more out of it. Everything is working as it should and even my Morel lifters are starting to quiet down finally. I don't see anything leaking in the boat, which for some reason was a real worry of mine. I'm going to take the wife and girls out for a nice cruise tomorrow after work. It feels really good to have her back home.

Awesome. Some chop should help free the hull up too. Have fun with her

Nice! Congrats.

Well engineered rig that is timeless classic Formula...good job...enjoy the fruits of your labor.

So I thought it would be good to update the thread after 3 months. The boat is still running very well. I had some ignition issues to work through, turns out both original coils were getting tired and after extended WOT runs it would start crapping out. A pair of new coils have cured those issues. I have put about 40 hours on it so far this year, so it hasn't spent much time on the dock. I ran a poker run with it and it ran flawlessly. I did break a trim tab indicator cable, but that is going to have to wait until the boat comes out of the water to fix that. I am also purchasing a trailer for it so I can start doing a couple of poker runs next year.

The one change I have made is in the silent thunder platform. When I had it off last fall I cut the dams down inside of it, but it really didn't change the sound. One of the things that did bother me was the sound of the rubber flappers well, flapping. It sounded like this:

http://vid290.photobucket.com/albums...psbdaf0369.mp4

Kind of like two big blocks farting at an idle.

So this weekend I pulled the flappers off and I was shocked at the difference. It really improved the sound at an idle, it has a great rumble to it. Even my 12 year old daughter picked up on it right away and said the boat sounded better. I am sure it is louder on plane, but I can't tell from the drivers seat. It is still muffled and shouldn't get me in any trouble with the local po-po. This is how it sounds now:

http://vid290.photobucket.com/albums...psdef425b3.mp4

Kind of hard to tell but it is way a way better sound without the annoying flapper noise.

After this season I am going to yank both motors one more time. I overlooked upgrading the coolers and lines, and I won't be happy until I do that. I will also check the bearings while it is out to make sure nothing is hurt and install the hardin cooler kits with -10 lines and larger coolers. As much as a PITA as it is to winterize these motors actually yanking them isn't that much harder. Other than that I am thrilled with how the boat came out.

Sounds great!

Sounds good to me nice job.

I thought that was the way you winterized them? I have never left my motors in the boat over winter before. Actually have become pretty quick at pulling them. LOL

We have it down to a science , almost like drag racers[ATTACH=CONFIG]528358[/ATTACH]

Good job with all that work and it is stable now. Many happy days boating.

Last time my engines were out, I made pig tails for all the drains (oil, 2 block drains, each cooler drain) for each engine. Used brass hardware, and 4'-6' hoses. Put a threaded cap on the end of each hose, and route them carefully up along the engines with zip ties when not draining them for winterization. (Careful to only open one at a time to ensure good flow of water out the hose. If the flow is interrupted by clog in the block, hit the hose with a blast of air compressor air to help clear the blockage.)

Anyway, winterizing is very easy now compared to how it was. Think all engines should come this way.

That sounds like a brilliant idea. Fortunately my coolers are up top, but the block drains are a giant PITA to get to on this boat. That is part of the incentive of pulling the motors, they suck that bad. I could see rigging some hoses up for the block drains and a hose out of the oil drain plug to a gate valve with a fitting for oil changes. I

may end up getting more aggressive with the cams in pursuit of more top end. The midrange is almost too strong right now and I always baby it out of the hole just to be gentle on the drives and transmissions. I am also hoping to convert the motors to Holley EFI if finances permit.

As much as I enjoy the boat, I really have my heart set on a Cigarette. I decided to throw my boat up for sale, if it is meant to be it will sell, if not I will keep using it and improving it.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o59130-en.html

What cig are you looking at again? I dont remember...

I am looking for a Cafe Racer, and there are several on the market. I don't have any one in particular picked out at this point, I want to be ready to buy before I get serious.

I have a real nice 1987 Cafe Racer for sale, asking $27,500. it's in Connecticut if you want to check it out 860-391-5452 http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o58564-en.html