Well, spring is right around the corner, and despite the cold, I've been making steady progress on the 242:

1. Compounded and polished back in December. That was a ton of work, but the results were great! At 27 years old, she still looks great!

2. Snatched the B&M 250 off the 454, and sent it over to Midyette Brothers here in Virginia Beach to be gone through (they did a lot of stuff for the Top Alcohol Dragster that I used to be a part of). We measured about 16 thousandths clearance between the case and the rotors/Teflon... (rebuilt my a$$... be careful of what you buy in the Swap Shop)... getting a re-strip and new seals and bearings done with parts from RBS Superchargers. Should be done in the next couple of weeks.

3. While the supercharger is being freshened up, I'm rebuilding the Dean Nickerson 850s that I got with the blower deal (again, be careful of what you buy in the Swap Shop). Going to do them up just right with kits from AED. I'm into the first one now, and should have both knocked out before the end of the week.

4. Gauges... I've got some Gaffrigs to install. Just need senders. It's my understanding that Merc senders work with Livorsi-based gauges. Hoping so because Livorsi wants mad money for their senders. About 33% more than a factory Merc part. My boat is all VDO right now so I know my senders won't work. Out of curiosity... Anyone tried Hardin gauges? They look pretty decent.

5. Audio... I have everything but the sub boxes (they'll be in this week). I ended up going with a full featured head unit versus the media receiver. Stayed with Pioneer, but went with the DEH-X8700BS over the MVH-X380BT. The MVH didn't have the required pre-amp outs and splitting the signals would have caused a low-voltage condition at the amp. The DEH has 6 pre-amp outs that run at 4 volts... sound quality will be much better! I'm going to work on that this weekend.

6. Lastly, exhaust. I'm going to yank the Silent Thunder off, and route the exhaust through it using stainless flex tubing welded to flush tips at the outlets of the Silent Thunder. It'll sound awesome, and still allow the full use of the swim platform. I also have a new (to me) ladder to mount to the platform (thanks DistantThunder!).

Thanks goes out to jmrapp for getting me some much needed odds and ends for finishing up my project!

Parts being delivered to my blower guy Monday... should have it back sometime next week.

Also, got both of my carbs finished up last night. What a PITA! Why do some people feel they have to paint EVERYTHING?! I spent more time scraping paint than anything else!

Ordering the gauges today... thinking Auto Meter is the ticket.

No problem! glad to help finish projects!

Please photo document the silent thunder mod.

TomZ, appreciate the shoutout and it's been good chatting about our builds. Can't wait to see it next time I am down in your area, which might be for the dyno!

Picked up the blower this evening... .002 measured clearance. That's what I'm talking about!! I'll have her back together and running this weekend (new gauge install too... Gaffrig).

Moving right along!!

Did you get different the senders that were talking about?

Yep! I placed one big order with Gaffrig to get everything.

The blower is back on the engine... my back is killing me!

Got some wiring done for my gauges, and installed the new senders. Should be running again soon.

Left to do:

Install amp and speakers
Finish gauge installation
Reupholster bench (ended up with a rip... redoing in white... sewing machine is at the ready).

I finished the LED conversion. Cockpit, cabin, bilge. Really liking how it tuned out though the cockpit is rather bright (might install a dimmer). I stuck with white... nothing fancy. It's functional. I really like how bright the cabin worked out. Just the right amount of light.

Probably taking a break tomorrow being that it's Easter Sunday.

Again, coming along.

Some lighting pics... please excuse the mess. I've been busy! The bilge is a bit of a mess from dealing with the trees on the property (they were cut down... and made a huge mess of everything).

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