I have the patterns for the brackets drawn on my plate. If I can get some free time this evening, I'll see if I can get them cut and drilled. That's really the last hurdle before wrapping up plumbing and wiring.

Getting closer on the brackets…

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...8b120658b.jpeg
This will mount the oil cooler and should give me a place on the forward side to mount the circuit breaker and starter solenoid. Cut from 1/4-inch plate.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...3010c2344.jpeg
Oil filter-head bracket. Taken from a trace of an HP 500 filter-head bracket, but with added material for the three-bolt mounting pattern. It’s 1/8-inch plate which should be fine (the HP 500 bracket was 3/8 thick but holds a lot of weight).

Question on the TRS bell housing… what’s the plug at the top used for? Inspection?

My oil cooler assemblies will cover the plugs.

I don’t know if you could do much more than look through one of those holes. I wouldn’t be too concerned about covering them. Are you using a jigsaw to cut your acc. brackets? Diablo makes some really good finish wood blades that work like a laser if you keep everything wet with WD-40 as you cut. It looks like your blades are getting it done. Nice work

I’m embarrassed to admit how I cut them. Or maybe it’ll impress some! I did the rough cuts with 4-inch angle grinder, then used said grinder to clean it up some. I learned the angle grinder finesse thing from a ship welder friend of mine and have gotten pretty good at it. Final shaping was done with a bench grinder and hand files. I cut the pieces Tuesday evening, took a break yesterday for my birthday (worked a tiny bit on the small pieces), then got after it this evening after dinner. Threw in the towel around midnight.

Progress…

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...d7dcab849.jpeg

Well, we’ve got one running!!

Sounds awesome! Congrats.

Very cool sounds great

Great job Tom. I know you’re stoked to have one test fired. Sounds like a bilge full of fun to me.

Thank you sir. Heading out to work on the other one for an hour or so.

I dropped my tailpipes off at the fabricator to have O2 bungs added. Just need to pick a meter.

I posted in the tech forum… my MPI Delco distributor isn’t playing well. The engine started right up but not seeing any advance. The running in the video was with timing sitting at 16 degrees. So that’s something to figure out.

Also have some leaking of the heat exchanger end caps. I’ll pop them off, clean everything, and then I’ll seal with high-tack.

Coming along.

the timing on that est is controlled by the computer you need to lock it in base mode to time

There’s no computer; it’s carbureted. It’s running in standalone mode just as a Delco Voyager EST (same distributor and module).

Daytona Sensors.
Have you given thought to trying something like a T-Bolt 4 ignition HP-20?

I've considered making a change, but the Delco really works well when it works. I've swapped out a number of failing TB-V distributors for the Delco and they've run perfectly. I may try swapping the distributor for the one on the port engine but that will take some doing to get the engine moved back to a spot so I can start it back up.

I do not want to run a TB distributor. Reliable, but the modules are getting scarce especially the ones with a usable curve.

If I can verify that the distributor will keep proper timing, I can run it. Advance is supposed to be all in by 2800 so if I'm loading it above that it should be fine. I've always set the timing up top and let the idle advance fall where it ends up, but this one was a little strange. I had it set to fire at 10 degrees or so and it was damn close to that and not increasing with RPM.

And I've got no more room for additional electronics, lol.

One down and one to go…

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...7c05d1c21.jpeg

Everything has been cleaned and painted. I wanted it to go back together with no shortcuts taken. I still need to clean up the trans coolers and make new lines etc, but at least the transmission is assembled.

Fair estimation, two weeks out for installation. I just ordered more hose to replace everything in the bilge. Might as well do it now… the engines have to come out to replace even small pieces.

I’ve also redone the connections to the water pumps. The MPI pump positions don’t match the offshore mounts so I’ve gotten creative with elbows and bends to make them work better. The idea is to keep hoses from breaking and making life easier when it comes to changing impellers.

I’ll get some pics to share.

Masterful!

Engines are done.

Found a crack in the fuel bulkhead on the port side of the bilge. Runs right along the edge where the bulkhead transitions into bottom - 12-15 inches long. The glass is pretty thick in that area and I can push on it to widen the gap ever so slightly. I'm thinking it froze and caused the crack (meaning some water made it in there). FML

I'm debating on how to approach a fix.

One approach is to drill the crack ends to stop spread, drill into the area to see what I have for water in there, and possibly fill with thinned epoxy to give it some time. After epoxy, lay some mat and call it done.

Second approach is to rip the bulkhead out and replace. It's not that big of a deal to do though who knows what I'll find in there.

I need to get my moisture meter in there to get some readings to get an idea on the direction. I checked transom and hull in the past and found acceptable moisture readings (approximately 12 percent on average). I sounded the stringers and transom after I found the crack and they sound like concrete. Sounding the bulkhead was mixed.

Maybe I'll get lucky. Anyone got a good hull for sale??

No advice... Just good luck!

Thanks buddy!

Tom, if the bulkhead is the only wet spot, you can fix that in a weekend. Give me a call. I learned a few tricks that will make it easy. 3five2213six45one.

Awesome! I’ll give you a call tomorrow.

Port engine initial start-up. This one was a little more temperamental to get started. The carb was baselined really lean for idle, and the timing was retarded. In the video, timing is set at 33 degrees and about 900 RPM.

Idle is still a little lean.

We did a lot of looking at the structure of the boat last night to really get an idea of how the boat was constructed as well as to see how bad things were looking at the bulkheads.

The good…

Formula built this thing really well. After looking at structural drawings as well as an in-depth inspection we found that the strength of the boat is handled by the fiberglass that encapsulated the stringer grid (most of which is only 1/2-inch ply). The grid makes up a form and the glass is where the real strength is. You can tell that it’s well built when you’re able to see the plans and the structure together.

Moisture is low comparatively. It’s hard to tell with the tank because it screws up the meter but doing comparative readings to known pieces of dry wood, there’s about 12 percent. That’s the bulkhead, stringers, transom, etc. very good!

I drilled core samples and found decent wood. No water pouring from anything.

The bad…

The crack is a crack and needs glasswork.

The one soft spot on the starboard side delaminated from the glass. The wood was good. Void? Not sure but it needs to be fixed/built up.

Speaking with Lou Perrone at A to Z Marine, he suggested adding 1/2-inch core bonded to the existing bulkheads and tabbing to the stringers, hull bottom and tops of the bulkheads. So that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll tape the area that’s cracked to finish that up. Lou also confirmed the structure design and its strength.

I’ll be busy with work the next few weeks but hoping I can get this glass guy that I know to come out and do it up really quick. Should be done in a week or two, then hopefully, engines back in before the end of the month.

Motors sound awesome. Congrats on having both together. Looks like you have the glass in line to be fixed up. Bets on who is in the water first? Lots of nice weather left to enjoy.
Shot you a text on Fri. Didn't hear from you. Don't know if you got it or not.

I’ve been really busy over the last couple days. I saw your post here and was reminded to get back to you. Sent you a text.

We’ll see about who gets in first. I’m not rushing anything at this point.

I also need to figure out issues on the Cig. We fixed a bunch of fuel issues, new fuel pump, and had to replace the power steering pump (front seal took a dump). All of the carb linkage binds against fuel lines so that’s got to be sorted out too. And the MSDs won’t fire so not sure what that’s all about (power shorts to ground). F’ing boats. Lol

F'ing boats is right. Have to love it. I got your message. I ended up buttoning the motor up yesterday. I decided to just run the stock rockers. Long story why I wanted to use the studs, but it's all good. That motor really doesn't need anything more than the stock valve train.

Cool. Glad you got it all buttoned up!

Adjustable valvetrain comes into play with decking. But if you’ve onlly removed a few thousandths, it shouldn’t be an issue.

Good luck getting her back together!

Can't wait to see you guys when you're all finished up. They will be some nice runners for sure.

Thanks Chris!

Fuking msd

Yep. These are much older (from when MSD was good) so hoping something is just wired wrong. I told him we should just take the MSDs out but he’s adamant about keeping them.

Well that was a pain! The first one anyway.

I was hoping to be able to get one in mostly dressed but that wasn’t going to work. In the end everything on the front had to come off. Nothing like having to do a bunch of work twice.

It had been a while since I’d had everything apart so it took some time to trust the stack of the washers at the transom/transmission. Fortunately, Rookie confirmed that I had it right. It took a lot of trying to get everything lined up but once we figured it out, it went easy. The second engine took all of a half hour to get in bolted up.

I’ll probably have her running by the end of the weekend. Can’t wait!

Some pics…

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f8f4db07e.jpeg
Prep the day before. Virginia Beach has an ordinance that prohibits having trailers in driveways. Had to get it all done before someone complained.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...a312c2ec5.jpeg
Nice and clean with fresh paint. When it’s wet, it’s a skating rink. Ask me how I know. Don’t mind those blue butt connectors. I have a new weather pack connection ready to replace that.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...314623aa3.jpeg
Getting there!

This is awesome Tom, you really nailed it with the build and clean up buddy. I’ll see you (and the blue butt connectors) soon!

Thanks Josh! Going to play with her this weekend. I really think I can have them both running by Sunday.

Closer. The new hard-wall hoses are making it a total ***** to get the raw water pumps back in. I also have some slight exhaust alignment issues with the AFR heads but should be okay.

Nice to have some power and music playing while working.

Once I’m sure that all my fuel fittings are leak-free, I’ll put the port engine’s exhaust on.

I also ordered my Innovate DLG-1 wideband. I need to do some gauge moving to fit it.

- fuel gauge will move to hour meter slot.
- hour meters will be in the bilge with their respective engine.
- volt meters will be combined into one with a toggle to check charging (not sure where it’s going, maybe depth finder hole and take depth readings from GPS?).
- oil temp gauges will go where the volt meters used to live.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...cd4f6fe72.jpeg
I need to do some paint touch-up. This was taken Sunday night. I’ve gotten a lot farther than what’s here.

Tom for your slight exhaust alignment issues try looking into these, Shields Hump Connectors, they also make a double.
Shields 220S Series, Silicon Hump Hose Connector, Molded Silicone (go2marine.com)
Boat is looking good.

Spensive!! Lol

The good thing is that I’d only need two. The even banks seem to be close enough. Less tail pipe length.

Thank you sir!