292 Fastech refurbishment thread
 

Hope everyone is doing well in these weird times we're living in. Figured I would give everyone an update on my 02 Formula 292 Fastech "HEAD RUSH". So little back story...
I bought this boat in October 2017, it was mint condition and bone stock (no cosmetic or performance upgrades). I ran it for a full season before doing any major work. Halfway through the 2018 season doing oil changes, I noticed my exhaust was leaking at the end of the hose at the transom. Every single clamp was loose. I tightened them up and kept boating.

Fast forward to 2019, steering is totally shot and decided to upgrade to IMCO full hydraulic. While drilling the holes, I found my transom was indeed compromised, most likely from the leaking exhaust hoses. The wood was wet near the exhaust tips and damp towards the middle of the transom.

Present Day... ive been in contact with Glass Dave and he will be replacing my transom (extremely grateful he was able to fit me in his schedule, you're the man Dave!). I've been De-Rigging the entire back of the boat for the last few weeks. Just got the engines out sunday.

Where I'm going from here... Once the transom has been replaced, I plan on doing a ton of preventative maintenance and upgrades since the bilge will be cleared out (minus stuff not near the transom).
These items will include:
New HP transom assemblies
280 K-planes/pumps
Indicator cables and senders for drives/k-planes
New Shadow caster SCM6 and SCM 4 underwater lights
New exhaust tails/tips
New port side engine coupler (stbd side done in 2019)
New Hardin sea pumps
New or rebuilt starters (good rebuilder down the street)
New starter selenoids
New Spark plugs, caps, rotors and wires for both engines
New bilge pumps and float switches
New Fuel lines and in-line filters
Clean up bilge/engine wiring


These are items I will for sure be doing. But I would like to hear any suggestions anyone may have! What else should I look at or replace since everything will be apart? Here's some pictures of my season and beginning this refurb. Thanks for tuning in!
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...3138a31182.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...d546399a87.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...35bd03454.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...a41833d5a5.jpg

Man that's a lotta work. Good stuff.

Good luck ! Let me know if you need a hand with anything. I have a long list myself on my 292.

I used your advice tonight getting my exhaust tips off, worked great! Got to see the carnage inside the holes from the water leaks... its bad. Wood is all dark brown and black where the water breached.

How is glassdave getting around the liner in the bilge? is he removing it or cutting it back? going through the same problem you are.

Maybe he will chime in at some point. Hes a very friendly guy so if you messaged him and asked he would be able to tell you.. But I remember him saying its like performing surgery replacing the transom on a Fastech.

Did you have nabbers look at it? We are close to him also

I also talked to him but he claimed there is wood in the grid system also and he kinda had an attitude about it when I talked to him. The grid system is all fiberglass. Not knocking nabbers or anything but im going with my gut on this one.. Dave has replaced a number of transoms in Fastechs. What year and model is yours? Just curious.

2006 292 also, we haven’t taken it there just curious. Did he throw any numbers at you for cost? No idea what range this is in price wise. Everything is out and off the transom.

I still have some de-rigging to do. I can't remember exactly what Dave quoted me, but Nabbers refused to give me a quote until he looked at it 🙄

How did your transom get wet? Just curious.

One of the bolts on the transom assembly was leaking. It had a small bit of rot around that bolt. Drilled some holes around the area and got dark wood maybe 6 to 8 inches out. Not rotted just damp.

damn that sucks 😔 i feel your pain.

Killer Cat making sure the mice stay away from the goods !!

I dont know what the deal is with members posting pictures of their cats and boats or engines. ICDEDPPL did on another thread. Hell I hate cats but now Im thinking I need one. All the cool guys have them.

All the cool kids have outboards and don't have giant holes in the transom to deal with. My next boat gets outboards. I'm tired of killing myself in the bilge with my 292.

that cat belongs to the building owner where I pulled the engines. Its a barn cat whos job is to go after mice and rodents.

No worries. Was totally being a smart azz... On a side note Im super excited about your build. I love the Formula boats.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...d0f1cd5731.jpg
Progress so far.

Just curious about how many man hours you got into it so far?

Hard to say, but maybe 10-12 hours total at this point since I turned the first bolt. Im taking my time.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...6318a07dea.jpg
More progress in the bilge...
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...c238973c5f.jpg

I see a road trip in your near future. When is Glass Dave going to be able to get to you?

10-12 isn’t bad if you ask me for a DIYer. Lots to keep track of and organize so that putting it back together goes good. Thanks for sharing, keep it up

in the next 2 weeks. Only 4 hour drive from where I'm at.

I'm a mechanic by trade so that helps. Also the help from a friend who is very familiar with pulling engines and de-rigging, especially in Formulas. I took pictures and labeled everything that wasnt self explanatory. Will be taking my sweet time re-rigging everything once I get the boat back from Dave and making some modifications for the HP transom trim sending cables and k plane cables. Should have it ready to go to Dave in the next few days.

Also, to anyone that has GIL offshore engine mounts, MAKE SURE THEYRE TIGHT!!! I found my stbd side grid mounts loose when taking it out and the port side wasn't much better. The thru bolts on the grid were hand tight at best, stbd side was definitely moving around. I inspected the thru holes in the grid and it didn't look like any damage occurred but its definitely a scary finding.

Aa

Bilge got cleaned out and boat was dropped off at Glass Dave's shop today. Wonder if there will be any issues with the grid liner. Now to organize all my parts in the garage.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...49fde7df12.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...b1ccbc579a.jpg

Did Dave give you an ETA when he would be finished?

2-3 weeks as long as there's no grid issues

Dave did the work on our Fastech. Not a single person on this planet that does better work and has more attention to detail. You’ve got the best on the job. Can’t wait to see it when finished.

Chris

I saw the thread on the repairs done to your old 353. He Definitely went the extra mile. Looking forward to seeing mine nice n fresh and probably better than factory!

Post the link. Id love to see it.

This thread is how I know I'm in good hands with Galss Dave.

Hell, I could have given you a good one. Peter Piper. Sat on my lap every night , right next to Sugar Bear the dog. He was faster than anything I ever tried to catch. He was a good boy, but he was really stressing out my dog. He is in a good home with little kids.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...8af3a047c6.jpg

What caused those dark stains in the bilge? Oily water sloshing around ?

Seems that way, both of my trim pumps are seeping and my port side engine is definitely leaking.

I'm a couple months of ownership into my 292 so I'm watching this thread like a hawk.

Adding full hydraulic steering is definitely on my hot list of upgrades - past 55 mph in any kind of waves and it gets kinda dangerous, small waves it's ok. If I find wet, but not rotten wood in the transom when it's time to install I think I'll try to dry out the transom and fix the leak first before totally redoing it. Drill a bunch of holes on the inside of the transom and stuff moisture wicks into the holes, then run a dehumidifier in the bilge for a month. Seal the holes with penetrating epoxy etc after.

I know one thing: if I spend the amount of time working on the boat you are spending I'll be looking at divorce!