lvrepoman

Well, after 2 years down, and 2 paint jobs... Im finally re-rigging my canoe... Paint too much? I think Im overpowering the hull a bit with this new combination, but it sure has been alot of fun putting stuff together finally... What do you guys think?

http://http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=226 325600&albumId=970851

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...lbumId=1025082

Hopefully I'll have it all back together for the 4th of July weekend, I plan on taking it to Havasu... Ill post the completed pics up as soon as Its done!

KSims1868

Do you have any completed pics yet? Did you get it together as hoped?

The paint is a bit "much" for my tastes...but dang nice looking job on it. Tell us more about the boat's history, specs, etc...

KSims1868

But I'll also add...I love that paint on the bow/deck. That turned out NICE!!!

lvrepoman

ever get to the point in a project where you think you have everything you need or want? i was there, until i realized that i didnt have time to hustle to get it done... then i made time, and realized i didnt have everything i needed, well, wanted...lol. did i say 4th of july in that first post? apparently i meant 2010...

ill post some current pics of my progress in a couple days. this thing would probably have been done by now had i not started to nitpick everything in the boat and gotten so picky. you know, stupid things like (i heard a voice in my head, and now i wish i would have blocked it out).... "i dont like the factory black controls", so i buy some white controls... "crap, i dont like those either, who makes something really cool?"... or, "you know, that brand new steel offshore mount is pretty cool, but i bet the billet one would be cooler" , or better yet, "damn, these new gauges look great, but i sure hate the half sweep look, and since livorsi doesnt make what i want, lets see if they can custom make me some of the gauges the way i want them".... it just keeps going on and on.

now i figure i need 1 of 2 things to get this done... a can of gas and a match, or a bigger funnel to stick into the fu**ing thing to swallow money at a faster pace than it already has... lol... i just want my friggin boat back. i kick myself at least twice every day for fu**ing with sh*t that wasnt broken....

anybody else out there that can relate?

lvrepoman

well, here goes...

its an 88 excel 28 that i bought from a "really, really good friend" you know, the whole "nothing wrong with it" boat...lol, right.

had a stroked 454 mag in it, with stock exhaust, pfaff cam, and a dart intake. ran 68 like that... for about 3 trips out until one of the manifolds started leaking into the motor so bad, that it dropped an intake seat. at this point, i should add that in those 3 trips out, it went through 3 starters, a fuel pump, a rubber exhaust hose, and needed a carb rebuild. (nope, not a thing wrong with it right?

so i go through the motor, add a set of pfaff merlin heads, drop the compression a touch because i wanted to put a blower on when money was right, an imco box, hydraulic steering, new interior, and a set of stellings aluminum manifolds with dry tails. oh yeah, a new ring gear too, because the previous 3 starters and who knows how many before i bought it, killed the ring gear. i also figured now was a good time to stuff a bunch of stereo crap into it, cuz it needed 400 more pounds like it needed an anchor in the water while trying to come on plane...

1st trip out, runs 63... wtf?!?!?!?! ok, do some tuning, fix a couple of my own screw ups, cool... lets get it back out on the water and see what happens... key on, crank, ching... yeah, we all know the sound of starter death... i wont repeat the catch phrases i used at that moment.... back to the parts counter for ANOTHER new starter, ill take a spare while im here, just for good measure. go back out, fire it up, head out with my trusty gps... ok, i feel better now 73! woo hoo, 10k and 5 mph... im getting somewhere now, lol. so now here i am, in the middle of lake mead, taking a break and just double checking on things, timing, carb, shut it down to check the plugs... ok everything looks good, lets take a quick dip in the water, and head back for lunch and a few beers... key on, crank, ching--- oh fu*ck me, youve got to be kidding. gad as hell i picked up the spare "just for good measure". swap that out, now im too pissed to eat or think straight, so i jump straight to the beer. long story short, one of the starter bolt holes in the block was drilled slightly offset. come to find out, the putz that sold me the boat had put roughly 100 starters on this thing. so i buy a tilton starter, drill a bolt hole out, and use a piece of 1/2" steel tube, cut down the middle to relieve the offset. back to the water i go. couple prop changes, and a few timing changes and my trusty gps rips off a 76. ok, i guess im happy now. so now im thinking, this is cool, but theres a few scratches on the sides id like to have fixed. ill just wait till january and run it by my buddys body shop, he can match the paint for me real quick, and i wont be down during season.

january, drag the ***** down to the body shop and tell good ole george what i want... "just match the colors the best you can to fill in the scratches, whole things supposed to be covered in house of kolors". george says, sorry pal, not so much. its all single stage crap, i wanna paint it. for 7500, ill throw some paint on it make it look good as new, same design and all. 7500 later, he says " gonna need a bit more cash from you", i say "how much george?", he fires back "about 6500... alot more material than i was expecting, but ill do some REALLY SWEET graphics for that price also". ok, done... whens it gonna be done (mind you, i dropped it off 1-5-08, and its now 2-1-08 and supposed to be done already)
he says "no later than the end of the month, I PROMISE!" hehe, yeah right... fast forward through the ensuing mayhem to follow that statement to halloween... "its ready, come put it back on the trailer"... yay me, im so excited to get it back, since i basically lost my entire season, i hope its really cool! i get there and im like, wtf is that? are you fu**ing kidding me? holy ****, it looked way better with all the scratches the way it was before... "my painter quit, and i got stuck with this new guy that said he was really good, sorry for your bad luck, but i cant afford to pay another painter and for all new material... youll just have to deal with it. ill make it up to you later, if i can..." ok, well im thinking, this **** aint over, but i need my boat fixed. aroung march i found someone i liked to do the new new paint job, but he was pretty pricey... said it would have been less, if he didnt have to spend 40-50 hours sanding down all the garbage paint the previous painter s[rayed on there.... (you know im pissed at this point), but he says he can have it done in a month (thinking to myself, ive heard this before, but whatever). 4-7-08, wifes birthday... painter calls... "come see what you think before i clear it". wow, really? sweet, wife and i head over, holy crap, this is great. 4-11-08, cmon on down and pick it up, its done... btw, bring your checkbook...lol. without starting to cry again, ill just say that after the 1st painters 14k, and the 2nd painters bill, ive got way more than double the boats value in paint work.

sorry for the long story, but im sure at least one person out there will have found at least enough entertainment from my painfull story to justify the time it took to read about it...lol

ill keep my progress posted now that "its finally all coming together... again... i think"


lvrm

donnawanna

very nice boat,I think it looks great, look forward to seeing pic's in the water. Everyone has more into their boat then its worth but you have one of a kind.
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Keith

lvrepoman

FINALLY finished it... Now I get to play the "what else does it need" game. First run out with the high boost setup got me 96.5 at half throttle, about 4700 rpm's. Had to pull off throttle due to the a/f leaning out a bunch. Ran it like that for the afternoon until I sheared the 3 bolts that go through the pulleys into the balancer. Backed the boost down several pounds, and now I'm doing some fine tuning. Trying to work out a weird plop slippage issue. It's got an Imco box with 3" lift and a 2" shorty. Centerline of the prop shaft is 3.25" below the bottom of the pad... I'm running a merc labbed 35 Maximus on it right now and I'm seeing over 20% slip. Any thoughts? Tried a 34 b1, slip figures are pretty similar. Starting to have the urge to pull my hair out now.

hullofjustis

iTrader: (1)

With that kind of slippage I would try a standard bravo and see what kind of slippage u have with it. sounds like the drive is to high even though it is 3" below the bottom it maybe getting bad water.

Hot Boat

Got any photos you can post for those that dont want or have a my space account. Im verry interested in seeing your boat. Please list some more specs on what you have and did. 96.5 makes that the fastest 28 I know of......................... Now Im second fastest

BTW try a 1" spacer to help the slip. the X sounds high to me

Scarab28

96 MPH at 4700 RPM - doesn't sound right for an excel but then I can't spin a 35" prop either. I want a ride.