85 2001 LVL Stringer Project

Kris - maybe a glass removable floor section is in order!

You really set the bar high!

I wanted to be laying carpet this weekend but the place I was going to get my glue from sold all that he had just a few hours before I got there last week. Good news is he is supposed to have more in tomorrow so I will be laying carpet next weekend.

Since I could not lay carpet it was time to work on cleaning up the engine and getting it ready to be put back on the boat. I started with making a booth for sand blasting in to contain the sand and keep from making such a mess in the driveway and getting sand all over the place. It is just a 1/2" pvc frame with poly over it. It worked great!!



Then it was on to pulling the engine mounts so they could be blasted and painted. Plus since I am sure I am going to have to do a good bit of adjustment to get my alignment right I wanted to make sure things were as clean as possible so that the engine could be adjusted as easy as possible. I must say the front mounts had a lot more adjustment than I thought that they did!!


Next it was on to taping up the engine.


I had quite a few places where there was rust on the engine and I did not want to completely disassemble the engine so I could blast, or sand them all down. So I took my air grinder and knocked off as much as I possibly could (Pictures above was after this and ready for paint) then I shot on some primer that converts rust so that it is safe to paint over. Here is the engine after being painted with the rust primer.


After getting the engine painted it was on to sand blasting. I was able to get one of the exhaust manifolds and a front and rear engine mounts blasted. By then it was time to clean up. I am shooting to finish up blasting the mounts and get them all painted as well as getting the engine painted. Then I will be ready to put the carpet in this weekend.

I also have my engine cradle back from being repaired so as soon as I get the engine painted I will get the cradle installed. I am nervous about drilling a bunch of holes in my brand new stringers!!! Then I can lay the carpet and start getting ready to put the engine back in.

SNobsessed wrote: Kris - maybe a glass removable floor section is in order! You really set the bar high!

That would be awesome!! Thanks

NCH20SKIER wrote: Nice work Kris

Thanks

Be careful sandblasting.I'm assuming your standing inside? Wear a really good resperator and tell me your not using regular sand.You don't want to get this

Gary S wrote: Be careful sandblasting.I'm assuming your standing inside? Wear a really good resperator and tell me your not using regular sand.You don't want to get this

I am sanding outside in this enclosure I made. 6' X 4' X 6'


I am using a small blast gun so I have to stop often to let this air out and to help keep my compressor cool.

To answer your question yes, I am using a 3m respirator with prefilter and a pair of goggles or a full face shield, along with 3/4 sleeve gloves.

Kris when it's time this place has info and parts for kits. I have had one of their built ones since 94 and could not be happier. Build the biggest one you can,you'll never know what you want to put in there. As for the media I have used everything but plastic and walnut shells. For aluminium I like glass beads, for rusty steel I like the silicon carbide followed by the glass beads. Silicon carbide does last longer but does wear out your nozzles and if not caught in time will go thru it and start eroding the gun too.

8122pbrainard wrote: I bought my cabinet off ebay. It was only about $125 including shipping. However, it was a cheapy made in China but works. The only issue I've had is the O rings in the gun getting dislodged. It was also a PITA putting it together especially since the first time I put the top with the window on upside down. That required me to unscrew what had to be half of the 500 screws/nuts that come with it! The garnet seems to be cutting about the same as the Black Beauty. I'll see it to stays sharper longer. My gun came with ceramic tips. Unless the steel tips are carbide or Stellite, the ceramic will hold up longer. Gary, My next step in media will be the silicon carbide. The cost is a real kicker though!

Yes it is expensive Pete but lasts much longer, so I bought a abrasive reclamer,it mounts on the side of the cabinet.I do use a carbide nozzel but silicon carbide media will still wear it out,just not as fast.I do use ceramic nozzles for back up.

I was able to get my engine mounts put back together last night after blasting and painting them over the last couple of days.



Then installed them back on the freshly painted engine.



I also bought some of this stuff, Roberts Temporary Carpet Protection, to go over my carpet once I get it installed for a little protection until I get a little closer to being finished. As I was in the boat last night I decided to put a layer down to see if it would protect my bilge from scratches and things until I had the engine and rear floor in. I think it is going to work pretty good.



I wish I would have had this stuff when I started and covered the entire top of the boat from the windshield to the Transom and the tops of the trailer fenders. That would have saved me a lot of clean up that I need to do now.

Finally I started cleaning up the Carpet trim to see how hard it was going to be and it went pretty quick, to my surprise. The key is to have ample acetone on your rag as you rub it down!! I took a 5' piece and went from this.



To this in about 15 minutes.


My carpet glue is supposed to be in today so that means that tonight and tomorrow is all about getting the carpet installed in the boat. Once that is done it is time to start throwing parts at the boat getting everything installed in preparation of putting the engine back in next weekend.

Anyone have any last minute carpet installing tips for me?

Looks fantastic BTW. Top notch work there!

Also does anyone know of a source for the decals on the valve covers? One says Pleasure craft and the other has timing info on it.

When I was unmasking the engine the one that says Pleasure craft pulled off about half way.

Wow, great work. I need to repaint my engine this winter and fix a leaking rear seal. You may want to consider changing your damper plate out since you have the motor out of the boat.

More time and more money, but I would change it.

Great build

Donald

its probably about time. You can get them cheaper from ebasicpower.com, skidim is over priced. I think I paid like 90. Check the springs and housing for cracks specifically. There was a recent thread with the part number. I forget what it is right now.

Thanks for the links guys. This is the tag on my trans, I just want to make sure to get the correct part.

Big Pappa wrote: Oh and just a note, the picture above was before painting. It was a pain to get that paint off the tag without removing the tag paint. It now looks clean as you can see in a picture above.

Kris,
A tip I picked up over on the OWWM.com site since they are always dealing with old tags is to soak the tag overnight in water and dish soap. The paint will come right off without removing the original dye/paint on the tag itself. I truly believe it would even work with Eric's "deluxe" trans rebuild when he even paints the tag for you!!!

8122pbrainard wrote: Big Pappa wrote: Oh and just a note, the picture above was before painting. It was a pain to get that paint off the tag without removing the tag paint. It now looks clean as you can see in a picture above.    Kris, A tip I picked up over on the OWWM.com site since they are always dealing with old tags is to soak the tag overnight in water and dish soap. The paint will come right off without removing the original dye/paint on the tag itself. I truly believe it would even work with Eric's "deluxe" trans rebuild when he even paints the tag for you!!!

Good to know, Thanks for the tip!!