What have I been up to on my '89 2001

So what have I been up to lately...?

First of all I did some stringer repair. Yes, repair versus complete stringer job. Tim Benjamin advised me last year not to do this one month before beginning of the season, but I totally ignored his advise 

So last march, as I got the boat out of winter storage, I wanted to investigate the weak floor between the co-pilot seat and the skipole.

After research and calls, I knew it had to do with the wood planks in this part of the floor. I thought to myself: "what the heck, lets check this out, even if it is one month before the season, ignoring TRBenj's advise" 

So my buddy and I took the plunge saw and very VERY carefully cut into the layer of fiberglass to investigate. As we peeled off the section of fiberglass, we did indeed find the rotten planks beneath it.

Call me the lucky idiot, but beneath this, I found bone dry foam and the stringers only affected for the top 1 cm (less than half an inch) on the length of that rotten plank. Stringers were still rock solid. And yes I did investigate all the way through the whole boat with the very scientific Tim Morfoot tapping method (great YouTube video BTW Foot   ). Even the bluckhead was still solid (minor damage on top made by the plunge saw). Oh FYI, I do not have one single soft spot anywhere on the floor...

So I spent the next few days soaking the stringers with very thin epoxy (CPES?) and fixing that top 1cm on the small part affected.

I know, redneck repair. Yes, I am a redneck that way. I always avoid extending repairs more than needed ("If it ain't broken, leave it as is" is my creed). It is how I maintained my BMW for the past 15 years and it is still running like a champ with 475.000 KM (295.000 miles) on the clock.

I did spend quite some time researching about products and materials for this. Called and visited specialist companies over here for it.

Next I poured some epoxy foam. This stuff I got from one of those specialist companies is awesome. When cured, this foam is hard as concrete, yet weighs next to nothing. Even hit some spots with a rubber hammer (hard!). No dent whatsoever. 

After that cutting away bulk excess with a multitool and sanding untill it was a nice and even surface.

Poured expoxy over the whole area to seal everything. Then three layers of fiberglass mat and epoxy.

After that cutting some marine plywood to size.

Then I covered this ply with three layers of fiberglass mat

Mixed some thickened epoxy and "glued" the board in place, making sure the epoxy oozed out everywhere to make sure the whole thing is sealed. Next sanding and flattening everything out.

Next, glued the carpet back in place and fitted the interior back in.

I know it is just a repair, but I am convinced she will hold with no issues for the coming decades... She sure feels rock solid again.

Mid season, while driving the boat to my waterski club, she died on me. Had to be towed back to the marina and trailered her home to investigate. We found out the ditributor was the culprit. Shaft broke clean in half. Checked in the engine if there were problems with the cogs, but all was fine. Ordered a new electronic distributor and she ran fine again for the rest of the season.

The past few weeks, I repaired and refurbished the tower speaker box I made back in 2013. 

My favourite part about this was the sanding and fairing and sanding again and fairing again and... NOT!

But it looks the part again. Ready for next season.

The repairs look fantastic.  Keep us informed.

JQ

JQ

Spark and gas vapor meeting up with each other inside the distributor and the resulting explosion that follows is the concern.

There's a path for the gas vapors where the rod from the vacuum advance canister enters the distributor housing so if there are gas vapors in the air and they meet that spark in the distributor, it makes for a bad day.

The DUI also has 2 vent holes in the bottom that are covered with brass screens.

You might think since vapor can get in through the screens, you'll get the same big explosion, but the screens contain and dissipate the explosion inside the distributor so that the gas vapor in the engine compartment doesn't ignite and explode.

Typically there are 2 or 3 layers of screen in each hole on marine distributors with vent holes.

Some people put in automotive units and haven't had an issue as long as there isn't an explosive atmosphere from a fuel leak in the engine compartment.

I'd rather have a marine unit to minimize my chances of an explosion that could kill or badly burn me or anybody else in the boat at the time.

Some marine distributors have no openings at all and are USCG approved or meet USCG specs.

Lots to think about, some people take the chance, some would rather not. 

- adding a bimini top in the tower (request - err orders- from the wife  ) 

- everything above the rub rail done by our local gelcoat guy, who's a friend, while visiting the Morfoot Marina. It shines so nicely it is impossible to look at without a good pair of sunglasses (see video link). And all the nicks and dings repaired.

- New shiny vent covers front and back (see video link).

- new Rockville 1600W amplifier

- new Boss Audio subwoofer

Already made a custom subwoofer box that will fit under the nose where the foot rest is:

It is made to the required sq/ft and the required port tubes as per the specs of the subwoofer (did a lot of reading and YouTube watching for this ) :