Project: '71 Cheetah

[Elkidmino]

aka Dirty Little Secret.

I want to do this right, or to the best that my budget will allow. I've always wanted a jet boat since I was a kid out on Lake Leelanau with my family watching them tear across the water. The noise and the rooster tails had me hooked. Now, my dream is coming true.

I bought the boat and trailer in early October for a screaming deal. Everything is basically there minus motor. The previous owner even tossed in a Chevy bellhousing with a top mount starter. Right away I signed up here and performanceboats and started reading. I've learned alot already and have to give everyone here props for sharing their experience and knowledge openly. I'll keep this thread updated and ask questions along the way.

Now onto the good stuff. The boat has seen better days, but for being 38 years old, it's still in relatively good condition. The hull is solid and the 1/4 stringers are rock solid. The paint needs attention, as does everything else. It's more like everything needs to be freshened up. I have a BBC 402 sitting in the garage ready to get rebuilt with oval port heads and a torker II single plane intake. I'd like to put in a set of rollers, a nice cam, deck it and put an MSD on it so I don't spin it to high heaven when it comes out of the water. The plan was to get it on the lake two summers from now, but a buddy offered me up a running SBC last Thursday so I have a fire lit under my ass now to have it on the water this coming summer. I have my work cut out for me.

Here's when I first looked at it back in September:







Oct 5, 2009 This is the day I got it home. The PO even dropped it off for me since I don't currently own a vehicle big enough to tow it. I spent two hours washing and vacuuming. Picked up about 20lbs worth of compost out of it.


I have a couple questions that I haven't been able to find answers to quite yet.
-How does the PTO from the pump attach to the back of the motor? Usually the crank has six bolts and the universal joint has four. Do you just run longer bolts through the four and bolt it on? A pic would be awesome.
-Can I run that Chevy bellhousing on both the SBC and the BBC? It should be the same bolt pattern correct? The housing attaches at the pump, 3 point style.
-Does anyone have a wiring harness guide? Looks like mine is the olds setup.
-Can someone with a similar Cheetah or Taylor SS run a tape measure from the floor to the underside of the bow? It looks like a support beam was cut out and the dash and bow have since sagged. I'd like to put it back to spec.

Thanks for your help guys.

-Dave

[Elkidmino]

After my initial cleaning, I noticed the floor seemed soft towards the rear of the boat just before the stringers. I pulled the carpet and saw water under the fiberglass. You could also see that the glass over the floor was not the same weave as the glass on the hull. I suspected it had been redone at one time. I had some time Saturday night so I went to work at pulling the floor, man what a job!

First came pulling the carpet, easy enough. I found a penny from 1989, possible time frame of replacement?


The darker spot in front of my finger was the water underneath.


I started at the back by the stringers and was able to use a box cutter to cut the fiberglass across and start pulling it up. Here you can see the moisture on the wood.


I worked my way forward, cutting, pulling, cutting, pulling.


I was lucky enough to get one whole piece out of the floor, it saved time on cleanup. The board underneath was saturated, but surprisingly solid. It was clear that it was a replacement board for the original. The old fiberglass had been cut out, the board laid in and then glassed over. The "new" glass and resin did not seal or stick very well. I was able to peel it off with my hands.


I thought I'd be done at this point, but I was able to get a finger under the side of the board and all I felt was nasty liquid on the underside. Time for that to come out too!! I dug resin out of the screw heads and backed them all out, then fought with the original fiberglass that encased some of the board, that stuff is super resilient!

Finally it came out and I was greeted with mold, mildew, condensation and standing water in the hull! Not good!

The above picture tells alot. The pieces of wood on the lower left corner are what is left of the old floor and the backing piece that used to sit in front of the stringers. This fell apart in my hands. All that is left is the fiberglass now. The original beam is still there, though highly degraded and rotted. Whoever did the replacement floor also sandwiched the beam between two newer beams, bolted it all together in about four places along it's length and then wrapped it with fiberglass. Looks like a pretty standard fix, but that rotted center beam worries me.

Should I tear all that out and replace it? Or just let it dry out over the winter, seal it and be done?

If I do need to replace it, I should build a cradle for the hull so nothing warps correct?

Oh, and I need a recommendation on good fiberglass and resin for the floor.

[Last Mohican]

-Can I run that Chevy bellhousing on both the SBC and the BBC? It should be the same bolt pattern correct? The housing attaches at the pump, 3 point style.

SBC and BBC have the same bell housing bolt pattern. Not sure bout the rear mount starter lining up though.

-Does anyone have a wiring harness guide? Looks like mine is the olds setup.

Here are the standard colors. No guarantee that is how your is wired though.
http://www.ftkltd.com/Boat%20Wiring%...or%20Codes.htm

Good luck on the project. Keep the pics coming.

[boatermike]

nice place to start, cool boat, you might want to check out www.sidewinder-boats.com

[Last Mohican]

-How does the PTO from the pump attach to the back of the motor? Usually the crank has six bolts and the universal joint has four. Do you just run longer bolts through the four and bolt it on? A pic would be awesome.

This might help. If not contact Tom.
http://www.jetboatperformance.com/in...elineeducation

[hot-rod 21]

-How does the PTO from the pump attach to the back of the motor? Usually the crank has six bolts and the universal joint has four. Do you just run longer bolts through the four and bolt it on?


There is a pto button that bolts to the crank, that has the flange for the 4 bolts. I may actually have a spare one, I also live in SE Michigan. let me know.

[BIGA]

you will have 6 bolts that bolts the button, or saucer, to the crankshaft then you will have 4 bolts that bolts the drive line to the adapter button. the rear bolt patterns on the sbc and bbc are the same the front is different. see attached pic for example of button.

[Elkidmino]

Thanks for the responses! Those buttons were a piece of the puzzle that I missed. I figured there had to be one more thing to bolt the jet to the motor. Thanks for the link Last.

I spent another couple hours in the garage last night. I noticed the gas tank is just sitting in the bow there bouncing around so when I get to replacing the floor, I'll glass in some wood blocks and bolt the tank down. I also busted out the rubbing compound and buffer with a wool wheel. I was able to bring back the shine of the gel coat in the areas that didn't see much sun. Basically any painted surface above the rub rail is toast. I guess I shouldn't say toast, but beyond what a buffer could do. It needs a respray.

Onto a new set of questions. The "paint" (I'll use the term loosely) looks to be a blue base with metal flake and then a blue tinted clear coat over it. I asked a friend who paints cars for a living and he suggested that it was a blue tinted gel coat with silver metal flake. The paint looks all original, I haven't found any other colors on the boat.

My question is: Can I replicate the original gel coat by tinting an automotive clear coat blue and respraying? Or should I try to find a blue tinted gel?

I've read on here about some alternatives to gel that act more like a clear and because all the metal flake is still present, I'd like to respray it and bring it back to a deep luster.

I found metal flake that's pretty close to my color.http://www.paintwithpearl.com/flakestore.htm I might have to sand the whole boat, lay down some new metal flake and then clear it.

Onto the pics!

Port Side


Starboard Side. This is a before and after pic. The top of the pic is obviously after buffing, while the bottom is the oxidation and dirt that wouldn't come off when I washed it.

[boatermike]

any updates?

[Elkidmino]

any updates?

Not as of recent. I have a 4 point mount for an SBC lined up to be sent after Christmas and I've been color sanding the boat any chance I can get. Luckily, the gel coat was just oxidized and it's coming back with some elbow grease. I tried to use the polish the other night that had been sitting in the garage but it was frozen solid! I gotta get that heater mounted and running!

[Wild Hair]

Just read your thread, noticed your going to put a sbc in it from a friend. My first jet boat was a small block chevy, I spun a main in it right off the bat. That motor had about 400hp, A friend loaned me another small block that he said was a 350 so I droped it in while geting the crank turned and the block checked out.

On the first trip to the lake I idled out of the no wake zone and nailed it. What a joke wouldent even pull up on plane. back at the house I started researching the casting numbers only to find out this small block was a 307 and not a 350. This thing had something like 150 hp. So be sure of what you are puting in it first. I would say you should have at least 300 hp or more to put that hull on plane, and probably wont set the world on fire on top end.

Take the time to reserch your combonation it will save you time, money and frustration, Myself I would put the 402 in it. There's no substitute for cubic inches.

[Elkidmino]

That's the kind of advice I like to have. I'll have to get the numbers off the block and cross reference them. I planned to spruce it up a little with a cam, rejet the carb and play with the timing to get some more ponies out of it, but it may not be enough from what you're saying.

I've got alot of cosmetic work to do before I decide which motor I will drop in. Maybe all those hours sanding will give me enough time to weigh all the variables in my mind.

I do have some questions for you all:

-What's a good weight fiberglass to lay over a floor? I've read 7130? I think? The previous stuff looked like cheese cloth, I'd rather go heavier than lighter.

-How hard is it to remove the keel board?

-What is the name for the panel that would go by your feet under the dash and have a cut out in the middle? Mine was cut out.

-Does anyone have an H-bar driveline for sale from a 3-point mount chevy?

Ninja Edit: I started wet sanding the original gel coat and then buffing it. It's all coming back shiny!! I'll have to get some pics up.

[boatermike]

need at least 350hp and really 500 would be more like it if ya wanna see more than 50 mph

[Elkidmino]

O rly? Welp, I better start selling all my spare parts and start saving for that BBC!

[boatermike]

thats what they say,supposed to be the best way to go