Project: '71 Cheetah

[boatermike]

do you plan on separating that boat? i wouldn't

[Elkidmino]

Before you re-glass the stringer in make sure the bottom isn't hogged or bellied. Also, it is a good idea to thin the resin and soak the stringer wood before you glass it in. This helps create a better bond to the wood. What type resin are you using ??

That was going to be my next question actually so I am glad you asked. Do you have a recommendation? I did plan to wet any wood down before I glassed it in. One cut layer with 50% acetone, let it soak in and then put a regular layer on.

And no Mike, I don't plan to separate it. That's WAY over my head.

[boatermike]

any progress lately on this sweet boat?

[Elkidmino]

any progress lately on this sweet boat?

Been a little quiet lately. I started a new job at Chrysler and Dream Cruise was a couple weeks ago so I was working on that for a couple weeks.

I found out Bolyard Lumber (248) 644-3636 in Birmingham, MI has 2x8" douglas fir in 12ft lengths for $9.24. I will be stopping by this week to pick a board or two up and get that center stringer in soon. It's starting to get chilly so the next project is going to be hooking up my garage heater. I want to spend alot of time in there this winter so I can have it close to ready to roll in the spring.

I still need to decide on what resin to get. Suggestions please?

-Dave

[SS-201]

Save some money just buy a aftermarket HEI distrubutor, nix the MSD you don't need it.

[Elkidmino]

I should update this thread like hardcore, but I figured I'd share with you guys. I re-built the boat in a week. Yes, a week, and it runs, drives, and floats now! Glassed in the stringer and bulkhead, slapped a floor in and glassed over it. Tossed a 350 in and hit the key!

Build thread: http://www.performanceboats.com/html...ad.php?t=75079

[38 hustler slingshot]

It looks like you've done an amazing job, is this your first time =p. I'm looking into a project like this myself, but I have to keep in mind it's my first time and i would have a lot to learn anyways. Good job

[sjcolwell2]

looks bad ass !

[thompy]

i have to get going on mine, watched your thread on P.B been working on the roof and have to work on the grage as well before i start
i have the same hull as your but in a CobraJet but i have cracks in the hull where the floor meets the hull, its a pretty light layup. going to try a supercharged 3800. my brother has a wriedt with the 455 same hull different deck and dont like the heavy feel of the boat

[Elkidmino]

Thanks guys! It still needs paint, a real exhaust and gas tanks, but for now it was fun and I'm really proud of myself. I'm tossing around the idea of flipping it and blueprinting the hull, but that may have to wait until the spring. I'm already eyeing mini-day cruisers like the Spectras and Hawaiians, I'd ultimately like to have a 20' to 21' footer. A guy at work mentioned his dad might be getting rid of a 454...I'm keeping a close eye on that.

Hustler: Read, read, read! Put up a build thread and befriend some local guys, they'll have a plethora of knowledge to help you.

Thompy: Grind those cracks down and build up the area's again with mat and cloth layered. It's not hard.


A couple more pics:
Fitting the center stringer, 2x8 kiln dried douglas fir

First layer of gas

Bulkhead glassed in

Underside of floor coated in resin:

Floor glued in:

Motor before "marine" conversion:

The rig:

Underpower:

Me:

[Elkidmino]

Jesus I really need to update this thread, the boat looks a hell of a lot nicer now.
Here's a video of it in action to tide you over in the meantime.

[Elkidmino]

MAY 28th 2011
The boat sat in the garage all winter, but Spring was around the corner so the parts were coming in by the week. I just picked up an interior from a local jet boater (Thanks Dave). Two buckets and a bench out of a Daytona. I've heard critisism about the back seat being too small, but I like it that way because it allows you too walk to the back of the boat without having to step over a seat. This will help with loading and unloading at the dock and keep people from touching the hot motor. I haven't decided if I am going to box the motor in or not yet, but I do have a doghouse with a scoop that came with the boat when I purchased it. It needs some work to make it fit correctly again.

Here are the seats mocked up at the old house.



The flipped over Nova headers were fun for the week I had it out last year, but it needed something more practical for this season so a set of Edlebrock logs and snails were purchased.

I bought a set of saddle tanks out of AZ that should be here at the end of the week. 17 gallons a piece, I'll be able to run on the lake ALL day. Never got them in this year, just used a 5gal marine tank for the Wamplers meet.

[Elkidmino]

JULY 4th 2011

Finished the paint this weekend! I'm making headway.

Had some flake stand up in the base coat so I had to wet sand the whole thing again to knock them down. This is after wetsanding. I splashed it with water to get an idea of what it'll look like with clear.


Final coat of Oriental Kandy Blue (House of Kolors) before pulling the tape off the stripe and clearing

First coat of clear with tape removed to expose the stripe (basecoat Orion Silver with a metric **** ton of flake added)

Added a new scallop. This was 15 mins after the last coat of clear (used a half gallon) it settled down alot in one night.



It needs to be rubbed out a little, but I am sooo happy to have a shiny boat. This thing is starting to represent my capabilites, I'm very pleased.

[Elkidmino]

OCT 3rd 2011

I've been working on this thing like mad the last couple weeks and starting to show some real progress. In fact, I'm almost done for this year at least. The gf and I moved into our new-to-us house at the beginning of the month and then left for vacation immediately after. When we got back, I was determined to finish the boat being that the garage was a mess from the move and the majority of the parts were boat related.

First thing I tackled was re-installing the driveline to the pump and plumbing the motor for the new headers. This required the motor to be pulled out of position and bellhousing removed from the rear. Once I finished that it was a fight to get it to line up with the motor plates and jet flange while simeltaniously lining up the cardan joint with the impeller axle. Oh and I didn't want to scrape the new paint. I forgot to grind off an ear on the left front motor mount so reinstalling it required a pry bar and 2x4 but it slipped in shortly thereafter. I bolted it all down and she was set. Big thanks to Volvo Dan's engine hoist and engine leveler.

Second I started to mock up the exhaust manifolds to the motor. Boat exh manifolds are different from car exh manifolds being that these are water cooled! The pump provides water to the manifolds, which then circulated front to back to front again before exiting and running into the block at the stock water pump holes. From there it runs through the block, heads and finally out the intake manifold to the thermostat port. From there it's routed into the exhaust stream at the "snails" and blows out the exhaust. The result is a open loop cooling system that won't burn the **** out of your leg when you walk past the motor. I tried it out on the hose with the motor running and you can leave your hand on the exh manifold without being burned. The board on the front of the balancer is to help aid in lining up the alternator with the crank pully. I needed to build a custom alternator mount since I didn't run one last year and they aren't readily available off-the-shelf for this application.

I remembered that it felt like the throttle wasn't opening all the way last year so I tackeled the carb linkage while the carb was still dry. I watched the primary throttle shaft open and attempt to actuate the secondary linkage only to get caught on something. I decided to pull the carb off and tried the linakage again; this time the secondaries opened all the way. I looked at the intake manifold and there was one of those cheap Vatozone carb adapters on it. Ding Ding Ding! The secondary butterflies were contacting the edge of this spacer so a little massage work and everything cleared. I checked out the old distributer and found it to be a mess (I'm surprised the motor ran as good as it did) with a busted vac advance and broken points. I swapped in an Accel version HEI I had lying in the garage with lightened springs and deleted the vac advance (ne need in a jet boat).

I then tackled the gauges, steering and pump/throttle controls. When I pulled everything apart for paint, I couldn't believe the ghetto rigging the PO used connect the pump controls to the lever system. Clearly the guy had no idea what he was doing and honestly I didn't either but with a little patience I figured it out. Now things actuate smoothly and the cables won't fall out of their holders. I bought a new chrome steering wheel and wired up all the gauges and ignition. There was an old fuse panel under the dash that I tried to re-use but all the connections were crusted and beyond repair. I'll need to insert an inline fuse eventually so it's straight wired for now (I know, not safe). I did, however, wire in a kill switch for the battery on the engine wiring tray so worst case scenario I can cut power to everything there.


From here I was able to drag the boat outside and hook the hose and battery up to see what would happen. I left the exhaust hoses off since I didn't want to melt them. Yes, exhaust hoses. They run from the "snail" outlets to the exhaust tips that run through the transom. You can use this hose here since the water running through the exhaust stream keeps everything cool. With the battery connected and fuel on I hit the key. She hit once and then died. I poured some gas down the carb and hit the key again. This time she fired up with a roar and the fuel filter filled up immediately. I checked timing, set it to 30* at 3K and then checked the carb. The main venturies leaked bad at anything above idle. Once I dropped the idle to below 1000rpm, they stopped leaking. The carb will get a rebuild this winter. I gave it a couple quick blasts of throttle to verify the secondaries opened and shut it down. I hooked up the exhaust hose and the regular hose and checked for leaks while the motor was running. Thankfully everything sealed and the manifold did their job correctly.

This past Saturday I finished installing the carpet and seats. I purchased the seats off a local jet boater and had to build the seat bases myself. This was a cut, trim, test fit, cut, trim, test fit, cut, trim, test fit, cuss; process. Once I was happy with the fitment I stapled on the carpet and bolted them down to the floor. These should really be glassed in, but for now, they'll be fine and they are solid. I lined up the seats on top and screwed them into the base. The outcome came out very clean for my first time and I'm very happy with it.


You can see the old radio opening that will eventually get filled with a CD/Sat ready headunit of some type and the new big red kill switch for the battery mounted on the back of the motor.

Final shot of the completed motor with the interior. It could stand a new coat of paint, but for now its Function>Form to work out any bugs before I make it all pretty. I had an engine doghouse with a scoop that covers the motor, but it needs a total repaint to match the rest of the boat. You can see alot of the plumbing here, new dist and a better shot of the exhaust manifolds.


I have a few more little things to do on the outside, but am looking to put it in the water this week. There's a Michigan Hot Boat meet in Irish Hills saturday so it'd be nice to have it on the water this time instead of the trailer.

[Elkidmino]

OCT 12th 2011

Boat ran awesome all weekend. I had it out Friday night, all day Saturday and again Monday night. Burned through about 10 gals with continous flogging to WOT. Boat runs 44mph with 2 dudes and an old english bulldog in the back seat. The packing is toast in the pump and it leaks quite a bit under power, small drip when off. I think there is a leak in the floor on the starboard side behind the front seat, I'll have to track that one down.

Anyway, pics from Wamplers!





It's to a point where I can pull it out of the garage and go run it anytime I want. It's not finished, but it's definately complete.