73 Skier Restoration

Keeganino wrote: So put that in in before the floor and then glass the floor to that

Well, yes- thats an option. I would put the wood in the transom first and glass the secondary to it. Id actually leave the floor a bit short of the transom though. That will give you access to the back side of the platform brackets bolts- so you can through bolt them top and bottom instead of lagging them.

Got my feet wet today boys. 4.5 inch grinder with a diamond wheel.

I dont plan to leave any original wood in the boat. The rudder port was solid, but had a large water stain. All the more reason to take these guys advice.

Did not cut out the air box yet. Not looking forward to that at all.

This is me last year behind this boat, and that is why I am doing this. There is absolutely no way I could have ever dreamed of taking this project on without the help of You guys. Thanks a million!

Thanks I am motivated to get her finished as fast as I can. Being one of the smaller boats, it will be a lot easier to get around in there with the motor out for sure. I will keep "Chipping away"! I have a little over four months before the kids get out of school and they are expecting to spend long days on the lake and my wife expects to have the tan of tans by July.

130 days left till school gets out
Immediate goals
Foam removal- 3 days tops
Measure everything!- not going to get many, if any whole stringers out for templates. Luckily Jdiggs has some great blueprints.
Engine removal
Build jig to span beam for reference measurements.
Take photos
reread everything I have already read. Once you have been there all these threads make more sense.

Thanks I was really happy to actually get in there and do something. So far I have almost 300 pictures of this project. All the planning and documentation was necessary so I could wrap my head around this project. I will look at the air box part of pumpkin patch. People try to save that and put it back in?

Talked to my mechanic friend who is willing to barter me making him a website for his shop for pulling, storing, and painting my engine. Possibly replacing the rear main seal, definitely points and condensers. and all new hoses. Best part is we are doing it at 11am tomorrow morning!

Diggin foam this afternoon. People talk about how their foam was dry on top and wet on the bottom. Mine is wet right there on top. I am thinking the wake is not going to be nearly as big when I put it back together, but I bet it jumps out of the hole even faster than before.

I would defnintely replace the engine seals while you have it out. Otherwise your nice new shiny bilge is going to get full of oil. Guess how I know...
Consider your tranny seals too. Check your timing chain. Mine was loose and just a few bucks to replace. You are already there, and these are cheap easy things to do.

Bah, save your money on the conversion kit. Theres nothing wrong with points!

TRBenj wrote: Bah, save your money on the conversion kit. Theres nothing wrong with points!

I agree. If if it aint broke dont fix it. I plan to stick with P and C's. Since I am bartering for the work that gives me a bigger budget for the engine, or should I say- a budget. Supposedly this engine has never been rebuilt.   I will see what my mechanic thinks. He actually owned this boat for several years so he knows the engine very well. It ran well in November but as wake slayer mentioned, there was oil coming from somewhere, and I don't want that in the restored bilge. New seals are a great idea.

Unfortunately my stringers are not laid out like the ones in the blueprint. Notice the angle at the end of the (edit)secondary stringer.

You mean on the end of the main? Mine are blocks tacked on top of the mains with a piece of thin wood connecting them. Same thing in the front for the tabs for the kickboard. The tops of my actual stringers are straight.

Get the engine out, all the foam and post some more pictures. I'd like to see a better view of the secondaries.

solid advice and bad jokes? some of the best jokes ive read were on CCF

Got it Tim, thanks.