New guy, Newish Boat

Well the water warmed up and then the lake flooded to 17' over for the better part of two months... :(

Finally got down to the ramp sat and had a few issues. First it ran up to 180 or so i opened the engine hatch and putted back to the dock it cooled down to 165 on the way in. I had a new impeller ready to go (didn't swap last year since I only put 25 hours on it) so I swapped that out sunday morning. The one I pulled out looked to be in decent shape. Drove it again and it got up to 170-175 but never any hotter than that. Looked like it was pulling plenty of water through and the risers never got hot enough to not touch them. Since I'm in a warmer climate with warmer water is 175 acceptable? My of the hoses are new, the trans cooler didn't have any blockages, and the thermostat is the one that came with the motor.

Noticed when I pulled it out sunday that it had quite a bit more water in the bildge than it usually does when i pull the plug. Maybe a gallon or so. I was in a hurry so i had to cover it and go. I'm headed back this weekend and will look for leaks. The rudder and shaft packing are new as of last spring. I wonder if I have a leak somewhere in the cooling system? I will double check all of the hose clamps and take a flash light. I only ran it for 20-30 minutes and there were any wet people boarding so that shouldn't be the cause.

And pictures. Our dock washed up on the road and was in sad shape so we spent most of the weekend repairing and re-launching.

Wuss. Any open water froze over again serving as a reminder it's still winter.

This boat has come a long way, glad you got to enjoy it a bit.

I need to get off my rump and get this thread back to up to date...

I think we ended up around 30 hours for the summer which is pretty good all things considered.

Ended up Painting the Windshield Frame and Tinting the Glass Before I put it up for the cooler months here in texas.

This Springs Projects:
-New Bimini. I am going to order a towerbimini in the next month or so. I'd just like something with a little more coverage. Any thoughts on color? I'd love black for aesthetic appeal but I'm afraid it will fade fast and transmit more heat than a lighter color.
- Tune Up. I have a whole pile of parts from when I was going to build a motor that could find there way onto my new to me GT40. I have belts, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc. Part of me thinks if it isn't broke don't fix it. The boat ran great all last summer.
- Stereo- I know they aren't for everyone but i like a nice sounding boat. I'm not into tower speakers but I like good in cabin sound. I've got a JL 5 channel AMP and 10" sub that need to find a happy home.
- Little More Gel Love and Polish. The Bow Roller area is rough to say the least. I need to get started on it.
- Depth Finder. I picked one up and need to install.
- Hook Up Perfect Pass. Came with my motor but I still haven't messed with it.
- I've got 2x barefoot booms now, I need to figure out which one works best and get ready to teach my boy to ski.
- Trailer Add-Ons... I need to fab up a spare tire basket for the trailer. I've got room under the bow and I've never cared for the ones that clamp onto the rail.

Last Picture Before I took it back to the lake and put it in the barn.



Fits Good... This is actually the first time in the barn since we bought it. Rebuilt in my driveway at the M-F house and sat under the carport all summer.


And cleaned up the rafters to get all the equipment off the floor. The Lakehouse has been somewhat of a catch-all for the last 24 years.... Plenty of junk in the barn :)

10 Hours in and going strong.

Added some board racks to the tower and checked all the nuts and bolts July 4th weekend. Spent a few hours on our home lake as the road to the ramp was finally usable sunday right before we left. Ended up at another lake this past weekend for a buddies bachelor party and the boat was great all weekend. Only bad part was the neighborhood ramp was steeeeeep and that was a challenge. Especially when my set time in a direct drive boat is pretty limited.

Headed to Possum Kingdom this weekend with all the wifes family. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures now that she's pretty spruced up.

I've got a pretty good list of honey-doos for the boat when the weather cools off down here in about 3 months ;)

First Full weekend. Ran like an absolute champ. Only put about 2 hours on it total since it kept storming off and on. It keeps popping the Blower Breaker. Once reset it will function as it should until I start the motor and then it pops the breaker. I wired it in so I need to check my connections but anything else I should look for?

Saturday Morning.


With the Bosses Wife's Moomba. We had the cove to ourselves until after lunch when the first round of storms blew in.

The lake hasn't been full in 4-5 years and now it's 5' over full pool as of this morning.

If you decide to go with 2 batteries - (Not sure if the bow dimensions are identical) but it is possible to squeeze 2 batteries into the bow battery location (pic of early 2002 Super Air)

Haha. My (soon to be) in laws are super nice to me as well. Doesn't stop me from complaining when I have to make a trip out there during boating season

I might be the exception to the rule. My in-laws spoil me rotten so I'm not complaining.

Have the boat back with a new Hatch Skin and all aligned and ready to go.

-I Put the interior back in and wired up the new speakers
- Installed a new Blower and Hose.
-Picked up some new trailer wheels and tires yesterday.
- Installed a new fire extinguisher


We are going to the in-laws this weekend but when we get home sunday I'm going back over my list a few times to make sure I'm ready to lake test

During the lake test I'm going to replace the bow roller. Picked up a non-makring roller today.

Assuming all goes well I'm going to finish up the ballast stuff and start using it!

In my IO I carried around a jump starter after I added an amp and 4 more speakers. I never needed to use it. However, I did eventually go with a second battery setup after my kids hit the teenage years. Teens seem to need music like I need margaritas.

In the SN2001 I just play to use a blue tooth speaker. I may even remove the stereo if this works out. I just don't see a great solution for mounting speakers. Thus, I shouldn't need a second battery.

I have been hearing great things, though about these now smaller lithium jump starters. That would be nice versus the larger jump pack I carried around with me.

Trey, your boat is looking great. I look forward to hearing how that engine performs on the water. Hopefully you got the perfect pass all set up too.

malibud wrote: Looking good. Kinda a deja vu. did the same thing last year with my 97' sport. getting the trans/ engine lined up is the hardest thing to do. on the blower mine just screwed into the side of one of the mounts. As far as a battery I try to keep one in the bow. it will fit under the seat in mine

Funny, I dropped it off at the local nautique dealer monday to have them align everything. It was the only part I didn't feel comfortable doing. They are doing it for very cheap since the interior and floor is still out and the fuel cell isn't bolted down so the strut bolts are still easily accessible. Having them double check our work while they are at it.

Looking good. Kinda a deja vu. did the same thing last year with my 97' sport. getting the trans/ engine lined up is the hardest thing to do. on the blower mine just screwed into the side of one of the mounts. As far as a battery I try to keep one in the bow. it will fit under the seat in mine

Wrong terminology... Circle holes not triangles

So now that we have ourselves a running vessel.

Next Few Items:

I have the blower hose just sitting next to the motor and a new blower ready to wire up. Anybody with a 2000 vintage DD GT-40 have a foto of where it's mounted. Some of the pictures I've seen look like it mounts on one of the engine plates.

Battery or Batteries: Single Battery in the stock location thus far. My I/O I installed a Perko Switch with a Battery Maintainer and Two Batteries. Anybody able to stick two batteries in the stock location? Am I over thinking things with two batteries? We are no longer party cove people so it's not going to sit with the stereo on for hours on end. I will add a sub and at least one amp at some point. That and we generally bring my little bose bluetooth radio to the lake with us.

Ballast: Tanks are out and most of the new stuff is plumbed and wired. There is a new fill pump wired to the stock Keypad switch that works great. All of the hoses and fittings are new as well. I have two 800 gph drain pumps attached to the bags that replaced the tanks but I haven't wired them in yet. Will the stock wiring and keypad switch hold up to two pumps? I could always run another switch if needed.



Other stuff/ short term before this season starts:

-Trailer needs new tires badly. I think I will just buy wheels and tires as the clear is peeling on chrome something awful and it's actually cost effective to buy both. I really like the colored ramlin wagon wheels. I think black wheels with a chrome ring would look awesome. Plus my truck is 100% black.

http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=35107&title=ramlin-vin-anyone

- New Rollers. I have them sitting in a box I will replace them the first time we launch the boat.
- Put all the Interior Back in and install the remaining 3 speakers in stock locations... I cleaned up the interior as best I could. For this season I'm ordering a new sun deck and the rear seat bottom. The rest of it I will live with until next winter. I picked up 4 Alpine SPS-M600s and made some HDPE rings to stand them off a bit. I've already installed them on the gunnel pads I just need to re install all of that mess.




Long Term:
- Tower Powder Coat is flaking around the mounting plates. I would like to pull the tower and have it re-powdered next winter.
- Windshield Frame: The Paint is like most of this vintage and missing in places. I've touched it up but I might bite this bullet this winter and remove/paint the whole thing. I'm scared sensless of braking the glass. And I'm going to get it tinted... Had it done on my I/O and loved it.
- Trailer Paint or Powder: I fixed the rust with touch ups but the white I used doesn't match the sun baked white on the trailer. I might strip the trailer next winter and have it completely painted or powder coated.
-Stereo: The previously mentioned Sub and Amp(s) plus a transom remote.
- Trailer Brakes: This trailer has drum surge brakes that don't even have lines ran anymore.. I'm researching going to a disc brake axle.
- Trailer Springs: The Springs are pretty worn out and the bushings are toast. As cheap as they are at the trailer place down the street it makes sense to replace. I might do this sooner than later.