Another BFN Rebuild

Sounds like a good plan. Same way for the skier?

Tim, With all these boats and their diagrams and spreadsheets I think it's time you hire a full time assistant.



Where do I submit my resume?!

Forget spell check, I need to get Hollywood check before I post!

Tim, I tried to find my composite training manual but couldn't find it. I did talk to the instuctor and he was gonna try and dig one up for me.
We discussed different applications of the forementioned and this is what DAL uses for most of the composite work done around here.

Microballoons - Used as a filler and for bonding honeycomb core to the base of structural panels. (ie:for bonding stringers to the floor)


Cabo-sil - primarily used to thicken resin in applications. Used for fillers as well.

Milled Fibers - Used to repair small areas of damage in composite parts. The strength from all layups is satuation of epoxy to your cloth. Compression too is key it provides a tighter bond between plies.

I didn't see any tongue depressors on your list or a wallpaper roller like Greg mentioned. Also Solo cups work great for mixing resins and additives. I'm guessing you can find thenm at walmart, Sams or BJ's.

GUY"S:........

Harbor Freight does carry the paint brush's by the box... Cheaper than USC.

They did not have the mixing cups. I bought a sleeve of 50 1 quart mixing cups from USC .. They are marked on the edge for easy measuring. After I mixed foam in them I wiped them out with a rag, then washed inside with acetone for reuse.

Mix the Resin in the same containers and after they sit and dry, the left over residue will pop right out for reuse.

I have already used 200 disposable latex gloves (Harbor freight carries them) I have used probably 50 of the brush's. I just throw them away.

I found that the tounge depressors are a little small for mixing in a quart container... I bought some of the mixing sticks from USC.. just wipe them off and reuse.

Hope this helps some others as they decide what materials to buy making their project easier to manage.

dennis

Dennis, Andy- great info- thank you. I agree that brushes only get one use and are then junk. Ive got a lot of latex gloves left over from my last stringer job, thankfully. If the stuff is available locally for similar prices (or cheaper) then it doesnt make sense to ship them from Florida!

Not a whole lot going on with the rebuild lately, but the material orders have now been placed! I went with 6 sheets of Coosa- (1) 3/4" B26, (4) 1/2" B26 and (1) 1/2" B20. Hopefully it will leave us with enough material to build the interior panels, etc. Daryl from Hamilton Marine in Searsport, ME hooked me up with a decent discount, so we're looking at under $1500 shipped to our door.

I dont believe anything changed from the last glass order I posted. We removed the talc, and added the mixing cups back in, as H-F didnt have them and Home Depot was 50% more expensive. H-F did have brushes and all the other ancillary materials though. With any luck, US Composites will have the stuff to my door sometime next week.

I have a few other projects keeping me busy, but Dad did pull the engine apart far enough to identify the pistons. Turns out we've got some huge domed slugs that give us a CR of 10:1. Thats good news, as it should respond well to a cam upgrade. Still doing my research here, but worst case, we're looking at having our current cam reground. I will report back with what I find for all the BBC fans. Should be good for about 450hp, maybe a bit more with an exhaust upgrade.

With the weight loss and power increase, 60 is the goal... should be close. All of our boats ran exceptionally strong at Lake George- until that 58.5 run we'd only seen 55-56.x consistently at home.

Here's a piston shot. These, the heads and intake basically make this a pieced together version of the 425hp GM LS6 crate motor (minus the cam).

How about the idea of running c16 in a secondary fuel tank this summer in the BFN

Nothing wrong with the engine per se, but there was no way we were going to have it out of the boat and not open it up to see what we had. We ran a compression test, pulled the casting numbers off everything and are inspecting everything we can. The only thing we havent done yet is is to pull the oil pan and inspect the bottom end. Everything else so far looks great.

Heres what we found:

-The intake originally came on the 1968-69 HO 396 and 427 motors rated at 425hp.
-The rectangle port heads are one of the more common GM HO heads, again usually found on 425hp crate engines.
-The pistons give the package 10:1 compression.
-The block may be original to the boat. The casting number isnt definitive but we think its a 2-bolt not a 4-bolt.
-We havent measured, but everyone I talk to seems to think we've still got the original 330hp RH cam in it.

Long story short, its a far cry from the 330hp stocker, which had about 8.2:1 compression matched to peanut port heads. It was probably pieced together by a previous owner, but it was likely rebuilt as there arent many pieces left with the OMC blue paint. I still think our original 400hp estimate is pretty close- once we pull the cam we should be able to confirm that. The best news is that less than $500 in parts should get us another 50hp or so.

Bruce, compression is good. If the bottom end looks as good as the top, then I doubt we'll touch it. We're not looking to do extra work... just checking for obvious problems while its out. So far so good. We have the means to pull it should it ever have an issue, but its not something we're looking to do on an annual basis.

My coosa order didnt come in as expected, and only half my US Composites stuff showed up on Fri... so no progress to report. The next 2 weekends will be quiet, so dont expect much until March!

What a nice clean canvas to start with. I wish I could get mine to look like that. Doesn't matter really, but sheesh. You eat off the hull in there.
Interesting on the trailer sag. I don't really know what mine sagged once off the trailer, but it changed several measurements and just the spacing was obvious. We still supported it but did set part of the weight on the bunks. Every thing fit better.

Keeganino wrote: Looks great Tim! I think I am going to lift up the rear and flex the gap in the back, the hole from the bottom. I am looking a little thin there after grinding and thought some extra build up might be a good thing.

Tim....Question for you regarding the old foam in your boat. Was it evenly saturated with water, or did you find it was more saturated toward the front or rear of the boat? Was any foam completely dry?

Just trying to get a feel for what to expect if I decide to replace the foam in my boat.

Thanks!

Dave