Another BFN Rebuild

Tim, sorry to clobber up your thread with talk of the 70mph legend. If I remember correctly, it had a custom cam and a shot of nos. It has been scaled back since being given to the son so I'm sure we will never see 70mph again.    

storm34 wrote: If I remember correctly, it had a custom cam and a shot of nos. It has been scaled back since being given to the son so I'm sure we will never see 70mph again.

It would take quite a bit more than a custom cam and a shot of nitrous to push that boat to 70mph! Like Alan said, the engine details were never shared- but you can see the big (750+ CFM) carb, fancy ignition system, etc. I believe Bill sold off a few of the props he used too- small diameter 2 and 3-blade steel wheels, if I remember correctly. I would expect that he probably tweaked the hull too- and maybe the engine placement, driveshaft angle, etc. Probably a moot point now since all the goodies are gone and that boat will never be the same again... though it would be nice to hear some theories on what it would take to push a CC hull that fast.

Jeff, both Rex and Eddie Marine sell 4" SS tips.

We'll be dethawed next month, how's that bilge looking?

looks like the "newspeak" on George Orwell´s "1984" Book..LOL..

Bump, how about some photo updates. Can't wait to see how this one turns out

bbishop1974 wrote: hey tim,going back a little w/my question but iwas at the boat show last weekend and got to see a sample of coosa(which the guy pronounced cooska?).i was wondering if you did anything or plan to do anything special in regards to the mounting to your swim platform?in joes thread he mentioned it stripped easily when installing the floor.iam sure you have a plan,i apoligize if i missed it.thanks

Were you able to hook up with the other CCF guys? The Boston boat show is always a good time- wish I didnt have to miss it this year.

I didnt specifically discuss what we did on the platform brackets, but you can see some of the work we did on the transom. We added coosa backers (which were bedded down and then glassed in with cloth and biax) everywhere hardware came through- which includes the platform bracket bolts and exhaust tips. The original configuration did not have any backers at all, with 2 bolts at the top and a single screw at the bottom. We drilled out the bottom hole in the bracket to 3/8" and used the same bolts for all 3. We put decent sized fender washers on all of them.



Its worth noting that the factory lags did not just lag into the fiberglass- but also the foam that was behind it. By leaving the pockets in the rear, we're able to access all the hardware that you couldnt with the factory set up.

As far as screwing into Coosa goes, we havent done any of that yet. The entire structure has been glassed and/or bedded together with thickened resin. We did glass the underside of all the floor panels, with extra layers around the front section where the seat frames will secure. Coosa does not hold a screw like wood, but laminating both sides will help them hold.

We've made a little bit of progress over the last few weeks, and I finally managed to take some pictures yesterday.

I was able to find a well used/rotten/broken fiberglass seat pedestal from Christine's. It was exactly what I was looking for- a little bit of grinding, followed by glass and reinforcement will make this much stronger than it was originally. Once I fair out the top side, Ill gelcoat it white.

Cracks/damage ground out, holes filled, glassed from behind:





Reinforced with (bedded) coosa:



Glassed over:



We also spent some time building the side pockets. The new ones will be all fiberglass and coosa, rather than wood. They will be glassed to the boat prior to carpeting. The original driver's side pocket was used as a template, and like I mentioned earlier, we're adding a second mirrored pocket on the observer's side, just like Grinch did. Both will get cupholders.

Assembled and bedded:



Glassed on the back side:





We're still toying with how we're going to finish mounting the gas tank, but we've got it started.



The cradle is also in. We also test fit the pylon one last time and drilled out the 4 holes at the baseplate.





The control cables, steering cable and wiring harness have been fed through the conduit. The bracket we're using for the steering clamp block still needs to be finished, but its close. Had an issue with the longer throw cable- it extends past the end of the clamp tube before it hits the positive stop. Im guessing I may need a longer clamp tube for the oddball cable? The one in there now is the standard 10.5" one... anyone have a 2001 ('82-90) apart that could check how long theirs is? I may need to put a call in to Woody.

Also, the majority of the carpet glue has been scraped off the walls and the carpet has been rough cut. Once the pockets are glassed in, carpet will go in next.

Oh, and one thing that surprised us. We removed the vinyl from the motorbox, as we need to widen it to fit over the new manifolds. We discovered that it is not a bare glass box, but actually gelcoat (white)! This seems very strange to me, as this box was specific to the BFN, and Ive never seen a bare box in one of these. The vinyl covered box that was in my Ski Tique was not gelcoated under the vinyl... weird. The plan right now is to split and widen the box, plus make it a few inches taller. Instead of recovering it right away, we're going to try to match the gel and run it bare for a while.

M3Fan wrote: Amazing. Is GL a realistic target?

Geez, I sure hope so. I was thinking we're only a few weeks away, even at our snails pace.

Electric engines will be the trend before Tim and his Dad are done. They'll be dropping a 1.21 giggawatt motor in it to complete the job.

Seriously though, looks great, Tim.

Ken

Ken, Hollywood, relax. We'll finish this boat when we're good and ready!

Today I spoke with Woody (SECC), Luke (N3) and Tommy (White Lake) about my steering cable / clamp tube issue. They all thought I was crazy! (Just like I thought I was when the end of the cable fell out of the tube at full travel.)   HOWEVER, David from White Lake was able to confirm that Correct Craft made longer clamp tubes for the long throw cables ('82-90). Teleflex called me back and confirmed that CC made them in house. At least Im not crazy! Unfortunately, that's a custom CC part that is NLA. One more call to Don in FL and he's got a used longer (13" vs. 10.5") clamp tube headed my way. Another hurdle cleared.

Don also mentioned that he made the same cable swap on his '79 BFN... which, by the way, has a 460 capable of pushing the boat to 55mph. Pretty cool!

Ha, pretty cool BJ. Yup, I was afflicted from an early age... there was never much hope for me!

Tim, What's the plan for the pockets? Are you going to cut some portholes in them and have a little storage in the lower half?

ps. Nice shiny cradle,

those look like nice speaker boxes to me.

Engine is all you should need to listen to in that classic.

What's up with the fishing seat, where'd the fiberglass pedestal go?