1955 CC Hurricane Restoration

Can you imagine someone taking a tree and making it into something as beautiful as that ..

Work speakers have no sound (thanks windows 8) but I will give her a listen when I get home!!

Alan,
WOW!! Sweat sounding!
Don't let that trans problem go too long. I'd hate to see you warp the clutch plates. I have a feeling nothing was ever done to the trans. Y hate to say this but you may need to pull it. If you can't find a clutch pack for it, the plates can be lapped. I have a feeling some are warped.

What a beautiful machine and what a sound Alan!
Looking forward to the updates on the trans and power issue. Please please please keep documenting every step as you did in the rest of this thread... Always a great read with a nice cup of coffee

81nautique wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: Alan, WOW!! Sweat sounding! Don't let that trans problem go too long. I'd hate to see you warp the clutch plates. I have a feeling nothing was ever done to the trans. Y hate to say this but you may need to pull it. If you can't find a clutch pack for it, the plates can be lapped. I have a feeling some are warped. Pete I don't believe that's the case, not yet anyway. I really think the 1/2" pipe from the shirt lever back to the trans is just bending under pressure when I try to engage forward. There is evidence of supports on the stringers I assume that would have kept it from deflecting under a load. I'm going to pull the floor and take a closer look but I hope that's all there is to it. The clutch needs at least one more notch but I can't get it to knuckle in with the deflection in the pipe. I'm pretty certain if I remove that it will lock in. Do you recall if the shift pipe on your Atom is supported or free hanging?

Alan,
The Atom sure is shorter but yes, there are a couple supports for the pipe. They are simply plywood with clearance holes it keep the shift pipe from bending. On the launch I'm doing, I actually need to use 3/8" galv. pipe due to engine to hull/stringer clearance issues. There will be a couple supports but of coarse they will be solid wood since they didn't have ply back then!

M3Fan wrote: Alan, did you give that ACME a shot?

Sure did and it ran nice and smooth but I wasn't able to really determine if it's enough prop for the boat since I couldn't open it up and get a tach reading. I suspect I need a bit more pitch, I'm going to pull it and get it back to you, thanks for the trial.

M3Fan wrote: Truly no hurry. Borrow it until you get things figured out or until I hit a log. Whichever event occurs first.

Awesome, a couple more weeks then as I'm going to try to get the trans and linkage adjusted and get one more water test in this year. Stay away from those logs.

just awesome...can't wait to go for a ride next week!

The videos made my day, maybe my week. The Hurricane is art at the speed of fun.

Well summer of 2014 was a pretty good one for the Hurricane. Starting in March and ending with a Classic Boat show in September the Hurricane logged over 7000 miles touring several Correctcraftfan events. Due to my hand injury she didn't even run when we dragged her down to Florida but progress was made at each subsequent outing. By the end of the summer "most" of her bugs were worked out and we had a fairly dependable boat.

I've got a pretty big to do list this winter and started on the first project which is to add some HP and get some more throttle response out of the motor.

A disclaimer for the purist, rest assured all changes being made to the motor are reversible in the event I ever sell the boat it can be put back stock but for the sake of "I just can't leave stuff alone" I am diving into some minor motor upgrades.

I've spent a considerable amount of time researching and most importantly talking to several first gen Hemi builders and aftermarket suppliers and with some basic bolt on items they're certain we can add in the range of 40-50 hp and also increase the operating rpm limit from 3800 to 4400 without any issues at all. The stock bottom end is stout enough to exceed that and the current 3800 max was being limited by the tiny carbs and intake.

So those 2 single barrel carbs look so cool but they really are dogs in the performance department so off they go.


They will be replaced by an aluminum high rise intake and an edelbrock 600 cfm marine carb. The manifold is out at the machine shop now having the carb base milled on an angle to get the carb closer to level. I was going to simply add a wedge plate but engine bay hatch clearance is an issue. I've never run an edlebrock carb before but didn't think the Holley would look quite right on this motor, a Carter would have been more appropriate and the Eddy resembles the carter in looks.



Replacing the manifold creates an issue with the thermostat housing as it's integral to the manifold in stock form, the new manifold doesn't have any provision for the thermostat.    In the end, this is good thing because if you recall I've had to bypass the original stat to get the motor to cool. What I'm having built now is a remote thermostat housing that will resolve the cooling issue. This is done quite often in the Hemi Hot Rod scene so I just had to adapt the housing to work with my marine cooling system. Photos in a few weeks when it's completed.

Next will be an ignition upgrade, Hot Hemi Heads makes a replacement distributor drive shaft that replaces the original and then allows you to use any Chrysler small block Distributor. A new marine EI unit will be dropping in.

While everything is apart I pulled the valve covers and retorqued the head bolts and checked valve lash as this motor has solid lifters.

I'll be fabricating new throttle linkage while the machine work is being done, then paint everything to match the rest of the motor before assembly so more progress photos as it all comes together.

More power and fully reversible... Hard to argue with that!

I'm excited to see this thing pull a barefooter or 2.

Morfoot wrote: Pete's gonna have a coronary over this one. ]

TRBenj wrote: More power and fully reversible... Hard to argue with that!

Alan,
When you adjusted the valves, was lots needed due to wear?

Next thing will be a Monster Tower with board racks LMAO..

What,,,,,, you can take it off !!!!

Alan
So many wood boats are built for show. Your upgrades are a testament that yours is a gorgeous boat built to be used. Just awesome. Do you think you will need to re-prop to get 4400 RPM or will the extra horsepower and RPM 's balance?

OverMyHead wrote: Alan So many wood boats are built for show. Your upgrades are a testament that yours is a gorgeous boat built to be used. Just awesome.

At the Lake Geneva Show I was bored out of my mind so I started taking total strangers (with good looking girlfriends) for boat rides. I took 4 groups of people out for their first ride ever in a wood boat. That was pretty cool and made attending the show worthwhile.

The wood boat crowd keeps asking the question of how do they get more people involved in the hobby. I think it's pretty simple, take people for rides and show them how affordable and fun it really can be. It's really a shame that most of the boats are left tied up all day. People are dying to hear them start up let alone get a ride but most just sit there getting the spots wiped off with vinegar water for the judges. Needless to say the Hurricane did not get judged. LOL

I got a letter in the mail the other day from Classic Boating magazine with a photo of the boat saying they tried to catch up with me all day but never did, they've invited the Hurricane back next year to participate in a Saturday morning photo shoot. That sounds like fun so I'll return and after the photos give some more boat rides.

I had my first ride wooden boatc ride at GL 2013(not in the Hurricane like I hoped ) I pulled the owners kids wake boarding with my 89 and after was offered a ride in exchange. What a thrill. You are right rides and fly bys should be a large part of these events after the judging. Who would go to an airshow if all the planes stayed grounded?