The Next Chapter Begins

The days that have lead to this point have been great, only minor setbacks
have been encountered. The first one showed up just after the wedding, when
one of my dock neighbors noticed that my bilge pump was cycling-- Often !
Too Often ! So back on the trailer we went , just for a day. Dennis , Ronnie
and myself  resealed the suspected source, "The Mercathode units" and back 
in the water we go. And "Voila" !!!! no drips ---- Sweet.

In doing all the work inside and outside the boat, some smaller issues that
came to light were just put on a separate list and held for a future date.
These are not earth shattering repairs, with most of them, the time to get the
tools collected and site prepared will take longer than the repairs themselves. 
The small repairs are not keeping us from using the boat at all.
So lately we have had the pleasure to make some short trips around
the Alton pool,  we well experienced captains know this area as Alton Lake. 
That's for real and you can check me on that.
Matter of fact on the Missouri side just above My River Home is an old harbor
called Alton Lake Yacht Club , some friends of mine kept a small Gibson
house boat there years ago. Which brings me to say that in our recent
travels I have also had the pleasure of meeting some of you. Our last outing
included a stop at the Larosa Cabana ( rapidly becoming one of our favorites)
where we were greeted by Mike Hentrik  ( hope that's right) who like us, 
likes the the Larosa and introduced himself as someone who has read us since the 
beginning. Mike  you have no idea how flattered we are and really hope that we
see you again. As we stretch our nautical legs a little more each time we go out
our trust factor in the Fuelishness increases as does our satisfaction in a job
well done.

The Fuelishness is behind the band at the courtesy dock of the "Larosa Cabana Bar"

There is so much I could say about a job well done.
Which brings some interesting points to light. First let me say that I'm not 
some self made expert or dock side know -it - all. Heck I'm not even Captain Ron.
But like many of you "or at least the ones who know who Captain Ron is", i'd like 
to be Captain Ron, minus the sailboat anyway. We all know the value of a job done
well , and what is a job well done? I think we all might answer that question a
little differently,I mean that each of us may see a difference in the comfort level given. 

Well anyway I must say that I have truly learned a lot about all things marine during 
the past months. A couple of points that have came up really hit home and I figured
that I would share them with you. 

The first point is trust, yes trust. Its a given in our sport. We must trust the vendors 
who we spend money with. Face facts guys ,if you don't trust the people you are spending
your money with , why are you spending your money with them? Talk to fellow boaters,
get references, look at work that was done for other people, be objective. Because once the 
money is spent its real hard to get it back. When I was a little kid at the store my dad he 
always said "Son - choose well -- cause you cant spend that money twice" 
Either way its good advise.

The last point is to me the most obvious and probably the easiest one to make life simple.
Look at the work and ask questions about it , and  require intelligent answers to your 
questions. Learn a little something about the work your asking for, (ie do your homework)
so your questions have substance. But I cant stress this enough,,, Look at the work, do a visual 
inspection. This is where my hardest lesson was learned. Before my boat went in the 
water I should have said "STOP" don't launch it !!! I want to see the work. 
Once it went in the water the work was hidden from sight. We are not boating in the 
Bahamas, we cant put on a mask and inspect the bottom or drives or any underwater gear.
How is that relevant to anything ?
When it came out of the water it was extremely obvious that things were a miss. 
I guess what I'm saying is Stevie Wonder couldn't miss this. A visual inspection would have
created questions that would have required answers and corrections, I firmly believe the
out come would have been different, The long term effect anyway.  Enough about that.

I have had a great time with Suzanne re-creating the Fuelishness  and If you asked me if 
I would do it again I would say yes. 


Up Next :  Lets just go Boating  
     
    
     

        

A Boat Wedding ???

The shakedown cruise proved to be a great evening with the guys,
Now we have Dustin listed as one of the guys, WOW I feel old.
But that's OK . Dustin is really a great young man . Dennis I'm sure
is proud. For those who don't know Dustin , he's Dennis' son and being 
just one year older than my own son Dylan I can relate , It's always
great to have either of the boys along for the ride. 
So as I mentioned in my earlier post it was a dual duty shakedown and
since the boat felt good and the spot was perfect, I sure seems that it's
game on. Or in this case wedding on!
After washing and provisioning the boat on Friday afternoon we excitedly 
waited for the wedding moment to be upon us. Now you must understand 
that I didn't rebuild the Fuelishness for this task, but since the timing was
right ,it was time to stand and deliver. 
Saturday came and Wedding day was here !!! Suzanne and I slipped into
our finest boating attire and headed for the boat. Many people were already 
at the marina and on J dock preparing for the moment. We boarded our guests
for the 4:00 cruise and cast off. Our mission now was to mark the spot and
gather the other boats around us. It wasn't long and we had a hook in the
bottom and boats tied to both sides several wide. In the distance we saw the
wedding boat approaching. The excitement began to build and in no time we
had the Cuda tied to the stern cleats of the Fuelishness.

This is the Cuda backing up to us with Capt Dave Wickenhauser at the controls.
By the way Dave made this look real easy, it wasn't , and being the pro that he is
he never let us see him sweat. Thanks Dave

So once we were all in place the wedding began with Judge  Grounds great statement
"Ladies and Gentleman, fellow Boaters" we are gathered here today !!!  Well you know the
rest and it was exciting, and maybe even a few tears of joy were shed. Personally I'm
very happy for my friend and his wife, I think they make a nice couple !!!!

                                  Truly a moment I was proud to share with my friends !!!

    Now with everyone happily married and Steel drum music in the background we
toasted to the newlyweds and bid them farewell as they cruised back to Alton Marina
for the reception.

  We took the long way home and went for a well deserved ride with a wonderful sunset
to follow, the time spent with friends is always the best.

It was a great night for boating and a wedding and we were treated to a 
drop dead killer sunset. Few things in life are as sweet as the time we spend 
with our friends. ( I know I said it twice). 
This does kind of bring us full circle and that gets me to a point that I wish 
to share some thoughts with everyone. 


Next Up :    The Next Chapter Begins  

                 

A Shakedown Cruise

Billy eased the Fuelishness back into the water, I fired the engines and
checked for leaks. Nothing appeared out of order and the sweet
humm of the supercharged 502's had the hair on back of my neck
standing on end. We all talked and waited as the engines temp
gauges crept ever closer to operating temprature, after a few
more minutes I did a final check and closed the engine hatch.
As I did I felt the boat slide fully off the trailer. We were now
floating free of the trailer and on our own, back in the element
from which we had came. I rounded up the crew and cast off.
As we headed out to the channel our mission was dual purpose
of sorts, our primary mission was to shakedown the Fuelishness
and find any weak spots in her armour that we needed to tweak.
But the secondary purpose we were out to fullfill was to find a 
beautiful spot in the river for my long time friend Dennis Berry
to get married, thats right married !!!  
So we cruised for a bit and Dennis pointed to spot in the river  that
we don't often stop at but has a great view of the bridge. I pulled 
the throttles back and we explored the area looking  for good depth
and slow current. We found what we all agreed would be the ideal
setting. I took some mental notes of land points as the plans we have 
for Dennis and Jessie's wedding include me being the first on scene
to mark the spot for others to gather. More on that later.
Right now I'm ready for a boat ride...

And I cant think of a better crew to have : Dennis and Dustin Berry 
with Ronnie Thorp manning the camera.
             
Join us for the shakedown ride---click the link below---Courtesy of Ronnie Thorp
 https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=522501287826790&set=vb.100002007693402&type=2&theater

It was a great day !!!!

Up Next : A Boat Wedding ???

Take me to the River

The day wore on and problems seemed small after the garage door affair.
Small things came and went all day ,like zippers on the Bimini top that
 just gave up due to age. Thank god for Paul Buntenbach, after the first
zipper split open I called him and he came down and stitched them closed
so we could use the top. Paul is the upholstery person we used to create
our custom Tommy Bahama bedding and pillows. Paul is super talented
and is capable of doing just about anything and is best known for custom
enclosures and his EisenGlass work is second to none.
At the end of the day around 5pm Billy came back and we started our trek
to the river, Ron Thorp joined us and helped out strapping the boat to the 
trailer. 

The way Billy had the Fuelishness strapped down you would have thought we going
to Lake of the Ozarks. When I questioned Billy about this and if it was over kill, he
responded that it makes no difference if its 5 miles or 500 miles, the process is the same.
I seem to always learn something new and this day would be no different, Billy
explained to me that if the boat was snug on the trailer not only is it safer, but the
trailer flex is reduced and the possibility of failure is also minimized. After the fact
I realized that the answer is really pretty obvious. " Here's your sign " .

So strapped and ready to roll here we are. The moments to come will be some of the
happiest and proudest in a long time. People often opine that the 2 happiest days
of a boat owner are the day you buy one and the day you sell one. I must say that
today does qualify as one of those happy days in a boaters life. Between all of  us and
for lack of better words, we will add "the day you relaunch one" and say there
are 3 days involved.
So we hit the road for a 15 minute ( If that) drive to the marina.

On the way to the marina I followed the Fuelishness and during the ride I thought
about all the time and effort that went into the project and the new people we met during
the reconstruction. I wondered if the boat would be somehow transformed and different.
When we got to the marina and Billy backed me into the water I got my answer.



Up Next : A Shake Down Cruise


  

                 
 
 

Launch Day - All Day

Launch day started early, around 8:30 am I think it was when the Truck
rolled into the parking lot and proceeded to align with the trailer.
In thought , Billy and I had figured that pulling out was no big deal,
We figured the big deal was getting in. (Calling to mind "a very Lucky Guess")
from almost the very beginning of the blog. What was to happen next would 
surely go down in history as one of my most head scratching moments ever.
Billy backed in and hooked up to the trailer , he and I are talking and
laughing in a very light hearted way as we begin to slowly creep the 
Fuelishness ever closer to the outside. As the windshield passed under the 
garage door opening the arch scraped the brackets that attach the 
garage door to the opener, I yelled to Billy to stop. 
I looked at the top of arch , the scratch was minor but the confusion was 
beginning to mount, because when the boat came in the arch was nowhere 
near the opener. The light heartedness of the moment began to fade away
and be replaced by two guys looking at the arch which is now almost 4 inches
higher than the door opening. Yes that's right 4 inches too tall. How does this
happen? This is the same doorway we came through months ago and all we did
was bend the rain deflector and shazam we were in. What to do - What to do???
I'm beginning to sweat (really) thinking maybe we will have to lift the boat and
drop the trailer bunks , but we don't really have that much clearance from the
boat to trailer fenders. What to Do??  What to Do??
I'm kinda staring at the arch and standing on the side of the boat with my head
right up by the top of garage door, I mean I'm eye balling the heck out of this 
problem , like staring at it is going to make it go away. 
Then I hear billy ask one of my shop techs if they have a valve core tool. 
The slow hiss of air from the rear tires seems to make no difference and I begin to 
contemplate how we are going lift this boat. Billy asks about the height, I say
no change. The air hiss now begins from the center tires , we wait, I watch and
after a few minutes of that staring thing , I think its working --- maybe.
I move away from the arch and look over the side to check on the tires and talk
to Billy for a moment, He tells me to check the arch again as the tires are getting
prety low. Once I get up there and  look I'm shocked because it looks like we are
with in an inch to an inch and a half of clearing. Now as I watch I slide my hand
up on top of the arch, we are for sure with in an inch or less. Billy stops the
air flow of the rear tires and we wait for the centers to catch up, and as they do
we now have the arch just level with the opening.
We need another inch to inch and a half to clear all of it.
The rush of air starts again and now I can see the arch move quickly down to a 
point that I'm sure we will clear. Billy now locks off the valves and starts up the truck.
Slowly we creept out  , getting under the door easily. Once the arch was out we stopped
and re-aired the tires. 

                                     This shure beat lifting the boat and dropping the bunks.

So into the daylight we now rolled, this was the first time  the Fuelishness has been in
the sun in almost 2 seasons. All the buffing and waxing that looked good inside the
building would now be put to the final test. I have worked under the shop lights and
proofed everything with a sun gun, but how would I do under the real sunlight ???

I pondered this question as I climbed down out of the boat , walked slightly away
and turned to find that my hard work had paid off -- Big Time !!!
The Fuelishness has never looked this good the entire time we owned her.
                   

       


Next Up: Take me to the River

             

Launch Day

I could have sworn that I would have been able to post a little something
everyday, but not so. These last days have taken on a life of there own.
It seems that once the boat came out of the building the project intensity
really jumped up there, way up there. So I have decided that I will post this
short snippet so that you know that we have not abandoned the blog and
to also say that the Fuelishness is in her dock at Alton. We could not be happier.


Next Up: Launch Day - All Day       
    
   

The Final Days - Monday

The final days are upon us now and I will likely post everyday until
the "Fuelishness" is in her slip. The past days have been filled with 
feverish reassembly and final prep. Suzanne and I have tried our 
best to "Think it all Through" so we wouldn't be doing stuff twice.
Suzanne has gotten the cabin looking great and that part is now
off the list of need to finish items. Truth be told it'll never be really 
totally done as she will always be tweaking this or that, or adding this
or that as time goes on.
Some of the past days have been spent working on the drives and 
getting them back in shape. Dennis has outdone himself  with this part
of the project and I cant tell you how proud I am to be able to show you
the following photos. We all remember how bad the drives were and 
how devastateing  it was for us to deal with. 

        

     This was before

This is after

The difference is like day and night. The real difference is the care and quality

that has gone into the repairs and restoration of these drives. I'm not going to 

get up on a soap box and preach the word, but I firmly believe that we all would 

agree to the statement of  terms that you only get what you pay for and often we find 

ourselves paying dearly for less than professional quality. 

I have asked myself this question a hundred times, " Why would you put $12000.00

worth of hardware in  a known corrosive enviroment with out at least checking to see

if the factory provided countermeasures "Mercathode System" was in working condition?

And I have come up with a hundred different answers and 99 of them have a direct link

to non-professionality. The single take away that I might venture out to all my friends

would be to inspect with your own eyes the work you are getting. Many contributing

factors in my situation could have been seen with a simple inspection by me before

launch and corrected quickly and easily.

"And thats all I have to say about that" (Forest Gump 1994)

The real fun was last night as Bill Moyer came by and we loaded the Fuelishness on 

the trailer for her ride to river. There is no turning back now. 

These are the jacks we used to lift the boat and hold it up so we could get the trailer

under it ( 2 used on each side ) 

 These are the oak cubes that the " Fuelishness has been sitting on for the last year,
note the ropes looped around the cubes. When we raised the boat we used the ropes
to pull out blocks, because i'm not getting under the boat - no sir !!!

   

There ya go - cubes out, I had to add this shot . Thats 14000 Lbs of boat  kinda

hanging  in mid air sorta. This gives me the willies. It was no big deal to Billy,

he does this stuff all the time, he says you'll get used to it.

This pretty much says it all , "fits like a glove" . Heres the Fuelishness ready to roll.

Now I  have to get some fuel delivered and test run the engines, a final check and we

be getting the  " Fuelishness" to her new home at Alton Marina dock J-1. 

    

Next Up : The Final Days - Tuesday

See ya tommorrow !!

       

The Final Days 1

These final days are upon us and with them brings an element of excitement.
The weekend was spent refreshing the bottom paint and repairing the 
ragged waterline. After sanding the test section we realized that 
wrapping the entire boat in  plastic was the only answer to the mess that
was to come. It was kinda like ripping open a vacume cleaner bag and shaking
it, I'm sure Mike Roe would agree that this would qualify as a "Dirty Job".
 I had an unusual guest helper for this project and It was Suzanne. 
I have to tell you that of all the jobs for Suzanne to volunteer for this was the
dirtyest , nastyest , funkyest thing on my list and yet I heard no complainants 
about anything. " I think Suzanne wants to go boating -- BAD!" 
She even took on the worst two spots on boat, the exhaust pockets, and
kicked  there asses.

I'm being honest these exhaust pockets were full of thick, cracked,  anti-fouling 
that looked like someone put it on with a sock. I was  impressed when she asked
if this was OK . I was real impressed when we painted them.

This is  a shot from the stern, prepped wrapped and ready to be painted. It was
late when we finished on saturday night. So we washed out the dust and decided 
that we would paint it sunday morning.       

I think this part impressed me the most about Suzannes prep job, I'll bet these exhaust
pockets didnt look this good when the boat was built. Check off another thing that has 
bugged me for a long time. 

On monday morning we  got a visit from Xtreme Carpet Cleaners of  Granite City they 
were recomended by a friend who is in the carpet business and he just could'nt  say enough
nice stuff about these guys. After seeing the job they did on my cabin carpets it'll be 
me who also can't say enough nice things about Xtreme Carpet Cleaners. These folks
specialize in stain removal and they are absolute magicians.         

     Before

After

These guys did a great job on the carpets and  cabin is now complete , I have some

small issues in the dash to correct and some outdrive work to finish up on and

I'll be looking  for a ride to the river. The next few days should be interesting

as far as final inspection and last minute details.

Next up : Final Days 2  

Details - Details - Details

Another week has passed and the river is looking more and more friendly
to launch the boat. The outdrive that we are waiting for will have a tracking number
as of  tomorrow and it will be a relief to be able to keep an eye on its shipping  progress.
The dash is completely in and is really very complimentary to all the other changes
and upgrades. We did add a couple of small details as we final assembled the dash
and that was indicator lamps for power  for the Ipad and Iphone power station and
ventilation blower as well as the fire suppression systems. I am most pleased by the fact that
I did fix something that has never worked in the boat since the day we bought it.
That is the light strip that glows through the dash and lights up the toggle switch
function strip, that has always bugged me and I'm glad it's fixed. 
The interior is fully in and Suzanne has begun the task of cleaning and detailing 
the interior. Digging a years worth of dust out of the nooks and crannies will not be
a  quick job.  It is a job that we are thrilled is here as it means that completion is at 
hand. 
Dennis and Matt have rebuilt the gimbals replacing the continuity cabling and bushings,
steering pivot pins, upper seals, bell housing pivots and a whole huge box of gaskets and 
seals. These guys do great work, it's so hard to find this kind of quality in workmanship 
these days.  

I'm sure you remember how awful these gimbals  were before Dennis started on them
here we are now waiting for drives, these are so nice it's almost a shame to put them 
in the river. But the river is our playground and things that go in the river don't always
come out the way you put them in. This kind of quality work sure gives underwater
components a fighting chance.

Several months ago I started the dash project and it too is now finished and I just couldn't 
be more satisfied. With all the electronics in place the dash has a newer more contemporary  
look and the added plus that several items that were broken and didn't work , some never
did are now repaired and off my list of things to do.

       
So the final things yet to come are drives , props , freshen up the waterline edge,
a massive detail job including a final coat of wax and Billy with the trailer as we have
now set our sights on late week , next week for launch, weather permitting and
river levels allowing.   

Several small items are left to finish once the boat is in her slip at Alton. 

But it is just Details-Details-Details , and it's the labor we love.


Next Up: The Final Days  
    

Every Little Thing

Last week was a week of sorting out all the unfinished details. The time  was
needed and well used, decisions have been made and a plan has emerged.
With time slipping away (boating season) Suzanne and I have decided that we 
will run the gauge panels that we have for now and revisit this issue in the fall
or in the off season. Dennis and I are on a mission for upper drive gears. My
job is to clean and paint the gimbal housings, as well as the bell housings and
steering forks. Once done we will be reassembling drives and doing final cleaning 
add some touch up paint at the waterline and we should then be making preparations
to go to the water. ( Sounds easy ? ) ( ha-ha)

In the meantime I still have a list of every little thing that you can imagine.

It all ranges from carpet cleaning to test running  the engines. With a whole lot
of little things in between.

So here we go to the home stretch and to the wire, hang on friends it's going to be close.

Wow, got a little carried away didn't I ? I suppose that this whole project has become 
something of a very long car ride and now we're in that slap happy state that we find
ourselves in at the end of the trip.That is pretty much my condition now. 

            

As you can see from the photos above its a lot of little things and the little things make a

huge difference to me . The top photo is a light fixture that was problematic forever and 

is now being replaced. 2nd photo down is the cabin carpet , it's pretty dirty from  all the foot 

traffic during the headliner replacement, I'd say its borderline at best but we will see.

Last but not least are two photos of the antifouling on my boat, the uneven lines and 

lack of sanding at the top edge has always drove me nuts. I have to say that it seems 

to me that if you do bottom paint and all that shows is the 2" inches above the 

waterline you should be sure as anything  that those 2" are as perfect as possible.

Nice sharp lines and well sanded would be a good start. 

I almost started getting up on my soapbox, but rather I'll just post my work photos of 

the repaired line and the quality that I expect will be no greater than my own capabilities. 

PS : Oldman river has seen fit to give me another week or so of work time as the river level

has been dropped in anticipation of  increased volume from the upper pool. I not sure 

about you but where I'm from that's  preparing for highwater and highwater is a flood. 

Well we all hope thats not the case.

    

Next Up : Details -- Details -- Details  

  

      

Tough Decisions

There are times in our lives when the stars and the planets just don't align, Those are 
the moments that we wish to be relieved of the burden of decision making. 
At times the decisions are easy and the tasks are hard, sometimes just the opposite.
These past few days with the Fuelishness is definitely the latter of the two. 
I have tough decisions to make. Several weeks ago as the holiday approached I kinda 
knew that the planets were going to have to align perfectly to get us in the water. 
Being always the optimist (" the glass is half full ") I never let my spirit drop in the
face of each problem that has confronted me. But now I must face the final issues that 
are keeping me from finishing my project and getting the Fuelishness in her dock.
Whats left is a mix of areas , the first one is the dash, yea the dash, Didn't we all think 
that was in our past. I certainly did. As my son Dylan would say " Your Dash is a Fail Dad" 
And he would be right, But it's not the fault of the vendor , this just may an application
that Hydro dip may not be suited for or a possible product failure. No matter the answer
it is a setback that will really affect launch date. So now I have choices, do I re-run the
hyro-dip and pray for better results? or do some sort of art & paint process here at my shop?
or send the existing panels to Livorisi Marine to copied in real carbon fiber? 
See I told you this would not be easy. And there is one more choice that I didn't mention 
because it just doesn't seem to be much of an option and that would be to just run the
peeling panels. 

This is what happened when I snugged up the screws, the clear coat flaked off around
the screw holes. Those panels we so nice, this is just a shame, And  a real setback in the
program as well, because I have no true explanation that will help me find a solution to 
this problem. time will tell, I'm sure.

The next big book of choices has been the drives , but I'm happy to say that as I write
this post some finalization has come to relieve me at a time when relief is a very welcome
thing. A new set of drives are being prepped to be shipped to Illinois as I write this and 
we should see them in the coming week or so. My friend Dennis is feeling much better
lately and has the transom housings completely under control. Even though there were
many questions choices surrounding the drives, it didn't stress me out as much as some
of the other stuff, and that's because someone I trust is giving me all the information to 
make good informed decisions. 

The past week has not been a total load of crap, no sir. In fact Scott from VIP came to visit
and really put the icing on the cake. He installed the cockpit interior that we had stashed
away earlier in the project. Scott meticulously installed the drivers seat making sure that
drop out mechanism worked smooth like butter and each piece fit the next and all the 
double stitch seams were in perfect alignment. Just cant say enough good stuff about
Scott and Cheryl from VIP. Take a look and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So as you can see it's taking shape and that alone puts the wind in my sails.
And as far as the tough decisions go, I've got my work cut out for me.


Up Next: Every Little Thing

Dash to the Finish

I mentioned in my last post that the river is looking better and that is a blessing  as
so many of us get a lot of pleasure from boating and other activties that are 
on  or along the river. Each passing day shows there has been less and less debris
coming by the house and that is the real best news of the day. Now that the junk in 
water is subsiding the race is heating up to get the Fuelishnes back in the water.
The past  week has been very busy with the stereo guys doing there thing.
Overall I'm very pleased with the out come and the sound is great. Sitting in the
rear sun lounge area is like wearing really sweet headphones. I learned quick
from my friend Brian that JL Audio is the answer. Any one who has ever been on I-Dock
at Alton Marina during a party will tell you that Brian and Rich really have it going on
and their choice is JL Audio. 
 I could not be happier with my choice of equiptment or the company who did it. 
Custom Sounds of Alton did a top shelf  job of installing everything. I talked to AJ the 
manager who is a very personable guy who has never met a stranger in his life, so he'll 
be happy to see you when you get there.
    
Which brings me around to the dash and the fact that it's time to put a lid on the box of
snakes , which is my dash. Although it may sound like I'm dreading this I'm not
because this will be a joint project that Bruce and I are doing together.

This is the start and this may be the most forgiving shot I have of this area. I have
finished the dash panels and installed the gauges in them . Now its time to get the 
wiring squared way and  dash panels back where they belong.

These are a couple of shots of the panels in the booth just after clearcoating
over the info lettering. To do this lettering process the first coat of clear had
to be a high gloss clear , WOW  I wish I could have left those panels all high
gloss like that, but when I took them outside the reflections were brutal. 
Now I know why the originals were flat cleared. Some things are better off 
the way they were. But I have beautiful panels to work with and the gauges
look great in them. 

This is a shot as Bruce started the top row of gauges. Bruce is meticulas and has
very high work standards, so changing every ring terminal and spade connector then
soldering and shrink tubing all those joints is time consuming, but its also the  right
way and it will out last the boat. The above photo shows the starting point .
The harness that we are building will in fact zig-zag down the next 2 levels and then
end as it enters the main harness behind the steering wheel.

This shows the area that we are working in and its tight and takes a steady hand.

This is the done deal for the top level . Nice and neet and about 3 hours work time.
This was the easy level anyway as the next level has 11 gauges , I altered the
placement of some and eliminated others , so it's going to be intense.

This is a sight for tired eyes, it actually gives the impression that I'm close to being
done and that would be great except for the list that is haunting me. but it does make
me smile when I look at it, and that is good thing.

The passenger side was quick and easy , Glove box door , new SS cup holder
and a fresh filtered vent  for underneath and "viola" she is complete !!
Well this side anyway.

During the rebuild I have ran into some wierd stuff and the following is no exception.
The following photo contains a dash part, see if you can identify what it is.
I gotta tell ya it took me a bit to figure out what it was when I found it because it
never worked in all the years I owned the boat.

Shoot me line if  you know what it is!! or where it goes !!


Up next :  Tough Decisions  
      

Little Things and a Final List

It appears that the river is beginning to calm down and allow us to go boating.
That alone is worth cheering about. I have made my final list and begun to check
off the operations as though it were the count down for an Apollo space mission.
I now have no doubt that I will finish this project. This week I had a visit from 
Dennis Berry from Berry Performance Marine to start the gimbal housing rebuild.
Dennis brought along his nephew Matt and in short order got the steering forks
out and what was left of the seals. The gimbals are in rough but usable shape. It's 
going to take some serious cleaning , sealing and painting to get these in the kind of 
condition that will make them worth using. 

This is shot of  Dennis and Matt  getting started

    

 The setup for this was to open up an access point at the top of the gimbal housing

so they could get a wrench on the upper steering fork nut. This required the cutting

of roughly an inch and a half by 3 inch section at the top of the gimbal.

This is Matt working on the starboard housing

    That access panel is pretty close to the same size as the Mercury sticker.

When we are done an aluminum cover and gasket are installed to cover the opening

and prevent water from getting in. Now it's my job to get all this cleaned and painted.

It will not be easy as there is alot of marine growth and general funk. 

This is the jumping off point ,  WOW  thats funky, But its very surprising how well

Toilet Bowl Cleaner works on this stuff, I'll post photos as I go. This week is going 

to be crush week and I intend to get some loose ends finished up and in short order. 

Yes I can most certainly say that the light at end of the tunnel is getting bigger and that 

one single thing is a great motivator. 

I'll also be looking for my pirate friend who has the other drive as I need to reel in 

all the parts and complete my final list. 

These final days have really been the best as they have went by quickly and the results

are on a bigger scale. Hopefully this will be the way it is to the very end, or at least

we hope it is.

Next up :  Dash to the Finish

New Tunes and a Dash

Another week has passed and some headway has been  made , In any project

like this one there will be dead spots. This week started out like that but then 

quickly changed. In the very beginning of the project as we were preping the 

boat to strip the interior the mirror frame delaminated. Sorry too big of

a word,The glue joint let go and the frame came off. So the entire time that

I have worked on the project I knew that eventually I would have to fix this

issue.

                     Note the absence of the frame around the mirror

My friend Tom who helped me prep the boat in the beginning has graciously 
accepted my invitation to help me put the mirror frame back on. At first glance 
it doesnt seem to be a huge issue, except that the project designer " Suzanne"
doesnt want us to use any exposed fastners that will spoil the clean face of the 
frame and make it different than all the rest. This will add a wrinkle to the
repair and give it an element of challenge. But true to form Tom and I are up 
to the challenge. Tom did some thinking and made some arms to hook in to the 
bottle sockets on the bottom and to clamped on top. Then wood wedges to
apply pressure at  just the right points.

Quite a rig ? But no screw holes

                                                 These are the bottom wedges.

                   This is the top clamp jig, every point tightens off the 3 clamps.

 And happy-happy, joy- joy no screw holes and not a mark on the frame. Job well done. 

                                           Thanks Tom

These little jobs are great work and take more thought than time. Getting down 
to the last of things we are headed back out the cockpit and more work on the 
dash to get ready for the stereo guys, who just called as I was typing this and are 
really wanting to move my job back another week as they are having a sale in 
the Fairview store and they really want two guys on this install. I guess thats ok
because Bruce and I have really been taking our time with the dash wiring. 
We have added some much needed power supply points and fixed some of the 
older less thoughtfull work done by others. It still looks like a box  of snakes, 
but the pile of cuts and trimmings is growing and that means we are going in

the right direction. 

    

    

    

This is the port side console before

                                        This is the dash as a before with a little during

                                        mixed in,as we have a few hours in it at this point.

I got the finished gauge panels back and they are very nice but it was long road

to get there. Jason at Midwest Hydro Designs dipped and applied the carbon fiber

design to my panels, once they dryed out he lightly clear coated them and gave 

me the ones that needed information lettering applied. Mike Turk who striped the 

Fuelishness a few months back had an interesting fix for the lettering as the 

original panels were screen printed, carbon fiber, lettering and all. 

Mike owns an Alps printer this is the kind of printer that makes water transfer

decals like the ones we used to get with plastic car models when we were kids.

If you are familar with the process from the past , its the same now, float the decals

in water until the paper comes off and then grab them with twezzers and set them

in the place where they go and pat them dry with a soft cloth and SHAZAM.

We are taking the process to whole new level as we are clear coating the final

product to bury the decals and give the finished product some real protection.

This is the ignition panel.

Mike and I are very pleased

This is a great example of the finished product with lettering and clearcoat.

The old panels were coarse feeling and were hard to clean these have a slight 

shine and wipe right off. 

So now as I close my  week and check up on the remaining projects I find that the 

flood has finally got me, It seems that one of my drives is at Little Johns for welding

and He lives at Woodland Marina. So we know that work is suspended for now.

The other drive is at Berry Performance Marine and those that

know Dennis, also know that the day after Memorial Day, Dennis had back surgery

this was a long over due thing, as the offshore racing has been less than kind to 

my friend. Offshore racing is hard on all your joints but the stress on your back is 

really bad. I wish my friend a speedy recovery and some much needed R&R. 

I know that he wishes he could have done the R&R on the Berrycuda, but the 

high water has made that impossible for now.  

Next up : Little Things and the Final List