well... looks and runs good in the driveway...

[wca_tim]

I'm looking forward to puting it in the water in the morning. This evening I finished putting the grab rails and other deck hardware back on and just installed the new bilge blowers and hoses before calling it a night.

I appreciate all the advice and information that's been posted here for me to find... everything from how to patch a few dings, wetsand and buff a ton of oxidized gelcoat, how to correctly cut out and replace the portion of the floor that was rotten, info and how-tos regarding the engine work and options and what really makes a difference, and especially for the great information on what to pay attention to and what things to check along the way. At this rate I may even do the interior myself after seeing how well some of you guys have done without a lot of experience. Probably this winter though, ideally i get to play some before having to do a ton more work for right now Anyhow, Thanks for the help...

Have a great one!

ps. the picture below is actually before the machine glaze, polish and wax... just after wetsanding and aquabuff...

 

[sawcat]

Good Job on that Gel It looks Great!
Glad you got her running
I'd have to agree with the have fun for know idea

Keep us posted

 

[wca_tim]

Hit the river several times this week... 49.1 GPS ;-) at 4500 - 4600 WOT. Hits about 44/45 at 3800 and seems like a lot of the last few mph I get trimming up from 45 at 3800 is slip (I'm kinda new at this, but rpm's seem tp pick up a lot faster than the speed at that point). Currently running a 23 pitch laser II. Wonder if a little less prop would do better. Will do some reading and thinking about it. Still have some work to do on the carb jetting as well. I went with the older 4.3 block, vortec heads and left off the factory carb and manifold in favor of an edlebrock performer and the marine carb they recommend for that engine. We started with the jetting / settings Edelbrock recommends and still have a little hesitation about a quarter throttle and a noticable flat spot at aobut 3/4 throttle. I think there is some to be gained with jetting and plan to work on that first before playing with the prop and so forth. Will start by pulling a couple plugs tomorrow and see how they look Ran it wide open for a few minutes before pulling in to load up. It does have a really nice "sweet spot" cruising at aobut 39 or 40 at a little over half throttle and seems like it uses very little fuel. Also get's out of the hole just fine and handles fairly well. Rides through the chop better than I expected as well.

I think I'd get a kick out of more power - like from a 350, but it already feels fairly heavy in the ass end and I wonder what the extra weight would add to that. I'm also REALLY pleased with the fuel consumption so far. I haven't made a careful measure, but so far I'm very surprised at how little fuel it seems to be using. Later...