[propless]

 Ok, here we go !!  This is my new 1973 Eliminator Sprint.  I bought the boat from Busby last Sunday and had lots of fun  getting it home .  Its a project , with a few small issues, but I love the shape of this hull and it was cheaper/easyer than doing the work to convert my Lancar from the Jacuzzi YJ to a Berkeley pump.
 The plan is to use parts from the Lancer (motor,etc.etc) and parts from my collection  to get this thing done in time for the Parker trip ( about 2 months ) .  Its going to be a 2 seater (I have no kids and my friends/leaches can buy there own boats  ) I got tired of people showing up empty handed and with empty pockets wanting to go to the lake.
 Its home
[attachimg=1]

 My first step was to get the old carpet out and see what I have to work with.

[attachimg=2]

 I was a little confused as to why the inside of the bottom was smooth ( no sighns of the strakes ) so I started sanding off the old glue and paint and found this !!  Wood floors  .

[attachimg=3]

 So now I need to decide if I'm going to show the floor  or carpet back over it   ?  The stringers are going to show / no carpet .   Day 2 and I'm behind schedule already  .

[Brad @ SCJB]

i would sand down to see the wood to check for any discoloration in the wood....(delamination)....and then i would show the floors.....i love balsa floors.

it baffles me that people actually carpet over balsa floors...why?! 

[hotrod56cars]

Show the wood if it's good, if not carpet it for this year. My boat is supposed to have Balsa floors but the guy before me said that he carpeted the floors because they were so slippery. 

[propless]

  Thanks guys , I agree.  I love the look of the wood floors.  But its not the carpet that scares me as much as the 2 layers of paint under the glue  .  I guess I see lots of sanding in my future, because I realy want the wood floor to show.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that i dont find any big ugly delamination spots.

[hotrod56cars]

If you want to find discolored wood start sanding towards the very back or at the very front where water wood sit at.   

[BUSBY]

The previous owner had carpet, and had used some SERIOUS glue to hold it down. I think it was tile adhesive (or at least I swear it was something close).

I got pissed and took the easy way out. If you have the time and tools ... it would look great with sanded floors, I do not think yoiu will find delamination ... if you do, it will be very small.

BB

p.s. ... looks like a good start

[Blue]

I say carpet it and leave it for the summer. Remember the sun is out and I don't see any rain in my forcast and I know you live about an hour from me. Sanding is for winter time when it's raining and there is nothing on TV.

[2savage4you]

I say carpet it and leave it for the summer. Remember the sun is out and I don't see any rain in my forcast and I know you live about an hour from me. Sanding is for winter time when it's raining and there is nothing on TV.

+1  you'r gonna spend two weeks if not longer just prepping the floor, there is ALOT of glue and paint to sand down!  And just like waxing a car, you dont realize the size of the job till you start and then its too late to stop

I say carpet it, and put that thing of beauty in the water

At least one of our boats has to get wet
2sav

[FORKEDUP]

+2, save it till the winter, run it this season and find all the things you want to change and make a list, then you have the winter to get it done, can't wait to see that thing in parker

[propless]

 Well i understand what you guys are saying about leaveing it till winter, but if i dont do it now it will never get done  . 

 

I say carpet it, and put that thing of beauty in the water

At least one of our boats has to get wet
2sav

2sav you better be kidding about selling your boat  !!!! 


  Tonight was the night to go after the spots that scared me the most ( do the worst parts first and the rest will be easy, right ? ).  This boat origanaly came with fiberglass fuel tanks and it looked like thay realy didnt want them to move.  The remnants of the glass that mounted the tanks was still down there along with a realy thick coat of resin (at least 1/4in) running all over the place for no reason.
 Its realy not as bad as it looks in the pics , the dark areas are the areas of the thick resin (so thick it looks amber colored)
[attachimg=1]

 This is how thick the resin/glass was that mounted the tanks .  Luckily it didnt bond verry well to the hull.
[attachimg=2]

 Btw. there is somekind of gooey layer under the glue and paint on the floor, its black and clogs up sandpaper as fast as I can change it  . Looks like somekind of undercoating the orig owner may have sprayed on or maybe its just glue , who knows at this point .  The good news is its under all the other lavers, and I was able to strip it all off at once by useing a scraper, with out doing any damage to the glass .  It came off kinda like scrapeing a gasket  .

[hotrod56cars]

That looks like a biatch of a job. I want to do the floor in mine also. Keep on keepin on.

[propless]

 Change of plans  ,  The floor is ugly.  Its not the pretty balsa stuff , it looks like plywood  .   So, it gets carpet again.  And the stringers have lots of old holes from the original seats and stuff from over the years that need to be pluged , so I dont think thay will be to pretty either.  I think I'll just paint them black.

[propless]

 Well I fixed the delaminated spot on the stringer today.  I cut out the bad spot, the wood was still fine (solid).  Than I ground back the good glass and reglassed that area, looks ok and sounds solid again  .  I still need to go through and plug/fill all the old holes in the stringers.

[attachthumb=1]

 This is the main reason Im going to paint the stringers !!   STAPLES were used to hold the carpet at one point in its life.    Thay were not from Brian/Busby, thay were under the paint/glue.

[attachthumb=2]

 Now for a question !
 I'm a little confused about were to place the motor in this boat.  In my old boat the back of the motor is 16'' from the transome, but Brian said he had his motor 30'' from the transome in this boat and it liked it there.  Of course he had something like 1700 HP (blown alcohol motor) and I will only have around 500 to 550 for now.  So what do you guys think would be a good place to set the motor ?   I dont mind it being forward , its only going to get 2 seats and one fuel tank (between the stringers behind the seats) .   Some people say set the motor as far back as possible, yet at the races I noticed some boats like lilricks with long driveshafts and the motors set forward 

[hotrod56cars]

Only from what I have been told and read...

Drag boats usually will place their engine towards the back more and circle boats more place the engine more towards the center of the boat.

... whatever that's worth. 

[propless]

 Thats what I thought too  . But this was a drag boat 

 Pic from when Busby owned the boat
[attachthumb=1]

[Ralph Brunt]

Thats what I thought too  . But this was a drag boat 

 Pic from when Busby owned the boat
[attachthumb=1]

did you get the dolly trailer with the boat? never mind i remember about the fenders coming off on the freeway

[BUSBY]

Now for a question !
 I'm a little confused about were to place the motor in this boat.  In my old boat the back of the motor is 16'' from the transome, but Brian said he had his motor 30'' from the transome in this boat and it liked it there.  Of course he had something like 1700 HP (blown alcohol motor) and I will only have around 500 to 550 for now.  So what do you guys think would be a good place to set the motor ?   I dont mind it being forward , its only going to get 2 seats and one fuel tank (between the stringers behind the seats) .   Some people say set the motor as far back as possible, yet at the races I noticed some boats like lilricks with long driveshafts and the motors set forward 

I would put it at about 25" ... putting the motor forward will assist in getting the weight off of the back of the boat, placing the center of gravity (CG) forward more. Back in the day (70's and 80's) drag boats used to have to "fly the nose" to air out the boats for less drag. Now we have learned that moving the motor forward and changing the hardware, it will allow the boat to run flatter while still being able to create enough lift to have little to no drag.

So, be it a circle jet or drag jet, having the motor forward more and as low as possible will be better for the CG, therefore making it a safer and better handling boat.

did you get the dolly trailer with the boat? never mind i remember about the fenders coming off on the freeway

That's the same trailer, and it's still set up for being a dolly ... he just needs narrower axles 

Looks good Jeff!

[Ralph Brunt]

hmm, i need a dolly trailer, where are the axles?

[lilrick]

The motor in the Liberty is 26" from the back of the transom. If Brian says 25", go for it. Just remember, you may have to build your owm driveline, and if you plan on BIG horsepower in the future.....Well, build it big.(1350 u-joints) The big u-joints make the drive line really easy to remove also!!

[BUSBY]

hmm, i need a dolly trailer, where are the axles?

I put them on my Hydro trailer and the Hydro's axles onto the Jet trailer.

Dycorp in Anaheim sells them for something like $125 each? They sell all the parts needed to do the swap, I'll come by and help if you want ... super easy.

BB

[propless]

 Thanks Brian and lilrick.   Funny thing is, I was thinking about putting it around 25/26''  or maybe a little more just because of the header length.  I guess Rewarder made them the right length  . Thanks for the info, its nice to know Im on the right track !!   And yes thanks for the tip, I will use the 1350 u-joints, I dont need to have problems later.

hmm, i need a dolly trailer, where are the axles?

Ralph, this trailer has some realy cool hidden features    Brians "crew" made the swing-away tounge and inside of it there is still the reciever for the long dolly tounge, and this cool little wheel piece plugs right in too.  Verry cool !!
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
[attachthumb=3]

 About all I got done tonight was to drill and plug all the old mounting holes in the stringers , I drilled them all out to 1/2'' and pluged them with 1/2'' dowels dipped in resin (had to use a hammer to tap them in) .  Next thing to do is grind the outside a little and glass them in.
 Its not much but its progress 
[attachthumb=4]

[LuckyDaze]

Just a thought when plugging holes I was told to mix in some cabosill in with the resin so it fills in the cracks n such.  Cabosill (sp?)  Thickens up the resin so it is easier to shape, and stays in the hole better. It makes the resin the constancy of peanut butter depending on how much you mix in.


~Brian

[BUSBY]

Just a thought when plugging holes I was told to mix in some cabosill in with the resin so it fills in the cracks n such.  Cabosill (sp?)  Thickens up the resin so it is easier to shape, and stays in the hole better. It makes the resin the constancy of peanut butter depending on how much you mix in.


~Brian

Yeah ... Cabosil is a lightweight silica thickener used to reduce the flow of epoxies on vertical surfaces, as well as filling pinholes & holding plug in place ... they created it for the aircraft industry back in the 50's.

Mix it into your resin mixture to the consistancy of pudding and it will give you a nice sandable filler (once cured) to put in holes along with the dowel plug.


Looks good Jeff ... now you need to block out those stringers and paint them glossy black! Blacked out stringers are sick!

[propless]

Looks good Jeff ... now you need to block out those stringers and paint them glossy black! Blacked out stringers are sick!

 Yea, thats the plan for now. 

 Not much new to report.  Just sanding away and removeing glue still  .  But I did pick up these today, 8''x50'', a little smaller than I wanted (about 11gal each I think) but the filler necks line up perfect with the spot on the hull where the old caps were. 
[attachthumb=1]
 nicely out of the way
[attachthumb=2]

 On a sad note 
  I've been spending most of my time with a verry sick friend  http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?topic=3352.msg47316#msg47316  .   The vet says shes not sure if hes going to make it through this one because of his age ( he seems to be giving up ) 

[76NORDIC]

Hey buddy sorry to hear that,     Mark