I Need A Shrink !

[strick]

Thanks fellas for all the help. We are going to pull the engine tomorrow. Mechanic found two cracks in the top of both manifolds. I want the engine out so I can clean up the bilge etc.. If I keep the 350 I want to do it up right which would entail new manifolds and risers, re doing the heads, electronic ignition, fresh water cooled and a few other gadgets. He has a 2 454 mercruisers sitting in crates at his shop (one is a factory rebuild and has less the 100 hrs) with all the bells and whistles already for a very good price. So we are discussing the pros and cons of both applications in terms of labor and $$ spent on parts. My mechanic tells me that the 290 out drive will handle the 454 ok. Will post more pictures soon.

Chris I will be in touch.

strick

[strick]

Moving along. We removed the engine on Friday. Outdrive is in excellent condition with no corrosion. We are replacing the seal and bellows. The engine looks OK but is a little rough especially under the oil pan as there was some rust there. We will know more after we take off the heads.





Another shot of the hull




It's been wet and foggy here in N. Cal and the sun has not shown itself in my neck of the woods for over 2 weeks!



I moved the cap into the shop were I can begin doing some glass work. Yes I did have to do some grinding myself as there were lots of spider cracks and holes that needed to be carefully ground down. I'll post more close ups as I begin to fill those. I will be using vinyl ester for most of the glass work however I may use some epoxy in the bilge area were the motor was.



Another shot of the tower



I like the looks of the one on this Scepter





I think I will modify the existing tower which has a visor type extension and make it look similar to the one you see on the scepter. This will also give it more support and add two more legs that mount to the front of the cap.

More to come

strick

[76Red18]

This 25's going to be the best one yet!! Thats the Cape Coral Tow Boat. She's proudly rescued many!!

[BigLew]

"Here we go again", AGAIN!!!! Can it get ANY better? We'll see.

I love it!!!

[strick]

Getting some things accomplished this past weekend. We removed the heads on the motor for inspection and my machinist says the motor has very low hours as there are still honing marks in the cylinders. We will be taking it apart and putting it back together with new rings, bearings, check the cam etc.. Most of the external components (starter, alternator,water pump etc..) will need to be replaced due to corrosion issues from sitting for such a long time so we have a parts list made up. Picked up a heat exchanger and new manifolds off craigs list also a Duo prop from e bay should be here next week.

we have been working steady on the cap and are about at the stage were we can flip it back over. Here are a few pictures of some of the glass work accomplished to the underside.

Re glassing someone else hack job were the combing bolsters bolt to. I prefer one nice neat hole rather then the ream job shown below (no jokes Capt Chuck)



The fein multimaster is a great tool for sanding hard to reach areas



1708 backing was applied and allowed to cure and then heavy matt to fill in the ground out areas.



here is a shot of the vent box. There is one on either side of the cap



Glassing in some blocks for the cables and wiring harness that will hide under the gunnel cap. There are 4 or 5 of these in place.



The forward deck is in good shape so I'm gonna leave it alone



I was not happy with the big flat area just behind the windshield were previously electronics had been mounted so I decided to rip it all out and re core it. There was a little rot in some of the balsa core and the previous owners attempt to fill holes did not meet up to standards.
The roto zip is a great tool for cutting glass.





All cleaned up



applying new coring









Areas were reinforced were the tower will mount



backing for the bow pulpit





bulk heads for the cabin





Summer fun on the 20sf



That's it for now!

strick

[cdavisdb]

Many Thanks, Strick.

This thread goes in my hard drive, with a backup! What a fabulous source of info on how my 25 is built

[strick]

Thanks Conner I'll post a bunch of pictures of the guts of the hull in a little while. I appreciate your input on the engine and duo prop earlier. One thing I noticed already is that the floor of the 25 is laminated (glassed) to the stringers which is something I have not run across in the 23 or the 20. The floor is cored with 1/2" balsa and the glass is very thick probably close to 3/8 1/2 inch thick. The one thing I don't like about the floor support is the span between the port and starboard stringer which is quite wide probably near 5 feet. I'm gonna put a little more support under the floor by laminating some false stringers to narrow the span. I checked out your boat on photo bucket. Do you know the gear ratio of your drive?

strick

[cdavisdb]

1.78:1. You are gonna like the duoprop.

The 290 drive had two gear ratio's that I know of. The one I had wasn't marked. If yours is the same, you may have to infer the ratio from the year it was built. My 290s ratio was 1.91:1 (I think) I ran F5 stainless props and it seemed about right, max rpm: 4600 rpm, medium load.

[strick]

It's a 1990 foot and I was told it was a 1.78:1. It has aluminum props that come with it so I'm gonna try those first. It came off a 25 Sea Ray with the same engine I have (volvo 260) so well see how she works. Best part is now I have a spare lower unit for an emergency....maybe I can shove it under the bow somewhere

strick

[cdavisdb]

Did a little internet research and found only two gear ratios for a 290 duoprop, 1.95 (part no 872885) and 2.3 (part no 872886) Mine must have been a 1.95.

I'm real curious how yours will run with a carbed engine and aluminum props, as a comparison to mine. When you get it in the water, speed at various rpm, wot, and fuel economy would be much appreciated.