Glen-L.com

On the "home" front... On the Tahoe, I had to remind Lauren several times that IT WAS HER IDEA!

Bill

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Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

Thanks for the explanation, i understand now! I'm just wondering which piece of sheet metal to create those patterns and the flange from?

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-Arron Werner

The plans call for 3" x 1-1/2"x3/16 angle. I formed mine out of a sheet.

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Charles Brammer

Had a few setbacks this week on completing my boat.

I took the boat into the marine dealer to get the motor installed. I had made arrangements with them back in February to covert a 60 hp 4 stroke Merc I had bought--- and I gave them the item number from California Jet and contact information so they could get me the jet pump to convert the motor. Also, I had them order me a tiller to convert this motor over for my boat but they ordered the wrong tiller to go with the motor. I never even thought they would have ordered an old style tiller with only the throttle control on the arm and the rest of the controls had to be mounted on the boat (rather than being integrated into the tiller). After I explained what I was expecting they told me Mercury didn’t make one for my motor only Yamaha had that style of tiller. I don’t like being lied to so I goggled it on my cell phone and showed them the “Merc Big Tiller” and they said they would order me one. Two days later I went out to get the boat so I could keep working on it and they hadn’t touched my boat since I left even though I had asked them to do the final wiring (not having done any boat wiring from scratch I thought it best to pay to have this done). So after speaking to the service manager about not getting the wiring done he told me it would be ready that afternoon and to come back after 2 pm. But he gave me bad news that the integrated tiller I wanted was on back order and Mercury until after June 5th because they were waiting for a container to come in with parts on it and there were 30 units ahead of me already on order. So I went back to work and waited for the boat dealer to call me to come pick up the boat.

After putting five months into this project and having a boating/camping trip scheduled for Memorial Day weekend I was feeling a bit pissed off and bummed. So I decided to call Mercury myself and asked for a stock check. The lady transferred me to another department (never asked me who I was with) and a very helpful man picked up the phone. I asked for a stock check on item XXXXX and he told me that there is one unit available but it’s in their Georgia warehouse. I asked if they would be willing to ship that to Michigan and he said it’s not spoken for and while it’s not normal to ship from other warehouses he would help me out. So I told him I will have my parts manager call to order the part because I’m not authorized. He confirmed to have them talk to him. So I called my sales person I had been working with and explained to him what I found out and asked him to follow thru on this for me because I didn’t have faith in anyone else there getting this done for me. He said he would call me back…and did they are shipping it Monday

I call the service manager at 2pm to check on picking up the boat and my salesman picks up my call (Do you think the service manager is pissed at me …Yep) so they confirm the boat is almost all wired and come and get it. Right as I pull in the tech looks at me and tells me there was a short in one of the dock lights and it caused that negative wire to go hot and all my negative wires tied into the bus bar also went hot and they all melted. So, I’m rewiring everything this weekend and working on replacing the low profile dock lights with a new style which requires modifying the boat again.

So now I’m going to work on mount everything and forget about painting the boat for now. Hopefully, next week will be better and the motor will be completed before Friday so I can take it camping. But my gut tells me I will be camping without a Scrambler to play on.

Wish me luck….I need it.

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Charles Brammer

sounds like my black cloud extended to cover you as well

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Dave

My Riviera build - the Midnight Cry Project

Video of Midnight in Action
Blog

Few things in the world measure up to the thrill and satisfaction of boating in a boat that you built.

Hang in there Charles. There are always setbacks! your boat looks great and will be your pride and joy in no time

Well, its as done as its going to be until I get it painted and the seats in it.

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Charles Brammer

Beutiful Work!

Bill

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Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

cbrammer,
she looks nice, I would comment on the decks just for your info, I'm sure you have a plan that will fit your overall paint scheme.

First if the decks will be wet and walked on before she's painted (?) then it's a safer practice to take a 3M Scotchbrite (tm) buffing pad (brown is most coarse of the three grits) and simply buff the entire deck. This will remove mill scale and offer a very decent traction surface (even when wet compared to bare or mill scale sheet) because of the short but uniform anchor pattern in the material. This is not wasted energy since the same anchor pattern, even if etched afterward as prep for paint, is a good mechanical bond for the Allodyne and primer and topcoats to follow.

Next; is that 3M (and lots of others) make a traction tape that is available at the big box stores for cheap (relative term) that can be put in and will stand up under water well- actually for years. So this may make a temp traction coat while you use the boat interim to painting? It rolls on and with a vinyl flooring roller will glue down well if you acetone the surface and then keep it 70+F while doing the install. (use gloves!) I round the corners before installing strips to keep from having pointed tips to curl up.

These strips come up with a heat gun and little effort then acetone will remove the adhesive residue before you etch/Allodyne/prime and paint.

Last is; if you use an automotive type of acrylic paint (PPS or equivalent) then it can make the deck/traction paint too. I paint the entire boat like it was all topsides (above the waterline) then tape off the deck with rounded corner "panels" outlined in tape and paper.

(The tape run along the sides and bulkheads leaves the no walk 2" strip to clean without traction material in the corners where its not needed. )

To finish (painting) I mix clean white sand blasting silica sand (filter sand is cheaper and works too) into a few quarts of the same exact paint, same mix/ratio/catalyst as the rest of the deck coats. Into that final layer; mix the sand and then use a roller (very short nap, sponge) to roll on the final layer of paint into the taped off areas of the decks, walking areas/tank tops.

This results in a color matched traction areas that are encapsulated in the hard acrylic paint with the same chemical adhesion as the rest of the paint job. These panels will grip boots or feet (might be a little abrasive) even when filled with mud and blood from fishing. Even with sandy boots tracking in and out this will result in a good deck traction that matches colors and can be repaired in spots by using a small volume of the original paint color and more sand.

cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK

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Kevin Morin

Thanks Kevin

I did take your advice and etch the entire bilg and interior already. I already hAve scotch bright pads And will start on the deck soon. I'm not looking forward to masking off but I already have the epoxy primer and if i can find a calm morning I might get the deck/interior done. Thanks for all the great advise

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Charles Brammer

Any updates, I am anxiously awaiting an update on how well this works for you!
Looks real good though cb!!

Gary

Frostop,
I know you’re looking for feedback on the California Jets tunnel design I integrated into the hull. But I still don’t have the tiller or the jet pump hooked up. I did drop off the boat yesterday so they could install them-- now that the tiller is at the dealer. But might not get it installed until mid-week next week. I should have the boat back in time for my camping trip next week which will give me 5 days of use on a lake to help get a feel for how it performs in chop or small waves.

I have followed Kevin’s advice and used a 3m pad to rough up the decking as well as most of the rest of the interior while I have been waiting for the tiller to come in. I have a gallon of acid wash coming also so I can re-etch the interior just prior to painting and so I can strip the mill scale off from the exterior of the hull. I got the rowing seat up on the boat but it feels like its 3” too tall. I’m reviewing my options on how to deal with this but want to row it a while before I spend any more money.

I will get you the feedback you’re looking for once I get to play with it on the water.

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Charles Brammer

The boat dealer who is installing my tiller arm and jet pump called today. Everything is on the boat--- but the throttle cable that came in is 18” too short for the new tiller arm (I knew it was going to be something). So I thanked them for the update and asked if they would next-day-air the new cable so I could have the boat back in time for my fishing/camping trip later this week.

On the way home from work I proceeded to work out and implement plan B for this week’s camping trip. I bought my 3 & 5 year old some miniature paddles to keep them involved in our fishing trip if we have to use the canoe.

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Charles Brammer

Well, I finally got the boat back with the motor installed. Unfortunately the boat is too heavy to jump on plane and move well with two people in the boat with a 60hp jet. The gas tank is forward of amidships (plans said not to do that). I’m thinking I will need to relocate it to the stern or just run with less fuel. I currently have a 16 gallon tank installed in the boat and its 90% full.
I’m going to try it out solo Saturday and hopefully I can run some gas out of it to see how much it improves. Sorry I can’t give you any feedback on the tunnel Frostop

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Charles Brammer

I took the boat out Saturday. This was the 1st time I could keep it going on plane for a good period of time. But just 10 minutes into the ride the motor started to act up and the engine alarm was going off. I am wondering if the Jet is getting enough water fed thru the jet pump to keep things cool? Any thoughts?

Also, any thoughts about moving the gas tank to the rear of the boat? Would it help moving a 120 pounds of gas from the front 1/3 of the boat to the rear 1/3” When I put it up in front I thought it would help balance out the boat since I was running a tiller with a big guy and two deep cycle battery’s in the stern (as well as keep the boat open and clean looking) but now I wonder?

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Charles Brammer