Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)

[tuned]

Now that it was starting to turn into a decent boat, I needed to build a decent house for it. The boat on the trailer being 12 1/2 feet tall, I had to extend this round-top upwards a couple of feet. Shelter is still standing strong after four Minnesota winters!

I wonder if it still counts as 'temporary'?

Aaargh. LEAK!!


I hated not having control of water in my boat. Even tho the leak got fixed, I needed to McGuyver the problem away. Have you ever seen a toon with dual bilge pumps?

[ronb]

Now that it was starting to turn into a decent boat, I needed to build a decent house for it. The boat on the trailer being 12 1/2 feet tall, I had to extend this round-top upwards a couple of feet. Shelter is still standing strong after four Minnesota winters!

Normally those things fall apart fast once they start getting a little loose, the wind beats them up so badly around here.

I wonder if it still counts as 'temporary'?

So long as you don't pour a foundation I think technically it is 'temporary'

I hated not having control of water in my boat. Even tho the leak got fixed, I needed to McGuyver the problem away. Have you ever seen a toon with dual bilge pumps?

Since I have never seen an I/O pontoon, I have not seen one with a SINGLE bilge pump, before this. What was the cause?

-ron

[tuned]

Since I have never seen an I/O pontoon, I have not seen one with a SINGLE bilge pump, before this. What was the cause?
-ron

Bad weld where the nose cone joins to the tube.

[tuned]

Of course with the loud stereo, I needed an even louder horn....

[margaritaman]

Doesn't the water splash affect that horn?

[tuned]

Doesn't the water splash affect that horn?

I was concerned about that myself. I didn't think it would as long as I wasn't in Saltwater and that they could drain out if they did take a splash. After talking it over with Kong, I decided to give it a try. They worked perfectly. Bear in mind, these are designed to go on the top of trucks etc...so they are pretty much rainproof as it is

Here's the air system:

I can only imagine being boarded by a Park Ranger. He sees this contraption. Not knowing exactly what it is....his hand slowly reaching for his gun....

Well the old Kongs went out of business. Air horns need to be rebuilt from time to time and I could no longer get diaphrams, so out they went. No more screwing around this time. I paid the big bucks and installed Nathan Airchimes (Canadian tuned)
Yep folks, this is a REAL train horn (with 'snowcones'). I figured the cones would help keep the water out. Note the slight down angle on the mount, also to help drain them. Freakin frickin loud

[tuned]

Meanwhile, back in real time....busted a** all weekend and many things were achieved.
Underskin is done...that famous South Bay curve (sort of) is back. Skin is .060 5052. I used about 350 extra-wide-head rivets (3/16). I like rivets over self tappers. They don't loosen up as easily in my opine. Ate alot of aluminum.




Secondly. The motor story. I was looking for a 350MagnumEFI or something like it when I came across this quant old SeaRay Cuddy. Nice old boat but well used and hull not the best of shape.

What it DID have tho, was a completely rebuilt 454 with a BRAND NEW Bravo and stainless prop on it. The price was way, way right and I couldn't resist. So now that I had a donor boat, I realized that I didn't have enough hoist height to get that beast out of the cuddy vertically. Since I am stealing all the wire harness, gauges, trim tabs etc....there is not going to be much of value left by the time I am done.
It was pretty tough to make that first cut....

Tearin' it up as we speak.

[tuned]

Hmmm. Ye Olde SeaRay seems to be missing some parts.


On the plus side, my old plow truck seems to have gained a new motor!

[ronb]

Please tell me you are going with through hull exhaust and dual quads

[tuned]

Please tell me you are going with through hull exhaust and dual quads

I can do that! Probably not until next fall's mods tho. I will likely go selectable (Captain's Call) and run the pipes over the top of the swim platform with a step up level to walk over them. Not sure about headers yet.
I need to stop hemorrhaging money at this point and git-er-done. Just dropped about $600 into transom parts alone. Basically every gasket, o-ring, bushing, bearing, bellows, shift cable, seawater hose, u-joints, trim sends etc... I figure it is the one area that is the hardest to get to so it gets the most attention. Much easier to do alot of it 'on the bench'.
That purty lil engine gets some goodies too, but I'll document that later.
I am on a week off and hitting it hard every day. Barring complications, I am hoping to get a test fire in a week or so!

[ronb]

I am hoping to get a test fire in a week or so!

Should you ever decide to take the toon out with no railings, just a helm on the deck, I need a pic.. because that is what I am picturing right now as your smoke test.. 60mph across the open water, no extra weight... (I realize of course that nobody would ever do such a thing, but its still funny to picture)

[tuned]

I am hoping to get a test fire in a week or so!

Should you ever decide to take the toon out with no railings, just a helm on the deck, I need a pic.. because that is what I am picturing right now as your smoke test.. 60mph across the open water, no extra weight... (I realize of course that nobody would ever do such a thing, but its still funny to picture)

Hah. Only I would do such a thing....on the last boat. No such luck this time tho. The 'helm' and the wheelhouse are one and the same, so I have no real controls until I move the shack over. Once I do that, I won't be able to fit the boat into my climate controlled pole shed (meaning lights and a roof, but no heat). So I'll probably have to do the mature thing and wait until spring. So I guess I'll just keep on building until mid October, then move the shack. Once I put the boat in the round top shelter, I won't have enough room to do much other than all the wiring terminations and controls in the shack (where I DO have heat).
Boy, a 'hell run' sure sounds like a lot of fun tho....I can just see it--zipping around in the snow, wind tearing up my new vinyl floor (no trim edging yet). Quit putting ideas into my head, Ron .

[tuned]

Almost done with all the bewildering flashbacks! I have gotten as far as last fall's mods, which were substantial.
First off, the boat was getting heavier and sitting lower. So I pulled the WaterGlide off and completely filled it with closed cell foam in order to gain flotation. It was a fun project....built wood forms and poured foam in sections--

Then, after shaping, I sealed it even further with fiberglass resin.


Phase two: Slap on an even bigger motor. The eTec 175 was such a wonderful motor. Too bad I only owned it for a year. Sold easily and gone already.

Phase three: Over the last winter, I expanded the wheelhouse. As it originally was only six feet wide (8' long), there was a walkway 2' wide on the port side. It basically was wasted space as most people just walked thru the shack to get to stern.
Sooooo I cut it in half lengthways

Iffy the Boat Monkey overseeing construction

Moved the port wall over, extended the conduit roof structure, added insulation in the process.

As I now had a shiny shack, my new led indirect lighting (all colors) came out real purty

The new addition is finished (along with a second sleeper bunk inside). As I had to add some glass, note the new-old schoolbus window at front/port. Complete with complimentary bubblegum. I also changed out my side sliding windows from clear plexi that would vibrate and shatter from time to time on the highway. Instead I used tinted Lexan and haven't had an incident since.

You may notice a few extra speakers here, there and everywhere....basically everywhere....and you now see the shack as it is today-unhooked and ready to be moved onto my SouthBay/SeaRay hybrid. SouthRay???

[ronb]

It's been 17 days,.where is my updated?

[tuned]

It's been 17 days,.where is my updated?

Oh don't get me started. Grr.
First try on motor install about three weeks ago...wrong size exhaust shutters.....wait for parts.....then missing cotter pin--one STINKING specialty cotter pin...wait for parts. Now scheduling issues with work etc....
Aaand the 454 with new 1/2 closed cooling system still hangs on the damn cherry picker. Hmmph
New motor harness is temporarily hooked to old SeaRay gauge panel and ready to test fire. Gonna reuse that nice old panel too!
Maybe try dropping motor on Sunday or Monday. Gotta gitr done, the snow has already fallen a couple of flakes although up to 70 today. Extra flushing steps on new cooling system before winterizing.
Then move shack from the old Al and hook up the tunes first, then heat. Tunes first. Always tunes first-every project-every time I moved-every new car.
That will make it easier to work the rest of the winter. Lots of wiring and rear bench/doghouse work. Gonna reuse the SeaRay doghouse too! The boat really IS turning into a SouthRay
Rail and trim in the spring and off I go. Sounds simple don't it? Well, not so much. Done it before more than once. Pretty time consuming. Fun creating shite tho.