FeatherCraft RESTORATION!

[utee94]

Originally Posted by klattu

Whew,
Glad to get this done.
Lots of motor issues to deal with...
Will have to take a coule days off work to get sea worthy by next weekend.

Your upholstery work looks amazing. I'm sure you'll manage to get the motor running before next weekend.

Time for me to get back out to my transom project so I, too, can be on the water next weekend.

[A-Merry-Can]

Originally Posted by utee94

::: Eagerly awaiting news and pictures of the maiden voyage this weekend :::

What a weekend... First, we head up to Victoria to camp on Friday, get there JUST in time for a hellacious hail storm, and 2 inches of water... Then it rains ALL day saturday... We ran the steering cables in the rain anyway, in anticipation of Sunday's first run...

Long story short, we put her in the water, and the water pump wasn't pumping... STUPID IMPELLER! The original one looses its shape, and won't pump water into the motor.... THEN, when pulling the boat back on the trailer after a voyage of 20 feet, we lost reverse, and I had to realign the boat with the beautiful bow casting, which promptly broke off in my hand...

all in all, NOT the weekend I had planned! The impeller is ordered through Napa, and will be here tuesday.. I'll figure out the shifting thing then... ug...

Klattau, if you haven't replaced that impeller yet, DO SO! They all fail after 50 years. You should see water shooting out above the water line on the motor, if not, you've only got a few minutes before the motor burns up. Be sure to check it!

Here's some pics anyway... none in the water, though....

JP

[Fyrzowt]

Well, in spite of your problems it still looks great! I love the name Bethany, my daughter's name.
Dave

[utee94]

Sorry to hear about the troubles. But, I suppose that's what the "pilot run" is all about, so it's better to find out sooner rather than later.

Good luck getting it all together before this coming weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of all of the Feathercrafts together. But I'd avoid trying any of the tricky Flying-Boatmen-style formations -- you don't want to damage the nose piece any further.

[A-Merry-Can]

New impeller is in! Tomorrow, I'll fill up a trash can and see if she's a pumpin' water!

JP

[klattu]

Had to figure out a way to tell mine apart from all the others...
Now I can just find the Feathercraft with a bunch of CDs on the stearn.





Added some Jet Thrusters to the trim tabs too...

[C Johnson]

Originally Posted by A-Merry-Can

Long story short, we put her in the water, and the water pump wasn't pumping... STUPID IMPELLER! The original one looses its shape, and won't pump water into the motor.... THEN, when pulling the boat back on the trailer after a voyage of 20 feet, we lost reverse, and I had to realign the boat with the beautiful bow casting, which promptly broke off in my hand...

all in all, NOT the weekend I had planned! The impeller is ordered through Napa, and will be here tuesday.. I'll figure out the shifting thing then... ug...

Klattau, if you haven't replaced that impeller yet, DO SO! They all fail after 50 years. You should see water shooting out above the water line on the motor, if not, you've only got a few minutes before the motor burns up. Be sure to check it!
JP

Impellers should be replaced every 3 to 5 years. They take a "set" and when that happens they are considered dead. Just an FYI ! That is straight from the shop that has my 24 ft Searay.


Nice job on the boats you two ! I wish I could be there to see them out on the water !

[klattu]

No time to even try to get Sea Horse running, and not risking a day stuck out on the lake.
Want to go thru 35 completely in future, then can really trust.
So, going with something much more dependable for now...

[A-Merry-Can]

awesome motor! wanna race?



I just tested mine... she pumps water, she idles, and this weekend, she's getting wet! I can't wait! It will definitely need some adjusting on the water. Nothing is set up right.

JP

[A-Merry-Can]

Originally Posted by klattu

I just noticed... that's a hand-tiller motor! You driving from the back seat?

JP

[vswingfield]

Nice work with the engine turning. (Or what ever you call it, it seems to have many names. Engine turning is the phrase I have heard most often.) What is the diameter of the circles and what did you use?

[klattu]

Originally Posted by A-Merry-Can

awesome motor! wanna race?

Challange Accepted



Hope to head out in a few hours, want to get thru Atlanta before dawn.
Thursday will be work day at campsite finishing up, or at least getting water ready.

Engine Turning is what I've heard too.
Mine is very unpresise, as I did by hand with air grinder.
Laid out grid with Sharpie, and used 240grit 1" sanding disks.
Covers lots of issues.

[utee94]

Challange Accepted

Hah! Well played.

Looks great, good luck with the final tweaking, and please be sure to take a lot of pictures of the Feathercraft Rally.

[A-Merry-Can]

Originally Posted by klattu

Challange Accepted

HA! awesome! ok ok.... i yield!

JP

[HiHoAgRV]

Ya'll got me wanting to do an aluminum boat, ya' think this will polish up ok? With a pair of 440 Chrysler engines it probably won't get very good fuel economy but one big advantage is I won't have to wait in line at the ramp!

[A-Merry-Can]

The good news... I got her in the water, and had a day of fun on the water with Ted. His 60 HP 'Rude stomped a mud hole in my top end, but it was a hoot none the less...

The BAD news... the next day, I went out on a run with a buddy in his '54 Vaggy, and something happened with the fly wheel. The key lock broke, and the fly wheel ended up spinning and turning the key lock into shards of metal... ug... That promptly ended my boating fun... :-( Not bad, though for a first test. I ended up burning about 6 gallons of gas before the mishap... Can't wait to get it back in the water! All in all, a good run. Especially considering it's the first time the motor's been run since I unfroze it with PB Blaster a few weeks ago!

Here's a few gratuitous boating shots.. I forgot to take my camera on the water, so I missed a lot of close-ups with the other boats...

[klattu]

Jordon, your Vagabond on youtube...a quick video, Some freeloader in the backseat of mine.

http://www.youtube.com/v/SSWgcep4KIg

[klattu]

Before more Feathercraft photos, y'all got to see this!

Incredible design and so nice inside.








You had to wear gloves if you went inside...




Geven thought this was a video game...

[A-Merry-Can]

awesome! i can't wait to see our maneuvers on video.


jp

[klattu]

Burney on the move


Bill and Cynthia <sp