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My First Boat Is Gettin There

oswald3

oswald3

Well-known member
Im really getting excited now. all the metal work is done and powder coated. and the painting of the hull is underway. i bought the boat just about complete, then totaly stripped it down and built it a little more the way i wanted it (and brought on a lot more work, but i'm proud of it). its been almost a year in the making (between work in school). I just ordered some camo stencils from Extreme Camo that will hopefully turn out nice (for a driveway job anyway':wink:'). so i'll post some pics when i get a little closer. here's the before shot though when i bought it for $2000.

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THIS IS THE OLD PICTURE
 
Tell us some more about it. Engine type, length and width. And post some pics of the progress. Good luck and thanx. Cajun
 
Great set up! Rear driver and double front mated with and old DC MATTHEWS (bear hull). Good job..
 
Well the boat has been a great project for me.The hull is an 86 12' Bear. its around 7' wide i belive with good polymer on it (happy that was already done). The motor is a super rare GO 300. built 58 to 62 on cesna skylark 175's. its designed to swing an 82" blade at 2400 rpms. It gave the skylark a bad rep cuz the pilots were running the motor at too low of rpms (being used to a direct drive). therfor causing the overheating problem they are known for. the motor is designed to run 3200 rpms, putting the prop at 2400. It puts out 175 hp at 2400 (prop). its a very interesting motor. I'm told it being a six cylinder that it will be a good water boat, not so much a hill burner.but i'm fine with that, its my first boat. I bought it without hearing it run because the man was taking a long time to build a starter bracket and i wanted a boat! Two different brackets, alot of flat plate and grindin, a new flywheel and 12 plug wires later, i got her fired up!Oh and plugs of course. I built a new cage for it by myself, so i''m pretty proud of that and i'm doing all the painting. I'm gonna run the stick prop it came with for now, but i just got it reconditioned by Brenda at the Prop Shop in mims. The best part about it is i'll have around $3500 in it when i'm done. It might not be the baddest boat on the river, or best lookin or fastest, but when its all said and done it"ll be my favorite boat out there.
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This is the style of cage i decided to go with. A lot more contour than the flat original cage that was way too tall that the boat came with. this is about mid way the build. its done and powder coated now.
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Looking good. Are ya gonna have the hull powder coated? Or are you gonna paint it? Great job so far. Thanx, Cajun
 
Your boat is coming along and looks good. Looking at the pictures your boat has soft turn chines (radius) not hard turn chines (square). I am going to say to you watch the deep water at slow speed when turning. I had a soft chine boat was going slow in 7' of water turned to the right the torque side and took on water and sunk the boat.
the soft chine boats are good you will have to get use to the roll. so stick to the skinny water at first get the feel of the boat. Cause it sucks to bring one off the bottom.
 
It looks great so far. There is nothing better than doing it yourself. I love tackeling projects when it's done you can be proud of it. The cage design looks very nice and heavy duty. Good luck.
Tim
 
I think it should run the hill good with it having a gear box. what size prop are u going to use and do u know what rpm it will turn? my cousin has a geared 520 that is nasty :twisted: . i know less power u have but should run great with right prop! looks good
 
Thanks guys for the compliments and encouragment (i almost gave up on thas project once). its getting to the fun part now though. i'm painting the hull right noew Cajun. I primed and painterd my base coat the other day, then it rained 20 minutes later a fish eyed the whole thing':cry:', so i had to wait 3 weeks for the weather to clear to re-sand it the spray it again. the base is tan then a semi camo pattern over that for the background of my store bout camo stencils. i started laying out the first of 3 stencils last night, and i'm pumped now. they're pretty detailed so i'm having to use an airbrush. just time consuming. i'll post some pics of the 4 stage paint job soon. i had to pick the most difficult paint job':wink:'.. And ptr34, As for the prop, i kinda forgot what size it was. maybe 72x36 i think. it'll be done soon and i can check for sure. i have no idea if its the right one, just the one that came with it. and this is a BUDGET BOAT. I read that motor is designed to swing an 82" prop at 2400 rpms. thats with the motor at 3200. my cousin has a new whirlwind he said we can put on it and mess withe pitch. so we'll see i guess. i just don't have the income to drop that kind of $$$ on a prop. any prop suggestions?
 
Thanks MavDog. yeah i actually looked at that motor and would definitely go ahead and get it if it weren't for the shipping from AZ. Because i'd love to use the alternator if possible, cuz thats my last main bracket, for the alternator. But thanks for lookin out.
 
I only had the energy to do this one little section on the bow after airbrushing all day. plus it gets me excited for tomorrow. but this is pretty much what the entire hull will look like plus some clear coat. i'm pretty excited about it. Tedious work, but a good learning experience, and i'm very excited to see the results':D'
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AWESOME!! :headbang: be prepared for me to bite off your style. you hit it on the head man. The hull I am acquiring is LIME green. l have been wondering how to turn that into a really detailed looking grass, not just palm camo or something generic. great job!!
 
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