Whaler Resto - part viii - thrash

All the big boat pieces were fitting together as planned.

In the picture the whaler looked ready to run,

and in a half-a$$ way it could've.

Instead we were going the full-a$$ way.

I want the kids to beat this up over the summer,

not be saddled with broken fixits.

The seats were super flimsy.

Nights were spent designing a stiffener.

The goal was to not have vertical posts,

leaving the floor open.

This aluminum channel was scrapped from the old kayak truck,

and dragged around for the past 10 years.

The perfect solution,

thick enough to tap and really stiff.

No more cringing when the kids bounced

on the diving board like planks.

More scrap from the recent prop shaft covers,

utilized for the bilge screens.

The engine was finally mounted.

The Johnson cover had cracked locking plates,

so the seized engine donated the more stylish cowl.

A cool Italian stern light was found on eBay,

but it didn't look as enormous in the pictures.

This one was not as overbearing.

A hinged mount was fabbed up,

allowing it to fold down.

I was stalling on the boats nervous system.

The donor panel was another 10 year scrap stash.

This is why I don't get rid of anything.

The wiring was streamlined to the necessities,

of a small yacht.

Those two little dash mounts 

were a huge pain in the butt.

The wiring was more massive then expected,

leading to a change in the wires or the console.

The console lost,

and the steering moved forward a bit.

The end of school was

the start of Perich Brothers and Sister Boatworks.

Macey screwed on the junction boxes...

Jakob finished the soldering and heat shrink...

...and Jaxon started on the trailer fender mounts.

He really liked that grinder...

I'm in trouble.

Crude but effective!

We'll add step tops later.

The winch mount was also streamlined,

still need to build the V stopper bracket.

Jake installed the new dashboard panel,

and it was my turn to connect the color coded wires.

Holey Chit,

what a chore.

I liked the individual fuse poppers

rather than a single fuse panel.

We'll see how it ages.

Amazingly enough the wiring worked,

and the engine started!

Cooling water flowed,

always a good sign on a craigslist special motor.

Looks close but there's a ton of little things 

now that I'm being picky.

Until next time...

TP