Nothing reinforces conscious procrastination like meeting the deadline.
Even if it means pulling a nighter and getting a sunrise as a reward.
success - point loma sportfishing
It all started well over 2 months ago.
After making a cardboard template,
my brother Trevor had this tubing bent.
These pieces had been constantly stepped over for a month,
while sitting on the floor of the shop.
aluminum parts
Since the boat was in and out on trips,
and my brother was out of town,
I took some time completing the frame.
joint
The frame sat for a long while until some major design decisions were made.
waiting
Wouldn't you know it,
the deadline changes and the boat has an early departure.
Sounds typical.
Fortunately the bottom mounting pads were water jetted,
and we had welded them and buffed them out.
mounting pad
When the boat was hauled out Pikachu and I installed them.
Yeah as usual,
the one rainy day of the week. (tuesday)
rainy day schedule
A couple years ago,
we had made these stainless steel struts.
stainless steel struts
It was nice to see they were still holding up.
This was another crazy deadline project.
I almost cut my finger off with a grinder for these.
Jinx.
So back at the shop,
I was able to weld up the top mounts that had also been water jetted (wednesday)
and also the support bars that would tie everything together (thursday).
The aluminum flatbar finally arrived, (friday evening)
4.5 days before the boat was to leave. (wed. morning)
Oh yeah,
remember their is also paint and a wood platform needed!
Fortunately I had hooked up those huge technics speakers
in the front part of the shop a couple months ago.
Together with that crazy Onkyo receiver this system cranks. perich brothers (and sister): receiver hopskotch - Onkyo TX-8500
(oh yeah I brought it to the shop a while back too)
shop speakers
So by midnight the flatbar was cut and welded up.
flatbar
The next day I had to remeasure for the mounts,
hoping to avoid some stuff on the back of the transom.
So by Saturday evening,
the mounting pieces were cut and welded up,
and since there was a little extra time,
I was able to prep the frame for paint.
So Sunday the painter came and gooped it up real good.
A frame of many uses
With a day for the 3 coats of paint to dry, (monday)
the frame was rushed to the carpenter,
who had one day to make the teak wood insert. (tuesday)
So when is the best time to start an install when the boat is leaving at 7am?
6pm of course!
Fortunately Trevor and Pikachu were prepared for the install.
At 10:30pm there was a semi-major operation.
The 4 pads on the frame that hooked to the top mounts were too short,
so they had to be cut and rewelded.
If you compare to the "a-frame" picture you can see how they now hang over the edge.
midnight redo
So while me and Pikachu thrashed at the shop to slide those mounts over,
Trevor went to rally the carpenter, Ken, who had not yet finished.
Hay wey.
mount, remount, mount, remount, mount...
There was a ridiculous amount of work here.
The frame wasn't pre-drilled,
because all the measurements were only guesstimated.
First the frame was strung up with a 3 pieces of rope,
and the first hole was measured on the rear center support,
removed, drilled.and remounted with the rope and one bolt for the support bar.
Than the outer rear support hole was measured and drilled,
and the whole thing removed to drill.
We were really sketchy about losing the drill in the water.
So 3 remounts later the rear supports were level and mounted,
and the front supports could be clamped and drilled.
Fortunately these 4 were done at the same time.
Unfortunately,
after the 4 pads were attached to the frame,
each pad had to be marked to drill the 4 holes each into the boat.
Than the whole thing removed,
the 16 holes over-drilled through the fiberglass,
and prepped for the 5200 - adhesive sealant.
Did I tell you I quit coffee?
Yeah this was all done on one can of Dr. Pepper.
So by 5am the swim-step was permanently mounted.
Nylocs and glue.
The carpenter had also finished with the wood insert.
got wood?
So now all that's left is 23 3/8" bolts, and holes...
finished
The wood really finished it off.
teak wonder
The crew had said they were leaving at 6am,
and we had almost everything cleaned up by than.
They had tricked us and actually left at 7am.
Probably had no clue what went into doing this!
No problem!
A little filler here,
get you guys ready for the Halloween season.
bicycle girl - the walking dead
Since we don't have cable,
I'm a little out of touch with some parts of the media.
However,
we do still have Netflix,
and on a whim I put this show on our queue.
Holy Chit.
If you haven't seen this show yet,
go and rent the 2 DVD season.
Well worth your time.
I like zombie flicks,
and what can top it but a zombie series.
The guys doing the effects and sets for this show must have some fun.
Even the music is creepy and original. Bear McCreary – Official site
It's the same guy that did the Battlestar Galactica series,
which I thought was cool too.
I wondered what happened to the dude from "boondock saints"!
Anyway,
catch up on the show,
cause the 2nd year season premier is this sunday.
Its on the AMC channel,
the same guys that did "Breaking Bad",
another crazy show that you should watch.
Over the weekend I was perusing craigslist.
And what the heck,
I found a 31 roadster body.
No picture, just a description and a phone #.
Kinda rare to see something like that locally,
especially in an affordable price range.
I left some messages,
and after 4 days I figured it was gone.
Well wouldn't you know it he still had it...
So that night I justified getting another project.
30 roadster cowl
So I went out there and checked it out.
It was a real roadster, not a cut down coupe.
Hmmm.
30 roadster doors
The doors were in ok shape,
not perfect, but useable without reskinning.
30 roadster quarter
The drivers side was actually in pretty good shape.
Some dinks but no warps.
A couple problems around the decklid though.
30 roadster quarter panel
The passenger quarter panel was actually in better shape up top,
but had some worse weld work where the decklid was welded to the reveal line.
So this was the clincher.
The decklid was welded to the top and bottom panels.
While the decklid base or frame was still in there,
the skin itself was beyond any realistic repair,
as well as those top and bottom sections.
welded up decklid
For some reason I passed on it.
I did offer a little lower but he was firm,
on an already decent price.
Typically this would have been a done deal.
What happened?
I had the money,
even had a partner to go halves just to get it.
The decklid area work wasn't too out of hand,
the repair panels are cheap.
Even after the time spent fixing it,
the body could be flipped for probably way more money,
especially if I made it into a roller.
So I don't know.
Fortunately he's out of town til Sunday,
so I can hem and haw on it,
but there's some guys coming down to check it out then,
and most likely it will be gone.
Since it took about 23 seconds to read this post,
let's double it with this whopper.
I love this chit.
I've probably listened to it 8259 times.
Best one drum solo ever.
And magic fingers on the accordian,
very under-rated talent there.
Close your eyes,
you can smell the sweet stale beer and bacon dogs.
Thanks Ditziblonde789 for youtubing this,
even if you ended up puking out the window while crossing the border.
