whaler resto - part xviii - protection

If you read the last post,

our whaler transformed into a work boat,

one of the original reasons to have it.

The flat tri-hull is a stable loading platform,

it barely tips at the dock,

however what a thumper in choppy conditions.

The big difference in a family boat 

and a work boat is not moving weight around,

it's getting stuck in rougher conditions,

and returning later than expected.

Jaxon, Jakob and Macey Perich

When you see the kids

shivering and turning blue,

it's time to give them your flannel

and head for home.

On a project,

you can get stuck on a long chilly ride.

It only takes that one time 

to pack an extra jacket.

The perfect solution is a windshield.

I liked this custom version from the start,

and had imagined whittling one out of wood.

Probably why it never happened.

This guy had been hawking traditional

Boston Whaler center console frames,

but tricky to modify to a side console.

The answer came at the Big 3 Swap,

a tossed stainless frame.

Now thats my style.

It took a couple weekends to envision,

thoughts strayed to widening the dash.

Finally the grinder was busted out.

No more stalling.

custom boston whaler side console

Once the plan was in motion,

the fabbing went quickly.

No yacht quality work,

lotsa cut and pasting the tubes,

into a solid shiny frame.

tubular re-engineering

The bases were bent to fold over the edge.

If I really tweak out,

the bottom corner is a thru-hole for wires,

maybe for a spotlight or two.

Ok maybe the fabbing didn't go that fast.

Or maybe I shoulda started earlier.

Back at home,

we made a template for the plexiglass,

with cut-outs for hands or line.

Trimmed, screwed and glued...

Almost like it was there forever.

Even after the time change,

I'm still getting caught in the dark.

Green Boston Whaler 17' custom w/Yamaha 90 hp

You may have noticed the bimini top.

Another freebie.

I used to kinda laugh at them,

and still do if they're up when buzzing around,

billowing like a parachute.

This folds forward or back.

and it'll be nice to have some shade.

Mounted on the rails,

it's high enough to stand under.

green boston whaler 17' w/Yamaha 90 outboard

How does it work?

Have we tried it yet?

Nope.

TP

Towering

We've found the secret

on how to grow rocks.

Three rock towers weren't enough,

and finding individual rocks takes forever.

A chance CL ad to the rescue.

A guy giving away free rocks,

with delivery!

Just dump them in the street,

we'll take care of it!

Calvin was a landscaper,

and specialized in waterfalls.

These were extra from a display 

at the fairgrounds.

He looked at the kids questionably,

like,"this is your help?"

He didn't realize these kids grew up

on hard labor!

"No problem..."

"That's it?"

were their replies.

There were a couple big rocks in that pile,

we rolled it Mayan style using wood sticks.

He gave us a handful of tickets,

but we didn't rally to go.

Instead I paid it forward,

giving something away on CL,

instead of being a moocher!

The neighbors were confused,

how did a pile of rocks suddenly appear.

They magically grew,

now we have 8!

Thanks Calvin!

TP

The dark side...pioneer sx-580 to NAD c370

The stereo thing seems to have gotten popular,

prices of marginal units linger in the triple digits,

and monster receivers are out of reach.

Recently deals have been rare.

Not much time for the swap meet lately,

but a quick Friday walkabout found this,

a scruffy $35 Pioneer SX-580.

A starter BOTL unit at 20 wpc,

perfect for an outside work setup,

needed since I gave away the little Kenwood.

Under the peeling wood vinyl case,

the inside was a dustball.

A quick vac & brush left it really clean.

Lights on and clear sound,

not bad for 1978 era!

Time to experiment.

The 1971 Sansui 2000a was ok,

but a little hissy when warned up,

most likely a recap needed.

I had also hooked up the Sansui qrx-8001,

and there was a light hum.

An issue with too efficient speakers,

magnifying the faults in the system.

Many people get these horn speakers

to crank small wattage amplifiers,

in the 3-5 watt range.

The little pioneer actually sounded just fine!

A smooth tone with a bit thumpy bass,

but at least no underlying hum.

Then an ad popped up for a free amp,

sound dead in one side.

A morning email went unreplied til night,

and I rushed out the next day.

A new era NAD C 370 integrated amp,

even with the original box and remote!

Wow!

A bit dusty,

maybe I'd get lucky and it'd just need cleaning...

The inside layouts haven't changed much,

just the components.

Mysterious black boxes replacing transistors.

After a spray and screw of all the pots,

(behind the volume and tone knobs)

no luck.

The underside was one big circuit board,

not much to do there.

Luckily this had a pre-out/main-in option,

making it easy to test 

if the amp or preamp was faulty.

After some wiring trickery,

the problem was in the amplifier section.

Like that would help me!

There were no obvious burns or bulging caps.

As a last resort,

I started wiggling wires while it was on.

Yeah dangerous I'm sure....

But...Hey...there was sound!

The main amp plug was loose!

The fix was twisting the wires one turn more,

creating force on the plug.

Heck yeah!

Reminded me of the kid 

blowing into the playstation plug to get it to work!

What a boring looking amp!

Hooked up it sounded very new,

no more tube-like warmth,

a crisp clinical sound with distinct separation.

Makes mp3 recordings sound like a$$!

Can't complain for free!

And the best part is this new fangled remote!

The volume knob turns with the button,

I'm sure that was a huge selling point.

Good enough for now,

giving time to fix the oldies...

Now where to put the box!?

TP

Stinger Swap

Winter is the perfect time 

to scrounge for boat chit.

The so-cal conditions aren't too bad,

it seems the dark at 5pm 

messes with people.

People give stuff away!

On my craigslist hunting,

I found this oddball 1980's Force 90hp...

Free!

On funny enough the same boat as ours.

All it needed was a quick white cowl paint, 

to ditch the goofy pink and blue graphics.

The Force line has the worst reputation.

The engine is a bulletproof chrysler design.

Marketed to first time boaters,

the abuse comes from not cleaning the salt,

forgetting to mix 2-stroke oil,

not emptying the carb gas when stored,

not checking lower unit oil,

and most likely over-revving.

This one was a peach.

Equal 130 psi compression,

looked brand new under the cowl.

The perfect Baja motor,

it's going to Cabo to live in La Paz,

not with us though...

A concurrent score was this gem,

a 1974 Johnson 85hp v-4,

at about half the asking price!

Why do guys like to strip down perfect Whalers?

Hey I'll make it easy for them!

All the pieces were there,

just not put together.

This had baked in Palm Springs for years,

thankfully it was mechanically clean.

A rattlecan touch-up freshened the outside.

And wow after finding a fuel blockage,

this thing didn't want to stop.

My quick cowl spray paint was marginal,

and unused Johnson decals

were a needed distraction.

This one had 125-130 compression,

and would have been 

the period perfect backup outboard,

since our whaler is 1970.

Johnson/evinrude kept this solid design 

from 1974-1996 I think,

and these engines can run forever.

But again not on our boat!

This one left too,

finding the perfect home on an old glastron.

This deal was sweet,

as there was a trade option.

The owner had a 70's Johnson 70hp

with a dead lower unit.

How could I resist!

Well after some quick sleuthing,

this turned out to be even better,

a clean 1977 Johnson 75hp Stinger!

This was the hot chit back then!

Tons of race records broken,

all before power tilt/trim was standard.

This design also set the stage for Yamaha,

who used the inline 3-cylinder model as a base,

for the 90hp that we have now.

It's crazy how similar these engines are,

basically a reverse engineered copy.

It made giving up the 85hp easier!

Now the hunt is on for a lower unit.

The original is way trashed.

I doubt I'll get the cool Stinger graphics.

Crazy hippies...

Anyway,

always something fun!

TP