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1977 Eliminator 20' Sport Re-Furb

shueman

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Our customer is doing a complete restore of his dad's original 20' Sport Cruiser ... converting to an open bow and other upgrades ... this should be a fun one to follow:

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Inspiration / Motivation came from this '78 2-Step re-do we did a few years ago ...
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shueman

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I think it would look good with the bow rail removed. :)

He's coming in tomorrow and is following this thread ... keep the feedback comin' !!

I tend to agree on the bow-rail ... no more deck to ride on ;)
 

zermenojr

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Thank you Gary for starting this thread, and thanks to Bob, Jose, Kenny and Fear at Eliminator Boats for all their assistance. This boat has been in my family since my Dad purchased it from one of his buddies in 1984. We frequented Laughlin, Havasu, and many of the local lakes during the 80's, 90's and early 2000's. This boat was my Dad's pride and joy and he always took pride in announcing that he owned an Eliminator. Earlier this year he passed away and my family decided that we needed to keep "Empty Pockets" in the family for 40 more years. We contacted Jose from Eliminator in late July and decided to perform a complete overhaul, which includes an open bow conversion (for the grandkids), new interior, paint and gelcoat, new bravo one outdrive, new gauges, etc... The boat originally had a 454 chevy with a Vovlo Penta 280 outdrive. In 2006 my Dad installed a new 454 crate motor, but the outdrive was never replaced, until now.

Here is a pic from 1996:
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Here are some pics from yesterday:
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ka0tyk

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are you going with this "new" of a style seat upholstery? that looks horribly out of place.

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Riley1

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are you going with this "new" of a style seat upholstery? that looks horribly out of place.

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Up to the owner. I could talk for days about things I?ve seen here that I wouldn?t do. But he who has the [emoji383].


It wasn?t that bad. I would maybe just pull some color out of those seats, with less chevron too. But not my choice.

Wish I could make it on Saturday to see this and so much more. But camping at the Dunes (Newport) this weekend.
 

zermenojr

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are you going with this "new" of a style seat upholstery? that looks horribly out of place.

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Yes, we actually like the look of the new style upholstery. However, instead of the gray and orange accents and gray carpet we are going with brown and orange accents and brown carpet. We are also running stripes over the engine cover to follow the brown stripes running up the bow.
 

zermenojr

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The question is, what do we do with the gauges? Here are some ideas that have come up...

Custom dash,behind windshield?
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Gauges squeezed together on driver's side?
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Gauges split up between driver's side and passenger side?
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Or deck mounts under windshield?
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Riley1

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shueman

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I believe the motor is remaining the 454 ... changing out the drive to a Bravo ... started the glass work which I'll post up later today ...
 

dennisnyc40

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Coming along nicely shue. I agree on the rub rail removal does not look right on an open bow. Also not a big fan of using the newer style interior. But if owner is going with a simple stripe design on the material might look nice. I like the small tinted windshields. As for the gauges the split layout gets the nod. Makes it much easier to monitor things at a glance instead of looking thru the wheel. And leaves you plenty of room for knobs & switches on driver side. Remember these are just my opinions I was hesitant in posting but figured I would just give my thoughts  I'am sure whatever direction the owner decides to go boat will be just what he wanted. And that's all that matters!
Keep the pics and updates coming shue restoration threads are the best.
 

Cole Trickle

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No deck mounts for gauges... everything else sounds like it's going to be awesome

Once the gel is done cut out some card board circles and try some different
Locations it looks natural and you are happy

The boat you are probably using as your inspiration is bad ass I checked it out one day...total sleeper with the lsa engine[emoji41]
 

HydroSkreamin

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Yes, we actually like the look of the new style upholstery. However, instead of the gray and orange accents and gray carpet we are going with brown and orange accents and brown carpet. We are also running stripes over the engine cover to follow the brown stripes running up the bow.

Congratulations on beginning your restification! I've been in this process for the last 4 years with my 23 Daytona, so I know EXACTLY what you are going through. It's really hard to honor the original design and try to update it with today's colors on the interior, but I think you've realized that subtle accents are key. That was my realization as well. Just hearing the color brown people shudder, but stick to your instincts on this one, it'll turn out great! Don't be afraid to have the guys play with showing you different size and color accents on a picture or in person with paper or cardboard. When I did my dash, we used cardboard, and I jokingly called it CAD-Cardboard Aided Design!:D

As far as gauges go, are you really a gauge watcher when out on the water? If not, I'd consider putting the tach on one side of the wheel, the speedo on the other, and the oil pressure gauge directly below one of the larger gauges and the water temp directly below the other. I'd then put the gas gauge and voltmeter (if you want it) in the panel next to the throttle, that way you can still see them, but if you don't monitor them constantly, don't clutter your dash with them. Then you'll still have access to them, but your dash will look cleaner. I'd also consider a period correct glovebox or current head unit in the other dash.

Good luck with your project, looking forward to following the progress.
 

dennisnyc40

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I also had the same dilemma when updating the interior. I wanted to keep things period correct but needed to use brown also. I drew an outline of the seats I wanted built and bought a set of colored markers and played with different combinations till I came up with one I thought would look good. I know brown is not the easiest of colors to match up with other colors but can be done. Here are some pics to give you an idea. I just kept it real simple as I did not have a whole lot of colors to work with. I'am sure whatever you come up with will look awesome. Keep the updates coming this is a great build.
 

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jlw35

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Personally, I like the gauges "squeezed" together on the drivers side. This gives the passenger side a clean look.
As far as the gauges are concerned, how often do you really need to check all of them? Once the boat is up and running for the day, a quick glance every now and then to check oil press. etc. is not difficult to do even if you have to look through the steering wheel.

However you do it, fun times ahead!

jlw
 

Dan Lorenze

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I also prefer the look of the classic interior over the modern. Also, way too many Eliminator logos going on for such a small interior. Only adding my comments because they were welcomed. :)
 

zermenojr

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Here are some pics from last week. The old Volvo is finally gone. My Dad had to rebuild that thing a couple times...
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shueman

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Laying down the white primer and base gel ... "wood" was masked off and will be part of the finished design ...
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Lots of hours this week prep sanding all the repairs and fills ...
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ka0tyk

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is the volvo staying or swapping to a merc? (just figured they wouldve filled the hole before gel/paint work but saw a comment about the volv being removed for the final time or something like that)
 

zermenojr

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is the volvo staying or swapping to a merc? (just figured they wouldve filled the hole before gel/paint work but saw a comment about the volv being removed for the final time or something like that)

The Volvo is gone! Converting to a Bravo using a conversion kit...
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Headless hula

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It would be neat to see how the "woodgrain" was created....
Interesting process, with a pile of "artistic license"..., I'm sure.
 

ka0tyk

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aaaand then?
 

zermenojr

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Some Pics from today. Kenny has been making progress with the outdrive installation and he even rewired the whole boat. Steering wheel, shifter, gas fills, gauges, exhaust tips, USB/12v dash charger, windshields, water pump, and fuel pump have all arrived. Just waiting on the exhaust system, s-pipes and rebuilt carburetor. Should be coming together over the next couple weeks. It is going to be a Merry Christmas!

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jlw35

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The gauges are going to look great. Also like the gas fill cap. Wiring is done with a lot of care and attention to detail.
Finish it up!!
 

mesquito_creek

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Can you ball park what the total conversion from volvo to mercruiser cost you?
 

zermenojr

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Stopped by Saturday and took these pics. The engine should be in by the end of this week and then Jose will be able to finish his measurements for the engine cover. I am really happy with the gauges.
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Exhaust tips are in and Kenny is going to be making some changes to the engine. We are ditching the log style exhaust and going with the EMI Thuder, we are getting rid of the cam style water pump and going with the Mercruiser raw water pump and fuel pump. The carburetor was also rebuilt last week.
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New gas fills... and you can see how clean the wiring turned out...
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Gelcoater

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Can you ball park what the total conversion from volvo to mercruiser cost you?
I don't remember the number on that conversion plate but remember thinking it was pretty reasonable compared to time and labor to fill the hole, re-gel program.
 

Gelcoater

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It would be neat to see how the "woodgrain" was created....
Interesting process, with a pile of "artistic license"..., I'm sure.
If you hit one of their build threads where they do the exposed carbon on the exterior, the process is the same.

Rather than placing carbon cloth in a clear window of the gel job, they're placing a very thin, almost paper like cloth with the grain pattern printed into it.
After its down its backed with a shade of brown or red. Changing the backup color works just like using different stain on real wood.
 
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