Project StressEliminator Restomod-23 Daytona

[HydroSkreamin]

Using cutoff pieces of the steering hoses, I made a prototype hose loom to keep them compact, neat and organized in the narrow rigging space in the port gunnel.

If all goes as planned, I’ll remove the screws holding the snaps on the deck for the cockpit cover, through-drill the glass, and drill and tap this piece to be the nut for the flat head socket cap screw holding the snap on.

I checked fit up in there tonight and will proceed with altering the design just a little bit and make another prototype to check by this weekend. If it works it’ll be really clean.

 

[King295]

That loom is sweet. Your attention to detail is second to none. Really enjoying this thread. Keep the updates coming!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks, man, I try. The proto was just to see how it looked, fit, and held the hoses. It's getting updated and incorporating wiring in it as well. Looks like I can narrow it up a bit as the orientation of the large hoses will be above each other instead of next to each other.

Won't be getting as much done this weekend as I had hoped due to unexpected vehicular maintenance on multiple vehicles, but I'll get something done, even if it's just locating and designing things.

The next couple of weeks look pretty good, we'll try to kick it up a notch or two.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Well that didn’t work out so well.

Just getting back on this. My friend Roger came over last night and we laid out where all the underdash electronic boxes and wiring are going, as well as identified items that I needed to order or make.

Searched amazon for the on-board charger that I wanted, ordered it and some material for mounting electronics.

I’m looking to try to get the fuel fillers finished this weekend.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I bought the saw on sale when they first came out...two years ago...always intended to make this out of it. Well I finally got around to it and can now cut the stainless U-bends to make the S-pipes needed to connect my fuel fills to the relocated tanks.

I’ve seen this done with Milwaukee Porta-bands, figured I’d try this. I’m wishing I had done this to a Milwaukee, but oh well... I’m in it for just under $100 and my time, so if I complete this job I’ll consider myself lucky. If it doesn’t puke on this job I’ll round the corners on the plates.

It’s U-bolted to my hoist next to the boat, so at least the height is adjustable

I did buy Milwaukee blades, so bring on that tubing!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Finally found all my parts for the filler necks and caps. Got one side fit decently, but cut too much off the radius at the flange end at the cap. I have enough parts to splice it together but I’m probably going to get another pair of U-bends to only have one weld.

 

[Shlbyntro]

View attachment 737705

Finally found all my parts for the filler necks and caps. Got one side fit decently, but cut too much off the radius at the flange end at the cap. I have enough parts to splice it together but I’m probably going to get another pair of U-bends to only have one weld.

Don't want to use hose??

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Only at the tank joint. The marine fuel hose I got from a boat builder is so stiff it wouldn’t fit the curve needed, and I want the tubes to almost butt so there’s only an 1/8” ever exposed to fuel.

 

[zx14]

I don’t know how much flex there is between the bottom and the top, but will 1/8” provide enough?
I do know, and it doesn’t happen often, in my 26’ , we have gone airborne, came down wrong on the next wave, and it will shear the stainless screws off holding the interior side panels on.
Just a psa.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I’ll certainly take that into consideration. There’s no reason I can’t leave 1/4”, but not much more than that. I’m thinking that the taller stringers and all the bulkheads will stiffen this thing up substantially, and it has less freeboard to flex as well.

The previous setup was really close with the tanks on top of the floor and I don’t see any spider cracks in the deck from any of that.

Picking up the extra U-bends to fix my screwup.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Since I knew I was cutting the hose barb shorter on the fuel tanks, I decided to make a disc to keep all of the shavings from contaminating the tank. Using a piece of cutoff plastic round stock from my bits and pieces drawer, I turned it down 0.010” less than the tube ID, then cut it for an o-ring. I also center drilled and tapped it for a 1/4”-20 bolt so I could retrieve it. I put some grease on the part and it slid right in.

Here’s all the stuff that would have ended up in the tank.

Sanded the face, filed the burr off the outside and used the deburring tool on the inside and vacuumed it off so nothing would fall in.

Ready to put back in the boat and finish the upper fill tube.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Starboard tank filler is tacked and fits well. I kept about 5/16” gap per suggestion.

Port is there too.

They’ll both get welded today and I can start working on sub boxes next.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Machined up a fixture for welding the flanges onto the tubes with minimal warping.

My friend Gary at work welded the pipes and flanges after I had everything fit and tacked.

Both pipes came out awesome. I could have welded them myself but Gary is a great welder as evidenced above.

I’m not clamping them permanently yet because I want to clean up the tanks better.

I’ve been traveling but am home now for a bit. Sub boxes this week.

Kevin at Motion Metalworks is lasering out the hose/wire looms to my CAD drawing dimensions this week.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Other than rolling a bead on the end and Oetiker clamps on final assembly, I’m done with the fuel filler necks.

On to subwoofer boxes. I’m not building them like I usually do for automotive use, as I don’t want all that weight in the middle of the boat. HeadlessHula and I brainstormed around Thanksgiving last year and decided to use plywood instead of MDF, and not fiberglass them either. We built these frames at the old HulaHut before his catastrophe there. Per Hula’s suggestion, we’re using urethane to seal the boxes.

I was originally going to just put boxes in the cabin and move them wherever I wanted after the boat was complete, but realized this area was dead space and made these boxes to fit the space behind the side panels, projecting into the cabin.

In order to cut the bulkhead for the subs, my buddy Crash suggested we use his laminate trimmer (baby router) with the attachment for cutting can lights into drywall. Usually that uses an 1/8” bit, but I adapted a 1/4” 2-flute end mill and we tested it on a scrap piece and it worked bitchin, so we did the real thing in tight quarters. I’m extremely pleased with the results.

Here’s the speaker mocked up in the hole.

Here it is with the cover on.

I’ll get the proper hardware to attach all this tomorrow morning and get the boxes attached and sealed in the afternoon. They’re fit and all the brackets are made so that’s really straight forward.

 

[Warlock1]

Simply amazing. Not just the talent that you show but your patience and perseverance as well. What is it that you do for a living? I love watching build threads like this and wish that I had friends with the abilities to help out like this. You're going to like that 400 our customers sure do.

 

[Headless hula]

Simply amazing. Not just the talent that you show but your patience and perseverance as well. What is it that you do for a living? I love watching build threads like this and wish that I had friends with the abilities to help out like this. You're going to like that 400 our customers sure do.

If he told you what he does for a living, you'd probably understand why he's so damned fussy.







I'll let this much on....


He works at a bit of a "hotrod" shop....

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Simply amazing. Not just the talent that you show but your patience and perseverance as well. What is it that you do for a living? I love watching build threads like this and wish that I had friends with the abilities to help out like this. You're going to like that 400 our customers sure do.

Thank you for the compliment, much appreciated. I guess my “normal” is a little bit different than most.

I’ve been in hi-performance engine development all my adult life, and consider myself lucky to have been taken under the wing of more than a few mentors that gave freely of their advice, time, and skills to allow me to learn engine machining, fabrication, welding, porting, and tuning and dyno operation. In other words, a little bit of a jack of all trades (and you know what goes with that statement: master of none!)

Realize that I do projects like this for fun:

That’s a 40 Ford with an original Boss 429 now pushing 540 inches and around 900 HP on pump fuel. As mentioned earlier, I used to build hot rods with my buddy Kevin at Motion Metalworks. The headers and serpentine belt system on the above car was my involvement, and I do tuning as well. The headers are inboard of the chassis, and the steering runs through the middle of the tubes. This is a bit tough with the large tubes and small space. I’m a tagalong to Kevin, we’ve been friends for 30 years.

This StressEliminator project is the first vehicular project I’ve done for myself since 1997. It’s a way to express my ideas and tastes in something that isn’t a customer vehicle (read: a job). Hopefully this helps you understand where I’m coming from.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

The subwoofers are mocked up and ready for final assembly and wiring. As mentioned before, the design/location is a bit of an afterthought, so this isn’t my best work, but they’ll be functional, hidden, and secure. Part of the design of the system is making it difficult to steal, as I’ve had stereo equipment stolen before and it sucks.

Here’s the subs I’m using.

This is the enclosure, mounted to the bulkhead with 1/6”x1/2”x1/2” aluminum angle that I cut and drilled to make brackets. The brackets to hold the access cover on are 1/8”x3/4”x3/4”, and are drilled and tapped 1/4-20 to fasten the button head bolts to. That’s right, bring your Allen wrenches and deal with nyloc nuts on my installs...and to even get to these properly, you need to remove the interior, so unless you bring a sawzall, you ain’t getting these!

Cover on

View from the cabin

Some of the hardware I got was the wrong size, so once I have the proper hardware they’ll get sealed for good. Then it’s on to wiring the whole boat.

 

[Warlock1]

Thank you for the compliment, much appreciated. I guess my “normal” is a little bit different than most.

I’ve been in hi-performance engine development all my adult life, and consider myself lucky to have been taken under the wing of more than a few mentors that gave freely of their advice, time, and skills to allow me to learn engine machining, fabrication, welding, porting, and tuning and dyno operation. In other words, a little bit of a jack of all trades (and you know what goes with that statement: master of none!)

Realize that I do projects like this for fun:

View attachment 745193

That’s a 40 Ford with an original Boss 429 now pushing 540 inches and around 900 HP on pump fuel. As mentioned earlier, I used to build hot rods with my buddy Kevin at Motion Metalworks. The headers and serpentine belt system on the above car was my involvement, and I do tuning as well. The headers are inboard of the chassis, and the steering runs through the middle of the tubes. This is a bit tough with the large tubes and small space. I’m a tagalong to Kevin, we’ve been friends for 30 years.

This StressEliminator project is the first vehicular project I’ve done for myself since 1997. It’s a way to express my ideas and tastes in something that isn’t a customer vehicle (read: a job). Hopefully this helps you understand where I’m coming from.

The kind of trouble that you and I could get into if you were my neighbor would be legendary....lol

 

[HydroSkreamin]

The kind of trouble that you and I could get into if you were my neighbor would be legendary....lol

Amen, brother! My buddy’s wives either like it when I show up because something is going to get done (possibly right!) or don’t because there’s going to be money spent on parts and services

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Had my buddy Crash over tonight to help me make a pattern for Seadek. I was going to use resin paper and tape it, but he suggested using the thin foam underlayment used beneath laminate flooring, and he had some in stock

So we put the rear seat base and the side panels in, then made gap allowance with narrow painters tape next to the edges and around the front seat bases. We taped 2 pieces together with packaging tape and made all the cuts with a razor blade and a straight edge.

So, now I need input from you, the RDP brain trust. Obviously if you’ve read this thread, you’re familiar with my utilization of the Eliminator logo with “Stress” in the upper corner. Do you think I should get it in the Seadek or not? If you look in the pictures above, you’ll see it’s a large space, kind of begging for a logo, but I do have them on the dash and embroidered into the seat backs.

Please post your thoughts, I’m interested to see what people have to say.

I’m going to make a pattern for the floor in the aft storage area as well, I think that would look nice.

 

[Eliminator21vdrive]

Do it , it is the theme.

 

[AZMIDLYF]

Should try a play on the word MISTRESS....I feel like this boat is the other woman. Lol

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Should try a play on the word MISTRESS....I feel like this boat is the other woman. Lol

You're not the first person to bring that up....

I think I 'm going to try to get a printout the proper size and lay it in there to see what it will look like.

Do it , it is the theme.

Thanks, that's kind of been my premise, but I'm starting to second guess myself on everything on this boat and I just need to follow the original blueprint right now and get it done.

Hula texted me this morning and commented how nice it was to see the interior in there again, and I couldn't agree more. I'm doing this Seadek pattern now because of the lead time (3-5 weeks) from my buddy that is helping me with this.

I'm putting all of the "short list" stuff together, and there is a lot of piddly stuff that needs to be addressed, pronto. I'm on it!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

So I did get a logo printed out, but it was just the outline of everything, so I used magic markers to fill it in so you could actually see it. I learned that I STILL can’t color inside the lines . So I laid it in a few different positions, texted them to my friends, and everyone had a different opinion.

It’s hard to decide based on such an open cockpit, so at this point, I decided to put the seats in for the full effect. I forgot how nice it all looks! The ergonomics designed into all this feels good, too. All of it, and that makes me happy.

I’m making an executive decision on this and am thinking of somewhat replicating the pattern of the hockey stick gel stripes from the deck into the floor without getting too wild.

The colors I’m planning on using for the Seadek is light gray for the top layer and blue for the bottom. Using those colors and hockey stripes cut into it will also tie the lower stripes on the seats. I’m feeling it’s all coming together, without using any pattern that’s a current fad. Maybe I’m nuts, but that’s my vision and I’m pushing forward.

Currently making the Sunday night list of stuff that needs to be tackled this week. My back has been acting up again here for a bit and it’s slowing me down, but we’re keeping after it.

I plan on cutting the pattern for the storage area tomorrow night and sending these patterns off to get scanned and have drawings of options.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Should try a play on the word MISTRESS....I feel like this boat is the other woman. Lol

Miss StressEliminator??

 

[pwerwagn]

This is all coming out sooooooo nice!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

This is all coming out sooooooo nice!

I’m second guessing everything and frustrating myself. I’m just going to trust my initial plan and start attaching stuff where I originally intended. You can only think this stuff through so many times before you drive yourself nuts!

If I’m going to use it in June (and I am barring some sort of catastrophe), it’s time for decisions and actions.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Because you have to start somewhere, here’s the hockey stick style stripes I decided to mimic:

Since I’m out of tape, I stopped and got some different sizes. Here’s what Crash and I laid out.

Obviously I don’t have any radius to it, but it shows the general layout.

We did a rough drawing and will get it converted to CAD through the help of a friend at work.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

My buddy Kevin Stich, owner of Motion Metalworks had the boys make me some parts to match the CAD drawing my buddy Roger did for me to help the process. Special thanks to Emil in the shop for pushing these through. I tried the hoses and battery cables, and they fit perfectly.

My friend Gregg at work has been working on converting my feeble renderings in tape into CAD models as well. This is one of many that I asked for a couple of changes to make it closer to my vision.

He tweaked it a bit more and I thought it looked loud on the screen, but wanted to see how it looked with seats installed, so he printed 1:1 sizes so I could check fit and look in order to make final tweaks. The blue ink in the printer is years old and not cooperating, so it printed as pink, but if you squint or close your eyes, you’ll get the picture.

We’re getting there. I had an MRI today and am diagnosed with a herniated disc. I’m fortunate to be getting an epidural blocker tomorrow, but am traveling for work for the next week. When I get back, I’m going to work on the boat for 6 days straight if my back will allow it. It’s time.

 

[AZMIDLYF]

Floor looks great. Sorry to hear about your back. Hope the Epidural does the trick for you.

 

[Xring01]

View attachment 753619

My buddy Kevin Stich, owner of Motion Metalworks had the boys make me some parts to match the CAD drawing my buddy Roger did for me to help the process. Special thanks to Emil in the shop for pushing these through. I tried the hoses and battery cables, and they fit perfectly.

My friend Gregg at work has been working on converting my feeble renderings in tape into CAD models as well. This is one of many that I asked for a couple of changes to make it closer to my vision.

View attachment 753620

He tweaked it a bit more and I thought it looked loud on the screen, but wanted to see how it looked with seats installed, so he printed 1:1 sizes so I could check fit and look in order to make final tweaks. The blue ink in the printer is years old and not cooperating, so it printed as pink, but if you squint or close your eyes, you’ll get the picture.

View attachment 753621

View attachment 753622

View attachment 753623

View attachment 753624

We’re getting there. I had an MRI today and am diagnosed with a herniated disc. I’m fortunate to be getting an epidural blocker tomorrow, but am traveling for work for the next week. When I get back, I’m going to work on the boat for 6 days straight if my back will allow it. It’s time.

I like it, my back has been getting worse as I age...
Not at your level of pain yet.. but beginning to think I am heading that way.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Floor looks great. Sorry to hear about your back. Hope the Epidural does the trick for you.

Thanks @AZMIDLYF

You never responded to my twist of “Miss StressEliminator”. If I ever document it that’s what it would be

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I like it, my back has been getting worse as I age...
Not at your level of pain yet.. but beginning to think I am heading that way.

Our season is so short and it’s upon us, so time is of the essence. Based on the previous two times, once in 2003, and the episode in 2015-2016, I’ve been fortunate that the shots have worked. Keeping my fingers crossed for the same results this time.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

I wasn’t sure about the lines going outward in front of the seats originally, but after the seats were in, I love the layout. Really cool! Nice work!

 

[Toffen Gunnufsen]

Hi

Sorry to hear about your back. Good karma from Lillesand that you will be well soon, and your StressEliminator will be hitting the water in time ! You definetly deserve that with all your work going into this amazing project.

I got sciatica 2 months back. Feeling like 70 years plus here... However, ol Phantom is coming out next week, so some wot runs will help for sure!

Take care !

Cheeers, Toffen

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Well, I had the MRI last Monday, it showed a herniated disc at L4/L5, so they got me in Tuesday for the epidural injection. It’s amazing how well it’s working after seeing how much disc is squished out. I left on a one week work trip and put in enough time that Saturday to Wednesday I had 53 hours in, so I called it a week.

After catching up on sleep, bills, and the honey-do list, I got out in the garage.

While on my trip, I got an email from the Seadek guys that I would have to cut my floor pattern into sections, as the largest panel they can do is 39”x77”. They sent a drawing with suggested cut lines and it didn’t appeal to me. My friend Gregg got after it on the CAD and spit out about 15 renditions in about 3 sessions.

Here’s the previous design with dimensional changes I asked for to tighten the gaps.

We’re not going to deviate a whole lot from this, just jockey the stripes and cuts to be as minimally intrusive as possible.

This is really close. Is that cool or what?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Even closer. Slight touch ups to sharp edges and such, but this is really close. Should be manufacturable.

 

[footer]

Even closer. Slight touch ups to sharp edges and such, but this is really close. Should be manufacturable.

Looks great. Your attention to detail is appreciated. I hope your back stays feeling well for a long time.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Looks great. Your attention to detail is appreciated. I hope your back stays feeling well for a long time.

Thanks, I thought I was the only one appreciating the attention to detail!

It’s exhilarating to apply it to something of my own besides customer projects. It’s fun to differentiate without breaking the bank.

 

[J.P.]

Its all coming together looking better and better. Hope your disc gets better so you can finish your custom 23 Daytona!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I’ve been working with Tim at Lawrence Fabric&Metal Structures in St Louis, MO. They have a CNC router with a vacuum table, and do work for some OEM’s. A couple of Fridays ago I was traveling through the area and swung in unannounced and missed the guys by a few minutes, but their shop was impressive. They specialize in fabrication for commercial advertising and branding.

Here is the material that’s on order. Going with the brushed texture.

The top layer will be the Cool Gray, bottom layer will be Bimini Blue.

We went with the 8mm thickness, hoping to keep some of the details in the Eliminator logo. The top layer is 3mm thick, so that thickness combined with their thin router should give some positive results.

All of these materials can be viewed at:

http://www.seadek.com/t-colors-landing.aspx

I’ve been traveling for work for the last two weeks, home for a week, gone the next, then the rush is off for work but on for the StressEliminator. The 4th of July is quickly approaching and I need to get my act together and finish this thing.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

This is the final rendition of the flooring pattern. I’m extremely pleased with how it looks, flows, and fits. Gregg has the patience of a saint and accommodated every single change I asked for and had a ton of good ideas. This wouldn’t look like this without his help, and I greatly appreciate it.

Tomorrow I will install the windshield and put the cockpit cover on with me inside so I can mark the inside of the cover to get some padding sewn in where the blue Sunbrella fabric rubs on the white portions of the seats and side panels, transferring blue dye to the white parts . Cover will be sent out to be modified and I’ll pull the interior so wiring can commence.

 

[Fonz69]

New 450R would look nice behind the Stress Eliminator!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

No doubt! Maybe if I start a GoFundMe.... or not. One can only dream.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

So, I’m done being on the road for a few weeks, so it’s time to get after finishing this thing so I can get it out of my garage and use it.

Even though I haven’t been around, I’ve been trying to keep things going in the background.

The Seadek arrived at Lawrence Fabric&Metal’s CNC router facility and is in process, I’ll most likely have it by week’s end.

HeadlessHula turned me on to Allen’s Fasteners out of Lake Havasu. They have a lot of parts in stock, and small packages ship for a little less than $8.

I ordered ARP bolts and washers to hold the engine to the jackplate, and some long stainless flathead socket capscrews for fastening the hatch to the deck without poking through the 1/4” aluminum inner flange I made.

There was nothing in place to hold the hatch up, and I couldn’t find the gas struts that Dean from Checkmate had sent with me when I picked it up, so my buddy Crash and I checked the kinematics of what would fit and allow the most travel, then checked all the vehicles in my yard and concluded the gas struts from our 2002 Suburban would fit the bill nicely. After purchasing two units from the store, Crash helped me again and he closed me under the hatch and I determined the pivot point for the strut so it actually has to go over center to open, and the hatch opens quite far vertically. I harvested the ball sockets from brackets Dean had given me, and came up with the brackets below.

Prepping parts today for paint tomorrow.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I forgot to mention that after feeling around under the deck by the rear hatch flange, I felt the screws from the hatch hinges poking through right in the area I want to run wires, fuel and hydraulic lines, so I set out to convert the hinge fastening sytem to threaded aluminum backing plates.

Before:

After:

I’ll swap those bolts out for 1/4” shorter ones so they’re flush.

Took parts for paint by my friend Randy, I’ll probably have them Tuesday or Wednesday. Then I can finish installing and sealing the deck hatch, and install battery boxes and batteries, which means I’ll be ready to start wiring.

My buddy Crash and I worked on installing the mounts for the gas struts to support the rear hatch, and I’m so disappointed in my design failure. Originally, Crash had helped me with figuring out the kinematics of the system, and I made a simple drawing of what I needed to make. Well, I misplaced that drawing, and redrew it on my own, trying not to have anything protrude into the storage area any more than necessary. I simply made the pivot point too short, and when we tried to implement what I had made, I remembered why the numbers were what they were. To top it off, the mounts buckle like Forrest Gump’s legs when pressure is applied, so I’ll be welding a brace on there as well. We’ll get it, I assure you, I just wanted it crossed off the list.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Picking up where we left off; I obtained the proper length fasteners for the hatch hinges. Much better.

Parts didn’t get painted as I had hoped so I grabbed them all back so I had them for fitment and modifications if necessary.

I’ve started working at wrapping things up from the bow and working my way back. The dock lights that mount underneath in the tunnel have the proper size, length, and number of fasteners, the bow light got drilled for a rubber grommet, grommet is installed, and wire harness is made for the dock lights and bow light. Couple pieces of shrink tubing and glue some zip tie anchors and that will be buttoned up.

Then I turned to the deck hatch. This has just been a thorn in my side, but I’m happy to say that I’ve won. It took placing the outer flange on the inside and using it as a drill guide for the straggling holes that refused to line up. Now everything fits and bolts together nicely.

Outer flange as guide on inside

Inner flange I made from 1/4”x4” aluminum flat stock. Drilled and tapped to replace nuts that I’d hit my head on. I’ll have to shorten the bolts.

Outer flange in place.

View of hatch. It’s way taller than original but I searched high and low for the low profile original replacement to no avail, so this is the best I could do; it’ll have to suffice.

Moving on to the dash. This is what it looked like after I holesawed all the holes; lots of torn strands hanging in the breeze.

Since I was fiberglassing a piece of 3/4” plywood for a floor to attach the battery boxes to, I figured I’d try to get some of those wild strands to lay down, and at a bare minimum, stiffen them up so I could grind or sand them smooth.

I’m pretty pleased with how the head unit wiring cleaned up. I truncated the speaker wires as I’m using the low level inputs to the amp, and changed the main connector to the input side of things to a 5-pin flat Packard connector to take up less space and only utilize the inputs I needed.

Speaking of battery boxes, I fit a piece of 3/4” plywood scrap left over from transom cutouts (seems like forever ago, doesn’t it?!?), cut and sanded it to fit, and cut some 1/4”x2” stainless strap to screw to the underside of the floor in the battery compartment for a good anchor for the battery boxes. My home tap set wasn’t cutting it, so I went to my buddy Crash’s house and used his Matco tap and some good cutting fluid. That was some particularly stubborn stainless!

Long term I didn’t trust t-nuts, and this spreads the load better as well.

This allows solid attachment of the battery box base.

I knew I couldn’t fit the drill head in the tight corners to drill square to the base once installed, that’s why I did it now.

Here’s where the battery boxes will live.

The 2-bank on-board charger and the battery isolator will live in this space as well, and will be behind a removable panel.

Remember the wire and hose looms my buddy Kevin made for me? Well, I cut cardboard templates to fit for each of the 10 units under the starboard gunnel. Crash cut each one to match my templates using my little converted bandsaw, then I checked the fit of each piece to the deck. After that, we removed the cockpit cover snaps from the deck and drilled for a screw that’ll hold the button head and anchor into the looms after I drill and tap them. With some Plexus holding the loom to the deck with the bolts from the cockpit cover snaps squeezing them tight, I think it might actually work! We shall see...

Starboard parts marked for bolt holes to be drilled and tapped, numbered for their respective positions.

You can see the cockpit is empty and we’re in full rig mode. Dash is out for final sealing, tanks are out for final assembly, and then we’ll put it all together for the final time.

 

[cofooter]

What a great idea for fastening the looms...…. clean and strong!

 

[Headless hula]

What a great idea for fastening the looms...…. clean and strong!

I agree 10000%.... just wish it didn't take so long for Johnny to fulfill his dream of creating "his" perfect boat.


I know without a doubt, the "shakedown" run will result in needing nothing more than an extra towel to wipe the tears of joy from all our faces. This project is down to the wire yet again, and there's VALUABLE vacation scheduled...

I try and stay out of his hair.....


I dont have the skillset to help any further, other than heavy lifting.....



We're ALL PULLING FOR YA BUD!!!!!!!