1980 HydroStream Vamp resto-mod

More sanding going down today... yay sanding! But my new wire harness just showed up, plugs right into the motor and couldnt be any easier. Just waiting on the keyed switch to show up so I can drill a hole for that in the dash.
I still need to get my gear shift lever, but I hate that my only option for that is a $300 aluminum stick thats made in china for a couple bucks. There are a couple places that sell the exact same stick and they call it their own.
I think for the time being I might just use the factory shift lever, but tuck it back into the gunnels.

 

Topside is now all done. I got the new wire harness all hooked up to the old keyed switch as the new one is for a newer style motor and wont work. But thats ok, I need to use the old shift lever for a little bit anyhow until I get a gear shift.

Tomorrow I am going to finish sanding out the transom so I can put the tie downs back on and lift the boat once again to sand the under side.

 

Block sanding has to be the most mind numbing thing that I have ever done. It NEVER seems to end!

 

Oh its terrible, I have been sanding for a month and a half now. So ready to be done with it... but I know even after I gelcoat the boat I will have to sand more just so I can buff it.

But the control box is all setup now, I didnt really clean it up much so its going to be the most ratty bit on the boat.

 

I know right. I usually don't want to do any more but I cannot call it done until it's as perfect as I can get. Such a quandary!

I have restored a couple of cars in my time and I always keep one original ratty piece on them. Some people don't get it but to me it feels like I am honoring it's history.

 

I kinda like that idea, though I dont think the motor controls would be my first choice for ratty part. I do have the original steering wheel, might put that on.

 

Yes, you have to be selective and usually I did something that would not totally stand out.

 

Took a little bit more time with the motor this evening. I moved it forward in the garage so I can put it in the driveway to work on it with the water hooked up. But, I hooked up all the original throttle controls with the new wire harness. Everything seems to work pretty good, choke turns on, key turns over motor, though the shift and throttle cables are a bear to press. The shift cable moves freely, but the throttle cables jacket was all cracked and broken so the line was rusty and crusty. New shift/throttle cables have been ordered, I got 13 foot ones as thats what the original ones were. I will need to order another set once I get the motor on so I can hook up the hot foot. The hot foot is a few feet further away than the normal shift lever is, so a longer cable is needed. But I dont know how long I need until I can put on the motor and route the cables I got.

I also need to order a water pump kit soon so I can get that installed, but cant really do that until the motor is mounted on the boat as I need to trim the motor up to get the lower unit off.

 

I have been wondering about the foot throttle.

Does it replace the hand throttle or will you have both?
Also why is a foot throttle desirable in a boat? I think I know but not positive.

 

The foot pedal replaces the hand throttle, but not really at the same time. For most people when they install a hotfoot, the just take the throttle cable off the hand throttle and put it to the pedal. So the hand throttle is still there for most people as thats where the key to start is, where the trim switch is, and where the shift linkage is. My friends bass boat has a hotfoot, and the hand throttle. So when he starts out, he has to push the hand throttle down to put it in gear, then he can use the foot pedal to accelerate.

Now, as for why its desirable. Its only good in some situations and some kinds of boat. For cruising boats (pontoons and cabin cruisers) where you just want to put it at a speed and go that speed for awhile, you want the hand throttle as it stays at the speed you set it to. The hot foot comes back to idle when you take your foot off it.
Using this throttle in a fast boat is desirable, as you want to keep both hands on the steering wheel at higher speeds, so fiddling with the throttle with your right hand can cause the boat to get out of control. They also make "turn signal stalks" that control the motor trim so you can keep your hands on the wheel while adjusting trim too.

Another advantage is mostly centered around older boats, but also irresponsible newer boat owners. On newer boats there is a engine kill lanyard, you connect to yourself, then if you get ejected from the boat the motor will stop. Most people do not attach these to themselves as its easy to accidentally shut down the motor by moving or standing up. Older boats dont have these kill switches so if the driver is ejected, the boat just keeps going at full speed until it hits something. The hot foot returns to idle when your not pushing it down, so if you get ejected, the boat will drop down to idle and just putt along at idle until it hits something.

 

I suspected it had to do with being a high performance boat vs a cruiser, never thought about the safety lanyard part of it.

 

For the time being, my boat will have both the hand throttle and foot pedal until I get the shift lever to put the motor in gear. I will actually probably be running it with the hand throttle and not the hot foot for the first couple of runs too.
I figured out a decent mounting option that wont drill into my nice fresh fiberglass. The trim panels that go on the sides are 3/8 inch plywood covered in foam and vinyl, so I am going to make 2 drivers side ones. One will have a section of foam removed where the control panel will bolt on to it, the other will have foam going the full length. This will only cost me a little bit extra, but will allow for hand throttle or hot foot. The panels just clip on with little hooks, so swapping is nice and easy.

 

Another rainy day here Going to work on the transom, maybe start getting the donor lower unit for the motor prepped and ready to swap over when the water pump shows up.
And Im going to get the bow and transom eyes on to start lifting again.

 

Alright, transom is flat and beautiful. I will try to get some pictures when I can move the boat forward a bit. But now I get to rig it to fly again tonight so I can start blocking out the bottom of the hull.

 

Bow and transom eyes are back on. I messed up on the front one, while I was putting the nut into the end of the socket, or course I dropped it and it bounced down a hole into the inside of the hull. No access to it that I can reach. So, I did what I had to, I took a magnet fishing magnet, put it on the outside of the hull and dragged it around until I heard something stick, then just dragged the magnet on the outside up to the front where my access holes are. I pulled a couple screws, some hardware from the old bow eye, then finally the nut!

But, I have found there is a ton of dust inside there that I am going to have to get out. Thinking I might use my shop vac and some garden hose and just stuff it down there, then put the leaf blower into the bilge hole to blow everything forward to the vacuum.

And speaking of dust, while thinking of the best way to get all the dust out from inside the hull before I paint, I think my best way is going to be to hit the highway with the boat. 70 mph wind blowing at it for a few miles should get all the dust out of there.

 

I see that you have the same luck as I do. When I drop something, it goes to the most unreachable place possible, if I can even find it.

 

Yep, never fails. This is why I have 4 pairs of pliers on my little fishing boat. Chances of me dropping at least 3 of them in the water is pretty high.

 

Also, nice glamor shot of the boat as it sits right now. Hoping to get blocking the bottom half tomorrow afternoon, then this weekend I am out of town for a fly fishing trip, so what I dont finish tomorrow will have to wait till monday. I think I will probably try to pick up the gelcoat on tuesday as I have wed and thurs open after work to spray it.

 

ok, this sucks... sanding this bottom is going to take some more time than I had planned. On the plus side, the bottom doesnt need to be 100% perfect like the topside, so good enough is infact good enough.

 

So done for the night.... too fucking much sanding, I got a good chunk of the left side of the boat done. I need to do the keel and the upper sides of the bottom, then I can start on the other side.