ALUMA-JET- Duracraft 1648 SV Jetboat Conversion

[PSG-1]

I didn't feel comfortable using the makeshift boat hoist that we made from 4x4's....at least not with someone else crawling under it. Also, it would be better to have the boat higher anyway, about chest-high, so they could see what they were doing, and not have to lay on their back.

One of my good friends has a boat lift that they use to hoist commercial fishing boats for doing hull work. I welded the I-beam on it when they built this lift a few years ago. He was nice enough to let me use the lift today, so, we got the boat up there, hoisted it off the trailer, and the Line-X guy came out to do the bottom.




Since the wind was blowing like a SOB, not to mention lots of motorcycles being parked nearby due to it being bike week, we used plastic and made a makeshift paint booth, that worked out nicely. The line x atomizes and dries in 10 seconds anyway, but we wanted to err on the side of caution.




Gettin' er done





Much better than the old stuff I had on there, which was flaking and peeling in many areas. The old paint was so ugly, I didn't have the heart to take a picture of it. But you can probably see it in some of the previous photos in this thread.




Line X representative Jon Jackson and his employee George at work





Back on the trailer at home. Still gotta do some other work, such as 5200 all edges of the line-x, to give a smooth transition, and to use an adhesive that guarantees no edge can peel. Also have to change out my wear ring for an all-stainless model, since the corrosion has caused the liner to swell, and my impeller is hitting it. While I have the pump apart, I'm going to change to a new, re-pitched impeller, a Solas Concord 14/21.

 

[gillhunter]

Looks great!!

 

[PSG-1]

Thanks! I have a lot more confidence in the longevity of the hull now with this coating. With the stuff I had on there, it was getting really bad. There was a lot of pitting from electrolysis. The boat has been running for 10 years. With the Line-X on there, I should get at least another 10 years out of the boat before I need to worry about anything.

 

[PSG-1]

Since I got the bottom Line-X'ed I figured I might as well freshen up the rest of the paint job, starting with the black above the waterline.
So, I taped it all out, and got my HVLP gun set up, and shot it last night.





No clear coat. That's how it comes out when you spray it from an HVLP. This is Interlux Brightside paint, thinned with just a little bit of 216 thinner (xylene)

I wiped down the boat, sanded it with 220 grit on a DA, and anywhere there was bare metal, I shot it with some zinc chromate primer.

Now that it's painted, I ran a thin bead of black 3M 5200 all the way around the edge of the line-x, including underneath the boat where it meets the edges of the jet intake and the tunnel. This will prevent any edges from peeling, hopefully.

Now I just need to get the interior re-painted with Hatteras off-white, and it'll look like brand new.

 

[Skiffing]

Whoa!

That's sharp.

 

[HeavyHook]

Looks great - love the paint job

 

[PSG-1]

Now working on the Interior paint:

Since it's mostly diamond plate, instead of using a DA sander with 220 grit, I used the pressure washer with turbo nozzle at close range to loosen any flaky paint. It exposed some bare metal, for sure.

On the smooth areas, I sanded with the DA, then wiped down the whole thing with Xylene.



The yellow is zinc chromate primer, where I touched up all the bare metal before painting.






Once it dries, I'll pull the masking and get a better pic.

 

[PSG-1]

Got it rolled out into the sun this morning, and pulled all the masking. Of course, about 3 hours later, it started sprinkling rain. #-o Fortunately, the paint was fully dry.






Since these High Output decals are about 80 dollars a piece, I figured it would be worth the time and effort to tape them out. I did pretty good on the masking work.





Hard to believe this is an 18 year old boat. Even harder to believe it started out as a 50 dollar boat destined for the scrap yard.

 

[PSG-1]

So the exhaust is "injected" after the impeller?

Since I had the pump apart today, I figured I would post some pics, for good visual reference.

Here we go:


Top left corner is where the exhaust exits from the muffler, into the tunnel



Tunnel has a framework made of aluminum angle along inside, with mounting holes for the rubber skirting.


Rubber skirting is trimmed to fit around exit nozzle, including notches for reverse cable (top), suction bilge (left), wash down line and steering cable (right)




The rubber skirting fits around the nozzle like this:


And then the ride plate is underneath, so the entire setup creates a sound baffle system of sorts. Works pretty good. Along with a rear platform, to help tone it down even more.

 

[PSG-1]

Despite it being almost 100 degrees, I ran a little bit on the PeeDee River yesterday between Society Hill and Cheraw, SC.

Water level is EXTREMELY low:



We were going to go up to the fall line at Cheraw, but about halfway up, there was a shoal extending across the river. Even though it was probably deep enough, we could see some bad weather building in the distance, so rather than risk being grounded in a storm, we went back down to a gravel bar just below the shoal and stopped to take a break and gather a few rocks:




Check out this idea for a river house, built on the old pilings of a bridge pier:




I'm glad we decided not to go further upstream toward Cheraw. By the time we got back to the boat ramp at Society Hill, I could see dark clouds, with lightning. Time to go home!

 

[PSG-1]

Last month's storm tides carved a new inlet through the beach, which is now passable at mid tide with the jet boat. Having a little fun at being one of the first people to run this inlet, and just one more reason I love a jet boat!!!

[googlevideo] https://plus.google.com/118265428967731929549/posts/TK7dsX8wDCx?pid=6219383163783461570&oid=118265428967731929549 [/googlevideo]

 

[PSG-1]

Since the thought of getting a rock in my pump has always made me nervous on those inland rivers, I decided it was time for a heavier duty grate with closer spacing on the bars. Not only that, but a stomp grate.



I had a machinist make the pivot block, from stainless. The OEM model was aluminum, but because I was making a stomp grate, I needed to be able to weld tines directly to the pivot block, and I wanted to continue using stainless, like my old one, as aluminum tines aren't going to hold up against rock strikes.



Bars are made of 1/4X 3/4" stainless, ground and contoured to shape to maximize flow-though. Spacing is 1/4" between all except the outside 2, which are 3/8" spacing. The 'step' on the back end of the bars is where they rest against the underside of the intake shoe. And yeah, it's heavy, LOL.









Took it out on the maiden voyage the other day, I wasn't sure if that 1/4" spacing would starve the pump. it did not seem to affect it, even in some light chop. Also seemed to get less trash in my strainer, but then again, it wasn't a really low tide, either, so, I wasn't running over some of the shoals I usually run.

All in all I think it will work pretty good. The closer spacing of the bars makes me feel a LOT better.

 

[okavango]

That's a keeper, nice work.
How are the middle two movable bars attached to the shaft?
You have motivated me to get my boat back into the workshop.

 

[PSG-1]

Thanks!

As for how the bars pivot, the shaft goes through the pivot block, and the 4 inside movable bars are attached to that. Because of the shape of the pump intake, I had to set back for the outer-most 2 bars, so, those are attached to the outer movable bars with a short length of rod, welded to both, so that they all move together as a set.

 

[okavango]

Was trying to work out how the two center bars attach to the shaft, is it a press fit or are the welded somehow?

 

[PSG-1]

Yeah, that was a dilemma when I first started putting the whole thing together, how to tie the bars together.

On the backside of the pivot block, where those 2 pivoting center bars are located, I had to gouge out with my grinder, to give me enough room to access to the fit-up where the 1/4" stainless rod goes through the bars, so I could get in there and tack weld them with the TIG welder. That was a tight space, for sure, and I had to be real careful about how I did it, otherwise, I would have fused the bars to the pivot block.

 

[CedarRiverScooter]

PSG - You should patent that!

Reminds me of the gates at car rental lots.

Must be nice having open water - we are still frozen solid up in the nortwoods.

 

[PSG-1]

I'm definitely looking forward to testing it out on some new stretches of river. We have already covered several hundred miles of inland rivers anyhow, but we'll be going to new places soon!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmmXB0y7jfc

 

[CedarRiverScooter]

Great video PSG!

Just what I needed during this long winter.

You sure have guts going through such narrow passages on plane!

I am in the middle of re-setting my tunnel so that it is deeper, hopefully this will solve my cavitation problem permanently.

Will post pictures after the ugly part is done.

Can't wait for spring.

 

[PSG-1]

You sure have guts going through such narrow passages on plane!

That's what I say every time I see videos of guys running jet johns in small rapids. I guess it's all about being familiar with the area, and knowing how to read the water.

Thanks for the compliments. I have fun doing videos of all the places we go to. Already planning out some new trips for this year.