Country Dave’s Lowe 1752 modification/restoration project.

[Lowe 2070 CC]

Thanks dude. When I party, I party in a fur coat and bikini speedo. [/quote]



Fur Coat??? I thought that was Ron Jeremy!

 

[Country Dave]

riverrat174 » Yesterday, 15:07[/url]"]

Country Dave » Today, 08:47[/url]"]

riverrat174 » 38 minutes ago[/url]"]Man that is clean. Sweet build. I can only hope mine looks half as clean.

Hey thanks Riverrat,
I’m sure your build we be great. You avatar is out of control. LMAO :LOL2: :LOL2: :LOL2:

Thanks dude. When I party, I party in a fur coat and bikini speedo.

I do not want to party with you dude. [-X

 

[Badbagger]

I do not want to party with you dude. [-X [/quote]

LMFAO.. X2

 

[Country Dave]

I was able to make a little progress today,

I was able to get the front section of my floor cut and fitted, but not mounted down yet, I want to paint the underside of it before I hard mount it. Also got my console riser finished up with the trim pieces. Move along move along, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for............... :LOL2:

 

[bigwave]

Very cool riser for the console....one step closer....... =D>

 

[Badbagger]

Looking great Dave and moving closer to the day..

 

[Country Dave]

Hey thanks guys it feels good to get a little bit done,

Worked on her a little bit today as well but no pics. I got the shift cable and throttle cable in the binnacle/controller and got them both adjusted properly. Have to make sure I can get full throttle operation. :mrgreen: I also worked on the forward wiring. Ran my ground and sender signal wire from the fuel sender to the console and just gamed planed my console setup for battery, battery switch etc.

 

[Badbagger]

Outstanding, are you going to add an ACR ?

 

[bulldog]

Absolutely awesome build. You should be very proud of this.

Is that an STS-V in the driveway?

 

[Country Dave]

bulldog » Yesterday, 22:42[/url]"]Absolutely awesome build. You should be very proud of this.

Is that an STS-V in the driveway?

Hey thanks Bulldog I really appreciate that.
It’s a 2013 CTS not the V but still pretty fun though. Company car.

 

[bigwave]

Dave what color are you going on the seadeck?

 

[bulldog]

I'm still jealous. Those cars are very nice!!

 

[Country Dave]

BB by ACR do you mean Battery switch?

Big I’m going with the “Snow camo” :mrgreen:

Yeh its pretty cool Bulldog I feel very fortunate to have a company ride. When the economy crashed we had lot of cut backs and we lost that privilege for a while.

 

[Country Dave]

This sight has been a great resource for me and when I can I like to try and give back,

That’s why often times I get descriptive about a particular task I’m doing and when possible try to post pics with the explanation. Trial and error is common when trying something for the first time and then we refine that process over time until we get the desire result.

I can’t say I’ve worked a bunch with aluminum before; in fact it’s been very limited until this build. One of the biggest challenges for me was how to cut the aluminum sheets and end up with a nice clean precise cut. I would have loved to have a plasma cutter and I might buy one in the future but unless you’re going to be cutting a bunch of metal it’s not really practical. The low end plasma cutters are like $600. That’s the low end, who knows where the high end tops out at.

I mean some guys dint pay $600 for their hulls, so like I said in the big picture it’s not all that practical. What I’ve been using to cut all my aluminum is a hand held jigsaw. Yep I know some guys use a circular saw but the jig works well for me. Measure as many times as you have to until you’re comfortable with your numbers. I then mark my points on the aluminum and clamp down a straightedge mark to mark and then score the aluminum with something sharp like a sharpened corner of a flat blade screwdriver.

The line is a lot easier to follow and it doesn’t disappear when you put down your light coat of oil like marker does. That’s the next step; spray a light coat of 556 or WD 40 on it. I cut with a medium metal blade with about 15 to 20 teeth per inch. The oil will gather the metal filings and that’s both good and bad. :LOL2: The up side is there not flying all over the place, and the down side is sometimes they will obstruct your line. You just have to stop and wipe them away.

I set my blade relatively slow, about 4 on a 10 speed dial. Too fast and you’re not cutting your wearing a hole in the metal so to speak, just like a drill bit. The bit need to cut as it rotates not spin so fast that you’re just wearing through whatever material you’re trying to put a hole in.
So slow it down a little and don’t push too hard. Let the blade cut and just apply a minimal amount of forward pressure. Scoring the metal also seems to help the blade stay in the cut; it wants to follow that line so the deeper you can score it the better.

Having a piece of scrap wood under the metal you’re cutting helps a bunch. It’s a little bit of a slow process if you have a long cut but it really does do a good job. O yeh I clamp my metal down so it doesn’t shift and I use both hands on the saw, one to give it forward momentum and the other one on the side to help keep it steady.

 

[Badbagger]

ACR = Automatic Charging Relay: https://www.bluesea.com/products/7610

I'm using this one.

 

[Country Dave]

Badbagger » 18 minutes ago[/url]"]ACR = Automatic Charging Relay: https://www.bluesea.com/products/7610

I'm using this one.

Certainly can’t hurt but no I didn’t plane on it. The battery switch can isolate the batteries if so desired. I’m only going to run one cranking battery anyway. All of the individual components have internal surge protection and should have a short circuit protection on the power side in the way of fuse or breaker.
I usually don’t turn on my electronics until after I start the motor. But thanks for looking out bro.

 

[bigwave]

Hey Dave, that was a very good explanation of your technique. I want echo what you said about the expense of making the boat look factory. If you have a factory with a plasma cutter or any machine like a brake or kick butt welding equipment your good as gold for that professional look. If you are a mere mortal like myself you can learn by trial and error with any saws, drills, and normal garage tools and keep your expenses to a minimum. I learned so much on my build from the people on this site, now I just need the time to do another one. I can guarantee you one thing, I will not make the mistakes I did on my first one.

 

[Country Dave]

bigwave » 32 minutes ago[/url]"]Hey Dave, that was a very good explanation of your technique. I want echo what you said about the expense of making the boat look factory. If you have a factory with a plasma cutter or any machine like a brake or kick butt welding equipment your good as gold for that professional look. If you are a mere mortal like myself you can learn by trial and error with any saws, drills, and normal garage tools and keep your expenses to a minimum. I learned so much on my build from the people on this site, now I just need the time to do another one. I can guarantee you one thing, I will not make the mistakes I did on my first one.

Yeh brother I think that’s the trick,

I mean if you can make cool chit without the CNC machines and the water jet machines you’re ahead of the game. I like challenges and it’s pretty cool to see something that’s problematic or labor intensive and find a way to overcome it without compromising the end result. :mrgreen:

 

[smackdaddy53]

Dave, your build and badbaggers are the bomb! Im glad I have these threads to look back on when I need answers to my questions.
Work is impeding my build but funding it at the same time right now.
Looking awesome Dave.

 

[Country Dave]

smackdaddy53 » Yesterday, 21:34[/url]"]Dave, your build and badbaggers are the bomb! Im glad I have these threads to look back on when I need answers to my questions.
Work is impeding my build but funding it at the same time right now.
Looking awesome Dave.

Hey thanks bro,

I know all about the work thing believe me. :LOL2: You’ll get there and you will probably appreciate it even that much more when it’s done.