Country Dave’s Lowe 1752 modification/restoration project.

[Badbagger]

Nice pics... makes me miss living there and then I think about the traffic and remember why I moved north lol.

 

[Mrtoler]

I think I could deal with the traffic to have a view like that!!!! One of these days I'm going to make a move to Florida, I hate cold weather and I look at Miami weather everyday 81 today...it's in the 40's here and raining

 

[Gators5220]

Florida, gotta love it!

 

[Country Dave]

I think I could deal with the traffic to have a view like that!!!! One of these days I'm going to make a move to Florida, I hate cold weather and I look at Miami weather everyday 81 today...it's in the 40's here and raining

Come on down Ryan,

I was born here and the only other place I’ve lived was in Alabama for a while back when I was in the service. It’s really changed here and not for the better. I have three daughters and five beautiful grand babies here; the fishing is second to none so that’s why I’m still here.
It’s not all like what’s in the pics though. The keys were my other property is, well that’s my sanctuary, I hope to retire there in a hand full of years.

 

[Badbagger]

Boy ain't that the TRUTH. I moved to Coral Springs in 88... pulled up and left in 2003. Worked for 10 plus years in Ft. Liquordale and saw a LOT of changes and then in Boca for a good while. The ONLY constant, no matter when I get down that way is the construction! I use to drive from Cypress Creek exit to Hallandale Beach Blvd exit daily after work on 95. If I got my truck out of 2nd gear for 20 miles on any given day, I was LUCKY!

 

[Country Dave]

Boy ain't that the TRUTH. I moved to Coral Springs in 88... pulled up and left in 2003. Worked for 10 plus years in Ft. Liquordale and saw a LOT of changes and then in Boca for a good while. The ONLY constant, no matter when I get down that way is the construction! I use to drive from Cypress Creek exit to Hallandale Beach Blvd exit daily after work on 95. If I got my truck out of 2nd gear for 20 miles on any given day, I was LUCKY!

You got that right brother,

It’s not so much the traffic, all thought that sucks it s the people, “South Florida anyway”. Ok I know the chamber of commerce is not going to like that but unfortunately is the truth. There are very few true Floridians left; it’s really transient and seasonable. It has its pros and cons just like any other place I guess. I just love the keys and I can’t wait to retire there.
Love taking my grand kids fishing, nothing like putting them on a great bite. I enjoy seeing them catch fish every bit as much as I enjoy catching them. That’s what it’s all about for me.

 

[Badbagger]

Shoot, I don't think I'd have had enough server space to talk about "the people" lol..

 

[Mrtoler]

I think I could deal with the traffic to have a view like that!!!! One of these days I'm going to make a move to Florida, I hate cold weather and I look at Miami weather everyday 81 today...it's in the 40's here and raining

Come on down Ryan,

I was born here and the only other place I’ve lived was in Alabama for a while back when I was in the service. It’s really changed here and not for the better. I have three daughters and five beautiful grand babies here; the fishing is second to none so that’s why I’m still here.
It’s not all like what’s in the pics though. The keys were my other property is, well that’s my sanctuary, I hope to retire there in a hand full of years.

Unless I hit the lottery it's gonna be awhile before I could. I'm only 23 the wife is 22 and we have two kids. One big problem is all our family is here in Texas and I already know it would cause problems. Maybe if our 10 year plan works out like we have it planned well be able to move!

 

[Gators5220]

Man that boat is lookin sweet man! You gonna put a jackplate and trim tabs on it too?

 

[Country Dave]

Man that boat is lookin sweet man! You gonna put a jackplate and trim tabs on it too?

Thanks Gator,

Jack plate yes but no trim taps bro. The only place to mount them would be on the float pods. I guess it could be done but it would be problematic. Just too much investment for the return. When you consider the cost of a good set of hydraulic trim taps, plus you have to mount the fluid reservoir, run the lines. Just not worth it.
Beside unless you’re going to have a consistent unbalanced load you can trim out by trimming the outboard up or down. The float pods are going to be a huge help, I’m really not anticipating having any difficulty keeping her trimmed.

 

[whiteboots16]

Hey Dave I have a stupid question, I just got my pods in yesterday, and my wife told me there was two holes in them. After seeing your pics, I see what holes she is talking about. Why is there drain hole on the pods. I'm still offshore so I haven't got to see them yet.

 

[Country Dave]

Hey Dave I have a stupid question, I just got my pods in yesterday, and my wife told me there was two holes in them. After seeing your pics, I see what holes she is talking about. Why is there drain hole on the pods. I'm still offshore so I haven't got to see them yet.

Not a stupid question at all,

Well I can’t say for sure but if I had to speculate I would say, if you breached a pod and it started to take on water you could pull the plug, get the boat up on plane and the water would drain out because the drain is at the lowest point of the pod. Once the water was out, reinsert the plug and haul butt back to the ramp.

The other reason I think would be to have an access point to install expanding foam. I really have mixed emotions about that one. The plus would be, if the pods was breached the foam would not allow the pod to fill up with water, however you might not even know you had a leak until the pod corroded from the inside out. That’s the problem with foam, it traps moisture. If water gets trapped against the foam and the aluminum it will never air out and dry. Its starts pitting the aluminum, even worse in high salinity environments.

 

[Gators5220]

Ya I hear you on the trim tabs, though most people go electric anymore not hydrallic.

 

[RAMROD]

No expert here but it might serve to allow gassed to escape and not be trapped inside the pod when being welded up.

 

[Country Dave]

No expert here but it might serve to allow gassed to escape and not be trapped inside the pod when being welded up.

Sounds reasonable

 

[Country Dave]

Good morning all,

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I was in the office all day on Saturday so I didn’t get a chance to do too much this weekend with my project. I did manage to get the front floor supports and the rest of floor supports /stringers cut and bolted in.
Now I’m going to start extending out the rear deck and framing out around the fuel tank. After that a couple little odds and ends then I will flip her over and start prepping her for the steelflex.

 

[Badbagger]

Lookin good Dave!

 

[Country Dave]

Lookin good Dave!

Thank bro,

Sometimes things move fast and some times not so much. Still shooting for early March to splash her.

 

[Gators5220]

nice lookin gas tank mount and floor mount.

 

[Country Dave]

Thanks Gator,

It’s a 25 gallon high density polyethylene tank, the tank itself is very light but the 25gal of fuel is about 150lbs. Just trying to keep as much weight of the stern as possible. Putting the tank in front of the bench will really help balance out the load, plus with the tank down low like that it will keep the CG low in the boat. Now I’m just going to frame out off of the back deck up to the last floor stringer and around the tank.