Not another boat!

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,034]

Red is right!!
 

[Ken B 3,116]

Well, yesterday she went for a little ride to the upholstery shop and what do ya know.... He's on vacation in Brazil till the 14th! That's ok, he's the best upholstery man around bar none and worth waiting for so I left it at his shop with his son. Mean while, I'll pull my row boat into the shop and give it and its trailer a little "refresh" Its funny, since Stevebo entered the antique outboard and boat hobby I find myself much busier! Its also funny how Mr. Steve likes his tractors original with patina (with a little salad dressin on the side, but not too much) BUT, once he saw one of my shiney boats I can honestly say he is a shiney boat kinda guy... I think he stays down in the barn till all hours of the morning with his little helper keeping things polished! 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,034]

Come on Ken... Ur the polish king. 

[Ken B 3,116]

It seems all I have been doing this summer is working on my two boats and not USING them. The past few days have been brutally hot out and I have been working outside all day. Today I decided there ain't nothing stopping me from hittin the lake after work. I took the 54 Crestliner out with the 54 Evinrude 25 hp (the trailer is a 54 as well). I went with my two Boys, Jesse on the left and Cole on the right. All three of us did some tubing. I was the only one not knocked off the tube even though Jesse tried his darndest! 



 

Edited July 22, 2015 by Ken B

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,034]

You have been working on your boats all summer for sure !! This time last year we hit the lake at least 3-4 times (each time I was in second place tho). Too bad we missed each other by one day. Had mine out yesterday. Next time you run the 55' Johnson we will have to take a few photos of them together. They will be twins !! 

[Ken B 3,116]

Twins for sure. Two almost identical Crestliners with two beautiful 55 Johnson 25's don't happen very often on the same lake!

[VinsRJ 721]

There will be a 58 Crestliner next summer...

[Ken B 3,116]

The Dunphy is done! I just picked the boat up from the upholstery shop and it looks great.. The motor is original to the boat, I did the needed maint. on it and she purrs like a kitten. I spent a few days detailing the motor and it looks almost new..Maiden voyage will be sometime this week. The last time this boat was out on the water was 43 yrs. ago!


 

[AMC RULES 36,941]

Does look great Ken...    
can we see an interior shot of that new upholstery work too?  

[dclarke 4,011]

I just went back to your first post dated June 15th, amazing what you have done with this in 6 weeks.   Great work, Ken!.... I'm with Craig, can we see the interior? 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,034]

I personally saw this boat yesterday and Ken really does great work. The interior came out great as well. Same color and style as I did in my Wolverine. 

[fireman 1,021]

Looks sweet! Nice job as usual!

[Ken B 3,116]

Here are a few interior shots and an up close of the motor so you can see how mint it is.. Wow Denny I didn't realize it has been 6 weeks! It seems like it has been an eternity. If I didn't decide to bring it to work and work on it in the back warehouse I wouldn't have finished it this year. The weather has been kinda rotten this summer and at home I was working on it outdoors.. I guess i did okay because I was also able to give my Crestliner and its trailer a makeover as well. I'm done working on boats for the rest of the summer so if any of you guys find a boat that needs a makeover don't send me the Link because I'll be too busy out on the water! 

[JimmyZ 176]

Looks Mint!!! Super job. 

[Ken B 3,116]

So... The maiden voyage. Well, the first attempt at a maiden voyage didn't go so well! As I was backing the boat down the ramp when I had it in deep enough I went to hit the brakes that was a no go! I'm pushing the brake pedal down and I'm thinking why am I having to push the pedal down further than normal? Yeah, no brakes! (Blew a front brake line, kinda surprising because underneath my van its spotless.) The ramp is kinda steep and you'd be surprised how fast you pick up speed. Luckily I got past that WTF moment pretty quick and dropped it in drive pretty quick. Of course the ramp is slippery as all hell so there was a little spinnage but I didn't float the van. So, I pull out a cigar, light up, re-secure the boat and say to myself, now what? Screw it, I'm only ten minutes from home I'm outta here. hey, ain't that why they put e- brakes in cars? I get home and decide to hook up to my Grand Cherokee. I haven't driven it for a few months and when I put it in gear, no go! Front caliper is locked solid! I just replaced that caliper last summer. I pulled it apart and the pistons on that caliper wouldn't budge. Ist attempt at a maiden voyage TOTALLY UNSUCCESSFUL. I figured I'd tell the whole world before some other clown does...

So.. Second attempt the next day was almost as crappy as the first one. The motor fired right up, which is usually a good sign. I'm pulling out and as soon as I hit the throttle its banging out of gear. More than likely a bad clutch dog in the lower unit. I turn around and head to shore. I think to myself, let me call my son and if he's home little does he know it but he's gonna earn some keep. he's home and he is going to run another motor down to the ramp for me. Thatta boy. I put the Evinrude on and after one pull of the recoil I'm holding the rope in my hand! So, off comes all the covers and I wrap the rope around the flywheel and after the 50th pull it decides to start. It usually starts in the first or second pull. It ran like crap and started hard every time I shut it off. I met Stevebo on his yacht and we hung out for awhile, thank God he had some ice water!

Yesterday it rained, So I rebuilt the recoil and took the carb apart for a cleaning. I guess the old sayin is true, third time is the charm. Today I went out and the Ole Evinrude started on the first pull and purred like a kitten all day and I was able to get a pretty good feel for the boat. Its a lot more fun than it was the second day when the motor was running like a turd...Next I will try my Mercury and I think that one is gonna go pretty good.

[AMC RULES 36,941]

       

[wallfish 15,907]

That boat is beautiful
There used to be a crew of 3 or 4 old timers who sat on their lawn chairs at one local boat ramp to watch this kind of stuff happen. You would've made their weekend Ken!
 

[squonk 38,844]

At least your trailer wheel didn't fall off in the water!  We've all had those days. I used to like working at Napa on the Sat. of Memorial day weekend. I sold more boat parts that day than the rest of the year!  Nice pics.  No pics of the yacht? 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,034]

At least your trailer wheel didn't fall off in the water!  We've all had those days. I used to like working at Napa on the Sat. of Memorial day weekend. I sold more boat parts that day than the rest of the year!  Nice pics.  No pics of the yacht? 

Here is was Ken was talking about. 

[squonk 38,844]

Nice! Don't lose the little generator or what ever that is on the front! 

[CRE1992 135]

Im glad you got to take the boat out and everything finally went okay... Had a boating mishap or three today myself haha. Operator error though.... Sucked up a rope in my intake grate, got wrapped around the impeller, rope was pushing on seal so we started taking on water. So I beached the boat and we tried to pull and cut the rope but could not get it out. So I tried to limp the boat back but the tide was so low we got stuck on a sandbar. Fast forward 5 hours and being stranded high and dry we finally got off the sand bar and limped home with the other engine. So tomorrow after work I guess I have to pull the grate and cut the rest of the rope, hopefully the seal is okay. I took pictures but its a tad embarrassing.