1972 Keel Up Restoration

Finally got a bit done. Not as much as I would have liked but we had a boatload of people at the cabin and my wife turned my shop into a bunkhouse. One disadvantage of having AC in a shop. This pic shows multiple layers of glass on the inside of the rear arch - done.

It is kind of hard to see but along the top of this pic is the bow light wiring glassed in along with the vent line support (white PVC). You can also see the hole for the deck gas fill (more on this in a followup post).

 

I also finished the forward battery tray and aft ski pole mount and then mounted the deck but not permanently as the next post will explain.

 

After mounting the deck I noticed this:

It is hard to see but the hole is about 3/4" too far forward and the short length of the hose precludes flexing to make it work. So next trip up I will have to pull the deck about 18" forward and fill the hole and re-drill it. At least I won't have to completely remove the deck.

 

A note on filling holes such as this or dash gauge holes - I cut a thinner piece of wood than the thickness required for the hole and use toothpicks or a tight fit at 3 or 4 places in the hole for the filler piece of wood. It is important to leave voids around the perimeter of the fill piece as the next step is to fill the voids with fiberglass jelly and roughly level the topside and bottom side of the now filled hole. It usually takes several applications of jelly with sanding in between each app to get it done. For a smoother finish on top or on the dash use bondo.

Note - this is not a good method to fill bolt holes in a transom. To do that one should obtain wood dowels that are smaller than the common 1/2" transom holes and cut the dowel's length to less than approximate transom thickness. Wrap the dowel in wet fiberglass cloth and stick it in the hole from outside and stick it in just past flush. Then finish as described above on both sides.

I have re-done many dash panels as I am rather picky about gauge placement and arrangement. If anyone is interested I will start a new thread "how to fill dash holes" and document every step.

 

I had two drain hoses from the cabin of my 272 Formula that I removed. The through hull fittings left a 1" hole in the glass, which is about 3/8" thick there. I used a piece of polished aluminum (waxed and grean-sealed) and taped it on the outside of the hull, sealing the hole off. Then from inside I applied a couple layers of gelcoat, some fiberglass mat, smoothed with bondo and then more fiberglass over that. Outside, remove the tape, peal the aluminum off and you have a flush gelcoat surface. Saves on sanding and doesn't damage the surrounding gelcoat or paint.

My formula had separate panels that the gauges mount in, then those mount in the console. A bit easier to change.

Your project is looking good! I like what you are doing.

 

That is clever.

 

I had twins 140 HP Johnson on my Dyne in 1977 . Talk about torque.

 

I had twin 140 HP on my Dyne 1n 1977. Talk about torque

 

Some comments on the tracking fin : I was driving for skiing competitions in 1974. The fin indeed was blessing to keep the boat lined up in the slalom course. When the club folded a few years later, i kept the boat as a pleasure boat. I found the fin a pain when jumping waves and not landing square. It would really jerk to one side and I thought it was just plain dangerous. The fin was sheared off by accident. I did not replaced it , glassed the holes over and never missed it afterwards. I don't see it's utility unless you want lateral stability when pulling in the slalom course.

 

You cannot turn on a dime without it. See Jim's picture. The fin IMO is what makes a Hydrodyne a special boat along with the hull design for a minimal wake. Yes you can have one without a fin but then you just have an average flatbottom boat. Hydrodyne boats were never designed to jump waves but were designed to flatten them for a good wake.