Vintage rides

I decided to add some pictures and history of the boat project.
It's 1975 Chrysler Conqueror 16', 105HP
It had rotted floor, water saturated foam and rotted transom. I decided to repair and modify the boat and started the project in Fall 2009.
Pictures of disassembly, floor/foam removal, etc...

Motor is gone, seats are gone as well


Top half is gone


Quality control...


Transom is soft as a sponge...


Digging the foam


Half way...


Clean hull


New transom is in...


And fiberglassed


Stringers and bulkheads: work in progress...

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How often do you overestimate yourself in plans? With life experience you suppose to get better in planning... I have an opposite situation here...
My original plan was simple: wait for several warm, sunny days in a row; laminate stringers and bulkheads; bed them in the hull; laminate them in the hull. Bam-boom-beem: done in three days! Sounds easy, doesn't it?
Wednesday morning I rode my bike to the cottage, organized my workplace, brought everything what I need for work from the house. 9:30 - first mix of resin in the cup... By ten I realized, that I need to organize the process better: I needed to cut all the fiberglass and staple it to the plywood first. By 16 I ran out of staples and good luck: clouds got darker and darker and by the time I finished cleaning the work area and covering the boat the rain started. Thunder storm followed... No work done until Thursday morning...

In the middle of the process:


Not even half done...


I was mixing the resin with less then 1% hardener: day was so hot, that it was curing too fast!


Thursday morning. Should I mention, that I was already behind the schedule? Big time! Anyway I had same thing going all over again: laminating, laminating, laminating... Went to the hardware shop to buy staples... And back to laminating, laminating, laminating... Luck was with me all day, so I finished with Dalai Lama thing and trimmed all the parts. Can't say that I am 100% satisfied with a result: I could make it even nicer:) Next time;)

Friday morning. Rain in forecast... Scratched my head, then beard: decided to bed all the structure elements before I go home. First challenge: how to take off the top half of the boat? 2x4 under nose section, rear part rests on support, then nose goes on support as well... Easy to write it down;)
After that I sanded the hull, vacuumed it, installed stringers, temporary screwed a couple bulkheads: prepared all the holes for screws, double checked that boat sits straight on the trailer - ready to go. Loaded the gun with PL Premium; started the process...

Was done in less then an hour. Put some weight on the frame to keep it loaded, cleaned the work area and went home by 13...


So, I failed my plan: fiberglassing the frame...
Next time I need to reinforce all the plywood to the hull, drill the drainage holes, prepare the floor... I will need to refill my supplies: running out of thinner and resin. Need to check how many fiberglass left as well...
So, what I learned from that experience, that we are not getting any faster with age:)
Now it's time to taste the homemade beer:)
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Almost forgot! I started the Rotax yesterday: had to clean the points and the spark plug. Carb is not operational, so I just sprayed some gas/oil mixture in the engine. It starts:) Not for real, but something to play with:)
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I went to the guy who had the chassis and skis for Elan yesterday to find out that my tunnel is not that bad:) He had almost identical damage to the chassis, so I grabed only skis wich are correct for my sled. I have no regrets about keepeing my main fraim - at least it will stay original 1972... And with some work it could serve me another several decades:)
In the evening I started to cut the most damaged pieces of metal. Still need to cut some more areas... So, I cut the biggest piece under seat, some areas in the front (where gas tank is located) and some structural elements as well.
Here are the pics:

Tunnel



One more of the tunnel


Front


Front again

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Got two correct skis today. Guy had the chassis as well, but it's shape is not much better then mine piece of rust:)
I had mixed feeleings about buying another chassis anyway, so I gonna repair mine. Should be fun!!!
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I had all morning for myself, so I decided to clean some room in the garage: get the Elan apart.
All the fasteners were rusted, so good spray of WD-40 on every bolt and nut was my first step. Handlebar and steering assembly rushed to their temporary destination in the plastic bin first. Engine assembly, gear case, secondary clutch, boggies and other bits followed...
Couldn't dissasemble the tensioners for the track, so had to cut one of them.
It took two and half hours to tear it down...

So, here is the Elan


Power plant is waiting...


Chassis is badly corroded


I got two different types of skis. Which one is correct to the year? Need to figure it out


I have a choise now: I can repair the chassis and weld some patches (lots of pathces), or I can buy another one for $40... Leaning toward buying...


Here is the tensioner I had to cut


Previous owner fixed dents on the chassis with autobody filler... Tons of it!!!



Now I need to figure out when I can get the "new" chassis and maybe another pair of skis... Sometime next week... Lots of work ahead!
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This Elan was manufactured in September 1971, so it's 1972 model year. Double checked with Ski Doo serial numbers: everething matched. So, it is 1972 Elan 250!Perfect:)
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I got this sled for free from my former colleague. I had only a couple pictures he made in the beginning of the spring and I had no idea, what year it is. Turned out that it is 1971! Almost 40 years old! 6 years older then me:)
Anyway, here are some pictures:

Rusty, grimy, greasy, but all there! Engine turns over!


Looks rough, but still free:)


Another side view


Boggies!!! Track is not bad at all!


Hood is going to the recycle bin. I just need to take the headlight off



Summer project:)
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Got my Ski Doo Elan yesterday!!! It's 1971 250 single. Now need to make some pictures!
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This week is almost gone... Not too much progress on my projects, was busy with other things. For example, I helped my friend with her garden house: it needed a new roof. The roof is small, but the plywood around the edges was gone, and ants had several nests around, so this work took more time then expected. Here are a couple pictures (not the best quality pics, but it gives you an idea): On April 14th I started my first home brew using Coopers Stout Beer Kit. I let it to ferment for two weeks in the main fermentor. Couldn't wait any longer: bottled the beer yesterday. Got 18L for $28. Kit is $20 and dry malt extract + corn sugar are another $8. Next time I will try to find cheaper place to buy extract... Maybe in bulk... Here is the video of the beginning of the fermentation. Active... And sorry, it's in Russian... You don't need to speak Russian to understand:)

As for bottling, I had 14 Grolsch 500ml bottles and some plastic ones as well. In addition, I ordered some swing style bottle stoppers from England to use them on wine bottles. Worked perfectly... I wish I could find them cheaper somewhere around here. As the part of the plan, I asked my friends to buy some Grolsch beer and give me the bottles. Going to pay back with the homemade beer:)
Here are some pictures of the final product. It's going to sit in basement for another two-three weeks for carbonating and conditioning




Now it's time to start another brew!!! Need to get some supplies... Will update soon...
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