Converting a Race Boat into a pleasure Boat

[Ratickle]

That sure looks to be strong.

[2TR]

Today I cleaned up the edges on the fiberglass I did yesterday and did some grinding to get them to fit perfectly in place.

I than finished tabbing in the bulkheads so those are now ready to go..

Next I cut the "nub" off the front that was left over from the F16 canopy. Once that was finished I ground down 6 inch's around the cock pit, this will give me nice fresh glass to attach the front sheets to.

Once everything was ready I built a quick temporary throttle/shifter box to find out exactly were I want to build my seat bases.

[Wrinkleface]

Today I cleaned up the edges on the fiberglass I did yesterday and did some grinding to get them to fit perfectly in place.

I than finished tabbing in the bulkheads so those are now ready to go..

Next I cut the "nub" off the front that was left over from the F16 canopy. Once that was finished I ground down 6 inch's around the cock pit, this will give me nice fresh glass to attach the front sheets to.

Once everything was ready I built a quick temporary throttle/shifter box to find out exactly were I want to build my seat bases.

real cool re-do, Thanx 4 sharing!

[VICIOUS]

Rick , just a few questions ,do you think that a wind screen like a Skater 28 would look better then old school and what is the grey gunk ( putty ) in the corners D B F - BY CHANCE ?

Yes, Detroit Body Filler !

Rick it is looking good , Glad you got billy helping you out.

[2TR]

Ok, I'm back at it....

Ok, we attached the cock pit walls to the deck, lid and bulkheads. Yes this part sucked.. a 6'3 240lbs person does not fit well in a 14in space while fiberglassing..

[2TR]

After the back was tied in I began to grind the paint so I can attach the dash panel and center counsel

[2TR]

After noticing how close the corner of the seat was to the corner of the cock pit I decided to cut it back on an angle. I notice those seats do flex and god for bid we are hit I don't want to take a 90 degree angle to the back of the shoulder.

[2TR]

I than mocked up the dash so I can get some measurements..

[2TR]

I built 5 throttle boxes until I found one that fit perfect offering enough room and easy arm placement.. This took to long.

[2TR]

Once the dash angles and throttle position were set I began to attach the old cock pit to the new cock pit.

I only needed to do the area that will be behind the dash at this time.

[2TR]

Little resin..

[2TR]

Than I ground the corner pieces to a perfect fit..

[AIR TIME]

looks great keep it up.

[RDMAN]

Great Project !!

[2TR]

I did build a dash and glass it in last week but forgot to take pictures so I'll do that later. As of now I'm doing the bottom on my 34 Sea Ray getting her ready for summer and this project will be forced to sit.

But I did get this interesting picture of another person who cut there F-16 canopy off and made it an open 4-seater.

[2TR]

This project is going to take a while with the kids racing, soccer, band and all the other normal family stuff.

As of now I have 1 free day a week to work on the boat - Wed night from 8:00pm till 10m


May - 12, 2010: I glassed the dash into place and used "Gunk" to blend in the edge of the dash to the deck. *Note the cardboard guage cluster for my layout

[2TR]

It's hard to tell but this is under the dash. I glassed each edge to the cockpit. I also made 4 braces attaching the front of the dash to the front bulkhead for strength and to help support the helm.

[DAREDEVIL]

Nice, just wonder why u used wood instead of foam ...is it still going to float ?????? LOL

[2TR]

I than removed all the rigging * Just pulled it into the back and hide it..


The one side of the cockpit wall had a large "heavy" self that the fire extinguisher and a few other items sat on. We removed this and opened up the hole earlier in the project to allow easier access to the sponsor for glass work. Now I'm cleaning up the top so it will match the bottom and building a couple access panels. I than cut a scrap pc. of core to match the top to the bottom, I'll gunk it in later

[2TR]

Nice, just wonder why u used wood instead of foam ...is it still going to float ?????? LOL

I'll be using both, just right now I'm using the wood. So far I removed 398lbs of canopy, glass, wood and foam core and added approx 77lbs in glass, gunk, cloth and wood.