Even my ‘05 F150 had a cold air intake, One engineered by Ford to work with my engine. Most of those aftermarket cold air intakes actually draw engine air from the engine bay, where it is anything but cold…
We pull tubes off the transom eyes all the time. it’s the strongest place that you can attach tow line to. Pulling a tube from a ski pole or pylon is a good way to tear the thing out of the boat when the tube submarines.
No. That is stupid advice. Don’t fill your boat with water. All it will do is get things wet that should not be wet. It will not replicate the pressure of the water pushing in somewhere from outside the hull and intruding into your boat. Do not do anything that person says, ever again.
Looks like you're on your way! Hard to know why that plywood is dark... could be some sort of coating, could just be aged wood. Hard to tell from a picture.
Good luck pulling the engine and working on the transom. I'd probably want to get that weight out of there, since you've removed some of...
Although replacing manifolds and changing fluids and other sorts of maintenance need to be done, it seems to me the #1 concern should be figuring out why you have so much water in your boat. If you discover a serious problem (e.g., a rotten transom), all those other become somewhat moot until...
We tube a lot, and even with wet riders and swimmers coming in to the boat, I don't think we've ever had enough water collect in the bilge to activate the pump. When I pull the plug at the end of the day, I might have a steady stream of water for 10-15 seconds, before it dwindles to a trickle...
I’d be inclined to put a layer of plain old CSM down if you think it’s too rough. That would give the 1708 an even better surface to bond to. Faring with PB or whatever is just making more work for yourself.
Those are pretty good questions and you really ought to start by reading the stickies as Scott suggested.
For grinding (eg., grinding off the tabbing that held the stringers, or the tabbing between the edge of the deck and the hull), you really only need to grind until the surface is flat and...
When I had trouble with those bubbles, it was usually because I didn't wet the surface thoroughly before laying down the CSM. Especially over bare wood.
I don't think SmartTabs will help with the slamming. They will help your bow drop more quickly and they will help you stay on plane at slower speeds, but I don't think the slamming would be affected. My boat does that, and I have SmartTabs. I think that's more a function of the hull design than...
I poured it on the CSM and used a mini paint roller to spread it. I never found anything that worked wonderfully... everything seemed to catch CSM fibers. The little paint rollers worked best for me, though.
This is what I used. Simple, effective, lasts forever. I keep a spare plug in the boat and in the truck.
https://www.iboats.com/shop/seadog-garboard-drain-plug-only-with-pin.html
