2016 Weldbilt 2070 upgrade

[blackd]

No Title

Here's how the boat looks just set up for spacing. It appears to have ~3-4 feet of space front and rear of the CC.

 

[blackd]

I lost some of the room in the front with the fuel & anchor lockers. Some slow progress has been made. CC is filled/patched/painted, most wiring fuel line etc. pulled and nearly all electronics installed and wired. The front lockers are built and not installed. I built the frames. Rebuilt and sealed them, and then finally sealed and painted the panels. If you look closely you will see I forgot to remove one of the panels for sealing/painting. I forget that there are precious few straight cuts on a boat. If you are wondering about the difference in the lockers, the bigger locker is for the fuel tank and lines, The shorter locker is for anchor and miscellaneous storage. the short locker will act as a step to the front platform, and both will be seats.

Anyway I am in the re-install phase for the major pieces

 

[strokendiesel002]

Looking great! Can't wait to see the end result!

 

[blackd]

Stroken..., now that its warmed up somethings are much faster. Watching the epoxy dry now is just hours instead of days. I used epoxy as the sealer on many of the panels. Less dry time is good, cause I have rebuilt portions of the lockers 2-3 times. That funny looking fuel filler box is on its third iteration. If tomorrow goes well, I will dry fit the CC, the pedestal seat, the motor, make the final cuts in the floor, and then seal the seat reinforcement and open cuts. That will leave the final hook ups, screw down the floor and test to see if we have power. Then watch out, a 20 foot light boat with 120HP on it will cruise the river. As you can see the to-do list is shortening.

 

[Tuna MT]

Gonna be a fun one!

 

[blackd]

No Title

More progress. Got the CC dry fit (again), cut the side panel and hole in the floor under CC for cable routing. Pulled the cables, wiring, water pressure tube, and mounted the motor. The reinforcing plate on the boat is off center by ~ 2-3", but not a big issue as one bolt on that side just hits the edge. Then I realized that the steering and a throttle cable were too short for the placement of the CC. Ordered replacements tonight for delivery Mon/Tue. Running the cables is easy with the floor loose. Just tip the CC raise and tip the floor, then run the wires/cable to the spot where the side hole is cut.

 

[blackd]

An update without pics for now. I will add some tonight.

Wiring is complete, and gauges work, engine turns over. Needed a new battery as the 6YO was just too weak. Needed new cables all around. The last control cable is due for delivery today, and the new steering cable needed an adapter to connect to the helm/steering box. That is due 7/5. I have the seat placement marked with holes drilled for bolts/screws and the floor reinforcement is sealed and drying/dried. To do list includes: connect control cables, cut and place the seat floor reinforcement (seat sits over a rib), install the seat, strap the 2" conduit used for the cables run to the stern to the top of the gunnel, add some fuel to the front tank, start the engine, attach the floor, add the CC inserts. All of this should be done in ~2-3 4 hour days.

Some lessons learned was that epoxy and paint drying in colder weather is a pain. I made a mistake and bought bar top epoxy, but used it to seal most of the covered supports and the locker panels which were then painted. I did use pressure treated wood for supports where they did not touch metal. Even most of that was sealed with epoxy. WHENEVER ESTIMATING TIME AND WORK DOUBLE THE ORIGINAL ESTIMATE! (Note the above estimate.)

Splash should be next week.

 

[blackd]

No Title

The promised pics. Yes the wiring is a rats nest, but when I organize and tie the pairs I remember how hard it is to pull new/replacements when they are too well tied together. I also placed, cut to fit around the rib and sealed the seat reinforcement. Tomorrow I can install the seat reinforcement and seat base, replace the too short control cables and attach the 2 inch conduit and cable/wire runs at the top of the gunnel. While I'm waiting for the steering cable adapter to arrive next Wednesday I can do some cosmetic work (attach floor, handrails for CC and clean and install wind screen) and test and adjust the motor controls.

 

[blackd]

It lives!!! Later this week I will take it to the river and test to see if it floats (that is a joke). Anyway, I had a few minor problems with the motor and wiring which needed attention. Starter relay was bad, and the lower carb needle valve was stuck. It would start with the choke, but smoked like mad. I had two bad connections, one on the anchor light and the other on the bilge pump, as well as my switch panel had all switches bad. New starter, relay and switch panel and fixed the broken splices on the wires and the electronics are working. Dropped the fuel bowl on the carb and cleaned it and activated the float and the motor starts and idles fine with just normal smoke.

I have one minor problem remaining to resolve. It seems I have mis-wired the ignition circuit. It starts but does not shut off. A little more review to see how/what I screwed up there and I should be ready to get on the water for the real test.

 

[blackd]

Another update - I cleaned both carbs on the motor so it is running better. Found the wiring problem with the ignition, so now it turns off. It doesn't like running off the front fuel tank which has older gas, and siphons from it to water separator when bow high. I have 2 primer bulbs in the system, so I will remove the primer bulb in the stern, and just go with the primer at the tank to see if there is too much restriction, and install a on/off valve at the water separator. All these are minor changes.

I am waiting till early next week instead of the busy week end at the ramp, to get the boat launched. Thereafter it will be making cosmetic/efficiency changes to the boat. I intend to make just one more update to this thread reporting the outcome of the initial splash.

 

[blackd]

I splashed it today. Sorry no pics. I have a short list of changes. Get and install rope cleats for stern. Having them attached to the stern handles allows them to fall into water and potentially get into the prop. Otherwise the boat is a dry ride (for a Jon boat), but with that wide bottom a hard ride. There was just enough chop to disallow a full bore speed test run. At this point I think the boat is a little slower than the 18 footer Wellcraft deep vee it replaced. OTH it is drier (no water at all in the bilge) than the Wellcraft. That boat always seemed to have some water in the bilge.

Otherwise I am happy. This will conclude this thread.

 

[blackd]

No Title

Just thought I would revisit with the pics of how it came out. There will be changes, but this is how it fishes today. Grandson loves it.