Pimping my Chrysler 65hp, thoughts and ideas

[las]

While waiting for parts and stuff to complete the repair of the worn clutch dog and gear on my Chrysler 65hp I ran across some pictures online of vintage race Chryslers, merc's and others.
Torpedo shaped raw aluminium gearboxes, stacker exhaust and personalized engine covers like late Frank's mermaid cover.
I just love the looks of those old school engines and I couldn't stop thinking about pimping my engine up a bit. The things I plan to create must have to a function, in theory at least, and have to be useable in the community I live. That means, fully open stacks are not an option. I would hate the noise myself, and others would be pissed, understandable so! Maybe back in the 60'.... Not today.
We had a guy sailing a jetboat with a V8 and open headers, made a lot of noise and he was banned from the harbor.

Well after giving it a lot of thought I started the journey today by butchering an old candlestick out of alu, one of those cheap one made in China and bought in Ikea
I welded it to the front of the gearbox, filled with fiberglass filler, sanded it down and gave it a light coat of primer.
I plan to assemble the gearbox before I paint it so I don't mess the paint up when reassembling.

Besides the nose cone I opened the water intake holes on the side up a bit, chamfered the triangular pickup hole inside leading to the water pump and drilled a 3mm (0.12inches) at the bottom right next to the skeg. You can see it in the pictures if you look close. My idea is that the small hole will allow water trapped in the leg to run out when it's being parked after sailing as I noticed the prop shaft spool was corroded.

Besides the nose cone I plan to make two silenced megaphone stacks, with a lever so I can shut them completely when needed.
The engine cowl I plan to paint red and white and perhaps have the Chrysler name in gold foil.
What do you think.

If you think it's stupid or have suggestions, let me know. I might listen, I might not But I do like to discuss how and why things work or why they don't.....

Edit: Oh and I forgot the mention, I plan to paint the lower leg silver up to the AV plate and then white the rest of the way up

 

[Nordin]

Las, nice work, looks really good.
But I am then one who likes old stuff in original shape.
Love to keep things as they where made and in good working conditions.
I am a kind of collector of old things (cars, outboards, boats, motorcycles, mopeds etc.).
In this world when we do not repair things and just throw them away and buy new, I try to keep old things working and use them instead of make junk of it.
Interesting to follow your project with this motor.

 

[las]

Nordin I know exactly what you mean and I really do admire people who keeps all these things running like they were built.
I just can't help myself, I have to modify the stuff I have.... But I do believe we share the love for the design of all that old stuff, the good old days!
For modern people this Chrysler 65hp have little to no value I think, for me it's a dream of an engine, and making it look like a little race engine will make me happy and maybe turn a head or two.
There's also the thing about it, that a poor guy like myself can have stuff out of reach of "ordinary" people, without that much money invested. But hours!
Imagine someone taking a completely worn out old boat to a marine shop and making them rebuilt it to their specs! It would cost silly money in todays world.

 

[puffitu]

I say go for it. Life is short. If you enjoy it by modifying your boat or motor-no foul! Great reward when you can make something work with your bare hands, some brains and uhmm ..cheers!

 

[las]

I say go for it. Life is short. If you enjoy it by modifying your boat or motor-no foul! Great reward when you can make something work with your bare hands, some brains and uhmm ..cheers!

I agree, life is short and it is cool to have something nobody else have.

I just finished the painting of the lower leg and ran into some trouble with the clear coat. It turned all milky on the silver part. Luckily it cleared up for the most part, still have 2 or 3 spot on one side, I hope they are gone tomorrow. If not it's ok. The picture shows the clouding at it's worst, it's much better now.
The paint I used where actually the cheapest I could get my hands on and if it doesn't work out, well then there's always another time.... Maybe.
And besides lately I have actually found some of the cheaper cans to be better, go figure!

I also played a little with the motor cowl design in Photoshop, take a look and tell me if it looks stupid! It probably won't be exactly like that, but it's an idea.

 

[Nordin]

Nice work, looks great.
Is the decals from the factory brochure 1979 model?
I think I have seen the tiger in that year, but can be wrong.
Looks really nice.

 

[las]

Thanks, no the tiger is just something I found online available as a decal. But the inspiration is from the 70' Chrysler brochures were they use different tigers in their brochures.
I wanted something not to detailed with a simple line to it, and with some colors to give the whole thing some life.
I've just send a request to an ebay shop if they can make the decal 15cm and with a left and right one for me. I would like the tiger to jump towards the same side on both sides of the engine.

The rest is just some lettering , colors and lines I put together in photoshop.

 

[las]

Just started making the cones for the exhaust stacks. It's not easy, but they are impossible to find in that size around here.
Well I will see how they turn out further down the line.

 

[las]

Got the trumpets welded as best I could and just needs a little bit more on making them look good. Now I'm waiting for the last bits to arrive so I can continue with the idea.

The lower leg turned out great I think.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you know there is a formula for the taper required on 2-stroke exhaust trumpets

 

[las]

I didn't know there was a formula for trumpets or at least didn't think about it. They will also be muffled and restricted quite a lot.
Functional but mostly for show. I love the look of the old Chrysler stackers, and stackers in general!
But in today's world it's not possible to produce that amount of noise if you want to keep sailing where you live. I'm old as well, and don't want anymore loss of hearing
It's a compromise with a lot of unknown factors regarding performance and construction.
The same with the cone on the lower. I doubt I'll be going fast enough for it to have an effect.