Fittings.....

Last weekend I did some fiberglass work to add stiffeners where the cleats will be mounted. It turned out that I did not need the extra stiffener because the deck was already very thick. The cut out I made measured 35mm.

After all that i gave the transom area 2 coats of flowcoat. Now it's starting to look all neat and tidy.

I also mounted the led navigation lights and a few other fittings.

Some more photos of the boat during construction

i found some more photos the builder sent me of the boat under construction .

Fuel tank, Seats and accessories

Fuel Tank

Today me and Nathan went for a drive to seaford to pick up the fuel tank. It is a plastic roto moulded one piece fuel tank complete with all fitting and a sender unit ready to be installed.

Capacity: 130L

Dimensions: 1200mm (L) x 580mm (W) x 270mm (H)

Perfect Fit in Between the Stringers

 

Boat Seats

A while back i did my first purchase for the boat and this was a set of bucket seats with built in flip up bolsters. After looking everywhere locally and couldn't find what i wanted i sourced these from the states for a very reasonable price delivered to my door.

 

 

Accessories

 

 

Also over the last few months i have been purchasing various accessories for the boat, like cleats, ubolts, steering control box, ladders and much more.

 

hopefully i will start installing very soon.



The Big Decission.........The engine

So in between all the sanding and painting i have been shopping around for engines and other accessories that i will need for the boat.

Late last year i had to make the decision of which engine to put in after a very good offer from mercruiser came along. My first choice though, was always a Volvo penta, but which one ????

So The decision was between the following:

5.0l V8 MPI Mercruiser with Alpha Gen 2 Drive (not a big fan of the dog clutch)
This engine was on special for a bargain Price. But ...

the other option was

4.3l V6 MPI Mercruiser with Alpha Gen 2 Drive (Cable Control)

Or

4.3l V6 Volvo Penta With duo prop and EVC (Electronic vessel control)
This Volvo was the best option but the price was a bit on the high side,


so after consulting with the Volvo Penta Dealer (which by the way are fantastic people to deal with)

they offered me a 4.3GI-200 V6 with single prop and cable controls.

this ended up being the most cost effective and simple package i could find for my project.

So it was December and i put in a deposit and it was mine for a delivery early January.

And here it it picked it up from seaford Vic and landed in my garage in lots of boxes and bits.

 

 

 

THE RED V6 !!

OUT DRIVE UNIT

 

TRANSOM ASSEMBLY

 

 

 

Moving on !! Progress Update

It's been a while since my last update. a lot has been happening with the boat aswell as with other stuff. Summer is here and we have been trying to make the most of it while it lasts.

Back to the boat - Since bringing back the boat from queensland i realised that the difference in gelcoat color of the deck and the hull was so aovious that needed fixing before we move any forward on this project. I decided to paint a blue strip along the sides and paint the top half same as the bottom half. (this turned out to be a big job)

So it all Began by choosing a color for the side stripes and after a lot of reaserch i settled on Norglass Admiralty Blue

 

Even though i chose a norglass color i painted the boat in an automotive quality 2pack paint for better quality. So after all this a long and pain staking process of sanding, sanding and more sanding, priming and more sanding i finished the paint and i an in the procedd of cutting and buffing for a better finish (hopefully).

 

Boat in Primer

 

Then all the primer was sanded back with 400 220 sand paper then a final sand with 600 wet sand paper for a smooth finish.

The next week i sprayed the white and blue the next day.

                                           

 



and the blue stripe

and finally my make shift temporary garage extension / spray booth