View Full Version : Blue Beast update
The old stringers and transom are gone, I did a fair bit of the Donkey work cutting stuff out but the actual glass work is being done by a close bud that was Hustlers glass man. I am giving he a free hand beefing things up, he does not think they were built well from the get go. He showed me quite a few things that made me shake my head, who was building them in late 85? He is putting double wide stringers starting aft dropping to single a little past mid ship and adding a few knees by the engine, he is moving the aft bulkhead back a bit to make room for the new 40 gallon aft belly tank. A new transverse bulkhead for the tank and bridge bulkhead with out board knees that will be tied into the back of the aft seat. He will be pressure laminating the stringers and full glassing them prior to install so they will never go bad again. Will be dumping the floor locker and modifying what was the seat battery box so I still have a junk hole. While the transom work is being done shelves will be added for dual batteries, pre-lube pump and drive and tab pumps. Hoping by getting the CG a little farther aft to make the BH drive work well, it should be as strong as a brick **** house when done.
MOP
mattyboy
01-19-2005, 08:32 PM
MOP,
you're moving the tank back, how are you addressing the filler hose/ cap?????
MOP,
you're moving the tank back, how are you addressing the filler hose/ cap?????
The original tank is staying and will be valved into the system, but will be kept empty just going to dump stabilizer in it. I doubt if I will use it much if at all, will be adding new fill and vent aft and to the side for the new tank and replacing the original fill to match. I know its not very "Classic" but a whole lot easier gassing up at the land pumps. Also hoping to get this "Experiment" to work, got to get as much weight aft as possible. Although I might get the same effect with Poodle and Road Trip in the back seat :biggrin:
mattyboy
01-19-2005, 10:36 PM
sounds like alot of work and not too sure about the outcome
penbroke
01-20-2005, 07:35 AM
Do you have the deck off?
Where is the new tank location? Directly aft of the old one under the floor?
Frank
curious
mattyboy
01-20-2005, 07:56 AM
Frank,
that's what i trying to picture, if the tank is under the floor i can't see the filler hose going from the deck under the floor and then up to the tank that hose is a pleasure to work with
or is there enough room to have some of the second tank exposed out from under the floor??
Sorry guys tried to post on this last night but the D net was not working when I tried to load the post.
The new "aluminum" tank has all the fittings on the aft end, my favored plastic would have to have been custom that was way to expensive. The tanks bulkhead will end up seven inches from the engine pulleys. I will have to put the filler/vent aft, better for me being as I trailer, climbing up and sitting on the deck is a pain.
I cut the tops off the stringers not knowing what I would have to do to get things right. If you remember I had thoughts of using "Sea Cast", I had checked it out pretty carefully and it was reported to work very well and was super strong. My glass guy killed that idea due to the poor stringer construction aft, forward the laminate was very good and of good thickness. I guess the fellow working aft was smoking bad stuff! Beside the thin spots we found only a few small soft areas of wood one by the port mount and just below all screws that were into the laminate. Would have been nice if they had used a dab of sealer on the hardware, for the most part they were surprisingly dry just ahead of the engine which was indicated with a moisture meter and verified by cutting them back. I may have dried things out a bit more over the season, I have a four inch carpeted PVC tube with a solar vent elbowed up on the end to circulate air through the boat while its covered.
The stringer by the port engine mounting bracket was so thin one of the washers had torn through into the wood. I will shoot a pic of that, the transom wood showed wet at the very bottom and was bad in just a tad in from where the stringers butted it so we pulled it out, that was another joke! The transom was made up of 3/4" ply two layers not two solid pieces but all strips fitted together another head shaker! Maybe they were running low on plywood! Any way we cut the stringers out well into the next cavity and they will be overlapped about three feet glassed and doubled from that point aft along with the two bulkheads, added knees and shelves mentioned earlier. As Murph with the sister 22 to mine would say "Built Hell for Stout"
mattyboy
01-20-2005, 05:15 PM
so the filler will be on the side back past the windshield and somewhere in front of the clam shell vents( or between the the vents??)
Woodsy
01-20-2005, 06:34 PM
MOP...
Unless you have done some serious math calcs to determine the exact current position of the CG, and then figure out where exactly the new CG would be, I would not recommend moving the tank from its current location! The Donzi 22C is a pretty well balanced boat. You can always add weight later! You move that tank and your permanently stuck! My boat ran fine with the BH the way it was!
Woodsy Von Outboard
I have done a fair bit of looking into the A drives and the BH, they don't give any bow lift. I have gotten some pointers from a friend of Tman, guy has built some straight keeled 24' boats with the BH drives. I was told they ran well, he recommenced moving what I could back. Several others have feel the same way.
How I am looking at it is, I am running a SB with Aluminum headers which makes it about 250lbs. lighter than a BB 22 that weight is well aft. The 22 running the Alpha needed gobs of trim to get it cooking, telling me it could use some shifting around. The BH tends to lift the stern and has little if any leverage to get any trim. I feel the weight transfer will be beneficial. The plan for now is the 40 gal tank just ahead of the engine, two batteries, engine pre lube pump not much else. The CG will still be forward that of a 22 BB, I should have more room to play with need to get it wet!
Woodsy
01-21-2005, 05:26 PM
MOP....
Do what you want.... however, the first issue is you are not using BH props... you are using B3 props, not exactly known for thier stern lift, so, by not spinning that 16.0 diameter cleaver, your not going to get the stern lift you are anticipating. The second issue is, your BH is not set at the proper height as recommended by Merc, nor I bet is it as high as TManns friend puts it for whatever conversions he has done. Its set a little deep. You will have some trim... I know I did. If you move too much weight aft, you will have some real handling issues. Its easy to add weight later, than it is to take it away!
Woodsy Von Outboard
BUIZILLA
01-21-2005, 06:57 PM
MOP, take it from me, the B3 props don't do squat to raise the bow, or the stern, all they do is move water aft. My Formula is a perfect example of that. I think your into porpoise city..
JH
mattyboy
01-21-2005, 08:12 PM
this BH boat has no problem with bow lift :eek:
http://www.donzi.net/video/Gettin_Air.mpeg
I have a hunch it will work out OK, the way it was it had no tabs and never porpoised at any speed no matter who or how many sat where. With the SB it runs very flat and requires a lot of trim to get loose, I think the BH with less leverage and the smaller B3 wheels will need the nose lightened up a bit. I am moving about 270 lbs back 4 feet, I will still be lighter in the azz end than a BB. Many forget I am after reasonably good take off, 45-50 mph cruise, economy, range and a fair turn of speed top end is not that important. I use the boat for work and play it has to be flexible. I decided to use B3 wheels from the start, I think the B3's will work better for what I want. "If all else fails" having left the stock X gives me the option of slapping a B3 or Bravo on it. I have been calling this an Experiment from the start. Lets get it wet and find out all of our thoughts are conjecture at this point.
Writing this was a booger with a full belly and two bottles of wine!
Phil
Dr. Dan
01-22-2005, 07:37 AM
Writing this was a booger with a full belly and two bottles of wine!
Now there is a vision...could it be a Monicker of things to come... :spit:
Nah...this is gonna be a beauty...Phil I will bring the PopCorn to the Islands....can't wait to see this Beast Run...it could very well be the slowest sprint, and best handling Classic to date, it could open up an entirely new performance Category!
The worker Courier Class....for the guy that is fed up with dumping his money into a boat that actually comes on plane...thats for the Hormonal Adolescents that still need to go over 60 MPH. This boat is gonna really get some serious attention at the Islands... I can't wait... I think Boxy or Matty might be foaming the Case of Beers now! :banghead:
Incredible...any pictures...the transformation must be grueling...
Good Luck
Doc :p
BUIZILLA
01-22-2005, 08:17 AM
Actually, I am interested in this setup myself. It may just work great... I have always been impressed how a SB 22 runs, the 6.2/Bravo boat down here with the shorty just frickin screams, as does Bud's boat with a SB. When my 330 Crit engine died, I was gonna buy a ZZ430 crate motor, but the aluminum head thingy scared me off. I'm a die-hard small block guy through and though, if you see/hear how my 392" Mighty Mouse motor in my Nova runs, you'd understand...
JH :sombrero:
Jim I am a Hoping that the drive runs like a shorty, the 383 is on the mild side but built for torque not HP and strong enough to be pumped up. Doubt if I will look for more power but who knows. The Root did a desk top dyno figured 430 torque and maybe 370ish on HP, with a better cam those numbers could be upped. I think it will be faster than Dave's 22 he ran this drive very drive for a short time. Yes it may go faster with a long leg but just how much! Will I run with the "Wolf Pack" not hardly. The tank aft may not be a good move though from running it I would like to lighten the nose. I have had a few fairly fast boats a few ran a tad over 60, all ran better azz heavy.
I will just have to FOAM in my new tank glue the rest all together and see!
Phil
Finally got my tank, after talking to several manufacturers I mentioned it to my bud at West Marine. He said he thought he could get one to fit, he called today he found an RDS stock tank for $275 a lot less than what I would of had to pay to have one made. Slight problem that will be rectified tomorrow the fill and vent need to be moved aft by the pickups and sender, my buddy a pro and X Navy welder will move take care of it for me. I did do a test fit today could not have been better I am real tickled, one step forward hopefully non back!
Phil
Got the tank back from the welder he did a Beautious job, now off to prep it for paint and epoxy.
Well I spent about an hour using the acid/detergent my welder buddy gave me to wash the surface, looks so pretty its almost a shame to paint/epoxy it.
Dr. Dan
01-28-2005, 08:15 PM
:banghead: Phil ...not that this thread isn't interesting or entertaining...but Do you own a Camera? Post some pics already.....I can only fantasize what a Beautious Tank must look like....I am sure it must resemble some amphibious assault vehicle....but I am afraid I won't recognize it in the Islands.
Please hire a Photographer....or do some Crayon Drawings will ya! :bonk:
Doc of Poor Visualization :p
:banghead: Phil ...not that this thread isn't interesting or entertaining...but Do you own a Camera? Post some pics already.....I can only fantasize what a Beautious Tank must look like....I am sure it must resemble some amphibious assault vehicle....but I am afraid I won't recognize it in the Islands.
Please hire a Photographer....or do some Crayon Drawings will ya! :bonk:
Doc of Poor Visualization :p
Need to get to the end of the roll LOL! Still using the plastic stuff.
Dan a tank is a tank the Beautious part was the welding job can't beat a Navy welder.
Phil
thriller
01-28-2005, 10:17 PM
Buy a digital camera? :banghead:
Cash in your empties.......:biggrin: :biggrin:
MM
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.