Just had my I.T. guy make a house call at 9pm for gratis. Hopefully we are good. My own boat forum has used its data limit and we need to buy more space from proboards.com. The V8 forum and others needed some tweeking to remedy the problem. The guy clicks faster than Pat so I cant explain any further...
That's the XGS BAD LAD, and my 1963 aluminum Roamer, plus the work boat. You win a free Coke on the rocks but have to come here to receive it LOL...
Don't forget to give me a shout if you get to Manistique this summer with that dingy or the GSX. Roger On The Eighth Day God Create Buick
Misty-Q will be on the list if we do Fayette/Escanaba this year ! After I finish this window job (probably 4-5 more days) I'll be ready for a break! ws
This is now a boat thread. While I was in North Carolina enjoying myself at the Turbo Buick Nationals. My uncle finalized a deal on this boat. It was located in South Carolina. It was easy for us to get it since we were already half way across the country. It added a couple days to our trip, but there were a couple positive things that came out of it. The first was, we would be driving within 30 miles of Hugger's shop, so we got to spend three hours with a great guy. The second, he covered all my expenses for the return trip. 1959 Chris Craft Capri.
She's a beaute! Don't fool yerself boyz and girls! That 19 foot woody is every bit as much work as a Big Boy; especially if you wanna keep it that nice! Mines a 1963 (6th aluminum Roamer built) that my dad bought in 1972. He was killed in a tug boat crash in 1980 and I had to buy the boat from his estate (he was never found). 37 years of love and diligence! ws
I was going to ask you about the hull material. I've been in a few steel roamers, never aluminum. I grew up on and around Lake Minnetonka.
Over on the Roamer forum (!) theres several members from over that way. One guy drove to Chicago for some parts when I was liquidating for the move up here. I told him he had better bring a pick up truck. he asked why. I was in ne of those "giving away" moods and had to get rid of a 25 year accumulation of stuff. So does that Capri still have the L head Chiseler in it? I had a 1941 double cockpit 15 footer barrel back, with a 350 SBC for power. The helm was on the right side (starboard) and the boat had a standard rotation auto engine. When youd open it up, the port side would lift outa the water from the torque/thrust. Id hafta slide over to that side to keep it on an even keel. Engine rotation is a weird animal to digest! ws
That one is a '59 and came with a 283. Dual exhaust is the key for spotting a v8 in those. Older ones would of had a Hurcules K, inline 6 cylinder engine. The small Barrel Back would've been a 17 footer. I've been in one that had a built 327 in it. Scary fast. I think they made a Custom or Deluxe runabout that was shorter, but I can't remember. I know they made some special race boats that were shorter than 17'. I should've mentioned too, that I've been around Mahogany speedboats all my life. I also started my business making replacement parts for them. I still have patterns and core boxes, for the 5070 and 5072 exhaust elbows, for Hercules/Chris Craft engines. I made all the tooling, and had them cast at St. Paul Brass and Aluminum Foundry, then machined them in my shop. I used to sell about 15-20 per year, with the ring and nut. It got too hard to have a bunch of my own money tied up in castings, while I waited for sales. Do you know Mitch Lapointe?
I shoulda seen the twin exhaust ports! My BAD! I don't know Mitch personally, but have been dealing with him for years buying CC trim and hardware etc. Werent those L head (flat head) Hercs built by Chrysler? Just as Gray marines are GMs? The Roamer came with 185HP 283s that ran good but worked their collective asses off. I found an old triple cabin 1960 CC Conqueror that had been repowered with new Merc 330HP 454s. What a world of difference. The only had 200 ours on them bore the job was abandoned. Back storage and scrapped brass etc. netted me the 2 motors for almost free. If this whole boat thing didn't happen (I'm 3rd generation!) I'd probably have a nice Cliffside house with a private runway and a barn full of classic cars. ws
Mitch is my uncle. I can't remember how many years I worked for him. I lived with him for a year while I was in High School. He has been like a dad to me my whole life, helped me out of jams, borrowed me money, offered advise, etc. Let's me use anything of his whenever I want, including whatever he's got parked at the dock. When I was dropping of the Capri posted above, he was stepping out the door, and I mentioned a boat ride. He had another Capri at the dock and his response was "keys are in it", and he meant it. I sometimes wish that I would of stayed working for him. I could be running his restoration shop, or rebuilding his engines for him. My last year of college, I was working for him and, I did NOT want to go back to school. His advise was to go back. I did, and ended up at working for a prototype pattern and mold shop. I fell in love with machining. It was them that planted the seed of desire to be a self employed business owner. IIRC Hercules was it's own company and they built tractor engines. I could be wrong, my memory on all things boating isn't as good as it should be. I'll ask Mitch this afternoon. My family is taking Kathy and him to see Guardians of the Galaxy. ETA: I know what you mean about the money going other places. I bought a used machine a year ago for $25k. When I look at it and squint a little bit, I see a nice '71 GS 455 sitting in my shop between my other two cnc's.
I always knew about the Hercs and whites in small motive stuff like Jeeps etc, but always just considered all those Ks and Ms in small wooden speed boats as being built by Chrysler. http://www.gasenginemagazine.com/gas-engines/a-brief-history-of-hercules-engines FWIW... I was trained as a manual machinist and spent 30+ years in a power plant. There were only a few of us "go-to" guys left when something needed to be made from scratch... ws Heres one for the real woody guys... The other one shows the lower window tracks after cleaning and 2 coats of thinned varnished (5 more reg's due today!). Caulk and paint and install glass this week! Our lousy 6 week summer is upon us! I NEED SOME BUICK TIME !!!!! ws
Almost about 85% complete. Need to install the gutter and put **** away today. Then I can start working on it! Kicked about 100 spiders off the boat and fixed a ton of rainwater leaks around the windows. Dang Arthritis is slowing me down more and more every year! Gotta get the wifey to do something about the cruddy looking varnish! Today the ROAMER tomorrow the world, ah, er, the BAD LAD! ws
HOORAY! Got this far today and only have a brazillion tools and screws to put away. maybe a deck paint job, AGAIN, after only 30 years. At least aluminum don't rust! Tomorrow nets us a ride in the BAD LAD. Didn't wanna get side tracked, if ya knows what I means! ws
Just a POP-UP ??/ wowee.... ws http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/clas...und-with-only-53k-miles/ar-BBByFDS?ocid=ientp
Was that 1,2 or 3 images? The 4 base adapters with throttle cable mounts showed up but a few black X's marked the spot where more should be... ws
