r

Vintage Race Boat Shop

  We maintain vintage wooden boats

 

Impulse

Part 3 - Rigging, Hardware, Upholstery, Final Prep & Launching Ceremonies ???!!!

 

Impulse - a reproduction based on a 1940's John Hacker Design

Owner/Driver - Bob Mueller

1st wakeboarder - Maxfield Alessi

Then is was time for Jim Kondrat to start the wiring, while Donnie McLean cut and dry fit the copper exhaust pipes into place. Jim and Donnie work well together and are both meticulous in their work, they always take the time to it right ???!!!

         

                   

     

We celebrated Labor Day by doing what we love, working on a special wooden boat. Perhaps the scariest part of the day was Donnie boring a huge hole in the beautiful wood deck for the fuel fill fitting. But Donnie was meticulous as usual, measured many times and then bored the hole. It was very, very scary as the sawdust flew and the smoke was billowing, but the hole aligned perfectly for the fuel fill pipe!!!

     

   

Jim Kondrat spent Labor Day wiring the dashboard.

       

       

And the next day, Jim finished his masterpiece. We then installed the tilt/adjustable steering assembly and mounted the dashboard in the boat. We were very pleased with the look !!!

         

       

The fore and aft seat bottoms were made of half inch marine plywood, and well sealed with paint. The fuel tank was made to our specs by the Rayco Manufacturing Company. They have been fabricating marine fuel tanks in Bradenton, Florida for over 24 years, building custom, reproduction and replacement tanks to United States Coast Guard specifications.

     

   

And the varnish coats continued to build, twelve coats are planed !!!

     

     

Jim Kondrat continued with the wiring, while we agonized over the placement of each piece of the deck hardware. Then it was time to bore the holes and mount all the beautiful chrome hardware and polished stainless steel rub rails. With only two weeks to go before the official launching ceremonies, it was getting very exciting. Every day was like Christmas, as Santa arrived every day in a brown UPS truck with more presents/parts to be installed - what fun!!!

         

         

         

       

   

The attention to detail is everywhere on our latest masterpiece, as Jim Kondrat and Donnie McLean pulled out all the stops and put forth their best work. This is beautiful craftsmanship.

         

         

         

         

         

       

   

Then it was finally time to hoist the boat off the dollies, load onto the custom trailer and finish installing all the hardware. We spent a full afternoon screwing hardware, great therapy ???!!!

         

         

         

         

After all the hardware was screwed down and all the hundreds of polished stainless screws were all lined up properly, we pulled Impulse outside into the sunlight for the first time and of course, took the photo op. Then we hauled Impulse to Sal's to fill the 26 gallon fuel tank with the best and most expensive gas in Wolfeboro - Sunoco 93 octane rocket fuel ???!!!

       

     

Then is was time to trailer launch Impulse, just enough to submerse the water intake and run the beautiful 327 Chevy motor. It fired right up and we ran the motor for 15 minutes to ensure that all systems were operating properly. The sound of the 3 deuces was magical!!!

       

       

       

 

Check out these videos - let them load and crank it up ???!!!

Our 327 Chevy on the dyno !!!

Impulse Video #1

Impulse Video #2

Impulse Video #3

Then we pulled the boat and returned to the shop for Steve Rollins to install the seats and cockpit trim/Hydem. But on the way we stopped across the street at Wolfebrick Pizza for a pizza tasting party and to say hello to Barbara Naramore. Check out her new brick oven, great pizza!

         

       

Once back in the shop, Steve did his magic on the upholstery and Donnie put the stainless clips on the upholstery Hydem. We spent a lot of time to determine the proper seat height and Steve did his usual excellent work to make the seats fit just right, with lots of dense foam, real comfy!!

         

           

On the afternoon on September 23, 2010 we were finally ready for our special Launching Ceremonies, Sea trials and Grand Celebration at our beloved Wolfetrap.

         

         

         

         

       

The sun was out, the water was flat, the vintage 327 Chevy fired right up, and after our successful sea trials, we gave boats rides on beautiful Wolfeboro Bay in the late afternoon setting sun. It was a very good day ???!!!

       

       

     

Then we gurgled over to our beloved Wolfetrap on Back Bay for one last photo op and our victory celebration. Lot of food, drink, laughter and many stories. A fitting end to a very special day, and the beginning of many boat rides for Impulse ???!!!

       

       

     

The next day, the Friday before the boat show, we pulled the boat, added some weight at the transom and changed the prop. The used regular patio blocks to test for the required weight and found that two blocks per side worked very well. The extra weight helped to anchor the stern of the boat at speed, and notice how the boat now sits "right" in the water. We also changed the 4-blade 13x14 prop to a smaller 3-blade 11 1/2x17 prop. This prop worked better, but we still wanted to try our standard skiff prop next - 3-blade 12x15 with a cup. Anyway, we had a very nice boat ride. The boat ran very well and really liked the smaller 3-blade prop, but the carburetion was not right. The 3 duce setup was running way too rich and the carbs were flooding. We knew the solution was 12 degree wedges under the carbs, but we ran out of time for the boat show the next day, so we delivered Impulse to the boathouse on Cedar Cove. Impulse was very happy and ready for the show !!! 

Click here for the video !!!

       

     

     

We celebrated on Saturday, September 25th at the Wolfeboro Car & Boat Rendezvous. Wolfeboro Bay was the perfect background for a fun filled day of nostalgia, boats, cars, fall foliage, music, shops and restaurants. A fall gathering, celebration and rendezvous ???!!!

 

Part 4 - carburetor wedges, the fin, prop changes and more varnish ???!!!

 

For locals, please stop by the shop and join our:

Saturday Morning Gatherings

Some related vintage race boat links:

Return to Our Beloved Vintage Wooden Boats

   

Return to Home Page - Vintage Race Boat Shop