May 20th, 2011 - The Maiden Voyage

Today, we headed up to Delavan Lake in Wisconsin to see if out GT-150 would float or take on water, would run or just sit and bob. Turns out, it floated and ran really well. We put in, got the motor started and idled out to the lake. When we put the throttle down, she flew. We make 41mph and the boat handled really well. It does tend to pull right though. 

 Boat and Tow Vehicle

It Didn't Sink Yet 

39.7mph on the GPS and 40mph on the Speedo 

Pretty Accurate 

 James Bond and his Bond Girl

 The Cabin is a Lot Smaller Than You Think

Cruisin' 

Cruisin', Again 

The Chrysler 85 HP Motor

See it Run

May 19th, 2011 - Finishing the Seats

I put the finishing touches on the seats today. They may not look great, but they do look pretty good, especially since I don't have any sewing skills and there were some pretty complex curves on them. The seats are held down with four 90 degree angle brackets screwed into the plywood floor and 3 inch lag screws into the back from the side of the hull. The seats are just placed into position, but are held to the carpet by velcro. Then I carpeted all of the bases to make them look nice.  I also added the chrome handle to the ski locker to finish it off. 

 Seat and the Unfinished Base

 Angle Brackets

 Ski Locker

The Finished Look

May 9th, 2011 - Finishing the Seats (sort of)

Today I finished the foam on the seats. I added some more to the fill in the back of the curve and topped it all off with some 1/2 inch foam to smooth everything out. All of the foam for the bottoms have been cut as well.  I also added some "feet" to the seat bottoms that extend out beyond the original frames to stabilize them.

 Overview of the Seats

The "feet" 

The Passenger Seat

May 7th, 2011 - Testing The Water Pump

After putting in the new water pump, it was time to test it out. The Tell Tale that I added earlier really spit out water and the whole thing worked! Yay!

The Tell Tale Stream 

Closer

May 6th, 2011 - Water Pump Reassembly

I received the new water pump today and installed it in the lower unit. I followed the directions from the iboat.com forum (http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=231685 ). The key was a little big for the impeller but I was able to make it work. After that, I forced new gear lube into the gearbox pushing some of the old lube out. I will need to change it completely soon.

 Impeller Gasket and Plate

Impeller Plate in Place 

This is the Impeller in the New Housing 

This is the Old Impeller 

The Key Held in Place With Marine Grease 

Lower Unit Reattached

May 2nd, 2011 - Water Pump Disassembly

Today I removed the lower unit so I could replace the Water pump. I had to take it apart today so I knew exactly what the old pump looked like. I found great directions at the iboat.com forums

 ( http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=231685 ) and ordered the pump from Basic power Industries for around $60. 

 Lower Unit Removed

Gear Case and Water Pump 

Exploded View Water Pump and Impeller 

Impeller in Pump