Boat Re-restoration

[Daddyeaux]

My Bluewave has the gas tank under the console and I hate it. It is in the way of the steering and all the wiring for the electronics.

[Torque]

Looking good Tex

[BDGreen]

Damn, you have some talent for a Cypress boy.

[texasair]

The 16' Blue wave I rebuilt for the other grandson has the gas tank in the console and it is a bit of a pain in the rear. On this boat the gas tank is under the console, we should have plenty of space

[Landlocked]

Tex, you are one hell of a Granddad!! Get them boys over there and see how their boat is getting built. Hep ya out too!!

[Bocephus]

Looking great, can’t wait to see it finished.

[coachlaw]

Awesome, as usual from you Tex.

[Reba3825]

And a lot of progress is being made!!!

[Texashookset 2]

#1 grandpa, this is awesome.👍🏻

[dwilliams35]

I’m telling ya,that kid better know how good he’s got it..

[Matt]

Guys come over, and they don't want my boats, They want my wife. Getting all those boats is easy. Getting a wife that will let you have a bunch of boats is the hard part.

BTW most all of the work on this boat was Argon shielded MIG not TIG

Whats your spoolgun setup? Too much welding for tig? Never used the spool guns. Thanks.

[dwilliams35]

Whats your spoolgun setup? Too much welding for tig? Never used the spool guns. Thanks.

Spool guns are pretty sweet, cut down a lot of malfunctions from the wire getting jammed up.. Aluminum does that a lot getting driven through rollers then pushed down 10-20’ of liner and a tip.

[Matt]

Lol you actually tried it without a spool gun.

[dwilliams35]

Yes, i’ve done it, and done it successfully. as long as you’ve got a very clean liner, good wire lube, and you’re not trying to do it with a 20-30’ gun, it'll work.

[texasair]

TIG is slow and I have not acquired the skills for it. It has its place and is a wonderful process. I have a Miller 210 double setup with 2 bottles connected at all times on the cart. C25 for steel and argon for aluminum. The steel wire side uses a regular stinger and a 25 lb spool mounted on the machine set up for .030 steel wire. Also connected and ready to go is a Miller 3035 spoolmate spool gun with a 1 lb spool of .035 4043 aluminum wire. Today I did a little bit of aluminum welding, then hung the spool gun on the side of the welder, closed the valve on the Argon, opened the valve to the C25 picked up the gun set up with the steel wire and started welding steel. I am far from an expert but to MIG with aluminum a spool gun outperforms a traditional set up. Pushing soft aluminum wire through a 10 or 15 foot stinger results in hangups and birdnests. I tried it 3 decades ago in a more basic MIG machine with lackluster results. And switching the setup back to weld steel was a PIA. Over 25 years ago Big Tex welding supply on Long Drive recommended this setup, and it has performed flawlessly and its only limitation has been the lack of skills of the operator. I am now comfortable with the setup and can do most of what I need to do with it.

Thanks to my good buddy Reba for posting the photos as I am having computer problems.

All fabrication and painting of the inner hull is complete. We Flipped the boat today to paint the bottom. A few days for that and flip it back over and set it back on the trailer and I will start rigging.

When this one is finished, I have 3 1/2 more to go. Next is a motor upgrade my other grandsons 16' BlueWave that I restored 2 years ago, A restoration on a 25' C-Dory pocket cruiser. A big redo on a pontoon I bought from Carol over a year ago. and a 25 hp jet conversion on a little 14' Jon boat.

At 72 I love restoring old boats. Beats the hell out of sitting in the house all day watching Oprah.

[Bocephus]

I was wondering how the progress was going. It's looking great !!!

[texasair]

All the painting is done. Flipped the boat back over onto the trailer. Mounted the front deck, trolling motor, access hatches for storage and the anchor locker.
Igloo cooler drops in in cutout between 2 rear storage hatches.

I think I will hang the motor on it and park it in the barn for a week or 2 while I start the motor swap on his little brothers 16 Blue Wave

[RRbohemian]

Nice work!!!!