Tweet
Wow...They are amazing. That round nose hydro and vintage merc is a great look. How hard is that shrinkwrap canvas to work with? I think I heard something about using a heat gun when installing it?
-
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most.-
Sonny,
Traditionally the deck covering used was an unbleached muslin linen. The very same used on fine table clothes. This would be stretched over the deck battens and stapled around the bow. It takes some patience making sure there are no wrinkles, as when the Airplane dope is applied, any wrinkles will remain.
Also remember to put the staples in the cloth where they will be hidden by your aluminum trim.
Now you will apply thin coats of Nitrate dope to the linen. the fumes are quite strong so make sure you have ventilation.... it will take at least 3 coats. you will know the same way as with varnish. When you dont see the threads and the surface is shiny you are good. Then you can paint.
The dope can be purchased at Aircraft Spruce. The cloth I have seen on ebay.
The others cloths, Ceconite and dacron can be used too.
Good luck with that project
Pete
-
-
A little late to the party, but I'll jump in. About Cash and the Tennessee Three, it was Grant on the bass, Luther Perkins on guitar and WS "Fluke" Holland on drums. Grant owned the the PRO equipment, raced by those mentioned, in the last years, it was driven by Dan Kirts. Fluke raced OPC boats, tunnels in particular. My dad, Art Pugh, built two of them for him.
In the mid '70's, Marshall and Fluke would often stop in Knoxville to check out what my older brother, Gary, was working on in the shop. It was usually just a "MOH" or 125cc as now called but they were still interested.
My dad put shop canvas decks on hydros he built or repaired. It was basically a sheet stretched tight and stapled in place then coated in "airplane dope" No sure what that really is, but I'm sure some exp. airplane guys know. I remember there being a debate on canvas vs. wood decks, perhaps which was better. I think wood won, because it survived an accident better." It's a sad day when you've outgrown everything"
Art PughComment
-
Boat racing royalty Eric Pugh. Thank you for jumping in. I'm a fan of your work also. Here is the irony...as I'm working on the Switzer resto. on the main floor of the shop I keep peering up to the next floor up to my next project and one of my favorite things...Here it is... I cant wait to start working on it. Do you remember the boat?
Last edited by Sonny; 07-09-2014, 10:51 PM.Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most.Comment
-
Sonny,
Call our buddy Darrel Ludwig. He's got a Switzer Shooting Star in his garage, and the original 6 cylinder Merc with a Speedmaster that was on it.Team Red
Comment
-
I haven't talked to Darrel in a few weeks. I will give him a call today. Thanks JesseLast edited by Sonny; 07-10-2014, 06:14 AM.Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most.Comment
-
Here's a restoration that I completed yesterday, 9 JUL 14. I bought this well-used and retired boat from Buddy Smith in 1985 and raced it thru the end of OCT 1986. I believe Buddy built the boat in the 1978-'80. It's unique in having a 16" tunnel all the way from front to rear.
I ran the 250 Quincy on it, an engine (Serial #5) that I bought in parts from Christner in DEC 1978. Far as I know, it is the first of the "Z" engines to be raced. The previous engines were all "shop" or development engines. I wore out two previous boats with it, the first a flyweight boat built by Gene Apel, and then the 12' Butts that I destroyed in a crash with Kay Harrison at Sebring in 1985.
At the end of 1986 I sent the cylinders to Mike Schmidt for new sleeves, then decided to stop racing. So I sent Mike the rest of the engine for him to race in RB. He ended up winning one national high-points championship with it during the almost 20 years that he had it "on loan".
I needed a project this spring, and putting the rig back together is it. I plan to enter it in 2-3 races this coming SEP & OCT.Comment
-
If you do a fabric deck hydro with aircraft linen, you have to be careful to get it stapled down with as few wrinkles and as little slack as reasonably possible. Then you can pre-shrink before doping by lightly wetting it down with very hot water in a spray bottle. Wait until it's completely bone-dry before applying the coats of dope.
Ceconite is nice because you can be a little quicker and sloppier in the stapling phase and still get the wrinkles out, which I did with gentle passes with a hot steam-iron (the steam is turned off). Don't over-tighten; make a light sweep with the iron and then see if the result is good enough. I forget whether the application of dope does any further tightening of Ceconite, so somebody with more recent experience can tell us. Some historian here can tell us roughly what years saw the adoption of Ceconite by hydro builders. I'd guess linen was Fifties, Ceconite was Sixties.
Linen isn't nearly as tough as Ceconite, but then neither will stand up to another guy driving across your deck. Linen finishes nicer and smoother and can give you a show finish, whereas Ceconite definitely shows the weave. If that bothers you, any aircraft supply outfit will know about Stits filler for Ceconite.
Ed Karelsen, and maybe lots of other hydro builders of the day had a trick of putting a strip of masking tape over the top of each deck batten, full-length, just before stapling down the fabric. The masking tape stayed there permanently, and its purpose was to keep the fabric from being glued to the ribs by the dope.Last edited by Smitty; 07-11-2014, 10:19 AM.
Comment
-
From the angle, looks like a late 80's to early 90's kneeler cut down for a laydown with an Apel rear cowl. A good way to tell the generation is how wide the front cowl is at the leading edge. Wide is early, narrow is late. E-31, Augustine? Don't ever recall them having bought a new boat from Gary..... or anyone for that matter ;-)Originally posted by Sonny View Post
" It's a sad day when you've outgrown everything"
Art PughComment
-
~~I have pictures of my 1969 Stippich DSR that I raced in the 70's and I replaced a new unbleached muslin deck after crashing at Lake Ocoee. Henry Menzies had tons of the dope he bought at the local airport so he let me have a couple quarts. You get a little crazy after inhaling it for awhile. I used to kid him that's how he could drive so hard. The other pix are of a 1978 Stippich, one of the last ones Carl built and it was very light weight as it was built for Harold Barnes. MY Avatar Was taken at Wakefield by Deckert in mid 2000's. with one of the three Wienandt built 55 H's. I have. I restored that with Ceconite and it was so much easier that you didn't really have to use staples. Tightened with a progressively hot iron to the directions by Aircraft Spruce that supplies all this to airplane builders. It's located right here in GA. I found I couldn't roll it up like my 69 with 40 degree chines and age! I converted it with a "Hydrobout" fin and a 3/4" lip on outside chine and a transom fin and it now handles almost as well as My DeSilva CSR did. I got it up to about 70 on the GPS. I had hoped to experiment with my 58 H and some Petty reproduction Czpewski 3 blades used very successfully around WI in the early 70's to see how fast it could do. I was hoping to break 75. But my knees are giving out so I think I'll have to sell it all someday if price is right! Aging isn't for the faint of heart .
I am having trouble posting my pix. Maybe someone can give me the procedure and I’ll post these later. Thanks, JonJon WaltersComment
-
No, The pix at Beloit was my 1969 Stippich which I bought from Bill Leutner after he had bought it after the 1969 Hinton nationals driven by Carl's son, Gary. I raced during the 70's and sold it back to Bill who, with his grandson Tim Weber narrowed the boat to a pointy nose so they could drive it. The "78", as Identified in the write up is a totally different boat built for Harold Barnes. After he died, Craig Murden bought it and then I bought it from him and restored it but also put my old graphics on it. If you click on the pix. each has a description of it as the CC is a 1939 which I bought in 1999 in Wisconsin and took 3 years to restore. It has won many boat show awards.Jon WaltersComment
Comment