Thread: Roadster pickup getting closer

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On the boat thing there's the "ability to pay" quotient as well as somewhat less supply of service providers controlled by the limited availability of waterfront property devoted to repair/storage/maint. I learned about the "ability to pay" thing a few years back when I was in my Porsche period. I was doing a fuel filter change on the Rabbit and when I looked at the Bosch filter it looked familiar. I went over to the 911 looked at that fuel filter, the numbers were the same. Hmmmm. For grins I called the Porsche dealer to price check one from them. Seems that yellow and red box with the Porsche logos almost trippled the price. Expensive cardboard!

BTW Pops, who's job will it be to keep those soft plugs polished?

Looks very cool!

Don--I have nothing to add on the subject of expensive boats. However---on a related note---when I was a kid my dad used to build wooden 12 foot fishing boats for the tourists. One of the very first cars I had was the model A in the picture (with me at 17 years old) ----which my dad and I traded a new wooden boat for. We had no electricity back in those days, and the wooden boat had a 1 1/2" brass wood screw every 2 1/2" all around the perimeter holding the 3/8" plywood bottom onto the 1" x 12" pine sides. It was my job to put all those wood screws in by hand. By the end of the summer I would have a pad of callous on the palm of my right hand so thick I could pound nails with the palm of my hand.

Thanks for the insight, I think I'll stick with cars Motor looks pretty cool
Ken

Don, it's nice to know that you work around boats! When I was young (16 - 19) I worked for a boat yard in Maryland. Sometimes it was a hard way to make a living but it had it's good times as well. I used to scrape bottoms, paint hulls, repair transoms and usually got stuck re-finishing sail boat masts from a swinging bosum's chair 50 feet above a deck. Despite everything, sometimes I think they were some of the best years of my life. It was an experience of a lifetime.

As a result of my working at the boatyard, I also spent a year working as the pilot on a yacht (65 ft custom built Chriscraft) owned by a local DuPont family. They liked me well enough that one Fall they gave me the opportunity of going with the family from their home in Maryland to their home in Florida via the east coast inland passage. What an adventure!

Boats are like Ferrari's, if you can't afford to maintain them, you probably shouldn't own one. No one should expect that the maintenance cost of a $400,000 Ferrari to be the same as the upkeep cost of a Chevy.

no cash ...no splash ...

Bob, you're right about the same parts costing more for the luxury cars vs the lesser versions. When I worked at the body shop if we bought a part for a Toyota it was one price, but sometimes there was an identical part for a Lexus and it was a lot more. Oh, the American way!

Brian, when I was a kid we had a 12 foot Murray wooden boat with a 7.5 hp Sears outboard on it. Used to go to Conneaut Lake in Pennsylvania with it and we would drool that all the rich people who lived on the lake had those neat old wooden Chris Craft speedboats. I always thought it was so cool to see them come roaring into the dock at full speed and then pull that big old chrome shifter into reverse and stop on a dime. Wooden boats had a certain charm that glass ones can't quite capture.

Thanks Ken. The funny thing about boats is that no matter what you have, there is ALWAYS someone with a bigger, more expensive one. We just took in a 63 Viking sport fish that has everyone at our marina with their tongues hanging out.......it is magnificent, worth about 2.7 million. It even has cameras on the outriggers so you can watch what your trolled baits are doing! But tonight I was watching a show on the History Channel about Mega yachts. These are the ones in the 200 foot range and cost upwards of $ 50 Million..........so it is all very relative. I guess you just have to be happy with where you are in life, otherwise it will drive you nuts.

Bob, that part of your life sounds like it was something to remember forever. A lot of people in the boating business hate boats because we do see a lot of unhappy times, especially when we have to inform someone they are going to have to shell out some money for an unexpected repair. But I still like them and am tempted pretty often to buy another one. My family grew up boating and I never had to worry about my kids getting into drugs or any problems because I knew they were only 18 feet away from me at any given time. I'll own another one someday, but will probably downsize next time.

BTW, Dan posted some better pictures of his motor on the HAMB than I had, so I thought I'd put them up here.

Don

Looks great, Don! The Imron you used on the chassis; is that a chassis paint that they make or is their standard paint tough enough for frame use?

Thanks, no the chassis is powder coated black. The Imron is on the motor and transmission only. But Imron is pretty tough, and probably great for frames and stuff too. In fact, I plan on shooting the frame and parts of my 29 RPU with it now that I saw how nice it laid onto Dans parts.

Don

It sure looks pretty on the pictures. I have to re paint my frame after a change in the steering setup; I might give it a try. The stuff I used looked good but it seems to chip easy.

I've had good luck in the past with catalyzed paint, like Dupont Centari with hardner in it. I did my 27 frame about 20 years ago and have dropped stuff on it and drove it almost daily, and the paint could still be used (if I wasn't sick of looking at the Purple paint ) From all that I have heard about Imron in the past I think it is probably just as tough, if not more. When we scuffed the paint on the engine the other night in spots where we wanted gaskets to adhere, it was VERY hard to sand, so it seems like one tough critter.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Thanks, no the chassis is powder coated black. The Imron is on the motor and transmission only. But Imron is pretty tough, and probably great for frames and stuff too. In fact, I plan on shooting the frame and parts of my 29 RPU with it now that I saw how nice it laid onto Dans parts.

Don

Don how's that paint hold up to heat on the tranny and engine? It looks so nice I was thinking of maybe shooting my rear axle, and drums, but sure about the temperature issues?

Steve, it's not an issue at all. I painted the 302 in my 27 the same way all those many years ago, and it didn't look all that bad when I tore it down a while ago. My 23 was painted with it and it has been on the road now for a year and a half and looks just like the day I sprayed it. The secret is the epoxy primer you use first, it lets it stick to the cast iron block and maybe do some heat shielding too. But I think the heat shielding would not really be needed anyway.

And it sure looks a lot better than the rattle can jobs and holds up a lot longer.

Don

Don wrote:

From all that I have heard about Imron in the past I think it is probably just as tough, if not more.

Dupont Imron is what we used to paint cabover Freightliner bodies back in the mid 70's. It stood up real well to road gravel and stones. The toxicity of Imron is probably one reason painters have to wear space suits today when they paint. We wore a dust mask, long sleeve shirts and jeans.

I wore shorts and sunglasses........does that count?

Don

i srayed 5 gallons of imron on a big 80 ton crane . that the most i never used at one time.i sprayed the big mack trucks with the stuff. the good thing about imron was at one time it just hop up centari could be mix off a centari mixing bank .we use to use the imron harder in centari .the ppg durethane is what i sprayed on air planes is it is bad stuff . it is a true polyester polyurethane bad bad stuff . posted bit on page 3 post line523 . when the stuff setup in the mixing jug a week later you could make a super ball with it .it would not bust apart