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Kipp,

Pictures please! Give Joe a glance and rub the other's noses in it again...

Br,

Patrick

Capt. Patrick:

Stirring up the pot!

You guys are funny! !

Reminds me of a trip to a local "Rod Run" at Whataburger one night.

There was a young man there with his 67 Vette, BB, Stick, AC, Rag Top. The car was FINE! ! .....and he personally restored it

A bunch of "Corvette" guys giving him a rough time because it was not totally "Original".

After a while of seeing this guy get kicked around I had to speak up (a bad habit of mine) in his defense.......I told the "Izod Corvette" guys that I too had a Vette that did not have the original tail light screws or valve covers or radio......but my car would run like a wild banshee and leave a black rubber mark from here to hell won't have it.......of course they were apalled. So just for grins and giggles I gave them a bigole burnout and a pretty good second gear chirp when I left.....that's what I call a good evening! ! !

As far as Joes Bertram......I would have GLADLY traded him a Bahia Mar hull for the FBC (I know right where there is a Bahia Mar hull). I would love to have had the FBC......and would have saved him a good bit of tear down work.....but Joe is happy with the fruits of his labor and that's what counts.

I just hope he can come to Mystic this year and have a Patrone with us.......whatcha say Joe......coming to Mystic to the rendezvous this year??

hb

Harry there's a perfect answer to anal retentive car folks.

After rebuilding the Vega funny car to as close as 76' specs as possible given the budget, we were up at ATCO in NJ racing a nostalgia meet when someone came over to me to inspect the car.

It was obvious from his comments that he wasn't exactly pleased with the restoration because of some cockpit roll cage changes.

I looked at him up and down when he was done and politely said,

F... You Ass....

That about said it all.

Its one thing to have a different opinion, that's what makes the world an interesting place.

But when the "thats not original" guys come out of the cracks in the woodwork and bust balls, thats another.

apples and oranges.

you can make a case for keeping a classic car original if thats your thing...... but you are never going to find yourself 100 miles offshore in large waves and have your life depend on it.


i kinda favor doing what i want to do......if i can get away with it.

Joe E wrote:pete congrats on the soon to be new addition to the family. One of the high lights of my life is getting to take my boys fishing. we are very lucky. Joe

Thanks joe, thats my plan! Hopefully I can afford diesels by the time they can venture offshore.

I'm trying to get a better picture of the boat, what are you expecting the height of the deck to be at the helm? Is the roof high enough so the deck is one level to the cockpit?

Harry, that’s a great story. I know the feeling my caddy sports a 04 Ls1 with a 700R4 behind it. The traditional guys cringe when they see it. I built it for my wife. We can get in it and cruise the coast or run to Vegas, shit New York if we wanted, I get 22mpg in that big old boat.
I wish I could make it this year to Mystic , saving all my pennies for the boat. More than likely next year I will attend. August is a big travel month for us we take the kids to a different national park each year and we are working on driving to all 50states before they don’t want to hang out with dad and mom any more.
Pete I dont think so we are still working in floor height. Right now it is 6'6" in the center and 6'4" outboard. may change a few inches.

Very Sweeeet.

Joe

I have your "Sheet Metal Brakes" sister at my shop....older than dirt and still does a good job even after being abused by everybody I know.

If you have never done so I encourage you to get and watch the movie "Coupe DeVille".

I love your Caddy.

hb

Harry,

I had a similar car show dust up. My daughter and I restored a 71 Mustang convertible when she turned 16. Ran across it when we were looking for her first car. It was special order pink from the factory with a blank spot on the paint code on the door. It had been a dealer's wife's car originally.

We restored it as a nice daily driver, certainly not a show car by any means. My daughter wanted to show it in a couple local car shows. Just local, lawn chair by your car type shows. Some idiot came by and started picking the car apart as I didn't have the correct paint in the engine compartment. It was mostly original but I had shot some Black Imron in the engine compartment to make it easy to keep clean.

Anyway I started into a long story about the special order nature of the car and after taking up a fair amount of his time and sucking him into the story about the unexpected things you could find with enough research I explained to him in the end, based on tremendous in-depth research I was able to ascertain that it was actually my name on the F'n title and I'd paint the damn thing any way I wanted. Mr. Mustang club left after my explanation. It was a cute car for a high school girl though.

Joe,

Not my cup of tea, but it's your boat so have at it. Looks like it will be a solid platform when you're done. Good luck.

Daniel

I saw Targeted Species at the stereo shop a few weeks ago. Bad ass lookin' B31.

Eddy G.

Joe E.
More pictures!
Before I had Dreamsicle I restored a '57 Deville convertible. Did all the work except the leather. When I bought her she was a low mileage, first owner, burnout. Took thirteen years partially because of parts and partially because of $$$ and partially because of my personal burnout at times. BUT, anyway I took it to a "lawn chair" show and ended up vying to Best in Show with a professionally restored '57 Olds. When it got down to the nitty gritty the professional restorer of the Olds points out to the judges that I was missing one original radiator-hose clamp. I lost by two points. Didn't bother pointing out the unoriginal items on his. Where's the spirit of enjoyment in that?
Damn, I miss that car! Only time for so many toys.
Prepping for spring launch. Need to adjust the valves, what a pain.

Joe: Welcome to the board.. lots of good advice here & .
This post got by me so a belated howdy.. Im in Newport ,If I can help ..just call out,looks like a big project.. Im aware of the" climbing the ladder" alot pain ,,more & more. lol
Wayne
Fish the islands & tuna alot
31 FBC w/ Cummins 315s
Wings of the Morning

Mikey - you gonna adjust the valves on your 6BTAs? Book says every 1,000 hours but my Cummins people told me they do it once and forget it. I had mine done at about 1,000 and it did idle a little better but not touched since. Its a job worth trading $US to Cummins for.

UV

Vic,
Thanks. Had a slight over heating problem last year with the starboard engine when a hose let loose. Seems to run fine since but over heating will re-adjust valves and since they have not been done since I bought them it's just insurance. Think I'll ask our local Cummins shop what the freight is on adjusting.

Okay, I con't recall what Cummins Mid South charged me to come out and do both my engines, but its been so long ago I'm sure its no longer relevant anyway. The 6B engines seem to survive minor overheats pretty well.....an overheat to the point of the engine groinding to a halft will usually crack the head from what I've read. I've had a number of minor overheats from busted hoses, blown impellers, sucked up ice bags, etc but never to the point of the engine actually quitting before I shut it off, and no apparent damage.

I cranked them both up this morning beofe leaving the camp and they both started on the first rev and rumbled to life instantly. Very, very good motors. If they don't start instantly after a lay up you probably have an air leak in the fuel system.

UV

Those 504's? where did they end up? May need some parts in the future.

Btw, welcome aboard......I like it.

Gplume, sold them to a crusty old desert rat out of Nevada, he has a 31 Bert with 454's and is going to diesel. Joe

Joe,

Can't wait to see the Bertam/Outerbanks done. Why don't you share a few pics of the 1st fishing trip?

Did you hear that Steve is closing down Blackman and selling the molds?