1966 Howard Walnut deck V drive.

[2manymustangs]

Thanks, I will get some photos out of the drive. The previous owner is sending me all his documentation. He ordered the boat and was the only owner. He stated that he did not want any unnecessary hardware and that included the Howard script. He would never let anyone on the deck and did all the fittings himself. The workmanship in the installation is top shelf but weathered. It came from middle California and never saw salt. Seats are good patterns at best and the ply appears to be usable. Howard trailer is rust free but the 6 lug wheels have to go.
Don't want to rush it and need to know about things like sealing the prop shaft and rudder. Don't want my first voyage to be Titanic.

Hey, check this thread http://www.hotboat.com/frm/showthread.php?t=7381 you can find a contact and info about shaft seal in that thread

[topolino2]

Thought I would let you know the current status of the 1966 Howard.
Pulled the 327 and purchased a built 350. Comp cams provided the marine cam and associated hardware. Various bits from local and Ebay sources. Painted Torch red. The engine has Dart Iron eagle heads
and was a fresh rebuild but the last owner either had too large a carburetor or wrong cam as it would not idle. Pulled it and went big block so it ended up in my hands. I pulled it down to the short block and saw nothing that would
give me concern.
The boat is coming along well. I routed out the cracks and have used 2.5 oz. fiberglass in the layups. I like the thin glass as I can put several layers up and still be under the thickness of a single layer of 6oz.
Now going through sanding and getting ready to finish the wood deck.
I did remove the single coat of fiberglass cloth from the deck as there were areas of delamination of the veneer that had to be addressed. If you have never done this, I would encourage you do whatever to avoid this step. I used heat guns, lifting scrapers and surgical knives to get it off. A job I am glad to say is off my bucket list. Got it done but wonder if it was worth the trouble to avoid seeing unsaturated glass cloth from 50 years ago. After all, was that not original?
Will be posting photos of the boat shortly.

[topolino2]

Here are a couple of shots of the Howard getting the deck sprayed in Orange. Thought that the Orange with the dark Walnut would be a nice combination. Besides, having an Orange boat in Tennessee is not a bad idea.
The deck cracks were a real pain to get right and it has taken more hours than I care to think about. I would, however, if I ever take on a similar project would use Polyester for this edge repair over Epoxy. The Epoxy will be fine to
do the wood deck but it does not like sanding like polyester.
This photos are of the first pass in base coat. Once down, I wet sanded it in 220 grit to make sure everything is flat and ready for clear. Tomorrow we go back to a couple more coats of Orange then three coats of clear.
With that complete, we then go onto the wood deck for staining and epoxy and varnish. So far, it's going well but probably won't see water till next year.

[Sanger_Spectra]

I love that Orange! will look great with the wood deck.