Hewes 21 Redfisher restoration.

[Josh B]

Got some work done the last few nights... burning the candle at both ends. 

• Steering is installed, tilt-helm, wheel, new fluid, bled out, etc.
• New Taco Rubrail installed. 
• Console is fastened in place. 
• Shifter/Binnacle in place, but not connected at motor. 
• Power-Pole brackets installed & One pole installed but not connected. 

I'm trying to get all my stuff laid out first to make sure I have enough slack to run the lines properly. I want to have all my electrical in either the console or the storage under the seat. I do not want anything electronic in the rear hatches. Even with new hatch seals and properly adjusted latches I know those rear compartments are susceptible to water intrusion and I'd like to keep them free for wet storage when needed. 

I'm fishing another overnight tournament this weekend, so trying to get some evening work in the meantime. Rigging is fun, mostly, and I'm excited to feel like i'm close to getting this thing wet! 

Josh B.

[whichwaysup]

Josh -

Thanks again, as always, for keeping this thread updated.   I always wonder when you go quiet how things are going - you are juggling a lot with family, work, tournaments.   Always glad when you pop up again, progress or no.   Looking forward to that post where you describe the maiden voyage!

[Josh B]

Well it's been a couple weeks and I've done some working and some playing.

I fished the Fire Charity slam tournament with only one day to prefish and try to find some decent fish. It turned out as well as I could have expected and my team ended up tying for 2nd place. It's all photo-release and you can turn in 6 fish (one of which could be a tarpon) or you can have 2 snook, 2 reds, 2 trout. We ended up with 41/40 Snook, 33/31 Redfish, 24/23 trout. We had our Tarpon hooked that would have put us in 1st place... but she came unbuttoned about 10 feet from the boat. Tough break. Always tight scores in the top 5, we were 7 points out of first place which is equal to 1.5 inches on any one of our 6 fish. 

 

Back to the boat... I've been working on the wiring. I have everything finished in the rear of the boat and all wires pulled to the console. I started building my two panels that will go inside the console. I actually really enjoy this portion of the project, but I would enjoy it a lot more if my garage had some air conditioning. The last few weeks it's just unbearably hot, even at 9-10-11pm at night. This winter I think i'm going to insulate the garage and add a mini-split AC. 

I also started working on my seat. I looked around all over and couldn't find exactly what I wanted so decided to build something custom. After getting a few quotes I did something crazy. I went to the local metal shop and bought all the materials, bought a hydraulic pipe bender and picked up an almost new TIG welder via FB Marketplace. Like new welder, argon tank, cart, brushes, gloves, sleeves, tons of extras for 50% the price of a new welder. So now I'm learning how to TIG weld aluminum with the help of YouTube. I've heard it's difficult, but always feel like I can do anything with enough time and effort. I wanted to learn anyways, so down the road I can make more stuff... like a front casting platform, etc. I'm still practicing, but with any luck i'll have my seat frame made in the near future. I will say... it's not easy, but that's what grinders are for... right?!!! ha ha

I haven't taken many pics, but I'll get some this weekend. 

Josh B.

[George Seither]

Great to see the family fun fishing with 2nd place on the TIG just keep on practicing!

[THE OUTLAW]

I am always here for you!

🇺🇸🏴‍☠️

[Wanaflatsfish]

10 hours ago, THE OUTLAW said:

I am always here for you!

🇺🇸🏴‍☠️

do you know how to weld ?

dc

 

[Wanaflatsfish]

12 hours ago, Josh B said:

This winter I think i'm going to insulate the garage and add a mini-split AC. 

Is this for your next boat restoration ?

 

dc

 

[THE OUTLAW]

19 minutes ago, Wanaflatsfish said:

do you know how to weld ?

dc

 

Stayed at a Holiday Inn Express!

🇺🇸🏴‍☠️

[Fsu11]

any updates @Josh B I know its unbearably hot right now, especially in the garage even at night. 

[Josh B]

@Fsu11 - Funny you posted this. I actually started an update the day before... had a whole page of text and pictures and somehow got distracted, never finished it and when I went back my screen refreshed and I lost it all. So I have to start over. I'll try to get it done today, but boat is about to hit the water!

Josh B.

[Josh B]

So here's the latest... 

All wiring is finished, I had a handful of things that didn't go quite as planned so took some extra effort to make adjustments. One thing was that I had planned to install all of my batteries inside the console. But then realized while I could phsyically fit them in place that it was going to be very tight and difficult to work with. So I opted to install the batteries underneath the seat. My thought with this is that I can get all the stuff I don't need quick access to under the seat. Every other hatch on the boat is empty and I'll have room in the console for items as well. 

I think I mentioned it before, but I made my own Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. I won't get into all the details, but I made a 48v battery pack for my golf cart last year and it has been amazing. I made (4) 12v - 105 amp hour batteries. 36v for the trolling battery and 12v for crank/house. The crank battery has a 250amp continues load BMS that will handle sparkle current to 400 amps. I believe that will be sufficient for the 250 SHO, but if I have any issues I'll upgrade to a larger BMS. I also installed a Power-Pole Charge unit, so that I can easily transfer power from the trolling batteries to the crank battery in the event I need it. With a true 105 AH battery, I don't forsee needing that too often. 

Another thing I did, that is a little out of the norm is that I installed the Navico "Loop S" digital switching system. It's similar to CZone which you may have seen before. I wanted to do this so I could keep the dash free of any physical switches. It integrates with the Lowrance and also has manual overide so you can physically control any devices in the event of a failure of the Lowrance. I also installed a USB/Cig lighter unit inside the console with a voltage readout and 5 manual switches if I decide I want to move something off the Naviops system. 

Other things I installed: Fell Marine Bluetooth kill switch, Bubblers in both rear livewells, washdown pump, lights.

 

 

Now here's one of the biggest snafu's of the whole project... a ridiculous amount of time & money for such a small issue. I had purchased this motor used via FB Marketplace. The ad was listed by a woman who was "selling for a friend that doesn't have FB". Nevertheless the motor was about 3 hours away and I drove to check it out. The motor looked fine, everything seemed good... and no issues that I could find. The motor was mounted on a wooden pallet in such a way that the cowling was not attached.  The cowling was sitting to the side along with the rigging cables, etc. I bought the motor, brought it home... straight from the crate I hung the motor and sanded/painted, etc. Well.... after all that was said and done and the motor was mounted on the boat I put the cowling on. No matter how I tried I could not get this cowling to fit properly. It was too long on two corners and too short on the other two corners. I thought my cowling was warped, so I took my cowling to a buddies house and sure enough it fit perfect on his motor. I brought his cowling home and put on my motor and same thing... it didn't fit. It turns out the lower cowling pan is warped somehow. It looks perfectly fine to the eye, no damage previously, completely normal in appearance. I tried heating it up and I was able to get it corrected some, but the gap was still very noticeable and I was afraid it might let water in. If I pushed on the pan as hard as I could I get it to line up, but as soon as you let go it pops out. What a nightmare. Yamaha wants $1,580 for a new one! Yikes... but after searching for about 2 months I found one used for $250. Of course, to change the pan you have to completely remove the powerhead. Ughhh...  I got the new to me pan and sanded and painted it to match (thought I was done painting). I then realized I might as well replace a bunch of seals and gaskets while I have this motor apart so I have piece of mind (it's already apart right?). So all of that has been done and the last thing I have to do is get the powerhead mounted back in place and get everything reconnected. 

I'm really hoping I can get this boat water ready this weekend... but I'm also a realist and won't be surprised if it's another week (or two ha ha). The seat frame is almost finished, but I haven't started on the cushions yet. I'm not letting the seat hold me up from using the boat. I can stand and drive until the seat is finished up and I have a new pair of Ocean-Tamer bean bags for the kids.  

Once I get her out of the garage and cleaned up I'll take some better "final" pictures and report back. 

Josh B.

[George Seither]

Pure Fine ! Battery box is slick! Amazing Build!!!!!!!!!

[whichwaysup]

Favorite thread.  Ever

[Moderator]

Beautiful work Josh. Just beautiful.

I hope it runs out perfectly and you get it propped right. 
I can’t wait to see it on the water and scooting.

MM

[mxf255]

Really, really great job!

[geeviam]

Wow Josh - your build thread is the Ultimate Thrill-Ride for the perfectionist!  You are so talented, and the boat looks fantastic.  As Gus said, this is my favorite thread ever, too!  Cant wait to see pics and video of your project when you wet-test it.  🤩

[Wanaflatsfish]

anxious to see her in the water....

dc

 

[Josh B]

Thank you everyone for the kind words, it's been a journey. 

12 hours ago, geeviam said:

Wow Josh - your build thread is the Ultimate Thrill-Ride for the perfectionist!  You are so talented, and the boat looks fantastic.  As Gus said, this is my favorite thread ever, too!  Cant wait to see pics and video of your project when you wet-test it.  🤩

geeviam - I appreciate that, but she's far from perfect. I can tell you where every single "oopsie" is at and there are a lot of them. There's a whole list of things I wish I would have done different. Most all of them I knew before I did it, but it honestly came down to time. Things that I wanted to do, but I said this is just going to add another week/month of working because of my time constraints. I'm still very happy with the finished product, but if I would have had more time and maybe more money I would have done a few things different. 

Tomorrow I plan to get that motor running and if I have time she may get wet. Still have a handful of things to tighten up. 

Josh B.

[Wanaflatsfish]

11 hours ago, Josh B said:

Tomorrow I plan to get that motor running and if I have time she may get wet. Still have a handful of things to tighten up. 

 

you should set up a day for forum members to go for a ride and you can charge a few $$$ to cover your expenses....(LOL)....

this has been the rebuild thread of a lifetime

DC

[redzone1]

I think Yamaha says the minimum MCA battery requirements for the vf250 is 800 MCA.  Do you think that 400 pulse amp lithium will turn that big V-6?

[Josh B]

1 hour ago, redzone1 said:

I think Yamaha says the minimum MCA battery requirements for the vf250 is 800 MCA.  Do you think that 400 pulse amp lithium will turn that big V-6?

I did some research beforehand & 220 amps is what Yamaha says is Max draw at crank. The highest I could find anyone reporting with a meter was 238 amps. Most say 150-200 amps is normal at crank for a second or two & then drops to a steady 75 amps. So I feel confident it will be fine. 
 

My golf cart with a tweaked ecu & AC motor will pull about 350-400 amps under load. I have a 200 amp constant with 500 amp max on it & have been running it for several months without any issues. Hopefully I’ll know tomorrow when I fire it up. If the BMS trips I’ll replace it with a 300 amp unit. 
 

Josh B.

[geeviam]

13 hours ago, Josh B said:

geeviam - I appreciate that, but she's far from perfect. I can tell you where every single "oopsie" is at and there are a lot of them. There's a whole list of things I wish I would have done different. Most all of them I knew before I did it, but it honestly came down to time. Things that I wanted to do, but I said this is just going to add another week/month of working because of my time constraints. I'm still very happy with the finished product, but if I would have had more time and maybe more money I would have done a few things different. 

Spoken by a true perfectionist.  I hear ya, but only you can see any of it.  What we see is very precise work and a beautiful boat.  Enjoy it - you deserve it!

[George Seither]

Navico S Loop really cleaned up the console. This is slick I like it!

[Fsu11]

This is awesome, thanks for the update! Can't wait to see it in the water and hear how it goes.

[Josh B]

Well I found the cause of the bent/warped pan on my motor. Had I figured it out prior I could have fixed the issue without removing the powerhead and buying/painting a new lower pan. Isn't that awesome... I could have saved a ton of time & money. The only good news is that I have now gained the unmeasurable amount of knowledge learned from removing the head and disassembling the entire motor! ha ha (silver lining I guess)

When reassembling my motor I first made sure the cowling fit perfect with the new pan before I installed the head, it did. So then I mounted the powerhead and bolted it down. Before connecting anything else I checked again, it fit perfect. So I proceeded... that's when I found the issue. There are two brackets at the front side of the motor, one on each side. They mount to the block of the motor and then also mount to the lower pan. The holes on those brackets did not match up... one was only off by 1/2" but the other one was off by over an inch. I don't know what caused it initially, but that bracket appears to be bent. I'm going to guess that somewhere in it's previous life someone either dropped the motor or smashed something into it. Maybe on the original install or when the guy I bought it from removed it from his boat? No clue. 

BEFORE... 

AFTER... 

You could force the pan over to line up to the hole if you really put a bunch of pressure on it. That obviously warped/bent the pan making it an inch or more out of shape. That was my entire issue. I removed the bracket from the motor and took it over to the vise. Pounded it back into shape where it lined up with the hole on the cowling. Fit's perfect and cowling fits perfect. I could have done that in 10 minutes without removing anything else if I would have known. Ughhh... 

Anyways, it's right now and the boat is basically finished with the exception of the bench seat and cushions. I pulled her outside in the daylight and sprayed her off. Unfortunately I ran out of time to get her in the water... so that will happen this week! 

Josh B.