NICKYPOO's Ballast Thread

[NICKYPOO]

Thanks halfwatt. I think anybody could do it. It just takes the time to think it through and the patience to build it one piece at a time.

Just for the hell of it, I decided to count all the individual pieces in the center tray. 40. It's kind of like counting all the holes in your boat. Try it sometime. It's way more than you think.

[NICKYPOO]

Progress...

[TeamAllen]

Unbelievable! Great work for sure. Looks like you will finish it up just in time?
Did you decide on a product to coat the wood yet?

[NICKYPOO]

What's unbelievable is the mess I've created in my garage. It's gonna take me a week to clean it. I just want to finish so I'm spending every available moment on fabrication. Clean up at the end of the day has fallen by the wayside. It's shameful.

I think the hard part now is not saying F it, good enough.

Still not 100% on the finish but, I'm pretty sure it'll be truckbed liner. I got a quote of $350 from Line X. I like their stuff without the texture beads. Nice and soft and rubbery and thick.

[NICKYPOO]

I'm almost happy with one hatch. All hatches shown so far are mockups. I still have a little shaping to do on this one and fab up the inner panel but, its close so far as the hard part goes.

Latches came in. Southco M1 Medium stainless w/ locks. Nothing fancy.

[NICKYPOO]

For the last couple weeks, I've spent my ballast project time cleaning up the hull in preparation for getting it sprayed. Two quarts of Bondo Glass and a hell of a lot of sanding later, it was ready for today's appointment.

[xpjim1]

Looking great.

[Ewok]

Looking good, I can't wait to see what the wake will look like.

[TeamAllen]

What is the black shiny finish stuff you used?

[NICKYPOO]

Looking great.

Thanks xp!

Looking good, I can't wait to see what the wake will look like.

Thanks dude. I'm anxious as well. I'm not expecting to have the biggest wake on the planet. I have to be realistic about it. The whole point of the project was to give me decent wake without having any visable ballast in a traditional D-Drive and without having to be a Nazi about having everybody in the back corner as tight as can be and no more manual pumps and sacs. Just a nice simple, effective system. If get lucky, maybe I'll have to plumb in some front ballast (which is loosely planned already).

Another thanks to xp for the lights.

[NICKYPOO]

What is the black shiny finish stuff you used?

It's actually truckbed liner. I hard them shoot it without the texture so that it would be nice and smooth and non-abrasive on the sacs. It's hard to tell what it actually looks like from the pics. It's so black that its really hard for the camera to focus on anything. Found an old work contact that now runs a truck accessory place. $200 to shoot the boat and all the parts.

[Wakeman22]

Looks great. You sure do nice work.

[NICKYPOO]

Everything is in. Tank is in, wiring is in, plumbing is in. Just waiting on upholstery for the hatches. I'm gonna summerize the boat, get the new batts in and put some fuel in that new tank and see if it fires up.

[Iwndr]

Dam Nicky that was quite the Winter project you took on

It looks great and I think you finished it right on schedule!
Can't wait to see some pic's of the Wake

[trent]

Wow!!!! Absolutely amazing!