converting a 1967 chevy bel air into a boat

FOURTH OF JULY 2005 converting a 1967 chevy bel air into a boat

monday 13 june: first meeting initial meeting at cruftlabs, discussion of hull design, ideas for propulsion, transportation, removal from water. field trip to brookline site to see car, discuss further plans, names, and other specifics over beer. [agenda] [summary] [photos] tuesday 14 june: first work session beginning to gut the interior. removal of carpet, seatbelts, front seat, visors, &c. first body-frame bolts removed. [summary] [photos] wednesday 15 june: second work session more gutting of the interior, including back seat and head liner removal. clearing out the trunk, beginning to clear out the engine compartment. removal of radiator, detachment of steering column, various hoses. discovery of live source of mouse droppings. propulsion consultation. [summary] [photos] [photos] thursday 16 june: third work session rear bumper removal, continued unbolting of frame. rain. [summary] [photos] saturday 18 june: body-frame separation removal of doors and last body-frame bolts. separation of body and frame (with some difficulty and intensity). visit from police. help from fellows taking away frame. much heavy lifting and subsequent relief. [summary] [photos] [photos] sunday 19 june: sawhorse day design and construction of sawhorses to support body. removal of hood and trunk lid to decrease weight. lifting of body onto sawhorses. rebolting of front driver's side panel. [summary] [photos] [photos] monday 20 june: doors and front wings gutting of doors to see what makes them so goddamned heavy. removal of unnecessary components. removal of front wings; discovery that wings are supporting front in absence of frame. propping up of front with hood. mar = best host ever. [summary] [photos] [photos] [movie: scott dremels off a bolt] [movie: in attempt to take a picture of amrys's beer goggles, mar demonstrates his own by not knowing how to use amrys's camera] tuesday 21 june: measurements and doors more measurements taken, more gutting of doors. scavenging of materials. [summary] [photos] wednesday 22 june: grinding and scraping grinding of areas to be welded. scraping off of gooey gunk on seams in floor pan. allaying of neighbor's concern that we might set the trees on fire with stray sparks from the grinder by trimming of low-hanging branch with bolt cutters. general preparations for welding. [summary] [photos] thursday 23 june: grind, grind, grind, grind, grind, grind, grind... more grinding of areas to be welded using angle grinder and drill with attachments. measurement and recording of holes to be patched. insistent and unstoppable looping though my head of a little barbershop ditty called 'grind.' some more electrical stuff, general welding prep. flagrant disregard by our fearless leader of marvelous photo op (me, wearing pistol parlor t-shirt, all done up in safety gear, holding power drill like gun). realization, while walking past the zeitgeist, that aforementioned fearless leader and yours truly are missing the last either/orchestra show for a while. not being too bothered about all the missed opportunities, given the opportunity to grind at metal with power tools. [summary] friday 24 june: setbacks and solutions problems with neighbors at brookline site, necessitating the urgent making of other site arrangements. long brainstorming session at cruftlabs over pizza and beer. discussion of numerous possible solutions to investigate in parallel. [summary] [text of note] [photos] saturday 25 june: site and door work working of phones to pursue other location possiblities. afternoon door work, including gutting, grinding, patch preparation and cutting, and welding. el pelon trip and idea. [summary] [photos] sunday 26 june: grinding and welding grinding of critical patches in order to weld pontoon structures in place. two brief run-ins with neighbors, plus one happy neighbor thrilled to learn of what we were doing. removal of front. beginning of degrimmifying of seats. design of bar in rear to which to attach pontoon braces and bumper. [summary] [photos] [photos]

NEWS FLASH monday 27 june alternate location secured in southie three cheers for shaughnessymonday 27 june: brookline to southie grinding and welding for pontoon support attachment. strapping of hood, trunk, and front of car to cruftwagon roof, with laceration sustained by one of our crew (thirty stitches), who is luckily now fine. positioning of trailer with scout, moving of boat onto trailer using angle iron, tires, those amazing sawhorses, ingenuity, and brawn. complicated maneuvering of scout/trailer/boat system out of narrow parking space and onto road. freakish caravan through boston consisting of cruftwagon as pace car, scout/trailer/boat, wrangler, and insight. arrival at shaughnessy warehouse in southie. unloading of trailer egyptian-style. marveling at huge trucks and equipment. celebratory trip to south street diner for long-awaited dinner. [summary] [josh's post] [photos] tuesday 28 june: sparks in southie more grinding of firewall areas to be welded. grinding of front. welding electrical setup and subsequent welding of rear seam in floor pan. [summary] [propulsion report] [photos] [photos] [movie] wednesday 29 june: weld, weld, weld lots of welding work. rear floor seam finished, front firewall patch installed. more front work. fuzzy dice and antenna pennant obtained. [summary] [photos] thursday 30 june: flotation prepration scrounging and sealing of oil drums and water cooler bottles. installation of firewall patches. beginnings of pontoon enclosure. [summary] [photos] [photos] friday 1 july: really becoming a boat now pontoon enclosure solutions devised. front pontoon supports installed and welded. rear windshield removed. rear seat panel measured and cut. more upholstery de-grimmifying, with more success. trip to murphy's law for a pint and discussion of testing and launch plans. [photos] saturday 2 july: the countdown begins pontoon enclosure and door work continued. more water cooler bottles sealed. doors sealed and remounted. wiring up of front and rear lights. trip to castle island for dinner and planning. more updates when a full summary comes along. meanwhile, here are some [photos] [photos] QUICK UPDATE: boat not launched due to state police "judgment call" photos and long story coming soon sunday 3 july: countdown to july 4th days and nights and actual dates no longer relevant. no summaries sent out due to fact that no one is doing anything except working on the boat (and occasionally, if there is a spare moment, eating and sleeping). photos are a bit more sparse and huge gaps will be left in these last two posts due to the incessant work and inability to spare anyone for non-critical tasks. grinding and welding continue, as does electrical work. pl, great stuff, and expanding foam applied and poured. everyone's work gloves destroyed by foam. giving up on propulsion due to lack of manpower. floatation and sealing our only real concern. [photos] [photos] monday 4 july: the big day scott, karen, and steve spend the entire night up working. mar brings us food when everything is closed down and we can't even order a pizza. early morning pickup of scout and u-haul trailer. foaming and sealing are our main concerns. mar does more wiring work. wings reattached, fore and aft compartments foamed, doors foamed. steering half installed. decision to leave site around 4 pm so that we can do any remaining work at the boat launch. moving of boat onto trailer. slow drive to watertown. being roundly rejected by state police, who are there in ridiculously full force. disappointment. investigation of duck tour ramp option and further rejection. reconvening at cruftlabs around 9 pm. decision to cut our losses, go eat dinner at the beer works, and watch the fireworks from the explanade. meeting up with reinforcements afterwards to move boat to temporary resting place in brookline (we always knew it would return). returning of trailer and scout. sleeping like tomorrow will never come. [photos] [photos] tuesday 5 july: cleanup convening at cruftlabs to travel to southie for final site cleanup. loading up of cruftwagon and mar's jeep. final trip to murphy's law for beers. return to cruftlabs with all our shit. photos (there aren't many) coming later this evening. [photos] COMING SOON: the bel air's maiden voyage probably this weekend probably in new hampshire sunday 31 july: maiden voyage after numerous failed launch attempts and unanticipated difficulties with scheduling, trailers, weather, timing, and absences, a trip to new hampshire to finally launch boat. only one real leak, now patched. minor slow leaks. unspeakable triumph, joy. [photos] [photos] [photos] [movie] [movie]

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