Gray Man, Inc.
- Thread starter DRIVEN
- Start date
Agreed. I wish my brother lived close enough that the three of us could help each other out like we did 10 years ago. The way you and your brother help your dad out is rare and you guys should really be proud of your projects.
The best moments my life have been spent working on some project with my dad and my brother
I haven't found boat ownership to be any less or more frustrating than project car ownership in terms of repair/maintenance. They take time, attention, and money and provide enjoyment at a typically lopsided ratio to the repair side of things.
Outsourcing out work on either, by either paying someone to repair your junk, or getting rid of junk and getting something 'nice' is an equation on how much money you want to spend.
However the thing that drives my boaty about boats, is how hard it is to test/diagnose things and if something goes wrong you are stuck in the water....
Outsourcing out work on either, by either paying someone to repair your junk, or getting rid of junk and getting something 'nice' is an equation on how much money you want to spend.
However the thing that drives my boaty about boats, is how hard it is to test/diagnose things and if something goes wrong you are stuck in the water....
transom is glued, screwed, and sealed.
This thing is absolutely riddled with unnecessary holes. I'm patching everything that's not original. They range from screw holes up to 3" diameter. There's even a fuel filler through the transom that's below the water line but goes nowhere. I can't figure out what it could have possibly been installed for.
I've got the first layer over 90% of the holes now. Some of the larger ones will get a lot more attention. Once the holes are finished, we'll start on all the cracks and crazing in the original gell coat. It'll all need to be completely stabilized before new paint.
Blue bike got new bars, grips, handguards, and phone mount. New plastics too.
I went through my pile-o-spares and it looks like I've got enough to build another engine. That starts soon.
This thing is absolutely riddled with unnecessary holes. I'm patching everything that's not original. They range from screw holes up to 3" diameter. There's even a fuel filler through the transom that's below the water line but goes nowhere. I can't figure out what it could have possibly been installed for.
I've got the first layer over 90% of the holes now. Some of the larger ones will get a lot more attention. Once the holes are finished, we'll start on all the cracks and crazing in the original gell coat. It'll all need to be completely stabilized before new paint.
Blue bike got new bars, grips, handguards, and phone mount. New plastics too.
I went through my pile-o-spares and it looks like I've got enough to build another engine. That starts soon.
You've got me fooled. You definitely look like a boat guy from over here. I am a total neophyte on these matters, though.
Like I posted earlier, I'm learning as I go. If it looks like I know what I'm doing, that's just a happy accident. Once I get all the holes finished and the cracks stabilized, it's really just going to look like body work...which I definitely don't enjoy.
It's pretty cold here right now. When I ran down to the gas station for my morning energy drink, the dash was showing 9 degrees. It'd be great if my dad's shop was a perfect 70 degrees, but it isn't. We've been doing glass work and covering the boat with a big tarp with a space heater underneath to let it cure.
Unrelated side note; Supervenza rolled over 200k on my last trip, so it's book value is basically scrap value now.
It's paid me plenty at this point and doesn't really owe me anything. Depending on how my finances are looking, I'm seriously considering buying something new when dealers are closing out '25s at the end of the year. Or maybe buy the wife a new car and just drive both Venzas until they drop. If i have any overall complaints about them, its that neither is great on fuel, which adds up for me over the course of a year. I could easily make a girl-math argument for buying a new car just off the MPG angle.
It's pretty cold here right now. When I ran down to the gas station for my morning energy drink, the dash was showing 9 degrees. It'd be great if my dad's shop was a perfect 70 degrees, but it isn't. We've been doing glass work and covering the boat with a big tarp with a space heater underneath to let it cure.
Unrelated side note; Supervenza rolled over 200k on my last trip, so it's book value is basically scrap value now.
It's paid me plenty at this point and doesn't really owe me anything. Depending on how my finances are looking, I'm seriously considering buying something new when dealers are closing out '25s at the end of the year. Or maybe buy the wife a new car and just drive both Venzas until they drop. If i have any overall complaints about them, its that neither is great on fuel, which adds up for me over the course of a year. I could easily make a girl-math argument for buying a new car just off the MPG angle.
I'm still chipping away at the old boat restoration project. It doesn't really look much different from the last post, but all the holes are patched. Now I'm in the process of smoothing things out.
I mentioned earlier that I'm doing the work in my dad's shop, so I want to give you guys a peek at his current side project. About a month ago he purchased a bunch of stuff from a guy he knows. The guy (in his late 70s) was trying to clean out his garage, which had a bunch of stuff he'd inherited when his dad died. Apparently the dad was a retired mechanic. An offer was made on the entire lot, and we hauled it home.
A lot of it wasn't particularly valuable or interesting, but his toolbox was pretty cool. Handmade and full of tools much older than me, and many older than my dad. I'd say 90% of what was inside was USA made. The guy had used a router to carve out placements for individual tools in about half the drawers and made dividers in the rest. The rear portion of the top is hinged for storage of long screwdrivers, prypars, and extensions.
There's a very comprehensive Ace tap and die set.
And this little set is pretty cool. Apparently SnapOn, Plomb, and Proto made 9/32 drive (not 1/4") in the 1920s-1940s. We had no idea that was ever a thing. Only stumbled across it when we noticed that 1/4 sockets wouldn't fit. SnapOn called them Midget drive.
Anyway, thought some of you guys might like to see it.
I mentioned earlier that I'm doing the work in my dad's shop, so I want to give you guys a peek at his current side project. About a month ago he purchased a bunch of stuff from a guy he knows. The guy (in his late 70s) was trying to clean out his garage, which had a bunch of stuff he'd inherited when his dad died. Apparently the dad was a retired mechanic. An offer was made on the entire lot, and we hauled it home.
A lot of it wasn't particularly valuable or interesting, but his toolbox was pretty cool. Handmade and full of tools much older than me, and many older than my dad. I'd say 90% of what was inside was USA made. The guy had used a router to carve out placements for individual tools in about half the drawers and made dividers in the rest. The rear portion of the top is hinged for storage of long screwdrivers, prypars, and extensions.
There's a very comprehensive Ace tap and die set.
And this little set is pretty cool. Apparently SnapOn, Plomb, and Proto made 9/32 drive (not 1/4") in the 1920s-1940s. We had no idea that was ever a thing. Only stumbled across it when we noticed that 1/4 sockets wouldn't fit. SnapOn called them Midget drive.
9/32 inch drive - Collecting Snapon
9/32 inch drive 9/32 inch drive The Midget drive is a mystery to most people. This size of the square is 9/32 and looks like looks like the modern day ¼ inch drive but is not interchangeable. Plomb also made a 9/32 inch drive set as others did. Snap on started the 9/32 in the
collectingsnapon.com
Anyway, thought some of you guys might like to see it.
I'm still chipping away at the old boat restoration project. It doesn't really look much different from the last post, but all the holes are patched. Now I'm in the process of smoothing things out.
I mentioned earlier that I'm doing the work in my dad's shop, so I want to give you guys a peek at his current side project. About a month ago he purchased a bunch of stuff from a guy he knows. The guy (in his late 70s) was trying to clean out his garage, which had a bunch of stuff he'd inherited when his dad died. Apparently the dad was a retired mechanic. An offer was made on the entire lot, and we hauled it home.
A lot of it wasn't particularly valuable or interesting, but his toolbox was pretty cool. Handmade and full of tools much older than me, and many older than my dad. I'd say 90% of what was inside was USA made. The guy had used a router to carve out placements for individual tools in about half the drawers and made dividers in the rest. The rear portion of the top is hinged for storage of long screwdrivers, prypars, and extensions.
View attachment 252117View attachment 252118View attachment 252119
View attachment 252120
There's a very comprehensive Ace tap and die set.View attachment 252121
And this little set is pretty cool. Apparently SnapOn, Plomb, and Proto made 9/32 drive (not 1/4") in the 1920s-1940s. We had no idea that was ever a thing. Only stumbled across it when we noticed that 1/4 sockets wouldn't fit. SnapOn called them Midget drive.
View attachment 252122View attachment 2521239/32 inch drive - Collecting Snapon
9/32 inch drive 9/32 inch drive The Midget drive is a mystery to most people. This size of the square is 9/32 and looks like looks like the modern day ¼ inch drive but is not interchangeable. Plomb also made a 9/32 inch drive set as others did. Snap on started the 9/32 in thecollectingsnapon.com
Anyway, thought some of you guys might like to see it.
Christ, you know that stuff's old when the 70yo dude's dad is the one who had it. That is pretty impressive.
