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Time to finish the story. Fall is upon us and we are done for the season but before we could call it over there was a mad dash to finish up anything I could.

Spending so much time on one project is starting to show its age. My 19 has nearly failed me and left me stranded on the water. We even spend a few days chasing issues, but little do we know things will get much worse, but we keep fighting. Back to the Allmand Project, time to mate a Volvo 270 Outdrive to a Volvo 280T Transom Shield. Ater a bath it's starting to look like a boat now. Let's add some more stuff to make it look even more like a boat. We have our first trim pump failure.

We continue on with the exhaust install. Still a lot to do from the motor ot the transom. Things are getting so nice I'm getting ideas for my 19. Sometimes in life you make mistakes, it's just how well you present them. As we make progress, we have to take it step by step and then inspect what we did to make sure we dont fill the bilge full of gas or something. Found a couple major and minor issues with the motor which will require some research and back tracking to fix. Having no spark is one thing but then there is too much fuel and water pump issues and even issues getting power to the motor. It's time to bring this boat to life.

The Volvo 270's new bottom section arrives. We fix holes in the fins, reshape the skeg, fill the water pick up, fill the grate in and then reshape the whole bottom case before putting the whole drive together.

As I watched, a large section of a tree broke off and fell on 2 of my boats. One of them happens to be an ACBS award winning, one of only 10 made, 1959 Biesemeyer 4 Point hydro drag boat.

It's time to pull out some stuff that's been sitting around for a few years. What we had before the Volvo 270 with 1.35 gears.

Something got between the Volvo 270's case and the prop while slowing down. Three big bangs were all it took to turn a one of a kind outdrive into a memory.

Our Volvo 270 with 1.32 ratio gears is making noises all of a sudden. This could be very bad news. There is no "fixing" this one of a kind.

The electrics done its time to get some power hooked up in the boat. To finally figure out what terminal to use on the starter we have to get the rest of the top of the motor together before we move the motor off number one firing position. Brand new battery switch is not switching right. The heat keeps pounding down as we continue on. Our first attempt to install the exhaust did not go well. We have to do a few things before we do that again and then we do it again. We keep going until we set power tool on fire. Fire, water, oil and electric, we've got it all.

Picking up where we left off. We have to start at the bottom of the motor and work our way up. With lots of parts still sitting in piles we have a lot to do. With the blistering sun at least it helps with installing hoses that have never been installed before. We have to back track a little but it was expected. There is a lot of wires, a whole lot of wires and they all need a home.

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Back at fixing our motor mounts. They should be twice as strong as they were before. The last of the big buckets of resin are all gone, finally. Start prepping for the motor install for the second time. Taking everything, we learned from the first time fail and applying it to everything we can before we try again. This includes motor modifications while we still have it in the garage. There is no place better to cut on the motor block. With the motor mount change we find out just how much the lower mounts cost us. Time to get the motor in for a final time. We hope.

We slide puzzle our garage around to get the motor up on the hoist and get the rest of it together. The only reason to do that is so we can install it or at least try. We then find a list of stuff needed to do before we can try. Using metric all thread to save a ton of money and to finish up the exhaust manifolds. Using our 411 Bilge coat really changes things. The first motor install attempt found a lot of issues that need to be fixed before it can go back in like the motor mounts are too tall. Time to get out the SawZaw and fiberglass.

Loose ends. Time to tie some of them up. If we dont do something the 496 exhaust manifolds are going to break the bank. We search for everything we have and still have to make an order for more to finish them. Making a Volvo 270 steering fin to cutting off 4" exhaust tips, we are all over the place. Rain drives us inside the garage so what better time to rebuild to Edelbrock 1410 750 carburetor. It has been sitting for a while, a long while. We take another stab at fixing the starting issue in my 19. Swinging for the fences this time.

We are back to work on our Chevy 454. Now we have it built for the most part we can now do some mods. We have 2, 3, 4 in mind. Still chasing an electrical issue in my 19. Not being able to start it is a bit nagging. After a day of chasing, all we have to show for it is new leads. More parts come in for the new 19's 454 that we need to test and then get ready for when needed.

Doing a couple things that is not boat related before we start doing this boat related. The garage has become a dumping ground during the upholstery projects and we have to do something about it before anything else. Then we get deep into Volvo Penta Steering Fins. They just dont make them like we need anymore. Then we install the raised sliding bases for the bucket seats. Our universal kit will require some modifications on all of it including Plasti Dipping the feet. Last, we get back to work on the 454.

We continue this week with vinyl for the bucket seats. They look simple but they are far from it. By the time we get the second one done we are thinking a couple more and we would be pretty good t covering these types of seats. We are cutting up one of our seats but there was nothing better to use to for. After the seat backs are done, we start the cushions.

We are done with the structure repairs to the bucket seats and now its time to cover them with vinyl. This is well above my skill level. After extreme planning I think I have all of the piping in one piece. Installing the first cover got pretty steamed and it worked out so much better for us. Then we have to wait on a delivery to continue with the upholstery. It's finally have a plan to do away with our big mistake.

We start working on our seats. We have major issues and a bit of a setback. One of the bucket seats is broken into pieces. Then we find the wood is rotten in both of them. They are really on the edge of not worth fixing and we are already in deep.

It's all in our minds. We start by creating the upholstery. The boat has to have something and there is no off the shelf design for it. We also have not done any vinyl in many years and are a bit nervous but there is only one way it's going to get done. Peice after piece the confidence builds until our first failure. We can't find seats so we decide to re-do the buckets that came with the boat.....bad idea.

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More Chevy 454 work. The parts are finally in after many tries. It's time to finally finish the oil system. Not bragging but money is not the issue when it comes to exhaust. Stupid money is. Progress is being made as we push through adversity. We take a break from the 454 to work on some of the upholstery for a change and to get a little of the bulk out of the way. After doing a lot of foam padding and batting we try to get couple of the easier, bigger pieces out of the way. Lots of preplanning and following cut sheets trying use what I have. That's a lot of Coke. Two bolsters and the dash pad done we hope it stays this easy but we know it cant.

We start off our week with an exploding water heater. Which seems to happen on a regular basis. Then we have to pick the motor up so we can change the oil before we spin the oil pump. Harder than you would think. More issues with the Gen V - Raw Water Pump / Fuel Pump set up. Nothing has gone right so far so we expect nothing else. Really rethinking an electric fuel pump. Why are marine motors against PCV systems? Parts start coming in, but some are in really rough shape. Lots to fix and do.

The Gen V water pump / fuel pump blues continue. Time for some major mods. So happy to at least have a stick welder. With the 454 out from under the shelf we start making orders to complete it and as they start coming in, we start building. You would think it would be a simple task, but everything seems to be fighting us. If I could just order the right stuff and then it make it here without damage. Socketless fittings and hose, what a great invention.