This photo was
taken when it was brand new just before the parade and it's first race
in Melbourne, Kentucky 1961.
Note - the motor has
not been installed.
Photo by Cliff
Wartman
This hydroplane was
originally built in 1960-61 by Jim Moore with help by the owner/driver
Dallas Kremer, both of Bellevue, Kentucky.
The Junior Gold cup boat was started in Jim's basement with the keel
bolted to his floor and it was built to a point where they could not
add the sponsons
and still be able to get it out the door. It was then moved to Dal's
auto shop for completion. The hull was designed by Ted Jones as
a 280 cubic inch class, 16' hydroplane, but the builders modified the
existing plans by extending it 3' extra feet and installing
the Ford big block motor to compete in the 7-litre class. This
hydroplane competed from 1961 to 1976.
Bellevue Motors Garage
Bellevue, Kentucky 1961
After spending many years running the
the 135 cubic inch class Moonshine Baby A-54
,
then moving up to the highly successful 280 class, Hallett-built Moonshine
Baby E-54, Dallas was excited about running his new 7 Litre
hydro Moonshine Baby H-54.
This photo was taken in Dallas & Hazel Kremer's automotive body
shop business, Bellevue Motors Garage in Bellevue, Kentucky as the
7-Litre was finished being built.
I found this photo being auctioned on eBay. I bid and won
it. The seller of the photo had no idea where he got it
from. I sent a scan to Moonshine Baby
crewmember, Cliff Wartman who stated it is authentic and recognized the
2 other team members pictured.
...funny how things like this seem to find their way home.
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Melbourne,
Kentucky 1961
The hydro's first race!
Photo by Phil Kunz
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Charleston, West Virginia 1962
Dallas Kremer
piloting the 7-litre H-54
Photo by Phil Kunz
The next summer in 1962, the hull is wearing a new engine cowling.
Plenty of racing action is taking place and each year you will notice
the hull will take on new paint and cowling changes.
One of Dallas' goals was to get in the 100
MPH Club and he reached that with H-54 soon after building
the hull.
The
7-litre (H) class hydroplane was the largest of the limited inboard
classes
racing in the early 1960s and referred by as the Junior Gold Cup class.
The
7-litre class motors could not exceed 427.161 cubic inches of
displacement
which were the big block automotive engines of their day.
This hydro raced
its first couple of years using a Ford 390 cid FE motor from a Daytona
race
car until 1964 when the 427 engines were introduced by Ford.
Click here
to read the 1962 American Power Boat Association's 7 Litre class rules.
Madison,
Indiana 1962
Photo by Phil Kunz
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Below are some of the
race sites H-54 was seen competing at:
KENTUCKY - Melbourne
& Newport
ILLINOIS - Ottawa & Kankakee
INDIANA - Madison & Jeffersonville
WEST VIRGINIA - Charleston & New Martinsville
FLORIDA - St. Petersburg
OHIO - Celina, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, New Richmond
& Zanesville
NEW YORK - Tonawanda
MICHIGAN - Algonac, Monroe & Detroit
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1963 Inboard National
Championship Regatta - St. Petersburg, Florida
Moonshine
Baby H-54 being lowered into the water. The red hydro in
the background is Ray Gassner's Sunshine Baby H-57.
photo
by Phil Kunz
In the pits at the 1963 Inboard
National Championship Regatta St. Petersburg, Florida
photo by Phil Kunz
Madison, Indiana
1963
Photo by Phil Kunz
Note the six Stromberg 97 2-barrel carbs sitting on top of the aluminum
intake manifold of 'Dals FABULOUS Ford'
as described from the lettering on another set of new cowlings that are
now gracing the hull for 1963.
Many changes are taking place each year as the Moonshine
Baby team are making adjustments and refining the
hull.
Next year, the team will switch to a new Ford 427 and a 10% overdrive
gearbox and smaller propeller will be installed to help the hydro come
out of the turns more efficiently.
In the early 1960's, most owners were running Chrysler Hemis in the
7-litre
class. In 1963, Ford was almost ready to introduce the 427 FE engine
(which
was born from the 406 racing motor) to compete against the Chrysler 426
Hemi.
These motors came stock from the factory with Clevite 77 bearings held
in
place by 4 bolt cap holders, cap-screw connecting rods and forged-steel
crankshaft.
The heads were machined combustion chambers and sodium-filled exhaust
and
hollow stem intake valves. These cross-bolted blocks are reinforced
with
oil pressure relief in the block and oil pump. They were conservatively
rated
from the factory at 425 HP. Dallas Kremer and crewman Cliff Wartman,
wrote
to Ford urging them to get more involved in limited-class hydroplane
racing,
stating the success they was having with the Ford 390 motor against the
Hemi's.
As stated by Cliff, " I wrote the original letter to Ford with copies
of
our newspaper clippings and received the first engine which was a stock
427.
All we had to do was run them till they quit and send them back with
the
records on their performance." Dallas and his crew bolted on the six
(6)
Stromberg 97 carbs and aluminum flywheel to the motor and went racing.
1960's
History in auto racing of the FE engine brought a 1-2-3 in the 1966
LeMans
in 427 powered GT-40s, Five Daytona 500 wins, the 427 Cobra's 1965 FIA
World
Championship and a lock on SCCA racing for years, 428CJ Mustangs
dominating
the Winternationals at their introduction in 1968, etc.
Dallas
Kremer was also part of the Bellevue RACING TEAM.
His partner (and
brother-in-law) Fred Brocker, Sr. could be seen racing their dirt track
sprint
car.
1964 Bellvue, Kentucky
photo
by Cliff Wartman
Madison,
Indiana 1964
Photo by Tom D'Eath
The hydro takes on yet another look this year as a
new red deck color replaces the golden stain for the deck skins and new
graphics are also added. The cowlings get painted over with a red color
and a white stripe is added. Dallas Kremer on the left, and his crew
are looking over everything before hitting the course. The chief
mechanic for the boats was P.T. (Red) Barrington, who is the the
gentleman on the right wearing the hat. The person in the gray shirt is
crew member Bill Bohart. Other members of the Moonshine Baby
team were Bob Hoh from Dayton, Kentucky who also worked on the engines
and is a well known Harley mechanic and Cliff Wartman who crewed from
1955-1964.
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1965 New Richmond,
Ohio
above
two photos by Moonshine Baby crewmember, Cliff Wartman
1966
New Martinsville, West Virginia
photo by Phil Kunz
The start of the 1966 season has
Moonshine
Baby with
sporting a new set of cowlings and exhaust headers. New graphics added
this year include carrying the Confederate Naval Jack flag painted on
the deck. This is the 3rd set of cowlings that Dallas made for this
hydro. This set is on the restored hydroplane. Dallas said to me that
he liked to work with fiberglass and produced all the different
cowlings you see throughout these photos.
1966 Newport,
Kentucky
photo
by Phil Kunz
Ford 427 powered H-54 Moonshine Baby &
super-charged Hemi 426 powered H-96 Briar Hopper
Phil Kunz told me right after he took this photo, the boats bumped
their sponsons pretty hard in this deck-to-deck race.
Crewmember Cliff
Wartman told me "Dallas was always one to experiment. Since he owned a
body shop, some of the experiments involved using fiberglass for
cockpits, etc. We went to Florida for the Orange Bowl Regatta in 1959,
with the 280
class Moonshine Baby E-54
having a completely enclosed cockpit. When we stopped in the small
towns on the way down, the locals thought it was a rocket ship. The
hull did not carry that cowling very long as Dallas said it was a rough
ride and the sound was like riding inside a bass drum."
New Martinsville, W.Va. 1966
Speed Trials (straight-away record run attempt)
Photo by Phil Kunz
Dallas Kremer told me he liked
the weekend races that had kilo runs on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
His mechanic, Red
Barrington was very good at tuning and synchronizing the 6 Stromberg
carburetors for the Ford 427.
For the
straight-away record runs, Kremer stated he would "burn alcohol, with a
little Nitro mixed in, for that extra kick and push the motor north of
6,000 rpm."
Dallas told me his
best run was 138 MPH at New Martinsville, West Virginia in a 1 mile
speed trap.
The third owner,
Steve Mahac told me he was running this hull well into the 140 mark
during the early 1970s.
1967 Newport,
Kentucky
Photo by Phil Kunz
Moonshine Baby on the cover of the
1968 Kentucky Governor's Cup Regatta
Dal &
Hazel Kremer
1978
Dallas R. Kremer served during
WWII in the 571st Bomb Squadron with his main duties being an Airplane and Engine Mechanic on
the B-17 Bombers. He also flew on missions over Europe as the Waist gunner.
Rebel Rouser years
Zanesville,
Ohio 1969
Photo by Phil Kunz
Dallas Kremer sold
the hydro to George "Ray" Reynolds of Detroit, Michigan and he
campaigned under the Moonshine
Baby name for
a season.
The next year, the
hydro was campaigning as Ray's
Rebel Rouser.
Pontiac Lake, Michigan 1969
Photo by Phil Kunz
Ray raced the hydro for
a few years, then sold it to a fellow Marine Prop Riders club member
Steve Mahac of Harsen's Island, Michigan after the 1971 season.
Ford Lake -
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Early 1970s
Photo by Ted Lee
Ypsilanti, Michigan
1974
Photo by Phil Kunz
Steve continued to race the hydro under the name Rebel Rouser.
This is the Rebel Rouser H-54 with owner/driver Steve Mahac
going up against Mario Malardo
in Baby Doll II on the program cover for this
race in Michigan.
circa: August 15,
1976.
After Steve
Mahac's last race in the fall of 1976, he advertised it in the APBA
Propeller magazine and sold the hydroplane.
Steve was the
last person to drive her in competition.
In
1976, Richie Dittrich, a hydro driver from Minneapolis, Minnesota,
bought the hydro from Steve Mahac.
His plan was
to restore the aging hydroplane and keep racing her. He never got
around to the task and eventually received an offer in 1984 from
somebody to buy the two Ford 427 motors. A week later, he sold the
racing hull and all the parts to somebody else. I do not have
any history of H-54 from 1984-1988.
Current
owner-restorer-driver Phil Spruit (left) and past owner Richie Dittrich.
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1988
– Lisa & Tad Colwell saw the hydroplane sitting outside in a
boat junk
yard by Lake Minnetonka, MN (Mahogany Bay) and purchased it. I talked
with
the owner of Mahogany Bay years later and he doesn’t recall who how he
ended
up with the H-54.
I saw her for the first time shortly after that when Tad brought up the
H-54
to the shop to remove the Chevy small block (which was seized-up) from
the
boat. The entire inside of the hull was soaked with oil. The hull had
its
plywood skins delaminating and there were two holes in the bottom of
the
hull.
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Tad Colwell - 1988
Tad never got around to working on it, then they moved...so the the
boat
was destined to sit in a St. Cloud, MN storage building until 1996 when
I
'bought' the hydro from Tad. I wrote a short story about that and what
I was going to do with it: The Rescue of This Old Hydroplane
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Thanks
- I was lucky enough to talk to Dallas
Kremer twice before he passed away in 1997. He sent me photos
and newspaper clippings from this hull's racing days. His wife, Hazel,
passed away in 2012.
- I never met the second owner, George
"Ray" Reynolds
who passed away in 1998.
- The third owner, Steve Mahac
lives in St. Clair, Michigan. I appreciate his help he had given me
during my restoration of the hydro.
- The fourth owner, Richie Dittrich,
lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I located Richie in 2002 and he
visited H-54 and I shortly afterward.
- Thanks to Cliff Wartman,
crewmember with the Moonshine Baby team from 1955-1964, for help with
photos and information.
- Thanks to Jim Moore,
original builder of Moonshine Baby. Jim passed away at age 79 in
November 2006.
- Thanks to Tom D'Eath for
identifying this hydroplane for me in the first place, photos,
information, contact names and answering all my
many questions as I was rebuilding this
hull.
- Thanks to Phil Kunz for
allowing me to use his photos of Moonshine Baby / Rebel Rouser.
I
am always looking for photos, home movies or even just stories on this
hydro. Please send an email
or call (763) 221-8285
© Phil
Spruit
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The Junior Gold Cup, 7 Litre (H) class inboard hydroplane is a 1960 Ted
Jones design that competed from 1961-76.
The hydro was built originally by Jim Moore & Dallas Kremer of
Bellevue, Kentucky.
These photos depict the day I brought H-54 home from a storage facility
in St. Cloud, MN in March of 1996. It had been in storage for about 8
years. The trailer appeared somewhat road worthy and my hope was that
it could make the 1 hour trip to my home. I checked the trailer
bearings and then took the tires to a truck repair outfit down the
road. $20 later I had a couple of used tires mounted on the rims and
went back to the storage building. The 2x6 wood framing for which the
hydroplane was supported on was dry rotted through completely in spots.
I was jumping on the inside of the hydro to determine if the wood
framing could potentially bust apart on the trip home. Luckily, they
did not.
I loaded up everything and brought H-54 to her new home.
The boat was given to me by
Tad
& Lisa Colwell and they purchased it in 1988. At that time Tad
had removed a incorrect class-sized, seized-up, Chevy small block motor
that
somebody had fitted into the hull. All the hardware had been removed
from the hull and were put in boxes. The parts that came with the
hull included the motor mounts, rudder & quadrant, propeller
& propeller shaft, strut, skid fin, steering gearbox &
linkages,
Hallcraft gearbox & the gearbox mount, seat, battery tray, gas
tank, and various aluminum parts.
If only it
had the original 2 - 427 Ford race motors, 6 Stromberg
carbs, zoomie pipes and all the other motor goodies that Richie
Dittrich
had with it. He told me he sold the motors to someone first, then the
boat
a week later to somebody else in the Minneapolis area around 1984.
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Spring
broke and I was ready to tackle this project.
The first thing I did was to gently "shove" the hydroplane off the
trailer to make it easier to remove the deck plywood. Now I had a
interior view of the entire inside of the hull and sponsons. After
surveying the frames, battens, beams, etc. it became apparent that just
cleaning up the inside and repairing a few broken boards would be not
be my idea of a restoration. Oil from a blown motor coated almost
everything in the engine bay and had penetrated under the varnish and
wicked into the wood framing and severely softened the lumber. The only
way I could do the quality of restoration I was intent on doing would
be to start with new lumber for the framing. The original hull
therefore would become a pattern for it's own rebuild.
I was able to rescue some of the original lumber to be used into the
new hull (mostly for sentimental reasons). |
The sponsons after
unbolting and busting them loose from the hull. Note the aluminum
plates that were attached to the runner surface of the
sponsons. There were multiple
layers of plywood which made up the different levels of the runners and
sponsons chines. The
sponsons that were incorporated into the design of this hydroplane are
the wet type sponsons. They
are designed to fill up with water when the hydro is placed in the
water, and then the water would flow out of the sponsons after the
hydro reaches planing speed.
Surprising there was little signs of dry rot.
With the sponsons off
the hull, all remaining plywood is removed from the framing. This
reveals the skeleton of the hull.
I first unscrewed all
the battens and deck beams. After they were out of the way I unbolted
each of the 12 frames that slide up along the 2 main motor stringers. I
started with the transom and removed and marked each frame. When they
are all removed you end up with a pile of lumber.
After I disassembled the
old frames I was able to use them as patterns for making the new
frames. The new frames were made using 7-ply, 1/2" thick Birch plywood
that was bolted and screwed to 13/16" thick Sitka Spruce lumber. This
will replace the original 3-ply, 1/4" thick Douglas Fir plywood. This
will increase strength and not add much weight.
I purchased 2 Sitka Spruce
boards 19' long x 10" wide for the motor stringers. The original ones
were 2 smaller pieces scarfed together to get the required 19' length.
After jig sawing and fairing the motor stringers to shape the 12 frames
and transom are bolted to the 2 motor stringers. The battens are
epoxied and screwed to the frames and then the bottom plywood is
attached to the battens. The new plywood bottom is made up of 7-ply,
3/8" thick Okoume plywood. The original hydro was 'skinned' in 3-ply,
1/4" Mahogany plywood. I scarfed 3 pieces of
plywood together to get the 19' length needed for the bottom and sides.
Six inch wide pieces were added along both sides of the 48" wide bottom
to cover the width needed. The plywood "skin" is epoxied and fastened
to battens with silicon bronze wood screws. Mahogany wood plugs (versus fiberglass
filler that was originally used) goes into all the screw holes and
sanded flush.
The
sides and non trips plywood pieces are being epoxied and screwed to the
hull's frames. I scarfed 3 pieces of 3/8" thick plywood together to get
the 19' long sides. Wood plugs are glued in and flush sanded. While
applying the epoxy coating on the outside I embedded fiberglass cloth
into the epoxy coating. This will give the sides of the hull better
abrasion resistance and a little more strength. After completion of the
other side the hull is ready to have the sponsons attached.
I uprighted the hull to
epoxy and bolt the sponson frames to the hull. I temporally attached
the fore deck skins to give me a shape to follow for fairing in on the
sponsons. With that completed I flipped the hull back upside down
(photo above) and screwed down the battens. This photo was taken just
before I started fairing all the boards in preparation of laying down
two layers of plywood for the sponsons bottoms.
|
This
photo was taken of the bottom after completion.
I dry fitted all the aluminum parts that needed to go on the bottom of
the hull. After removal, I finished the bottom. Next was sanding
& polishing of all aluminum plates & parts. Attachment
is by gluing & screwing.
The strut and 2-blade propeller are steel and those were re-plated. A
log shaft was fabricated by Henry Lauterbach. This replaces the old
stuffing box and mid strut. The skid fin, 2 sponson runner plates
& shaft bearing mount are original. I fabricated a new sheet
of aluminum for the aft section of the hull. The old one was
badly pitted.
I was curious as to why there was so much 'battle armor' attached to
the bottom. It was more than any other hydroplane I've seen from that
era. Original builder/owner/driver Dallas Kremer told me the boat raced
so much on the Ohio River and typically there was lots of junk floating
in the water. The plates were put on to the bottom to keep the plywood
protected from penetration. |
I
flipped the hull over and placed it on a temporary dolly to finish the
restoration. I notched out the frames for battens and epoxy &
screwed them to the frames. This is followed by fairing of all the deck
beams for final overall shaping of the decking. After I was happy with
the final dry fitting, everything was removed. I masked off the sides
& bottom from overspray and sprayed about 2 gallons of
polyurethane to the interior of the hull & sponsons. |
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Areas
not seen, I did not spend much time cleaning up the squeezed out epoxy.
Since everything was sanded prior to assembly, that made for a good
base to apply a few coats of thinned out sealer first, followed up by a
few full strength coats. The coatings of polyurethane applied to
everything else should seal any exposed areas of wood just fine. One of
the nice benefits about working from scratch with new wood.
While
fitting the deck plywood, now's the time to get the steering system,
lifting
brackets, and strut reinforcement parts installed.
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The
3/16" thick Okume plywood deck 'skins' are fitted,
epoxy & screwed down to the framing. All screw holes are filled
with wood plugs and waiting to be cut off & sanded flush.
The sponson decks could not bend to the top shape of the hull so I
soaked them with hot water. Within a few minutes the panels were
flexible enough take the shape.
The whole top was glued & screwed with 2 sponson deck panels, a
center panel and one aft panel. I scarfed plywood to get the panel
lengths & widths required.
I made a 1/8" wide groove cut with my router & Mahogany
inlay was glued in all deck joints to give it a bordered &
finished look. |
The
finish was hand wiped with a penetrating stain, followed by airbrushing
different shades of dye stains. It was my attempt to get some depth
& warmth into the typically bland Okume rotary-cut face veneer. I
shaded the edges & corners. I wanted to have the entire deck
appear like one large sheet of plywood. Eight coats of varnish were
applied with a foam brush over epoxy. Block sand and then the 9th coat
was diluted & sprayed. After a few days, I cut open the varnish
coating with sandpaper and let it cure for a month. Wet sanding
proceeded to the final 2000 grit size. The buffer was used to bring up
the final gloss. If you're interested, here's an
article I
wrote on the finishing of this hydroplane.
With
the woodworking & finishing out of the way, the graphics are
next. Preparation
began with 2" overlapping masking tape applied. The lettering and flag
image
are transferred by pressing down on the outline with
a pen. Remove the template and cut out (very carefully)
using an exacto blade. After sanding to achieve some tooth in the
varnish with 320 grit, white and black acrylic enamel was sprayed. The
Moonshine Baby template was created by looking
over earlier photos in her history and selecting a font similar on my
computer.
I enlarged each letter and printed each letter out on 8.5 x 11 paper.
Then
taping the individual pages together to make the template. You can see
the
template hanging on the wall.
The perimeter
of the deck is outlined in gold leaf and trimmed off with black enamel,
all applied over a gold metallic base. I applied a stain
over the leaf and spattered that with methanol to get
the look I was after. This 'look' will also appear on both cowlings.
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After
the white enamel was sprayed and had a chance to dry,
I outlined all the numbers and lettering with black enamel.
I made the flag
template, drawn freehand, looking at old photos from 1961-63.
The template for H-54
was traced from the original numbering off the old deck.
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Over the winter I took the
original trailer in and had it sandblasted
& primer applied. Then moved it to my work to borrow their
welder and some steel. I boxed in the frame above the axle
and added new crossmembers & bracing. The trailer had
a pretty good bend in it and I was not able to get it all
out, so I built the uprights from square tubing and welded so the boat
at least sits level. I painted everything up with black polyurethane
and
added a new axle, reworked springs, whitewall tires and chrome
rims that have a 1960's look to them. African Mahogany sits on the trailer.
Overkill I know, but it sure looks nice. Trailer weighed in at beastly
1220 pounds.
(I made a new trailer from
scratch. This one became a utility trailer)
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Moonshine
Baby H-54
campaigned the first 3 years using a stock Ford 390
out of a Daytona race car. The team ran the Ford with an aluminum
intake manifold fed by six Stromberg "97" 2-bbl carbs and an
aluminum flywheel. When the 427 motors became available
from Ford in 1964, crewmember Cliff Wartman & owner
Dallas Kremer wrote to Ford asking for help in their hydroplane racing
endeavor. Ford responded with free 427 motors to use.
In the fall of 1999, I purchased a
1966 Ford 427 side oiler
block and was having it rebuilt. While waiting for
that motor to be completed, I located a complete 1967
Ford 427 center oiler motor that originally was one of two that were
installed in a 1968 48' Chris Craft. I found the motor to be in
excellent stock condition with good
compression & low hours. If you can locate one
today, most Ford FE 427's have been rebuilt or modified
several times by this point in their history. I will eventually put all
those 6 carbs back on this motor & aluminum flywheel
as time & money permits.
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The
original cast iron marine oil pan was 2" too tall &
very heavy but a plus was that this Ford already had the oil pickup set
up as a rear sump in the oil pan. I fabricated a new
aluminum oil pan and windage tray from 1/8" thick, T-6061
aluminum. All plates went to the welder for heli-arcing. A 1/4" tube
was
added into the side of the oil pan which serves as a
dipstick & oil drain.
|
|
Fitting the motor down into the hull and setting up the motor mounts.
Space is a premium right now so after the motor is installed
in the hull it will be time to put the hydro on the road
trailer. I can almost pick the hull up by lifting the motor
after it is bolted in and set it on the road trailer.
But I'm near the end of my capacity for my motor hoist and don't want
to risk it. I'll need to enlist the help from my farmer
neighbor and his tractor. |
|
|
Hydroplane
being transferred from the dolly to the trailer with help from my
neighbor and his tractor. The long awaited move to the road trailer was
pretty uneventful. We lifted the hydroplane up and slid out the dolly
and then slid the road trailer underneath and lowered the hydroplane
back down. |
|
The Hallcraft gearbox (10% overdrive) is bolted to a 1/2" thick, cast
aluminum brace that came with the hydroplane. I fabricated &
welded the entire gearbox assembly to the rear motor mount plate. When
installing or removing the motor, the gearbox unit goes too. I can also
remove the gearbox easily in the boat by uncoupling the chains and
removing 2 water hoses & 4 bolts. Alignment pins insure the
gearbox is kept centered. The front/rear motor mounts & gearbox
mounts I made from 1/2" thick T-6061 aluminum. These mounts rest on the
four cast aluminum motor mounts that came with the hull & bolt
through each engine stringer. I had a machine shop turn out the takeoff
shaft on a lathe using 4140 steel (hardened) which bolts to the
flywheel. Gear spockets (forged, 16 tooth #50 chain) connects the
takeoff shaft and the 1-1/8" diameter monel propeller shaft. The whole
works is @ 6-1/2 degrees of angle. I reconditioned the original
steering column & gearbox with new bearings. The 2
steering linkage rods were sandblasted, sanded and chrome
plated. |
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|
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With
the hydroplane resting on it's road trailer, its time to start work on
restoration of the cowlings.
In keeping with the theme of how this boat looked in the early 1960's,
the first thing I wanted to do was cut off the tail fin that was
installed in the late 1960's. |
|
These
were the 3rd (and final) set of cowlings that were custom fabricated by
the original builder Dallas Kremer. The engine cowling was in terrible
shape. I started on that one by cutting it into 3 pieces. First,
cutting off the hood scoop, then cutting it into half. After building a
new hood scoop and reshaping & fitting the area that goes above
the motor's valve covers, I refiberglassed the engine cowling back
together. The drivers cowling was broke in a few spots but essentially
in sound shape. |
I
just finished painting the cowlings with Candy Apple Red
enamel.
I am
using the paint scheme for the hydroplane cowlings that were originally
on it in 1966,
which
are the same set of cowlings that are currently on her now.
The
graphics on the hull are from its first years.
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The
cowlings after gold leaf was applied. The cowlings were done the same
way the border around the perimeter of the deck was done. I sprayed an
acrylic enamel with gold metal flake powder added. |
|
After
the leaf set up, a couple of clear coats over it. After the base was
cured, I spattered orange, yellow, and brown dye stain over the leaf to
tie it in with the gold striping I used around the perimeter of the
deck. After a few more clear coats, the mask was removed and a black
pinstripe was applied to frame the leafed areas. |
The Ford 427 "baldie" emblem from days gone by -
again grace the cowling of this 7 Liter class Junior Gold Cup hydroplane
|
|
Moonshine
Baby H-54
Even
though these racing hydroplanes were built for speed I have noticed
that appearance is an important aspect for many of the owners &
builders of these fast machines. Countless hours and bundles of money
could be poured into the racing hulls. Pride of ownership was reflected
in these water skipping machines. Wood racing hulls were....and still
are.......great works of art and beauty.
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Having just a one photo
to go by that showed just a small portion of the dashboard, I attempted
to piece together the drivers compartment. All the original parts that
came with the hull have been reconditioned and reinstalled into the
hull. These were the gearbox, prop shaft, prop shaft bearing and
aluminum mount. The steering system was complete when I first got the
boat and included the gearbox, column, mounts, and steering linkages
(which I had chrome plated). Other parts were the accelerator pedal and
the gas tank hand pump mounted on the rear cowling as well as the
lifting rings. The drivers seat is also original, but I rebuilt and
reupholstered it. The seat cushion was still in excellent condition
after 40 years and is still sitting comfortable after all these years.
The dashboard is fabricated
which a piece of 3/8" Okume plywood I had left over from building the
hull.
After
I fitted and cut the instrument holes in the dashboard, I removed and
sprayed black acrylic polyurethane.
The
instruments are Auto
Meter, and are
(from left to right) Oil Pressure (0-200 lbs/liquid filled/mechanical),
Fuel, Tach, Water Temperature (120-240 degrees F./liquid
filled/mechanical), ignition switch and kill switch.
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I used
the original sponson-mounted water pickups. Just above the actual water
pickups is a one-way valve that will prevent the water from falling
back out of the system. These 2 water pickups feed into a aluminum
distribution manifold and then feed each cylinder head and the gearbox.
The water exits out the motor through the thermostat housing and then
outside the hull (see outlet above the M and the O).
The water from gearbox has a separate outlet (see outlet
between the N and the S). The valve cover air breather is
mounted outside the hull (just before the M). I
used all hydraulic hoses and JIC fittings for all the water lines. |
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MOONSHINE
BABY H-54
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The zoomies are quite
loud and even though this setup for the headers may actually rob a few
horsepower, they have the unique "dragster" sound
versus all the pipes coming together into a collector. I had the header
flanges custom made from 3/8" thick mild steel and ported to size to
match the stock cylinder heads rectangular ports. I bought eight 1-3/4"
diameter j-pipes and cut, fitted, & welded the individual pipes
to the header flanges |
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This
photograph really sums up the differences from this hydro to any other
hydroplane design by Ted Jones.
The
original builders purchased 280 cubic inch class blueprints/plans from
Ted Jones and they added three feet.
The 280 plans were for a 16' hydro. This 7-Litre tops out at 19' 2" in
hull length.
Note the motor is placed almost entirely after the sponsons
ends.
Another unique design feature of this hull - the beam of this hydro is
just past 7'. A very 'skinny' 7-Litre class hydro that makes it a hydro
that doesn't even need a tilt trailer that one would typically see
carrying most Junior Gold Cup hydros.
I don't have the original blueprints, but studying other 280 class
blueprints by Jones, it appears most of the 3' was added in the engine
bay area. She is definitely a one of a kind.
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Was
it worth all the work?
It was
for me!
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Maiden
Run - 2005
September
17, 2005
Moonshine Baby and I take our maiden voyage at
the Twin City Power Boat races at Moose Lake, Minnesota.
After the
run.....
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Below
is the latest updates after 2 other event runs.
Motor was
pulled and freshened up in 2006.
The heads were ported and
aluminum roller rocker arms & spacers installed.
other
work included:
•
Sent out block and cylinder heads for cleaning and magnaflux
•
Machine exhaust seats and install hardened seats for unleaded fuel
•
Machine the valve guides for pc seals
•
Machine all intake spring seats for better Comp springs
•
Perform competition valve job on valves and seats
•
Assemble heads with new springs, seals, retainers and locks
•
Set up valve springs to proper shim height
• Hone block minimum with power hone (no
boring required
as it was in that great a shape). Everything still at factory bore
specs.
•
Clean and prep all components and prepare for assembly
•
Polish crankshaft and check ok.
•
Assemble short block with new main bearings, cam, cam bearings, rod
bearings, rings, seals and gaskets.
•
Install new oil pump assembly
•
Installed and degree new Comp Cams camshaft to specs
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The last 3
runs - I kept breaking the weld on the log shaft/mid strut bearing
underneath
that Henry Lauterbach built me due to bent propshaft.
After
rewelding the logshaft, replacing the bearing and seal and buying a
new 1-1/4" prop shaft, all is back in place, aligned and good to go.
Other
changes - I found an aluminum flywheel to get the motor to wind up
faster. Motor oil evacuation system installed.
The gearbox
was pulled, disassembled, the casings received ceramic powdercoating
and new seals and bearings installed.
Top view
This photo
shows the new aluminum front engine plate I made and aluminum
timing chain cover installed after the motor was rebuilt.
This
replaces the cast iron (heavy) unit that was in there when I originally
set up the front motor mounts.
Timing
pointer made and installed and fuel filter and lines rerouted to a new
Edelbrock carb and aluminum intake,
to replace
the stock (heavy @ 78 lbs.) cast iron intake that was also on the motor.
The zoomies
have been sandblasted and repainted with a silver color ceramic coating
(the white color before, failed bad).
Vintage
Edelbrock 6 deuce intake manifold (being polished).
One of
these years, Moonshine
Baby H-54 will
have the 6 Stromberg 97 carb induction back in
place.
During the
winter of 2005-06, I built a NEW trailer.
Torsion
spring suspension, HD axles, electric brakes, new tires and rims,
polished diamond plate aluminum decking and L.E.D. lighting.
The spare
tire mounts under the front decking via a cable lift mechanism (same
one pickup trucks now have these days).
Parked on
her new trailer.
Isanti
County Fairgrounds - Memorial Day 2013
I finished a
5 year restoration of my 1975 Chevy Van (owned since
I was 16) and hooked on the boat and showed it at the 37th Annual car
show.
Thanks
for visiting
© Phil
Spruit
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