I have a couple of V-Drive decisions to make.

[Wakemaker]

Ok here is the deal, 1) I have a 1972 Kindsvater that I bought a couple of years ago, and it's going to go to hell if I don't do something with it soon.  When I bought it the guy had just redone the stringers and it looked pretty good a couple of years ago, but after sitting out in the heat and cold uncovered for the last 2 years the stringers are starting to crack up.  Apparently the guy that did the stringers can't fiberglass shit!  One of the reasons that I bought this boat in the first place is that I thought I might be able to use some of the stuff in my other boat, here I was thinking that after I owned a V-Drive for a year and a half that I was starting to have a clue, WRONG!!  crazy.gif For one thing the stringers in my boat are 23" apart and the Kindsvater is 26" apart, so I can't use the motor plate,the top loader Casale {with the same brackets at least) I can't even use the rudder bracket!  :smile15:  Another reason that I got the Kindsvater is that I would at least be able to use the trailer which brings me to number 2) The Kindsvater fits on the trailer fine because the fins underneath the bottom of the boat are only about 6" long, the fins underneath my boat are almost 9" long!  Damn!!  I can't even go to the lake with both trailers and try it out because I'm afraid that I will break one of the fins of my boat on the boat ramp.  think.gif  So, I was considering swapping the fins on my boat (since they are unusually long anyway) with the fins on the Kindsvater.  What kind of behavior is this going to do to the ride of my boat?  I know that most of you fools are all squirt boaters crazy.gif , but there are a few V-Drive guys around here that I'm sure will have an answer for this.  :smile30:  Number 3) Also turns out that the fins aren't the same dimensions on both boats even though they do have a slight angle on them the ones on my boat are 7" X 4" and the ones on the Kindsvater are 8 1/4" X 3", and of course the bolt pattern is just slightly off.  So if I was to make the switch (providing I wouldn't get tossed out of the boat at a later time because of it) what would be the best way to keep from sinking my boat (for a second time I might add) due to the larger holes that I would have drilled into the bottom of my boat?  One more thing, the fins that came with the Kindsvater actually came with the plate for the inside of the boat and the ones that are on there now just have the  bolts coming up through the floor.  I was thinking if nothing else I could always raise the bunks on the Kindsvater trailer to allow clearance for my fins, but it's a single axle trailer, and if I raised them up very much the bottom of the boat would almost be at the top of the fenders.  Regardless if it did work I would still need someone to do some welding for me because there is no bow hook on the trailer right now at all and I also need to weld the jack up so it won't wobble around when I take it off the hitch.  Too bad I don't have a welder it would have already been done.  4)  Like I said the Kindsvater is going to die a slow, grueling untimely death if I can't find someone to take it off my hands that is willing to do a little fiberglass work.  I would attempt it myself, but I don't have anywhere where I can actually work on anything.  I've got plenty of all kinds of tools (except for a welder :smile23: ) to do stuff with but there isn't even a slab around here that I can work on.  My boat is in a barn right now that has a friggin sand floor about 6 or 8" deep.  I guess someone thought that it would be a good Idea to dump a truckload of play sand in the barn for a floor.  IDIOTS!!  crazy.gif  I went to pull the battery out of my boat a couple of days ago and I couldn't event get enough traction to lift it up without putting something down on the floor that I could use as a wedge!  Good luck trying to roll around an engine stand in there.  :smile26:

I guess I will leave y'all that to ponder for now, I'm open to all opinions and comments (some of us on THB are just stupid that way I guess)  :smile24:

 

[KONA77]

this is my opinion,  not really worth alot,  but gonna give it anyway  :smile26:


i would restore your boat like is,  not a v-drive guy but if a manufacture built a boat with certain hardware,  there is a reason for....    and get rid of  the other.... just my .02

 

[Devilman]

Couldn't tell you a thing about any of the v-drive questions, but did I read in there correctly that you were thinking about swapping the trailers? Why you wanna do that, thought yours was in pretty good shape.

I hear you about not having a decent place to work on stuff, it sux. Both my old place at home & over in Edna, I was workin in gravel & sand with not much shelter either. You probably seen those pics floating around of me at my old place with those engines on a table, lol... If/when I had to use a engine hoist or motor stand, always had to lay plywood out so I could roll the stuff around.

So what got ya thinkin about swapping boats anyway?

 

[Wakemaker]

What do you think I should do about the trailer situation?  The one I have now is a tandem axle trailer, but it is a pile of junk!  Last year when I had some leftover wheel grease from doing my van I thought, what the hell I haven't ever pulled the wheels off the trailer and really checked the bearings and greased them thoroughly before, I've got plenty of grease, I never was able to find bearing buddies for that axle so it could probably use some.  Pulled the wheels off and the bearings were starting to look pretty bad and I might as well go ahead and put new races in too while I'm at it, you know do it up right if I'm going to be traveling all over Texas to do a little boating. jump.gif  Some S.O.B. who worked on that trailer last time must have burned up a bearing on one of the axles at one time or another and either fixed it on the side of the road or took it to some jackass to fix, because someone had cut the axle off, not the whole thing mind you just the side that was messed up, and replaced it with an entirely different axle that was on the other side!  crazy.gif  So I spent the next two days going back and forth to Napa to get the right bearings, and races for 2 completely different species of monster.  Not only that, but the side that was replaced won't even allow for a stupid grease cap to go on properly because the nut stops it from ever seating.  I can't even find a bearing buddy for whatever oddball size these IDIOTS decided to use, and even if I did what would I do with the other one that comes in the pack?  :smile15:

 

[KONA77]

if it was mine,  i'd make the tandom axle trailer right... but that's me

 

[Wakemaker]

Couldn't  tell you a thing about any of the v-drive questions, but did I read in  there correctly that you were thinking about swapping the trailers? Why  you wanna do that, thought yours was in pretty good shape.

I  hear you about not having a decent place to work on stuff, it sux. Both  my old place at home & over in Edna, I was workin in gravel &  sand with not much shelter either. You probably seen those pics floating  around of me at my old place with those engines on a table, lol...  If/when I had to use a engine hoist or motor stand, always had to lay  plywood out so I could roll the stuff around.

So what got ya thinkin about swapping boats anyway?

Yeah, I saw those pictures.....looked like some real redneck stuff you  had going on there. lol  Not swapping boats, swapping trailers.  I've  got to get rid of the Kindsvater before she buries herself in a grave in  my backyard.  Sure would hate to see that happen to a classic V-Drive.  Wouldn't be fair to Mr. Harold Kindsvater to let his work just go to  hell. :smile20:

Here is what I'm working with, you may think it doesn't look that bad,  but trudging around in 8" of sand all day and emptying it out of  your  shoes every 5 minutes sucks a$$.

 

[Wakemaker]

if it was mine,  i'd make the tandom axle trailer right... but that's me

I think it would be cheaper to build another one as much welding and crap that one needs.  :smile24:

 

[KONA77]

if it was mine,  i'd make the tandom axle trailer right... but that's me

I think it would be cheaper to build another one as much welding and crap that one needs.  :smile24:

if it was mine,  i'd make the tandom axle trailer right... but that's me

I think it would be cheaper to build another one as much welding and crap that one needs.  :smile24:

i don't think so.....

 

[Wakemaker]

It really would cost a lot of money, of which I have none right now to get that trailer the way it is supposed to be.  It has a different set of tires on each axle, who knows how many different kinds of spindles it has on it (I only got as far as two before I had seen enough to want to drive it off a bridge and collect the insurance, the 90 lb surge brake tongue is still attached even though there hasn't been lines running to it since 1974, the damn thing is heavy as hell, and the flimsy fender welds are the only thing that is keeping the axles from falling off,  the axles aren't welded directly to the frame like they should be the fender actually wraps around the frame and that is what is supposed to keep it all together.  crazy.gif

 

[KONA77]

i understand that it will cost some  :smile13: i can say this unless you can lay out a couple of thousand dollars for new trailer it's cheaper to fix what ya got,  i know i been working on mine for seven years.....,  just gotta do it,  and start with what counts  :smile27:

 

[Devilman]

Traffic today is making it difficult to keep track of what all ya got goin on. :tongue: I am ready for alcohol already. crazy.gif

Gotcha on the trailer swap. I dunno man, seems with all the hassle of raising the bunks & what-not, you'd be time & money ahead by fixing yours up. Plus you'll be going to a single axle which in & of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but general opinion is a tandem axle trailer is more desireable.

If you weren't planning on putting that Kindsvater on the water, you may clean it up best ya can & try & sell it, since none of the pieces out of it will work on yours. Then you'd have that money to put back into yours.

After all the headache, you got your wheel bearings all squared away though correct? If so, you'll get a couple seasons out of it easy, before having to worry about that again. Depending on how butchered that one axle is, you may be able to have that one spindle replaced so they'd all match again. Worse comes to worse, keep the numbers for the bearings handy in case something comes up. May look into replacing the axle as well, axle swap shouldn't be hard to do, few u-bolts... Bearing buddies are nice, but not mandatory. If you can't find a dust cap for that one oddball, bound to be a way to cover it to keep it from slingin grease & stuff gettin in & contaminating the grease.

 

[Disturbed]

If it were me, I would decide which boat I would rather have then, sell the other for mad money to spend on the one you want to keep.  $.02  :smile30:  bling.gif

 

[KONA77]

well DUH....  now that we have Disturbed up to speed... carry on  crazy.gif  :grin:  :grin:

 

[WFO]

well DUH....  now that we have Disturbed up to speed... carry on  crazy.gif  :grin:  :grin:

Well that's just funny right there.  jump.gif
Hi Claton how ya been.

 

[Devilman]

well DUH....  now that we have Disturbed up to speed... carry on  crazy.gif  :grin:  :grin:

Give him a break, his motor is in backwards... :grin:

 

[Disturbed]

well DUH....  now that we have Disturbed down to a squirt boat speed... carry on  crazy.gif  :grin:  :grin:

Easy there Kona, you're now in the fast section of THB.  Things are a little more serious in here!  :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:

 

[Disturbed]

well DUH....  now that we have Disturbed up to speed... carry on  crazy.gif  :grin:  :grin:

Give him a break, his motor is in backwards... :grin:

Just cause it's different, don't make it wrong.  :smile30: 

BTW, I do realize that statement is an open invitation to you more twisted types.  Go easy.............  :smile14:

 

[KONA77]

well DUH....  now that we have Disturbed down to a squirt boat speed... carry on  crazy.gif  :grin:  :grin:

Easy there Kona, you're now in the fast section of THB.  Things are a little more serious in here!  :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:

there might be a few squirt boats that did not catch this.......  looks like Disturbed is calling the squirt boats out  :smile26:

 

[Disturbed]

well DUH....  now that we have Disturbed down to a squirt boat speed... carry on  crazy.gif  :grin:  :grin:

Easy there Kona, you're now in the fast section of THB.  Things are a little more serious in here!  :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:

there might be a few squirt boats that did not catch this.......  looks like Disturbed is calling the squirt boats out  :smile26:

Most squirt boats don't catch much........  :smile14:

 

[KONA77]

Disturbed done caught the "winter fever" .....  done went delirious  :smile20: