H54 Restoration Part 4

Part 4

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.

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 it's first years.

The cowlings after gold (brass) 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