Rivercraft Revival

[steelo]

Dear Gobbles and Matt.
Thanks for your inquiry.
Nothing sinister about the storm cover or bimini. I still have them.
When I stripped all the fittings off the boat, I had nothing to tie the cover down to. Its still in the shed waiting to be refitted. In the meantime, bought a cheaper all over cover which protects her while in the shed.
I tried to have the bimini re fitted but one of the overhead bars had been broken, someone had tried to fix it and the whole thing was a bit wonky. It was also, if you remember wider than the boat and the bars were playing havoc with the inside of the windscreen when I tried to put it up and down.
Its still  in great nick though and waiting for a new home if anyone interested.

[hemihead]

Hey Steelo long time no hear. The Rivercraft looks great with the new cover, what a transformation. I need to do something similar on the 73, ended up with a beach umbrella for a quick fix. 

[steelo]

Dear fellow Jet boaters
I hope you will indulge me in my update to the Rivercraft Revival
Took the boat over to Tumut for the snowy mountains long weekend in March
It had been on my mind for sometime that the boat was due for a service and refit in a couple of areas after 5 years of trouble free use.
The recent on board fire involved Boofy had me reconsidering the inboard floor filler for the centre main tank.
What I considered heavy fuel usage I later found was caused by a break in the vacuum hose to the Link computer. This made the computer think it was under full boost all the time and simply flooded the engine with fuel to keep up. The engine and oil were black with unburned fuel
A discussion with Brendon from Phillon Marine and Matthew about my options had the boat remain in Tumut until the Easter long long weekend when M’Liss and I made the 1100km trek back to collect the boat.
I was very impressed with the quality of the mods, fabrication and fittings used throughout the build. Brendon has some more photos, which he may post.

Some of the modifications

Fuel system. (note the photo of the original setup)
Rear 25litre primer tank replaced with a new custom 40litre filler tank for the main tank. I still only have one filler at the back and the inboard one has been sealed up. This allowed one pump to be removed and stopped the frustrating situation of having to pump to the rear tank from the centre tank every 25 litres of use. Fuel now draws from the middle tank only.
New fuel senders in both tanks display on a new fuel gauge. New fuel breathers in the transom allow filling to be a breeze.

[steelo]

Some of the fillers and breathers

[steelo]

Jet
Jet pulled down, bearings and seals checked. The 212 Jet impeller re built up to factory specs. I don’t know who had it on a diet but some considerable weight had to be replaced on it.

Boat
New 1250gph auto bilge pump replaced the 2 smaller inefficient pumps.
Planing strakes replaced and a couple of minor cracks welded.
A new reverse cable replaced the one that was nearly rusted through
Steering wheel tightened.
A new jet cover fabricated and powder coated to replace the one that fell off over the snowy weekend.

Engine
Watertight box for the Link computer secured high against the transom
Engine pulled out, checked and serviced, new platinum plugs, leads checked and injectors flow tested, supercharger removed, serviced, re oiled, cleaned and painted as were the rocker covers. New SC Belt. Engine Oil leaks located and repaired. The whole engine bay was given a clean up with wiring and cooling hoses re routed and cleaned up. New engine mounts completed the engine connection to the boat.

[steelo]

Trailer
Trailer was given a makeover with double axle cover replaced with a stylish single cover and running boards.
See the photo of the original installation

[steelo]

The result
A quick Friday ride on the cold Tumut River saw the water level down almost 3 to 4 feet on my previous boating experience and the trailer at a precarious angle on the ramp. We launched easily however and went downstream. Access on and off the boat improved with the walk boards
Marcel and his daughter Sarah were in Tumut to collect Marcel’s J83 cabin cruiser and they came down for a look before heading back to the workshop to collect their boat and head up to the Blowering dam. Brendon took the little SC boat out for a run as a backup and I was accompanied by Aaron and M’Liss.
I immediately noticed a stunning improvement in out of the hole and overall performance.
Whereas before it spluttered and took forever to rev to its maximum, the engine now revs smoothly and quickly to the red line of 4200 rpm.
The boat is far sharper in its acceleration and cornering. It planes about 400rpm lower and seems faster and sits higher in the water at any rpm. There is less soot on the transom (probably a symptom of the engine running rich before) We spent an hour going up and downstream over a short section of the river due to a large fallen tree blocking our way
Just before we happily replaced the boat on the trailer I noted the fuel pressure dropped sharply on heavy acceleration and the boat almost stalled.
Back to the workshop we went.
Over the next 2 days Brendon cheerfully (even though Easter with his young family was disrupted) traced the problem to a completely blocked cartridge filer / water separator and debri in the main tank fuel valve. The filter was replaced when the shops opened on Saturday, fuel valve cleaned and we checked the boat again on Sunday morning. This time it ran like a swiss watch. Both Brendon and I were happy and we could head for home.
The trailer towed like a dream and was a lot quieter on the trip back.
Thanks to Brendon, Justin and Aaron from Phillon Marine for giving the boat a new lease of life.

[steelo]

More. Boy that river had dropped! I still couldn't find that jet cover anywhere Matthew.

[steelo]

More. Aaron and I in test mode. Me with a WTF could be wrong now look on my face after returning the boat to the trailer. Brendon with his I'd do anything for you over easter Steelo eh look.

[steelo]

more. Showing the new uncluttered look and quality of the fitout.

[Matthewf/Norbert/TuiDog]

looking good steelo. i had the same issue with the fuel/water filter. mark it down in your calander to replace it in 12 months regardless of use, they rust inside and block.

nice to hear it has its mojo back    love the running boards

[Kenjet]

  looking good.

[steelo]

Friends, I know this topic is old. I need a replacement sand trap glass. I see Hartz Marine (the manufacturers of the filter) still have a web site and I have emailed and sent an enquiry via their web portal to no effect.
Are they still in business. What have others done in replacing the glass with original / OEM glass / plastic / polycarbonate. What dimension. How did you seal it.
Kind regards from South Australia

[Paul]

Acrylic tube. 90ID 100OD 100 tall.  Ends are normally machined flat.  Seals on o-rings, or silicon, etc

http://www.jbnz.co.nz/yabbse/index.php?topic=22440.0

[steelo]

Thank you for your prompt assistance Paul.