First Post!

I'm creating this blog to share my experience rebuilding a 1966 Formula 233. This project has been in the works for about 6 years, but is starting to really take off. With my wife's gracious approval, I'm now dedicating at least a couple of hours each weekend to the rebuild effort.

The boat was given to my wife and I as a wedding present from a friend of the family. The friend's son had previously rebuilt a '72 F233 into a 70+ MPH boat... Have you ever ridden in a 70+ MPH boat on Puget Sound? Even with 2-3 ft rollers, it's damn fast. Seeing the beautiful job that our friend did on that boat has provided me with the motivation and inspiration to take on the extensive rebuild. I don't plan on making ours a 70+ MPH boat, but I do plan on making it a great cruiser for spending weekends (or longer) out on the Sound or in the San Juans.

I don't have any digital pictures of the boat in it's original state when I received it, but here's a short description: It had a home-made hard top that was fully dry rotted. The floors were stained and rancid with fuel that had leaked out of the side-mounted tanks. The 350 chevy engine was in good shape, but the alpha-one out drive was old and probably not usable. The trailer was (and still is, until I buy a new one) barely able to hold the boat up while it's sitting still, let alone while we tow it between the house and the storage lot to work on it.

I was hoping to post some pics of the original demolition job, but I can't seem to find those right now. Instead, here are some pics of the boat after I removed the top, the interior, the side tanks, the floor, and the engine and outdrive.

I basically just took a skillsaw and started cutting...