WHOOPS Gets A New Engine Cover For Lake Dora

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Custom handle from Jim Staib at Finewoodboats.com

Over the winter, Wayne Bomb tackled a beast of a project. A new lighter engine cover for the 17 Ski boat. Of course the entire boat is kinda custom, so no need to try and be original. And no need to start over. It is what it is and cool for it. The issue with the older also non original cover is it weighed about 1000 lbs and was a bitch to deal with. You couldnt lift it, you had to remove it. Which is insane.

You had to lift it out of the boat to do anything

So Wayne built one out of a fiberglass board. 1/2 the weight. And then rethought the design to fit around the 350 powerhouse crammed in there. New handle from Jim Staib, design cues from early 60’s cars, and even a cup holder. This boat is made to be used and run. And thats just we are going to do on Lake Dora this year. New fuel tank, all new fuel lines, fuil pumps all rethought to make her reliable and fast.

The wood trim is off the Cruiser that was crushed

A cool stripe to break up all the whiteness and line up with the interior

1960’s Chevy Eblem and cup holders

Stainless hardware

Lines up and fits the design. And this way you can bump into it. Narrow area here

Shake those drinks up!

Love the lines here

You can see how it all fits here with the interior

The cup holder is fit into a void of the exaust so its not centered.

White interior so you can see issues

17 replies
  1. Kelly wittenauer
    Kelly wittenauer says:

    Nice work! Might want to add some insulation to the underside around those cupholders, to keep the beverages cool.

  2. floyd r turbo
    floyd r turbo says:

    Fiberglass board??? Did you make your own by covering a board with glass cloth and polyester resin? I’ve never heard of it nor could I find anything on the interweb that I would consider usable for this build. No insulation? I have a million more questions. Can’t believe you didn’t milk this build for a weeks worth of stories. You must be really getting old, lol. I’ve got a box on my U22 over the V8 that was built to hold 2 people sitting on top and after a couple of years of trying to get a couple of guys in size 3 hats to help me remove it every time I need to work on it for a length of time, I’m considering either a more original looking “straight 6” style box that pivots to the side like the originals but this one would be on steroids to cover the V8 or just reconstruct a new rectangle out of lighter material which would be simpler.

  3. Steve Anderson from Michigan
    Steve Anderson from Michigan says:

    Ditto, this looks awesome and I love the way it looks like it could have easily been original. I have the same problem with my Continental engine box, but I can remove just the lid for quick checks on things. The problem is that I am constantly worried that I could hit a small wave and turn a 2.5 foot square piece of plywood into a projectile that will decapitate a rear sheet passenger. The other problem is that when I do have to remove the box colpetely it wants to pancake. It has no structure to keep it square.

    So many good ideas to expand on here…

  4. Wayne Bomb
    Wayne Bomb says:

    Thank you all for the kind words. The building materials were cut from a 4’x8’ sheet of 1/2” coosa board. Coosa is a polyurethane material reinforced with random strand fiberglass. It is as strong as a comparable thickness of plywood, but half the weight, and is completely waterproof. You can cut it and shape it with regular wood working tools. All the pieces were screwed together and covered in epoxy. WARNING: it ain’t cheap! And you do need to use normal fiberglass protection when cutting and sanding (eye protection and respirator or high quality mask). The old engine cover wasn’t insulated and yes it sometimes made conversations difficult. But to me that’s part of the appeal. I want to hear the engine making its melody, not listening to Matt tell me what approach to make so he can get the perfect photo. Can always add insulation later if I find it necessary.

    • floyd r turbo
      floyd r turbo says:

      Thanks for the details Wayne. I’ve seen different similar products and wondered who carried that stuff. A friend picked up a pontoon boat whose owner had refloored it with some product he was associated with to see how long it would last outside and its been there 20+ years. My friend uses it when we winterize boats around the lake. Been trying to find a distributor for it off and on. Job well done. Look forward to checking it out in Tavares if you are tied up long enough considering the new “plan”.

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