90 Larson Senza Spectre total rebuild and restoration

[Dro127]

Subscribed, picking up a 91 Spectre 250 this weekend and might be in the same shoes! Glad to see I'm not the only one wanting to restore this awesome boat.

 

[Spectre250]

Awesome! Good luck to you my friend, post pictures here if you get it and I'll be glad to help you along the way!

 

[Spectre250]

Little update:

I made the template for the transom and cut of the pieces of ply, didnt glue them together yet because my post from last week about how to glue was never answered, but Im just gonna use thickened epoxy. Now, my friend told me a couple days ago to raise the x dimension an inch or two to get more speed out of the boat, and this was literally five minutes after I cut out the keyhole..... I called Larson and asked the what the x dimension is (dont know currently as both my boats didnt have a drive on them to measure) and if I should raise it or not. He told me he advises against raising it because of the stepped hull, didnt get a chance to ask why. Im waiting on an email from him with the technical specs as he needed to dig them up.

Can anyone say why the stepped hull would cause an issue if I raise the x dimension? From research, I know too high and the boat gets squirrelly and could crash. but an inch?

 

[alldodge]

While it is true that high speed boats have mostly just the bottom of the prop in the water, it is also true these are surface drives. Surface drives have larger wheels and are designed to do this.

You have a standard Bravo drive and you would wind up probably ventilating the prop. If you did want to raise I would first check just where the cav plate will be at WOT. You might be able to get away with 1/2 inch up more, but I would put it back as it was first. Then if you want to try and raise a tad more, get a shorty drive. The shorty will cost more, but at least your not doing something you cannot back up from.

You could also ask the folks on OSO and see what they can advise

 

[Spectre250]

Thank you AllDodge, the only problem I have is I have no clue where the cav plate would be on wot b/c Ive never driven it... so I just dont know anything about how this thing handles or any of that. Im waiting to hear back from Larson to see what kind of info they can dig up and Ill go from there with measurements to try and get a rough estimate of where the prop shaft centerline sits in the water in regards to the bottom of the hull.

Ive been doing a ton of research over on OSO and Im thinking that raising the drive just isnt for me. Im not looking for mass amounts of speed; Im fine with doing 70ish, I dont want a race boat. I already have a race car and its a pain in my rear! Also, been reading that with stepped hulls, the x dimension isnt as high as regular vee hulls because of the air that gets sucked underneath the back of the hull, so the drive has to be a little lower in the water to keep air from intruding through the water pickups.

 

[Bkok33]

Looks good, like following your progress can't wait to see it when you are putting it together.

 

[Spectre250]

Hey everyone, sorry for lack of updates. Havent worked on her much as its been super hot and humid here in NJ, and Ive been house hunting hardcore. I did glue the two pieces of 5/8 ply together and cut out a smaller piece of 1/2 for the transom plate area, just waiting to glue the whole thing into the boat and Ill go on from there. I decided to not raise the x dimension and just put it all back in the same spot; Larson never got back to me with the measurements and I just couldnt wait any longer. Will be glueing transom in this week and Ill get some pictures up.

 

[Spectre250]

Heres the pics from last week, glued the ply together and let it dry for a couple weeks as I was busy with looking at houses to buy, got it sanded down smooth, and glued her in on thursday, gonna let it sit all clamped together until the weekend then Ill glue and clamp in a small 1/2" piece of ply in the center over the keyhole so I can get my transom thickness, then Ill fillet and lay my first pieces of glass over the whole thing!!!! I also traced out the first bulkhead onto carboard and will cut that piece of ply and glass her in.

 

[Corjen1]

Cool boat!!! Ill tag along for the build if you dont mind....

 

[JASinIL2006]

Looks like you're doing good work! Love seeing the updates. I found it much more fun to be putting stuff back into the boat that to be tearing it apart.

 

[GTAsenza]

Would love to hear updates on this project

 

[Spectre250]

Sorry for the lack of updates everyone. I stopped working on the boat back in July and never touched it again, only because I bought a house so that took priority over the boat.

I promise I will be back at it again in the spring when it begins to get a little warmer out. I have goals to be driving it by the summer.

 

[Spectre250]

Hi everyone, hope y'all had a good holiday and new years. I'm itching to get to working on the old girl but it's still cold here in New Jersey, but as soon as it starts getting progressively warmer out, I'll be back on the grind. My garage is over flowing with boat parts and I just want to put it all back together! Soon enough though. I will update with pictures whenever I get back on it.

 

[alldodge]

Look forward to it, in KY it hits 70 again !!

 

[Vintage Rider]

Glad to see you haven't given up.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Can't wait to see your progress!

 

[Spectre250]

Nope, definitely not giving up on her. She's too darn sexy to stop now, I mean look at her! Gorgeous body lines Hahaha.

On another note, does anyone have any recommendations on where to buy carpeting? I've found some hull liner for inside the cabin from sailrite.com, but as for carpeting, I don't have the slightest clue where to buy.

 

[ezmobee]

There's tons of places to buy carpet including here at iboats. I really liked the carpet I got.

 

[Shanklebody]

You will be very happy with it. I have had mine for 17 years. Just did the floor myself.

 

[Spectre250]

Shanklebody- have any tips or tricks you used that could help me out along the way? I wish to gather all the information I can in the process.

Well it's warmer here but, I have a few projects on the house that need to get done before July that homeowners insurance wants fixed, so boat work won't start til those others are completed.