I am rebuilding a Rick Bitz Flat bottom I have completed the motor build Blown 540/1100HP and 13 color paint job and starting put her back together. The question I have is what should I seal the shaft log base to the hull? Should I use Marine-Tex or silicone or is their something else I should be using. There will be some questions later on cavitation plate adjustment and I'll post some pics.
i use marine grade silicone. i put a nice smooth amont on whole thing to get bo pockets then bolt it up, problem is its a bit$$ getting it off it youever need. use laqure thinner to make is purdy and clean the edges. dont hear to many bitz hulls out there cool post pics
Cowboy you have a Bitz Huh,interesting!
I am from the Seattle area and know the hull pretty well.
Is this a proven boat?
They are a fast hull with the correct rigging i cant imagine this is your first rodeo with a light hull and 1100hp.
I am an engineer on a commercial fishing boat and swear by 5200 but for our play boats i reccomend i believe 4200 which is a faster drying version that can removed later without a jackhammer.
Any chance of a pic of the ride always enjoyed seeing the Bitz`s at Moses Lake for the drags.
Remember a race there where i think it was Rick Bitz lunched a motor and pulled the big block from his tow rig and threw it in with all the stuff and ran right up to the finals in the 8 or 9 second class leaving a huge smoke trail on every pass,guy used to do the best wheelies in the NW
I am rebuilding a Rick Bitz Flat bottom I have completed the motor build Blown 540/1100HP and 13 color paint job and starting put her back together. The question I have is what should I seal the shaft log base to the hull? Should I use Marine-Tex or silicone or is their something else I should be using. There will be some questions later on cavitation plate adjustment and I'll post some pics.
Sorry i just noticed the location if you have questions on the cav plate PM me i can hook you up
Thanks Pancho and Sangerfan for the information. You were right it took a jackhammer to remove the old stuff, looked like marine-tex. I will post some pics as soon as I can. The boat is a 1985 Rick Bitz, it is a proven boat at 148mph with the old 800hp alcohol motor. I had the boat tucked away in my garage for the last 9 years. I have always had jet boats, since I had 3 boats (TX-19 Youngblood Gullwing jet, 28' Checkmate and the v-drive) my wife said i had to sell one of them and guess what the jet boat went and I began the rebuild of the vdrive. I've been around dragboats for 30 years and my dad raced hydroplanes so it is in the blood. I am lookinf forward to getting this project done for next season here on the east side of the world. I have spent allot of time and money to put this ride together. I will post some pics soon, I think you will be impressed with the paint job one of a kind, there isn't a straight line on it I wanted to get away from the 70's style graffics. The painter "Mark Brown Studio" did a great job, he was pretty well known down south and just moved into our area.
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