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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.