Project...F206LS

[FormulaMatt]

Here is my 1986 Formula 206. I bought it in September of 2007 from a marina in Connecticut. It had no trailer and I was told it needed head gaskets. The guy that owned it got behind on his storage fees and they put a lien on it. He in turn just mailed them the title. I sent them my offer and they took it. I bought a trailer and headed from Columbus Ohio to Connecticut to pick it up. I got it back here and took it straight to have the gaskets replaced and have it looked through. Come to find out, the head gaskets were not bad, but the block was cracked making the oil and water mix. At this point we decided to build up a proper stroker for it.

That's where it all started. I was just going to do the engine and leave it be, but ended up restoring the whole boat from the interior, electronics, engine, outdrive, to the trailer. All of it is new, except the trailer, which was basically rebuilt.

Ill start my pics from the time I picked it up in Connecticut all the way through the restoration to the first splash this past Febuary. It now does have the Formula birds and Formula letters for the stock locations, I just have not got them put on yet.

 

[FormulaMatt]

A few of the old engine...Believe it or not - this thing actually ran pretty well for having 2 broken push rods!

 

[FormulaMatt]

The new engine. It now also has new manifold and risers. The pipes were not high enough and I was worried about water coming back into the engine.

 

[FormulaMatt]

Stripping her down....

 

[FormulaMatt]

 

[FormulaMatt]

 

[FormulaMatt]

You can see the old interior in the pics up top. This is the new interior. Formula named the open bow version of this the 206ls Spider. I went with this theme and named it the Widow Maker. It has black widow spiders embroidered all over the interior and a large one spread out over the sun pad. I also fought with the Ohio BMV for weeks to get approval for the license plate WDOW MKR. They thought it was referring to me killing someone. I finally had to take my boat to be inspected to show that it was referring to the spiders. I finally won!

 

[FormulaMatt]

 

[FormulaMatt]

Most recent....

 

[FormulaMatt]

Well, that's it so far. I had a engine failure this past year from a bad head that let water in the stroker and messed up some things. It probably could have been saved, but I decided this time to go all out with the best of everything. I'm also going to drop compression down some for future plans of adding some boost.

I already have the engine out and am going to paint and do some other work to the bilge while I have it out.

In the future, I will do something with the bottom paint. I still have not made up my mind on that. I do beach the boat quite a bit here in the little lake I use and did not want it painted black to match as it would look horrible after a few beachings. I also did not want to go with white because I think it just ruined the look of the boat. Hence why it still has the paint on it.

Any suggestions? :bigear:

 

[Airpacker]

Get a taller garage door



























Nice job. Looks good.

 

[FormulaMatt]

Get a taller garage door

Nice job. Looks good.

HAHA...thanks. I wish it would fit in there. I can get it backed in and about half of it fits in there. I'm able to make it work for doing any engine work but that's about it.

 

[C_Spray]

Wow! I didn't think that the graphics looked stock, but I didn't realize that you'd already done a complete restoration/makeover of the boat. Nicely done; I love the silver/black combination. How's the second-generation bilge work coming along?

 

[FormulaMatt]

Wow! I didn't think that the graphics looked stock, but I didn't realize that you'd already done a complete restoration/makeover of the boat. Nicely done; I love the silver/black combination. How's the second-generation bilge work coming along?

I can tell you are a silver owner also. Most people call mine black and grey and it annoys the hell out of me. Small thing to get annoyed over, but still....

I have the engine out. I'm planning on cleaning it and prepping it this weekend.

 

[old377guy]

good job; sure brings back memories of my brothers 202? Formula that we completely re-did. that hull was a great ride.

 

[Perlmudder]

nice job! looks killer! how fast was it before the engine died?

 

[C_Spray]

C'mon Matt - We need those empty bilge/stripped engine photos...

 

[FormulaMatt]

Have not been able to work on the bilge yet, but here is a few shots of the stripped engine. The assembled pic is from when it was together. It is all apart now getting all freshened up. I'm also going to go with a forged bottom end this time and lower my compression. I want to eventually add a little boost. :reddevil:

Any suggestions on pistons? The block was as fresh as it gets and is a standard bore right now. I will probably go 30 over this time, if needed.

 

[FormulaMatt]

On a side note, does anyone know the difference between becoming a supporter and a contributor? The description of the membership is the same but the price is different.

 

[C_Spray]

Time for more updates.....