PBR 6927 Proud*Brave*Reliable
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The Story of the acquisition and restoration of a Vietnam War era PBR MKII Navy River Patrol Boat, PBR 31RP6927
PBR 6927 Restoration Gallery
The nuts and bolts of the restoration.
Building engine beds thru installing engines.
Erecting the tent
Dowty Jet Pumps
Helm and Controls
Fuel Tank Hold and Coxswain's Flat
Coxswain's Flat Armor
Forward Gun Mount. MK56 Gun Tub.
Unfortunately, since I was working alone during the fiberglass layup and construction phase of the decks and hatches, I don't have any photos to share.
Engine beds on trailer being towed to the boat.
Engine beds installed on stringers.
Engines hanging from gantry chain hoists..
Battery mounts and fuel tanks finished.
Center deck section finally installed.
I drew up these panels in AutoCADD based on an original print.
I then emailed the .dwg and a .dxf file to Jeff, who found a
waterjet cutter in York PA to work with my files. After having
the panels cut, Jeff took the support pieces to a fab shop to have
some TIG work done. The following weekend, he hauled it all to
Ohio and we assembled the "kit". The final piece, the arch, which was roughed in then braced and screwed together with witness marks and dimensions, was taken back to York to be TIGged, then UPSed back to me for install.
This is what was left and salvaged after a snowfall caved in the canopy that was erected on the boat.
Military Maintenance tent frame sections.
A nice place to work and get this thing finished!
In order to fit these, I had to design an adapter plate to transition the Jacuzzi mounts in the hull to the Dowty pumps. I was able to make a CADD drawing of the Jacuzzi flange by measurement in place, and do a CADD drawing of the Dowty metric mounting based on a blueprint provided by Ultradynamics. Overlaying the drawings, after converting the metric to SAE, allowed adjustments to be made. I then cut templates with my digitized CNC canvas cutter for trial fit. Final adjustments were made to the CADD drawing. A .dxf file was sent to Todd Kirby, Kirbonyx Machine Ossipee NH, for the finished adapters, which worked perfectly. The two doghouses in the transom overhang were needed for steering nozzle linkage clearances. The roughed in exhausts are also visible.
Fuel filter and sedimenter access.
