3Squids '79 Center Console thread

[bradford]

Good news about the stringers.

[3 Squids]

Man it's been a while since the last update. Not much has happened. Power head is rebuilt and sitting at the shop waiting to get intstalled. Transom is getting wrapped up now. It was a bit more of a project than I had anticipated but none the less it should be done by weekends end.

We repaired the last 6" of stringers as that's the only place that had moisture, which came from the transom. We also built 1-1/2" thick knees from the top of the transom angled down and tied into the stringers and floor. This thing out of pop out the hole like nobody's business. The knees pretty much tie everything into the transom which in the future would make a transom repair much more of a PITA but plans are not to have to do it again. And like my glass man said, as long as he is the one to mount anything to the transom then he guarantees it for life.

I had someone interested in my T-top while it's been sitting there. I love the lack of maintenance needed to a stainless top however I feel for this boat the weight advantage would be nice to have aluminum. Got a quote for a new aluminum frame, cored hardtop with e-box mounded in and installed for $1800. Thinking if I can offset 1/2 the cost by selling mine I may go ahead and pull the trigger. Just for the heck of it I told the guy I wanted $1200 for mine. He's supposed to pass the message on and we will go from there. It's one of those things where mine works and is fine so selling it for less than what I want is pointless. I'll stick with it for a while before I'd give it away.

In other news it's seems I destroyed the foot on my motor when we made our test ride. My buddy felt some play in the lower unit and told me he thought something was wrong. Well I pulled the plug and not a drop of oil came out and the magnet plug is covered in large metal junks. Why the hell I didn't check the oil before taking it is beyond me. Bonehead move on my part.

But today I picked up a parts motor. I got a 1999 150 Merc complete for $300. I mostly was interested because of the newer style cowling that's in good shape other than some sun fade. The foot was off the motor. The guy that had it hauled a boat off of someone's property so he knew nothing about it. The water pump was removed so I was thinking maybe the pump went, hurt the motor and they removed it to investigate. Or so I hoped. But when I went to pick it up his dad was there and said he was told the lower unit was junk and that's why they parked it. Which means I don't have a good foot but I'm hoping maybe the PH is fine and I can wheel and deal with a buddy of mine for a good foot. We shall see. But all the electronics seem in good shape, tilt/trim works and cowlings good so I feel I still did well for $300. I'll post pics of the score in the morning.

[3 Squids]

Here's my $300 parts motor. Haven't had a chance to do a comp test. If that turns out ok I may go ahead and try to get it running. That'd be a sweet deal


Went ahead and put the cowling on my motor. Thought I'd have to change the mounts but it lined right up. Probably gonna put a fresh coat of paint on it soon. Though keeping the 150 decals on it would be funny while blowing by some bigger boats. Can't wait to see what the 200's gonna do.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by 3 Squids

Went ahead and put the cowling on my motor. Thought I'd have to change the mounts but it lined right up. Probably gonna put a fresh coat of paint on it soon. Though keeping the 150 decals on it would be funny while blowing by some bigger boats. Can't wait to see what the 200's gonna do.

I like that cowl. I've got the same engine, so I may have to try to find one for myself. You're gonna love that 200 on your boat. Sweet engine. Perfect combination.

[draglink]

Before cowl:



After newer style, and no, that's not a 135 under there heh, heh, heh!





Glad to hear the progress, sounds like she is coming together

[3 Squids]

Well we planned on having the transom wrapped up this weekend but that didn't happen. Starting to get irritated now. My engine guy has been patiently waiting for the boat but I'm sure his patience is running low. Kinda wish I'd just tackled this on my own.

But anyways while I've been waiting I found some bad news about the parts motor I got. The lower unit is bad. The motor would probably run but has 75-80 psi per cylinder. Good sign nothing is tore up in the motor, just needs freshened up. Still, for $300 I think I did well. The cowlings, working tilt/trim and all the other spare parts I got are well worth $300.

I tried to clean up the hood yesterday but my plans to keep the misleading 150hp decals came to an end. It looked terrible once I cleaned them up. So I just took them off with a heat gun and eraser wheel then buffed the hood and lower cowlings. Of course the top is still faded but it looks much better. I still will probably paint it but this will hold me over for the time being.

[Destroyer]

Looking at that picture with the black cowl like that and for some reason all I kept hearing in my mind was "Luke, I am your father"....

[bradford]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Looking at that picture with the black cowl like that and for some reason all I kept hearing in my mind was "Luke, I am your father"....

My nekkid etecs make me think of stormtroopers.

[3 Squids]

Well been a while but progress is being made. I have had the motor guy on hold now for over a month. I offered to bring him the boat to hang the motor and run it and he kept insisting I get the transom 100% done first. Well I finally just told the fiberglass guy enough is enough, I got to get the boat back. So today we kinda slapped it all back together and hopefully tomorrow I will get the motor hung.

Unfortunately I'll have to take the motor back off and redo a lot of what was done today. The transom itself is fine, just mostly cosmetics in the splash well. I just needed it back together. I was warned the glass guy was good but took a long time but I didn't think it'd be over 2 months. I can see if he had other projects he had to finish first but he started mine soon as I took it there. All well. It'll get done. It was just nice seeing the transom part done. He sprayed it with a thick coat of gel-coat that'll need sanded and buffed of course but that can wait.

Also I have a guy interested in buying my T-top, which still hasn't had the hardtop repairs done. He wants to buy it as is for 3/4 of what I can get a new custom aluminum framed, cored hardtop with built in E-box T-top installed on the boat. Soon as he shows me the cash I may go ahead and pull the trigger on that.

Here's a couple pics I took tonight. You can see the lack of prep in the splash well but the fact she is coming home tomorrow morning is all I care about.

[bradford]

I've learned that fiberglass shops are good places to get free boat storage, often times multiple years worth. Be careful of the hatch in the splash well, potential sinking hazard. A foam roller at least would have been nice of him. I like the transom knees.