MMF'S-1990 Tracker TX-17 Alum Build (FINAL PIX 10/22/11)

[mmf]

This video makes me want to NOT paint the diamondplate aluminum. This guy fishes year round for big cats and has a NICE aluminum boat, all natural aluminum. Watch him catch this monster 88 lb. blue cat in this boat........ :wink:

https://video.fishingclub.com/video...67K1K77HN8PJC&t=88 LB MONSTER CATFISH ON FILM

 

[mmf]

Got my tailight plates and tag plate cut out this evening, almost drilled all of the holes but my battery on the drill needed charging. I will post some pix tomorrow. I received my coil and impeller today as well.

 

[mmf]

Got the trailer light plates and tag plate finished and mounted, I have got to pull in the new wiring harness for the lights. Started working on the motor after this, got all the coils back on and then I needed to put on new spark plug wire. Put my battery in the boat and hooked up cables and checked for fire but none, checked harness coming from controls and found lanyard switch was bad so I have ordered another one from ebay. Hooked up gas and primed and one carb was flooding (stuck float). Cleaned out the main jets and then fired off the motor. Ran the motor on and off most of the evening and it ran pretty good, I know I will have to do some finess tuning a little later. Ordered carb to air baffle gasket and a air baffle cover gasket from boats.net, also a strainer for the water intake.
Below are the pictures of my fabbed up plates.........

 

[mmf]

Here is a short video of the Evinrude running yesterday...........

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/fCJegoz6mC9PQ6jAJKu6bNf3DlpaLnCYBlsjLwWfHQ0?feat=directlink

 

[jasper60103]

Sounds good and pumping water.

 

[mmf]

Sounds good and pumping water.

Thank you jasper, like I said before I am NOT a fan of OMC motors since I am an "old" Mercury mechanic, but when I worked at the marine dealership I worked for we had to work on all of them if the owner knew the guys that needed service which were, Mercury, OMC's and Chryslers as well. I am very fond of the early 70's models of Mercury's since those years were the ones I learned my part time (now) trade on. I have not owned a Johnson or Evinrude for many years and I have not kept up with their technical updates so I am behind on them too.

Today I ran the motor rich in oil and added a large dose of Sea-foam to the tank to clear the fuel passages good and get rid of the old built up carbon deposits in the exaust areas and under the piston rings. Sea-foam is good stuff and great additive for any marine application.

The old VRO pump which was disconnected on the oiling side also incorporated the fuel pump on my engine and it needs a diaphram in it badly. It will not keep up with the fuel demand at higher RPM's and it is flooding the crankcase with raw fuel. I can tell this by the amount of smoke from the exaust. It probably has a few pinholes or a crack in the rubber but this can be expected from a motor that stood for nearly 10 years! I have ordered a regular fuel pump for an older model motor that I will put on this engine and remove the VRO pump entirely as soon as it gets here. I NEVER trust an oil injection system from ANY manufacturer, I disconnect or remove them all on my motors. Outboard engines cost entirely too much to depend on electronic alarms etc. to let you know you have a problem and alot of the problems that could exist you will not get any indications of before it's too late and the damage done.

Well I suppose I said my big mouth full for the moment, so I am awaiting a few more parts to come!

 

[Brine]

Had to go back a few pages to get caught up. Great work =D>

I hope Mathew is healing up good too. That is a scary pic of the truck for sure.

I didn't get to watch the vid, but what was your concern with painting the diamond plate?

 

[mmf]

Had to go back a few pages to get caught up. Great work =D>

I hope Mathew is healing up good too. That is a scary pic of the truck for sure.

I didn't get to watch the vid, but what was your concern with painting the diamond plate?

Thanks for the reply Brine, Matt is healing good, I take him today to get his stitches and staples out, stitches won't be bad but he will not like it removing staples.

I had a lot of replies wanting to know if I was going to rhino line the DP or coat it with something, yes it gets very hot in July, but I don't fish then unless at night. The guy in the video has a NICE deep-vee aluminum boat with a natural finish aluminum DP floor, no coating or paint. PS....that is a nice cat that guy catches in the video!

 

[Popper]

MMF,

I purchased an '88 tracker tx-17 last wednesday, and had NO IDEA what I was getting into, and now, thanks to your thread here, I have her gutted, and I'm about to go ahead and tackle my "DUST" transom. Could you possibly throw up some pictures of the locations you cut? Also, what did you use to replace the transom? I'm working in a storage lots parking stall, and have VERY limited access to tools, and the motor is on the boat, and I have no motor stand or hoist. I know you know a thing or two about motors, would it hurt my '88 merc 70 2 stroke if I layed it down inside the boat while I tackled the transom?


Your boat looks stellar. Have you noticed any weakness or give in the transom without the welded caps? or are the riveted angle brackets you made up solid enough?


thanks a bunch, great bunch of guys on this forum.


Jon

 

[mmf]

MMF,

I purchased an '88 tracker tx-17 last wednesday, and had NO IDEA what I was getting into, and now, thanks to your thread here, I have her gutted, and I'm about to go ahead and tackle my "DUST" transom. Could you possibly throw up some pictures of the locations you cut? Also, what did you use to replace the transom? I'm working in a storage lots parking stall, and have VERY limited access to tools, and the motor is on the boat, and I have no motor stand or hoist. I know you know a thing or two about motors, would it hurt my '88 merc 70 2 stroke if I layed it down inside the boat while I tackled the transom?


Your boat looks stellar. Have you noticed any weakness or give in the transom without the welded caps? or are the riveted angle brackets you made up solid enough?


thanks a bunch, great bunch of guys on this forum.


Jon

Thanks for the reply popper! You will need a right angle grinder with an aluminum oxide cutting wheel and cut the rear side right in the middle of the weld joints. On the very rear of the transom, cut the aluminum just to the inside of the aluminum, mark off a straight line so you can keep it straight as possible.
About the strength of the right angle brackets, they are very stong and my whole transom area is solid as a rock! I used HIGH STRENGTH rivets on the flooring and transom area, they are available from McMaster-Carr in Atlanta, Ga., I showed the box in an earlier post.
I made my transom from 2-5/8" pieces of A/B exterior grade plywood coated with about 10 coats of marine spar varnish. The original inside transom aluminum on my tracker was pitted where the wood was against it so I etched it and coated the pits with marine epoxy, after it dried, I coated the area with the PL Adhesive (shown earlier) and added a piece of 1/16" aluminum to cover the rear (original) aluminum when I was putting in the wood. I also threw away the "decorative" 1/32" piece of aluminum on the inside portion of the transom and replaced it with a piece of 1/8" aluminum, this made up the difference from the original wood thickness, since tracker used 1 piece of 3/4" and 1 piece of 5/8" ply for the wood portion. My actual thickness ended up being 1/16" thicker than the original construction but much, much stronger.

I ALSO ADDED A PIECE OF 1/4" DIAMOND PLATE TO THE OUTSIDE OF THE TRANSOM AS WELL

 

[Jonboat Jerry]

Great work on the transom Mike, everything nice and straight.
It looks like you will be in the water very soon.

 

[Popper]

Wow Great reply. Thanks again. I'm thinking I can get the grinder from work, and get this atleast disassembled this weekend.


Thanks again,

Very informative.

Jon

 

[mmf]

Wow Great reply. Thanks again. I'm thinking I can get the grinder from work, and get this atleast disassembled this weekend.


Thanks again,

Very informative.

Jon

Thanks Popper, I forgot to address your motor situation. You did not say whether the boat will be exposed to the elements but your motor will do fine laid on it's side. If water from mother nature can get to the boat, I would MAKE sure that the prop is pointing "downhill" so water will not work it's way into the cylinders which would be BAD news! I have had it happen before on motors sitting outside.
I would not lay the motor inside the boat mainly because you will have to get to the area where it is laying, to repair the floor. You can make a simple motor stand easy from 2 X 4 lumber to holdyour motor until the transom is fixed. You have alot of timeconsuming work ahead, but do not get overwhelmed, it just takes time!

It's a good thing that you decided to take the plunge and repair your transom, I have seen many tinboaters go all out on their rebuilds and completely ignore the transom, the MOST important part of the boat! All motor torque is transferred to the hull with the transom, weakness here, can spell disaster for the operator and the vessel when taking on big wakes on the river or lake, myself, I will NOT take that risk! #-o
GoodLuck! :!:

 

[BearwoodBoats]

Hey there Nice Boat, Sweet lookin craft, Big differance from the old one...
Sorry about your son ( Those **** Deers )....
How did you oxidize your Alum???

 

[mmf]

Great work on the transom Mike, everything nice and straight.
It looks like you will be in the water very soon.

Thanks Jerry, I'm glad that part is behind me now!

Today I completely removed the VRO2 pump from the motor. I saved the bracket that held it to the intake portion of the motor and bent a 45 degree angle on it right past where it bolts up.Next, I cut a small flat plate from 1/8" aluminum to shape and using the original screws, bolted it to the bracket. I mounted a "NOS" older OMC fuel pump with the external pulse fitting (does not bolt to block pulse port) and connected new fuel lines, pulse line to the motor. I also installed new carb to air baffle gasket and new baffle cover gasket so I will be ready to try it tomorrow. I will post my results tomorrow.
PS........good luck to ANYONE tackling these Tracker type boats!

 

[mmf]

Fuel pump conversion worked good and no leaks! Ran motor a few hours Friday and Sat. morning and satified for the moment with the way it is running. As you may recall, I replaced one of the ignition coils but since I won a lot of 11 ignition coils on ebay, I will be replacing the other original coils too. Pulled trailer light wires in the trailer tubing/frame and I will be wiring up the lights. I've got to get back on the boat wiring and I will be ready to hit the water. Weather has turned very cool here since yesterday, tonight will be in the 40's here so the weatherman says and frost in the mountains 1 hour away. More soon........

 

[mmf]

Amidst alot of other things going on at the moment, I am working on front switch panel switches, wiring and troll motor receptacle. I found a Hubbell HD receptacle, plug and waterproof aluminum cover to use for my troll motor out in my building stash I had squirrelled away. I got my boat registration numbers put on too and the trailer lights all wired. Will post updated pix soon........

 

[Derek]

What are you putting up there for switches. My boat didn't have the plate, there was just a hole. I just covered over the hole for now.

 

[mmf]

What are you putting up there for switches. My boat didn't have the plate, there was just a hole. I just covered over the hole for now.

Hey Darek, thanks for the reply. I am putting for the moment only, a "up" switch and a "down" switch for the tilt. I did add a spare switch if I want to later put in a light like the original panel had in it. I used McGill heavy duty 20 ampere switches and put silicon weather proof boot covers on the bat handles that I ordered from Allied Electronics, they will keep the water from creeping inside the switches via the bat (toggle) handle ball joints.
Been wiring them up today and forgot I had the battery still connected and blew the fuse on the wiring harness at the outboard when I touched the (+) 12 VDC terminal to the diamond plate....whoops! #-o

 

[Derek]

Good place for a trim switch. I don't have trim on my motor so I don't have that need. I tucked the switches on my dash up under the windshield, but I like the idea of those rubber boots. I'll have to look for some.