1972 Mirrocraft 16' V aka "The bigger boat"

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Yes and that, totally thought I wrote that, but yeah, water off the transom as well. My main question is aluminum flashing an ok choice to make the cap ?
 
I would think something of a heavier gauge would be better.


Looking around I found this. Good price for the material, but the shipping....... :shock:


https://www.speedymetals.com/pc-2532-8348-1-x-1-34-x-18-channel-6063-t52-aluminum-extruded.aspx


EDIT: Found what I needed for $35 shipped here.


https://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=297&step=2&top_cat=60

I got 1 3/4" by 1" by 60" the 1" leg will let me tie the channel to my transom corner caps.
 
Oof no joke, that is some hefty shipping pricing, I might check with some of the metal shops nearby and see if I can find a local source. The flashing just seemed easy to source and easy to work with.
 
Haven’t had a ton of time to work on it much lately, between the torrential downpours and 3 kids, those “project” minutes are few and far between. So today I got the old boat back to selling condition... aka, swapped my helix 5 out for my old 398ci si, removed the garmin up front, keeping all my batteries, and swapped out the bow terrova for the Motorguide that was chillin in my shed. Removed downrigger mounts. Now she’s all set for pickup on Monday. It’ll be a bittersweet goodbye....

Anyway so after an insane amount of rain and no cover, and a plugged up plug, the mirrocraft filled with a few hundred gallons of water. Sweet, easy leak check as it’s now been sunny for a few days. Previous owner said it weeped a bit. Checked the entire bottom and only found a very small leak right on the bow, like maybe it was beached too hard, one too many times. I plan on covering the seams with coat it, before the full repaint, that’ll probably happen in the spring when the weather warms back up. Until then, I will probably just use a bit of marine goop for a temporary solution.

Overall pretty happy to only have the one wet spot.

Hoping to get some work done on the transom next week to make her fishable again.

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Checking in... not a ton of progress made over the last month as it’s been raining non-stop and the 16’ won’t fit in the garage with all my other stuff. I did go ahead and get a piece of 3/4” marine ply, which’ll get cut down the next time a dry day and my rare free time intersect. Also snagged a 3 bank in-boat charger on Black Friday for $100. And not boat specific, but did snag a decent salmon trolling combo in prep to chase them this spring. Hopefully will have more to update soon.

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Finally got some nice weather in in the pnw. Had some time today to get a bit done. Got my transom cut out of the marine ply. I was gonna glue it today with some 5200 that I picked up, but of course can’t seem to find my caulking gun, so that’ll have to wait. I think I will use the leftover wood to do my bow cap deck also. I also slapped together an engine stand, I’d been hanging it on a plastic sawhorse in the garage over the winter, but now I wanted something I can put it on to work on. I ordered a new pump kit and plan on changing the lower end oil soon as well.
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Congrats on the buy! I have a buddy who has the Deep fisherman also. He's running a Merc 25 stroke. Runs 2 6 gal tanks in the bow and has decks that are low that cover about 3/4 of the bottom. 2 group 24 batteries in the stern and an 18 gal live bait tank mounted in front of the 2nd seat from the stern. The boat is very seaworthy, we've been out 22 miles off our coast chasing tuna in it.
 
Nice! Not sure I will tackle that big of water, but will definitely be haunting the Columbia river here in a couple months and the bays for crabs. I will likely run my gas tank/s in the back and dual batteries up front for my bow mount trolling motor. Haven’t quite nailed down my design yet. But I’m planning on taking out the 3rd bench and splitting the second bench to open the boat up.
 
Nice buy, I like your ideas. I rebuilt my 1977 MirroCraft and trailer before I found this site. With all the great ideas you guys have gives me the urge to do another project. I look forward to your end result. Keep us posted.100_0134.JPG
 
Progress. More and more as the weather turns :)

So did the pump change, still wouldn’t pee, went in and replaced the thermostat , broke a bolt in the process, it was in bad shape. Also cleaned out the water channel. ...still wouldn’t pee :(

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Started getting concerned, turns out I didn’t use enough water in the bucket when I tested it, broke off an impeller leg instantly :(

Went back in and replaced the impeller again, now she pees like a champ.
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As far as the transom, slathered it with 5200 and let the weights compress it. Today I went and did final fitting and made holes for the bolts.

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Went with a 17” transom height, looks about perfect we’ll see once she’s in the water.
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Next up, gonna paint the transom, and do multiple layers of spar urethane. Hoping to hit the water next week for the first time with it.
 
More done today, bolted in the new transom. Snagged some overpriced diamond plate on a whim at ye olde Home Depot, fitted it to the transom. Hopped on the net and ordered some channel for the transom cap, only piece missing now. Added a transom saver to the trailer to keep the motor up since it doesn’t have a tilt lock and rides fairly low.

Hoping to water test in the next couple days, fingers crossed.

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Thanks, it’s getting there, almost fishable again. Got my aluminum channel in the mail, just want to make sure the motor height is good before I bend it up to put the cap on. Still haven’t gotten a shot to water test yet, life and 3 kids keeps getting in the way. Planning to take it out possibly Wednesday. Once the water test is good, on to figuring out the interior and eventually a few days in the summer will be dedicated to a full repaint


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Got her out on the lake yesterday... little things, it’s always the little things and some big things. Going from a boat all set up and “complete” (my valco) to bare bones boat is quite a shocker as far as creature comforts go. Here’s the “must fix ASAP list”:

-leaks a bit of water right a the bow where I thought it would, also seems to be a small leak through the plug, will replace the plug hopefully that’ll fix it

-with no side guide bunks on the trailer, and the trailers short length this boat is serious pain to get trailered straight... especially with people waiting on you at the launch, felt like the boat launch noob all over again : /

-Having motor issues: When running with just myself in the boat, the throttle seemed weird. Basically a lot of random over revving, a couple times it overheated and died. The throttle seemed not very responsive and quite “sticky” when throttling up and down.

A couple things I think my issue might be, I’m hitting pockets of air and the prop is slipping, or the prop is maybe just slipping. But it all seemed to mostly go away with more and balanced weight in the boat. Or at least the over revving did.

I plan on installing a hydrofoil and doing a carb clean/rebuild and going from there. It idles kinda rough and will die if the throttle is all the way low. I will pickup a tiny tach knockoff also to observe my issues with a little more data behind them.

In other news, got the bow casting deck cut out, gonna make a couple passes through the router to make the edge look nice, then paint are spar urethane coats galore. Looking forward to being able to mount up my terrova again soon, it was sorely missed when trolling.

Slowly getting there, can’t wait to get to the more fun stuff, but useability and safety come first...
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More progress :


Added a bow roller to help keep it straight when loading. Ordered some side guides that should arrive in a couple days.
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Made a temporary battery “box” for the dual batteries for my bow trolling motor. Wired it all up.

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Finally finished the bow casting deck. Will install the quick disconnect motor mount shortly.
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Hydrofin installed.
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Bought a trash can that will accommodate at home testing without removing hydrofoil. Added drainage hole at the bottom.
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Also completed full carb rebuild.

Attempted to install downrigger mounts... but after putting it all together I realized I didn’t leave enough clearance for the plastic mount to be able to slide and lock in, about 2cm short :(

Will have to revisit and reinstall when I get some more time.
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As long as the motor runs well once I test it post carb clean, gonna hit the river to chase some bass next week.... finally :)
 

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