1981 15 foot Yazoo. FINALLY - UPDATE!!

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Tyler_W said:
How exactly did you do the side walls with your carpet? i'm trying to figure out how to do mine but can't come up with anything cause i'm trying to keep away from having to buy more plywood.
Originally, my boat had these running down the sides.
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They attached to the hull, and were bent outward to cover the ribs. As you can see, they were pretty bent, and had many holes. Seeing as I didn't have many places with exposed hull left, I was going to either try to find two good, straight sections, or just make some more out of .025 aluminum. But, I realized that in these two places, especially behind the seat, I would want to be able to strap down coolers, portable bait wells etc. So, I figured I need to leave the ribs open. Originally, I was going to run my carpet over the ribs, but then I realized that I wouldn't want to have to deal with carpet when mounting accessories to the ribs, so I sprayed them a gloss black, and cut my carpet around them. I measured so my carpet would run across the deck, and up the side of the hull, not the rib. Then, I measured, and cut out the slot for the rib.
 
Just realized I hadn't yet posted these patch pictures.
Between the factory thru hulls, and the previous owners testing out the new cordless drill, this thing (transom) is like swiss cheese. Here is a shot where we patched a thru hull up near the bow.
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Cut out a piece of .090 aluminum with a hole saw in the drill press, sealed it with 3M 5200, and riveted it with 3/16 rivets.

Port side of transom
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Starboard side
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I don't know if you can see, but we had to put rivets all over the transom. Also, this thing has had at least 3 motors before mine, so I had something like 10 holes to fill with grey silicone up around the current engine mount. Of course, with all the holes that existed, I still had to drill new ones for the transducer. Go figure.
 
Also got my hatch lids carpeted and installed. The deck carpet and the carpet inside the hatches is acceptable. Not exceptional, but I can live with it. The lids however, are NOT acceptable. At some point in the near future, they will be remade, with a different method, to where they fit the boat much better. But, seeing as I can fish with bad lids, as they are structurally sound, just not cosmetically up to my approval, I will wait a bit on replacing them.

As you can see, I also cut my covers for the wiring chase. Been installing rivnuts, but broke the tool (have already broken two of our three pop riveters - I am about sick of breaking rivet installers). They will probably be carpeted when I redo the lids, as I am beyond burned out with carpet work here (again, they are functional at this point, so I am happy)

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As you can see in the stern deck pictures, the motor is still somewhat in pieces.
The lower unit has been rebuilt, the carbs rebuilt, and has new points, plugs, and condensers, but we are still having trouble with the link and sync. Basically we are having trouble adjusting the carb and ignition synchronization. We don't have a factory manual for this motor, and anybody I have seen on the internet says that it is impossible to do a link and sync with the SELOC or Clymer multi motor manuals. I tend to agree with them.
 
This is really amazing work!! I can't touch this level of craftsmanship - do you think you could tally up the cost for a project of this level? I understand If you can't...
 
I will get a close tally, +/- a couple hundred.

Here is where I stand at the current.

I wanted my trolling motor to be somewhat easily removable. Didn't mind having to use a socket to remove it, but didn't want to have to pull the anchor hatch to reach nuts to remove it. So, I made this out of 1/4 thick aluminum plate. I drilled and tapped 4 holes for 5/16 bolts in the corners. That way, to take off/install the TM, I just have to unthread the bolts from the top. Obviously, that would work dandy until you take it off, and it falls into the bottom of the bow. So, I tapped holes for two 1/4 inch bolts in the center. Those will keep the plate secure when the trolling motor isn't mounted.
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Now, that is great, but I had another problem to deal with. The majority of the weight on these motors is at the head of the unit. When the previous owner had one mounted to the bow, the unsupported head weight when stowed pryed back on the bow cover, and started to crack the weld.
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Going to get that rewelded soon. But, it will happen again if I don't put some sort of support in, so I bent a piece of diamond plate to make a foot.
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That trolling motor is an '01 Minn Kota 40 pound thrust All Terrain that I got on the BBC swap and sell board for 150 to my door last fall.

Also mounted the bow sonar. It is an Eagle fishmark 320 I bought off the bassresource.com swap and sell last year and used on my Grumman. I think I got it for 90 shipped. I originally wanted it on the starboard side, but figured people coming over the bow when this thing is beached will probably come over on the starboard side, as the trolling motor is on the port side, so it is probably safer over there.
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Got my console unit mounted too. It is an Eagle fishmark 480 that I got off the BBC swap and sell last fall for 125 shipped, and it included the RAM mount.
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As far as the pricing goes,
boat/trailer - 600
motor - 325 plus about 175 in parts (ran when I got it, so the parts are just tune up parts and LU rebuild parts)
trolling motor - 150 shipped. Bought from BBC swap and sell.
bow sonar - 90 shipped. Bought from bassresource swap and sell
console sonar and RAM - 125 shipped. Bought from BBC.
Aluminum - estimate 585 - 600 at surplus price from local scrapyard. (Some is new that has been scrapped)
Trailer parts and paint - estimate 200. Previous owner replaced wheels, tires, jack and coupler before I bought it. I just had to paint, replace leaf springs, replace lights with LEDs, replace bunks, lengthen tongue and make winch post.
Carpet and glue - I think about 125. Bought 20 linear feet, and when I finish, I should have very little left. Used 2 gallons of glue, and I may need another to get the last little bit finished.
Seats, pedestals, bases, and such from Cabelas - 240.
Rivets - I estimate that I used around 25 boxes. They were varying sizes, and came from Home Depot, or Northern tool. I think they averaged 4 bucks a box, so call it 100 bucks. Definitely could have saved a bit there if I had bought in bulk, or bought all from Northern (significantly cheaper than HD for future reference).
Wiring. Came to about 230 from Genuinedealz down in Brunswick Ga. It is all top of the line tinned marine grade, and I used large sizes (probably larger than needed) because I had long runs.
My trolling battery is an Interstate group 27 that dad got me through his work for 70. Not sure if he gets a discounted rate or not, but I am satisfied with this brand. Used it for a year on my Grumman. The starting battery is an old AAA that came out of a car we inherited and parted out. Will probably have to replace it soon, so there is another 60 for an Interstate.
The hinges and rivnuts came from Aircraft Spruce and set me back about 40 or so bucks.
I am estimating that I spent probably 100 bucks on stainless hardware to replace non stainless stuff in the boat, and to mount my stuff.
The kicker, my Evinrude 4 horse Deluxe (deluxe model has shifter, twist tiller, and other stuff found on a 9.9) actually has about -225 in it (I had 600 in my Grumman, trailer, and this motor then sold the Grumman and trailer for 825) but I am not taking that off the project cost, just going to call it free.
I am going to say another 175 or so in hardware that I have added, or will add - cleats, hatch pulls, nav light bases, etc etc.

That totals to about 3400. I had a running total in my head that was about 3600, so I musta missed about 200 worth of stuff.

I do, however, have a couple ideas for saving a bit on my next one. Obviously the rivets are one. Also, I have a few methods for using less aluminum on the next one too. Seeing as I didn't want support pieces interfering with the insides of my hatches, I had covering on the outside and had them lined. My next boat will probably use more structurally formed sheet to in essence put my structure, outside covering and inside covering in with one fail swoop.
 
So when's the expected maiden voyage?
In just over an hour.

I have gotten my trolling motor, and main motor wired, which is all we need for a test (trolling motor is an easier emergency paddle, and paddle is to hopefully stay in rod locker). The problem we were having was not with the link and sync like originally thought. Instead, it was a bad fuel pump. We hooked up a fuel pressure gauge, and found that it wasn't sucking at all. When we were cleaning the carb, we noticed the fuel pump was rusty, and since we had a parts motor with a better looking pump, we used that instead. Well, there was something bad with it, but upon disassembly, we couldn't find any damage. The same pump also fits the '79 55 horse Johnson we have waiting to go on the Lund, so we snatched it off. Well, it leaked, so we started piecing bits of the three pumps together, and finally made a working pump. I couldn't tell you what pieces came from what pump though....

We are still having some fine tuning problems, 'specially at idle, but we are still going with the lake test. Will take the camera, and have some pictures to post later.
 
Put her in the water for a bit. Motor started right up, and never missed a beat. Seems we finally have it tuned in alright. It pushes us pretty well too. We made a 3+ mile run in 7 minutes (took us about 50 in the Grumman) so I am estimating our speed to be about 28 - 30 mph. I don't have a clue whether or not I have the correct prop, and this is a little dinged, so I may be able to nab a couple more miles yet. Here are a couple pictures.

The spillover dam from lake Acworth (some of y'all may have heard me talk about it - known for the large bigmouths, but I can't seem to find them), that feeds into the bottom end of this lake.
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Dad running it at WOT.
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Not sure why these next few turned out so bad. It wasn't dark.
Me coming out of the no wake zone. This thing doesn't have the greatest hole shot.
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Heading in at WOT, or close to.
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The problems:
Apparently, when patching transducer holes (this thing has had a million transducers it seems) I missed 2. I noticed water in the bilge, and then saw it streaming in from the transom. No problem at speed, but at rest it puddled in pretty quick. Just from the 2 minutes of idling around the no wake zone before trailering, I accumulated about 5 gallons.

The passenger seat needs to be on a swivel. The layout of this makes sitting angled inward much easier.

The fuel hatch needs to be 2 piece. I had designed it where you have to remove the stern seat to open the hatch, as it only needs to be opened when filling up at the gas station, and that seat would be off the boat when trailering anyway. Problem was, you can't check the fuel level with the seat present. A two piece lid will allow checking the fuel and bilge without removing seat.

Motor has major torque steer issues. The slightly larger, or newer motors have an adjustable tab on the bottom of the cav. plate. This one has it molded in, so I can't adjust it. Going to add a shim to one side and that should solve the problem.

Cover rattles. Knew that would be a problem, as it is missing much of its weather stripping. Real annoying.

Wiring chase cover rattles. Instead of just carpeting the top, I am going to carpet all the way around.

Not having lid pulls installed yet has been a bigger pain than I thought it would. Need to remember to get those ordered.

Trolling motor pedal well is a great idea, but it is too far from the butt seat. Without one, I would space it that far from the seat, but because it is sunk in, the need for the extra distance is gone.

Aside from those, it worked real well. It pushes me at a reasonable clip to fish these larger lakes easier, and is reasonably stable. Flat bottom does have a somewhat rough ride, but that is just the nature of the beast.

I didn't get too much chance to walk around on it, but it is definitely stable enough to move around on, and fish from.

When I was alone, the side to side trim was absolutely perfect, both at rest, and in motion. But, with another person in the passenger seat, it leans to the left. I think I am going to mount the kicker on the starboard side, as opposed to the original plan of the port one, and then do a little rearranging to make the weight come out more even with 2 people. I think if I turn my batteries 90 degrees, it will get the heavier one to the left of center, and I think the fuel tank can slide to port to counter the kicker when I am alone as well.
 
What size motor is that you put on there? And how wide is your boat? Our boats are almost the same
 
The motor I have on there right now is a 1975 Evinrude 40. The boat is about 15' 7" long, with a 42 inch bottom. The '75 motor is crankshaft rated, not propshaft rated like post 1985 motors are, so it is really the equivalent of a modern 35.

A modern 40 weighs in at about 190 pounds, whereas this one weighs just 140. The new motors are also on a 52 cubic inch block, where as the 35 cube block, (which is on the soon to be E-tec 30s) should be able to put out 40 hp, which would produce a nice light, but strong 40 horse motor. One side of me wants to start saving towards one of those, as it would be such a nice motor on this boat, but the other doesn't as I am capable of doing a complete rebuild of these older ones if I want, but all the electronics on the newer ones would require taking to a shop for any sort of maintenance. So, at this point, I am somewhat torn between the two decisions. Of course, I have no money at this point, so I probably will have plenty of time to ponder the two...... :D
 
Glad to hear the boat and motor worked fine and the fixes should be easy.Could you do me a favor and take a picture of the inner stern section where the persons legs go(surrounding area) when motoring;thinking of a stern platform for my boat and with a tiller handle don't want to be reaching to far for the motor.
 

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