Father Son boat project.

[MuskyRangler]

My son and I fish at least a couple days out of the week and have recently purchased a Father Son fishing boat project. It’s a 1983 Lund Pike 16D, it came with a 2stroke 83 Johnson 35hp (which is the largest a 12 year old can legally operate in MI with an adult present).
The boat has been out of service for a decade, and the motor is going to require a thorough inspection and repair period. My thought is to use a 15hp 4 stroke Merc that we have that is like new until we can get the Johnson overhauled and work on anything in the boat that requires attention.
Yes, it’s going to be slow and that’s probably a good thing to get him started.

My goal is to make it safe, reliable, and fun. In that order. I’d welcome any and all insight or opinions that you might have on either the boat or engine. We fish the lower Detroit River in Gibraltar/Grosse Ile.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Welcome to Tinboats! Love those big smiles!

Nice project boat, and off hand looks to be in good condition. Member Pappy can probably tell you about every aspect of the motor to check-out.

Its great to hear father/son boat projects and fishing. Just don't let the project interfere with those days of fishing. My son wasn't much into projects, but he loves the fishing. He is now 36 and still my main fishing partner.

 

[LDUBS]

Any father/son project is to be prized. I think your plan sounds good. I agree with FuzzyGrub, the boat looks to be in great shape. Get out and use it!

My primary fishing partner is also my son (in his 30's).

 

[Ray Clark]

Very cool. Looks like a lot of fun.

My boat is '79 Lund S14; I'd love to have another 2' like yours.

An old Lund in good shape will go a long ways. My boat is absolutely watertight; it never has the slightest hint of leakage after a day on the lake.

The paint on your boat looks great.

Motor: Your plan seems good to me. If you need to learn about the Johnson, might I suggest looking at YouTube; there are tons of videos out there on almost any aspect of that motor. I particularly like Dangar Marine; the host, Stu, has hundreds of videos, mostly centered on boats, and many of them are about outboards. He's in Australia and is very clear and easy to understand. Here's a search link on his channel about Johnson Outboards. Stu tackles many different tasks, and some of those you're going to do as you inspect your outboard and make necessary repairs.

Good luck and keep posting as your project comes along!

 

[airshot]

Your 15 hp will do fine while your 35 gets serviced, after all your fishing not skiing !! Remember well my father/ son projects with my own father and my sons. Make it fun...not work and create memories...keep us posted !!

 

[thill]

Nice!
Congrats!

 

[Colorado1135]

Check the transom and see if it's solid, replace it when you swap motors. Those are great boats and have a lot of potential for builds. Enjoy the father son project!

 

[MuskyRangler]

 

[MuskyRangler]

So far we rebuilt the carb, replaced the plugs, replaced the water pump, I learned that at 12 he can drive it with me after earning his boaters safety certificate with the 35hp on it so I decided it would be best to leave the 15 off and fix this one. (Under 12 it has to be less than 35hp). My goal is to make it ultra reliable with multiple redundancies. I am so appreciative we found this.

 

[Ray Clark]

That looks like a lot of fun!

I wish my boat had that "open floor plan."

 

[MuskyRangler]

I love it, more room than my bowrider had. Can’t wait to get it operable.

 

[MuskyRangler]

We licensed it and got the new trailer plate. Now to do a test run…

 

[airshot]

Last summer I moved into a side console and luvin it so far!

 

[MuskyRangler]

We took it out last week, ran like a champ. Fished for seven hours and came back, there wasn’t enough water in the boat at the end to kick on a bilge. Fantastic ride and impressive performance. I can’t wait to get the small changes done.

 

[LDUBS]

Awesome!!

 

[MuskyRangler]

We’ve been loving the boat so far.