'73 Checkmate gelcoat refinish?

[sho305]

I have a '73 Checkmate BR that needs a transom, some floor, and refinishing. I just did a Bayliner transom with West epoxy from the outside, and painted it with Interlux VC Epoxy for powerboats. It went ok, but kinda long as expected with the first time. I would cut out the splash well if I did it again and leave the skin intact.

I figure I can split the boat on the Checkmate, and do the floor and transom good, but the gelcoat is in bad shape on the lower parts of the boat. It is cracked, like the clear cracked bad and I think it will have to be removed. The top is just dead faded, but smooth and not cracked. How do I fix the white cracked areas on the lower sides and transom? The bottom is ok, and straight. I was going to trash it, but it handles very nice and has good lines. There are few boats out there today like this even used, that I could fit in my boat budget. It is rated for a 150, but the old '73 150 Merc seems more like a 115, and it runs 54mph maxed out. I was told to find a 140 v-4 Evinrude as it is lighter than the 150 v-6, or a newer Merc. What should I do with it? The only downer is that it has no pad on the bottom, but it gets out of the water nice, and will get airborne readily on a wake from a bigger boat at 50+mph. I plan on raising the short 20" transom, as the motor is raised now. Thanks for any suggestions.

[vector mike]

As for your gelcoat, you can just sand it smooth and recover with paint. AwlGrip is the best I have found. As for the motor, I'm a Merc nut so I would say the bigger the better. Put a 200 on it or bigger. You won't be disappointed!:cool:

[Georgia Boy]

then you can probably wet sand it and re buff and make it look as good as new. as far as what is cracked would need to be sanded and reapplied. I would keep the boat personally, if you have to repaint or gel the bottom, then why not look at adding a pad to it if you want one. check around the forums there are several post on adding pads, and I think it is one with pics on how to do it in the special features section. "Old Wet Spot" the baja.

[sho305]

It has bad sunburn on top, with that giant metalflake about on the surface. Think it can be refinished ok, and the bottom is very nice. Thinking about white, with some color in stripes-and white is cool in the sun and looks good. Maybe I can hog down the cracked areas and it will be ok? I am used to automotive stuff, and cracks come back there if painted over. Is that Awlgrip good for the top and bottom? I want to paint the whole thing with something like gelcoat and be done with it.

I was thinking of beefing up the transom but a pad? I'll have to research that some. It has a horizontal stringer across the transom now, under the motor bolts but no knee braces. I think if I do it I'll mount a setback jack on there first.

A 200hp? You gotta be kidding? I thought a newer 'real' 150, but 200? The previous owner said the original owner tried one but did not like the way it handled. Only has single cable streering, duh. I ought to blow 65mph with a newer 150 I figure, but 200 on a 17'? Maybe 70-75?

[Georgia Boy]

just thought i would throw this in, with a good 200 on that boat, and the proper setup i would not be afraid to say you could get 80 out of it. here is the thing, almost all of the boats I have been in with no pad was a nightmare to drive and ride in over 60 mph. My sleekcraft has a round bottom, and I will be adding a pad because i want more than what I can get out of it now. it will scare the hell out of you over 60mph. I hate to see you set it up for 65 to 70 miles an hour with a good v-6 to not be able to handle the boat. If it is a rounded bottom the chine walking will be hell I would think. just thought I would throw that in

[vector mike]

The AwlGrip paint is for both the top and bottom but not to leave in the water for a long period of time as is any paint unless it is antifouling paint. As for the HP, I'm one of those guys that can't get enough power. I'm a firm believer that there is no such thing as too much HP only making sure that the boat is set up right to handle it. I have a Mod 200 on my 15' Viper that runs 91 mph and handles great at those speeds. Granted, it took a lot of time getting it set up right to be stable at those speeds but it can be done with alot of trial and error.:)

[175checkmate]

A 1975 16 foot checkmate tri-mate. Rated for a 150, now it have a 200hp 2.4, Slight learing curve to drive but what a blast. A little chine walk but I'm still sorting out the set up. Besides no one said you have to run top end all the time. Drive the speed you feel comfortable at. Then as time goes on with more seat time you can go faster.
Good luck.
Love to see a picture.

[sho305]

Checked bottom real good; it is very straight with no round or cup like some say. I can eyeball up the strakes and see few little waves until it gets to the front of course. It is called a tri hull, but really is a vee as the outer 'tri' only goes down a couple inches by maybe 6 inches wide. Enough to keep all the splashing down. The vee has a slight round on the bottom I think but is fairly pointy. I'll see if I can get up a pic here of the poor thing. :)

It might be a tri-mate; I talked to a guy at Checkmate and he said in the early 80s they sold the molds to Panther boats in CAN, and got new vee hulls. The older ones might be all the same. The plate only says 'TRV-17' and that is all.

[sho305]

Here is another of the back, showing the vee. There is a little more 'tri' in the sides tward the front. I'll see if I have one of the front too. Note how they raised the motor. Not having my Laser SS prop on here in this pic.

[sho305]

Here is the front view:

In this pic, from about the second roller under the bottom it is flat from there to the back.

[sho305]

I shouldn't do this, but you gotta keep a variety in your interests right? Made this a few of years ago, is much fun and at 10hp pretty safe. Can wind up to 30mph+ or so down the road in a 100 yards or more. A lot of welding there as they did not have kits yet. You can run over 12" logs with it but the tires gear it up and take away pulling power. Working on that yet.

Last weekend I took the big chance and launched my Checkmate with it! It pulled the empty trailer out, but when I tried to pull a little 16' out I had to have three people push me. Got plenty of laughs for that one. :D

[vector mike]

They sell those things down here in Florida. They are all jacked up with big tires on them. I don't think that they are 4 wheel drive though. I have seen a bunch of them at the Turkey Rod Run in November. In case you don't know what that is, it's a 4 day car show and swap meet. There are over 3000 cars on display and about 20 acres of parts. It is on the inside of the Daytona International Speedway.

[sho305]

I trashed the governer, hogged the airbox, and messed with the clutch a bit; but it is all stock otherwise. With limited power it does not spin; and if one tire spins in mud you just lean that way for posi! It will climb good but goes very slow on steep hills, like a tractor. It has Douglas quad wheels and the quad tires are so tuff I can run it with no air in them. The resultant rolling resistance slows it considerably though, and the tires roll over in turns so I run 10lbs. We tried to buy more but the price has gone rediculous here for a gas cart now. I want to put a 20hp twin in there but it's quietness is why you can run it around everywhere without complaint. Also could trash the tranny with more power so I have not changed it yet. You only need 4wd for mud and snow, and it does not have the power for it this way. It has so much flotation it rolls over beach sand like it is not there. Putting a cart body on a Polaris automatic 4x4 quad would be the way to go, but you would have to think serious about limiting the speed due to rollover-depending how nuts you get :) And a big muffler to keep people off your back.

Sounds like a wicked swapmeet there. I play with cars some too, just sold my '92 Laser awd turbo and have a '92 Taurus SHO I have going now. Had a Mustang 5.0 a few years ago and a '78 Trans Am before that. Yes, I cut out the hood scoop too! Like my boat budget, the performance cars I buy damaged mostly as other things need the $ more, like the house-down-payment-fund or something. Can't afford to spend $ on them if I can't make it back, until that 'someday' comes and I'll buy a new boat! With a big motor! My boat looks nasty until I paint it, but I can go 54mph for about $1k I have i it so far...until next year.

[vector mike]

Thats a pretty cool rig. Now all you have to do is put some nitrous on it for yanking the boat out of the water and you'll be all set.:D

[sho305]

Vector Mike, you guys are great. Glad I don't live by you...talk about trouble! :cool:

[vector mike]

I have a friend of mine that works here that is from Grand Rapids. I also know someone that use to work here that lives up there now. I was in Detroit a couple of weeks ago. It is pretty nice up there this time of year. I'm originally from Maine so I been in that type of climate before.:)

[175checkmate]

Thats a good looking boat. If the transom is solid I would'nt have a problem sticking 200hp on it. The hull is a little different than mine. Yours might be a ski mate. There is not alot of information on the early checkmates. Dare to be differnent.
Here is a picture of mine.
P.S born and raised in Grand Haven. Was up the this past July. Great place in the summer time.

[175checkmate]

This was before up grading the power to a 2.4 200hp. The guy I bought the boat from put the 1750 on in 1978.

[175checkmate]

Running about 65 on the speedo, Don't have room to go much above that. Small lake.

[sho305]

Very nice! The only shine is on the bottom of mine...and yes, it does need a transom. I can stand on the motor and get it to move some, thankfuly it has that big metal plate on there. Not sure it will run next year, as if it gets worse I worry about cracking up the glass bad from it moving like the Bayliner I just fixed. Was good practice.
I got on the Checkmate website and emailed for some info and they sent me some right away! Could not believe it. I have the copy of the original 1 sheet flyer for a '74 now that is the same. It still says TRV, tells the sizes, weight, and not much else. You can call the guru of Checkmates there-Mike Combs. He was helpful. Also sent a new boat thing with pretty pictures, and told me a new 17 does 55 with a 125, and 67(!) with a 150. Damn them.
Not sure if I want to go to the lengths to fix this thing up, but I can find little else here to choose from, and it seems they are worth some $ when in good condition. I was told to put a pad on it though, as it will handle better above 60 that way. Have to check on that, not wanting to hose it up. Or I could just keep the old 150 on there and fix it original style@54mph. Maybe 55-56 with new paint?

[vector mike]

Remember, new paint weighs more! Maybe 52-53. HeHeHe. JUST KIDDING!!:D

[sho305]

Not sure about changing this hull and adding a pad, but I found a guy who can do nice interior work. He could do it for maybe $1000-1200. I would have under $500 and lots of time in doing the hull. I think the boat would be worth over $4000 done, or more depending on the motor. Then I would have a boat I know is good for as long as I want it. If I forget the pad and go for an 80s 150hp motor and jack, I wonder what I could get one for. That would put me at around 60-65mph, about the limit for this vee hull it seems. Saw a nice Merc late '80-something 150 with big vents in the cowl on a bass boat for $6k. That would look bad on this. I can make it nice and pretty, I have painted lots of cars.

[sho305]

Uh-oh, found a '18 1980 Checkmate with a 200 Rude. Not looked at it yet, but it is a BR like I want and maybe not as trashed as mine. I think I would get 65-70mph? I put a new thread asking about the motor.