Project "Knot Sure"

[fatlenny]

It has been a long journey. Summer is just around the corner and getting her wet is after being reborn for the first time is very close also. This last weekend I moved the trailer up to the house to get her set on it for the first time in over a year. In the next weeks I still to finalize my decisions on the decals, cut the carpet and add snaps to make it removable (for cleaning or drying if need be) but stay in place, do all the wiring, seal the motor mount holes, clean up the merc 800 I have and mount it. When I mated the cap to the hull, I hadn't sealed anything there. I probably should go around under the rub rail with some marine adhesive just because. I cant imagine much water being forced into the hull but why chance it.

Oh ya, and I will pull her off the trailer, disassemble the trailer, sand it all down to remove some rust and repaint. Not sure if I will go white or blue for the trailer yet. Maybe blue since there is so much white. I wish I had posted the whole journey here as well, but if you are interested in viewing the whole process it is posted on fiberglassics website in the general form under "restoration project make/mode/year unknown"

I am going to look at a possible divorce Wednesday,,, well I mean another outboard on Wednesday. It is 1968 merc 1250. If compression checks out, I may consider putting it on this tiny boat as is with the long shaft, or I have a short shaft Merc 800 that I could put the 1250 power head on. Either way I am sure it will raise some hell with the wife. maybe just get a sticker set for an 80hp and put on it. then she may never know. I cant not go look at the motor. The older couple only want $150 for it. They pulled it off their boat to put on a smaller outboard. They say it needs a carburetor, but If it is all intact, not locked up and has good compression, I cant turn that down can I?

unknown

[rgsauger]

Sweeeeeeet little boat!

[fatlenny]

Got her out on the water yesterday. She is not flying yet but a blast to run. Got her up to about 43mph based off the speedo that is getting a reading from the pickup tube at the nose of the lower unit. I am unsure on how accurate that is. In all the excitement of getting her out for the first time I didnt think to use the GPS app on my phone to get a more accurate speed. She sat a little low in the ass end with this 800 merc on it. I already have the battery mounted in the front and had 8 gal. of fuel in the 12 gal. tank in the rear. I ditched the 12 gal. tank and switched to a 6 gal. Then mounted it up front. Will have to see how she sits in the water and handles next run. I will do my best to get a GPS speed at that time as well. I am a bit surprised that the aluminum prop seems to be just about right with the set up I have right now. If I trimmed the motor up any more at 42-43mph, I was hitting right about 5500 RPM. I would be interested in upgrading to some other performance prop to be able to get the motor a little higher out of the water and push her a little bit harder if possabile with this little 800. If I cant hit at least 50 to 55 mph, I may have to go shopping for a 115 merc.

https://youtube.com/shorts/DdOulHwLbog?feature=share

[Dave S]

125 motor .........if fresh water...... buy it..............needs a short to work on that boat.............

[fatlenny]

It has a 12" Slide Master jack plate. It dont have to be a short but would help being a little bit lighter. I do have the old 800 short sitting in the garage, we could just look for a 115 or 125 power head and have some fun.

[OLEGATOR]

It has a 12" Slide Master jack plate. It dont have to be a short but would help being a little bit lighter. I do have the old 800 short sitting in the garage, we could just look for a 115 or 125 power head and have some fun.

have run several 143 glastrons with big engines. first thing i would do is GET RID OF THAT 12" JACK PLATE. that is what is causing your rig to set low in rear. hang engine on transom and flotation will not be a problem.

[fatlenny]

have run several 143 glastrons with big engines. first thing i would do is GET RID OF THAT 12" JACK PLATE. that is what is causing your rig to set low in rear. hang engine on transom and flotation will not be a problem.

Thanks for the suggestion. I really like the adjustability of having a jack plate. I figured 12" was overkill but I got a deal on it from a friend and couldn't pass it up. With that said would you think since I would like that adjustability, that a 4" 5.5" would be ok? I found a 5.5" on market place for $75. Or just skip it all together? I hate the thought of lifting the motor up or down via the holes. We man handled her on there in the first place.

[OLEGATOR]

Thanks for the suggestion. I really like the adjustability of having a jack plate. I figured 12" was overkill but I got a deal on it from a friend and couldn't pass it up. With that said would you think since I would like that adjustability, that a 4" 5.5" would be ok? I found a 5.5" on market place for $75. Or just skip it all together? I hate the thought of lifting the motor up or down via the holes. We man handled her on there in the first place.

what i think is exactly what i said in my first post. and then for better performance, i would move battery and fuel to rear. to attain peak performance takes a lot of time, effort, notes and patience.

[fatlenny]

what i think is exactly what i said in my first post. and then for better performance, i would move battery and fuel to rear. to attain peak performance takes a lot of time, effort, notes and patience.

Understood, so your saying its your way or no way I will ever get anything good out of my boat. Adjustability is out the window in your opinion. ANY jack plate will be a downfall to my boat. Thanks for your input.

[David]

How big were your engines Olegator? 80 doesn’t seem that big these days. No setback I get. Do you have a recommendation for prop height?

Fatlenny, for $75 and some sweat, if it were my boat I would try the smaller plate. Olegator is probably right, but I like adjustability as well.

[fatlenny]

I was thinking about it last night and I have small jack plate that came on my bass boat that I really dont need there. I called my sister to measure it as it is still stored in their pole barn. I took a picture with a tape measure to show her what measurement I am looking for and discovered that my jack plate is a 10" not 12". I dont know why I always thought it was a 12", I guess I never measured it. The jack plate on the bass boat is one of the very simple styles that is just 2 pieces of angle aluminum on each side. It is possible on this set to flip the motor side brackets around and drill new holes for the adjustment bolts to make about a 2" setback bracket out of it. I would need the 2" to clear the mounting bolts. Then I would almost eliminate all the set back and still have the adjustability. Down side would be that adjustments would not be as easy as loosening the 4 bolts and turning a screw, but it would be easier than moving the outboard up or down during this test and tune time. Still considering another method of hanging the motor here at the house. If I can come up with something easy, I will just ditch the jack plate all together for test and tune to see if I can get what I want without raising this 20" outboard higher than the motor mounts allow. Then try to figure out a direction to go. What I really would want is a micro jacker hydraulic jack plate but I would have a hard time getting off my wallet for that purchase.

[OLEGATOR]

How big were your engines Olegator? 80 doesn’t seem that big these days. No setback I get. Do you have a recommendation for prop height?

Fatlenny, for $75 and some sweat, if it were my boat I would try the smaller plate. Olegator is probably right, but I like adjustability as well.

80, 100, 125. in 25 years of racing, never used propshaft height measurement. always used transom height measurement and found 20" to 22" transom with short shaft mercs. this could vary as this boat looks to be heavier with the deck mods. your prop question will depend on so many prop variables. that is why i said time, testing, patience and notes.

[fatlenny]

We went to lake Fenton today even though it was quite cool out today. only about 47. One other person at the ramp, loading their competition bass boat. They was doing some shake down runs themselves. One guy came over to the prep area and said hello. I giggled inside as I knew that he was going to ask a question that I could only answer by pointing at the name of the boat on the transom. He complimented my boat and then asked "What year is it?" I pointed at the transom and we both laughed. He then commented that I must get that question all the time. I said I hadn't yet. That this was the second time out, but I'm sure I will get plenty of opportunities to point out her name in the near future. (The crooked "K" really is bugging me. Going to pull that off and put a new one on hopefully straighter)




I had removed the 10" jack plate as suggested because I didn't like how low she sat in the water at the stern, and the fuel tank is still up to the front at this time. I am happy with how she sits now in the water. I wouldn't worry about a tuber getting back in the boat out on the water and swamping the boat. I keep messing up figuring out the speed on this boat. I did use the GPS (Top speed 38mph GPS) but don't know if I lost speed with this set up or not as I only looked at the GPS speed on my phone and didn't compare it to the dash mounted speedo. I still would like to use a jack plate, but one with as little setback as possible I am looking at options of a 4" jack plate so I can still have the adjustability to tune her a bit more without having to hang the motor and move it a bolt hole at a time although she is up as high as I can get her now. I cant imagine that a 4" set back will get me anywhere near how low she sat before. This is a 20" transom with a long shaft outboard. At current setup my propshaft is about 4" to 4 1/4" below the bottom of the boat.




Olegator, now did you run low water pickups and or what type of props. I understand that the prop thing is going to be a test and tune thing for speed but I just wondered if you used a cleaver, chopper, or just a SS prop of pitch that worked for you?

[fatlenny]

The only issue I had on the water was when my wife got in the boat with me, It was listing badly to port side. I weigh more than her so no comments on the wifes weight. Driving the boat solo it did list more to the starboard side as expected although I did notice it was less with the fuel tank under the bow of the boat than when it was in the stern suggesting that the weight in the boat was more port side with the fuel tank moved up. When I let her drive, the boat still listed to port. Something is obviously off balance here. Prior to the next test run we will move the tank back under the splash well. As I type this out it makes sense that moving the fuel tank up front, also raising the center of gravity may be effecting the listing we are seeing. We moved the fuel tank up front to counteract the little bit bigger motor and the jack plate I started with. I planned on testing with the jack plate still in place, but decided to go ahead and remove it and test leaving the fuel up front. We will test with fuel tank movement first then battery as well, back aft with no jack plate. If we go back to the a jack plate I will use the smallest setback jack plate we can find, I will test as is with all weight in back and start with moving the battery only back up front first then fuel tank only if needed.

I have read other posts of glastron v143s hitting around 50mph with a 70hp motor. Low to mid 50s is my goal for a top speed. I know this is not a glastron v143 but the hull is a clone of one and has to be close to the same weight. I want something I can fly on when I want to and pull a tube for fun the rest of the time or just cruse around when we feel like it. I know I could go to a 115 merc but if other posts are accurate, I should be able to get what I want with what I have. I just have to work at the correct setup.

[OLEGATOR]

We went to lake Fenton today even though it was quite cool out today. only about 47. One other person at the ramp, loading their competition bass boat. They was doing some shake down runs themselves. One guy came over to the prep area and said hello. I giggled inside as I knew that he was going to ask a question that I could only answer by pointing at the name of the boat on the transom. He complimented my boat and then asked "What year is it?" I pointed at the transom and we both laughed. He then commented that I must get that question all the time. I said I hadn't yet. That this was the second time out, but I'm sure I will get plenty of opportunities to point out her name in the near future. (The crooked "K" really is bugging me. Going to pull that off and put a new one on hopefully straighter)




I had removed the 10" jack plate as suggested because I didn't like how low she sat in the water at the stern, and the fuel tank is still up to the front at this time. I am happy with how she sits now in the water. I wouldn't worry about a tuber getting back in the boat out on the water and swamping the boat. I keep messing up figuring out the speed on this boat. I did use the GPS (Top speed 38mph GPS) but don't know if I lost speed with this set up or not as I only looked at the GPS speed on my phone and didn't compare it to the dash mounted speedo. I still would like to use a jack plate, but one with as little setback as possible I am looking at options of a 4" jack plate so I can still have the adjustability to tune her a bit more without having to hang the motor and move it a bolt hole at a time although she is up as high as I can get her now. I cant imagine that a 4" set back will get me anywhere near how low she sat before. This is a 20" transom with a long shaft outboard. At current setup my propshaft is about 4" to 4 1/4" below the bottom of the boat.




Olegator, now did you run low water pickups and or what type of props. I understand that the prop thing is going to be a test and tune thing for speed but I just wondered if you used a cleaver, chopper, or just a SS prop of pitch that worked for you?

never ran with low water pick up. no need for choppers or cleavers at the height i recommended as there are better props nowadays. with 2:1 gearcase you should run about a mile per hundred rpms with a 23" pitch merc prop. your listing problem could be a bottom problem.