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OK, the thread you've all been waiting on.
Funny thing is, I really have very few shots that are all that good and really no shots of the finished product. But, I've still got more misc stuff to do and I'll build on it as I go. The pump seal deal for one and my rod carrying rack for another. I'm just giving Maj a shot at catching up is all. :)
And away we go.
Wannabe...
As with any project, it's important to remember where you started.
Here's what was left over from the G-3 and from when I pulled the Champ out from the shed for the first time.
Sucker was nasty too. 3 years of sitting without being moved will do that to a boat. What I really need to do is get Is to classify it as part of the house. That way, she'd insist that it be spick and span at all times.
Wannabe...
First things first. Before I plopped any money into rigging, I wanted to make sure the motor checked all out. That's where Jerry came in.
Not many pics to show here, but he did a full test and found a couple of things that needed doing and discovered the brakes were crap as well.
First was draining the fuel. A main tank and a reserve. The main tank was fine, or at least he said that all 40 gallons ran through his truck with no problem. :D The auxillary tank was nasty stuff though. Off color and didn't smell right. Past that, it was blowing out all lines and checking stuff like plugs, wires, filters etc. He also was kind enough to take it out for a day and run the snot out of it for me to make sure it was all OK.
Now, I'm poking a bit here at Jerry. He runs a 19' Stratos and is a dang good driver so I wanted him to shake it out for me and to see if he could find anything else that needed to be done or should be done. On the fuel, I told him I didn't want it back in the boat as I didn't trust it having set that long.
That said, he's got a buddy that checks in here from time to time and it just wouldn't be right not to give him a little something to report back to him. :)
Wannabe...
Next it was out with the old.
First thing to go was the stinking Land and Sea hotfoot. It's a dual action one meaning the hand throttle and the foot throttle both still work. It was crap to me and hard to operate. Pretty popular with the cruiser folks that make long runs and that get foot fatique.
Next was the TM. Worked fine, but I had other plans
Last was the Fish Finders. Back in the day, an X85 and an X65 was top of the line believe it or not. This boat even had 3 transducers and a speed wheel. One on the transom, another glassed in on the running pad and a third glassed in directly under the pestal. Pretty sweet set up actually. Again, I had other plans.
Wannabe...
Next up was the TM and front FF.
Y'all've seen the plate, but I did such a good job on it (OK, I'll admit that I designed it and Jerry did most all of it), I'm showing it again. Thanks to EZ Holder for hooking me up with the plate. You got any idea how hard it is to come up with 1/2 aluminum plate that is 6.5" by 20" in Grenada? Really hard, let me tell ya.
Was thinking about having it powder coated or anodized just for looks, but I think it blends in pretty well with the silver flake top cap.
At the last minute, I decided to mount the front GPS puck to the top of the plate to keep from drilling additional holes in the boat. Made the wiring a lot easier too.
Since the boat had a MG with 4 mounting holes that were 1/2 already, we were really stuck with using the MG isolater mounting system to place the TM on the boat. I'd never used them before and was pretty worried about how well they'd hold. We put it in place and it seemed fine, but for added security decided to take it off and put in 2 more. Now it's not going anywhere for sure. As an added benefit, the rubber bushings, for lack of a better word, really do isolate the TM. No hint of vibration or noise from the TM when it's on.
Wannabe...
Looking at the pic, it looks like it's right under the Tm when it's in the boat, not down trolling. If it is there, does it get in the way of picking up the satalites? Kinda looks like it's right under that sucker and may get in the way
Next, the rear FF. From an idea I'd seen posted here on C.C, I decided to try mounting the transducer to the sacrificial annode on the bottom of the motor mount. Used some 3/16" aluminum angle, pulled the annode and used it for a guide for drilling. Bolted the transducer to it and slapped it back on.
Now, with a hydralic jack plate, I was really worried bout pinching the cable some how, so Jerry took some fuel line, split it and we routed it up the jack plate and carefully placed it to make the jump to the rigging boot. Cycled it through it's entire range a few times and seems good to go. I think it's as close to bullet proof as can be considering the placement.
No worries about the lack of depth at speed as I have a flasher dash mounted with a glassed in transducer. Kind of funky going old school and booking it accross the lake though.
The flasher is a blue water pro 1240A and was a mainstay for a lot of years at Lowrance. Trouble is, it's got a 4" hole and is discontinued now and replaced by an LCD model that is something like 3". Was worried about what if it blows up or stops working, so I made a deal yesterday for a used one on the cheap as a spare.
Ya just can't ever have enough electronics and when you do, you can always horde spares.
Wannabe...
Yes DD, it's right under the shaft when the TM is stowed. No matter though, as the rear FF has it's own puck. Only worried about reception when the TM is down and I'm fishing.
Wannabe...
Dern, I skipped a step in the story. Before I pulled the Boat to Jerry's shop, I had to put a cranking battery in it. When I popped the rear compartment, this is what I saw.
FYI, If my brother, Ustabe, ever calls and says "Hey, want me to come over and help you run wires in your boat?" ..........HANG UP IMMEDIATELY AND DIAL 911!!!!!!!!!
Wannabe...
And now we come to the scary part of the story.
Sure, I've drilled bunches of holes in aluminum. Big 'uns, lil 'uns, all sorts. Even have drilled a bunch of holes in glass boats too.
But neva, eva eva a 2.25" monster right throught he front deck!!!!!!
I had Jerry and two consultants working on the job with me that day, but yep, Jerry refused to operate the drill for me. He wanted no part of that liability....Plus, he's kin to Ole Miss and thinks it's just plain foolishness to fish more than one pole a time besides he don't like folks enough to let anybody get that close to him to warrant needing more than one seat up front.
So, we discussed, debated, cussed, fought about it, measured, re-measured, debated measuring, cussed about measuring, called each other names, took a poll, held a primary, had an election and in the end, I won out with rock paper scissors on where it was going.
About the time I put that bit down perzacerly where it needed to be, one of the consultants said "you sure you're on the right side of the tape?". So, back to measuring for another 45 minutes with some extra good cussing this time around.
Only thing left to do was to put the full 18 Volts to it.
Way more scary than Nightmare on Elm Street.
As it turned out, I kind of they ended up about 1.5" further back, but at least this way I won't ever say "I wish my seats were a little bit closer".
Wannabe...
OK, you've read this much. Might as well see the hole thing at one time.
Unfortunately, all I have at the moment are these crappy pics. Will do better in the future. And I'll refresh and recycle this thread as I go forward.
Tune in next week for another exciting episode of Riggin' with Wannabe.
Wannabe...
How could you go wrong? A tape measure, a string held with some 1960's masking tape, some bow rollers, vice grips, some rivets... good lord man, where is the rubber chicken and DD voodoo doll?
I thought you were experienced in doing this?
The voodoo doll was on the back deck sitting in front of a fan turned on high. I think it's working.
Ain't you never rigged nothing Taco. Everybody knows the first step to riggin a boat is to drag everything you own plus everything you can borrow and put it on the front deck and every available inch of floor space on the boat. That way you get to experience the joy of moving it all around the boat every time you go to do something.
For example:
Wannabe...
This ain't my first rodeo you know.
not bad for a rookie
I guess that is what separates the men from the boys. I use two portable tables to set all my junk up on. You can't work on something that you can't touch because its overflowing with clutter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabe...
Try this. Find ya some old lauan bifold closet doors. The type that are for 32-36" wide closet doors are perfect. Two saw horses and poof!, instant portable work table. Holds a great amount of junk, its 6'8" long, and stores in 18"x4" of floor space (not including the saw horses). Cheap and free if you check craigslist or have some friends that do remodeling.
And as for your first rodeo... the real cowboys just cuss at it and get 'er done. They don't have a run off election and go all rock, paper, schissiors on it.
If that horse won't ride, then get you a real horse.
That is all.
Fish Taco
aka Boat Whisperer
(ackshully, its boat cusser, but we won't go there) :D:D
Oh, and I bet he don't wear socks while working neither. Buy ya books, send ya to school and what do you do? You buy a bass boat.
I sure hope Mr. Crappie don't hear about this. I think it'll put him over the edge. I hear he's been running a bit hot since our local Crappie Pro put the stank on him back in March on Lake Conway. :D:D
man, you're welcome in my boat anyday with all this Poo you flinging back at that bot. Heck, I'll even brang the Mater Sammiches and cold beer
Don't do it Taco. The boy makes mater sammiches in da noooood.
Wannabe...
and that ain't pretty!
ask Triton. I also know where all the cute chics in Bikini's hang out of the rez:D:D:D
i do gotta give him the bikini thing
and the only reason i was safe is i had the taurus judge strapped on
and YES, I was skeert cause I know he can use it. Long as he's more than arm reach away, I ain't messing with him and a pistolla
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishtaco
I dont know bout Crappie Pro....but Conway put the stank on me!!!!!!
I don't care what he's wearing when he makes the sammichs just as long as all the hairy parts are hair netted properly.
Now... Wannabe, you've had a few hours. Have you found you some bifold doors yet? I expect pictures.
What are you going to do with that pole butt seat, I wouldn't mind having that
Bigger, just 'tween you and me, and the Mississippi Off Topic forum, Conway put the stank on a whole lotta feshermans. It stanks me up with regularity.Quote:
Originally Posted by biggerjigger
Sorry Psmith, I'm gonna hang on to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Psmith
OK, so an update. Starting last Wednesday, I've been working off and on at getting this leak fixed. Got serious about it Saturday and Sunday. Real serious, since my brother was gonna head off to Arkansas come Monday with the boat for a week to get married and honeymoon with some fishing thrown in.
To recap, the drain in the livewell was leaking around the seal, plus the auto bilge was not working. Only way to get to the drain is to pull everything you see in this pic, which by the way, just got all installed last week. Lucky me. So, pull the first TM battery on the left, slide the right battery under the charger. Remove the cranking battery, remove the oil tank, remove the wall that the Charger is attached to and then the two metal floors under the batteries and tanks.
Seemed simple enough. That was until I stripped two of the SS cap screws holding the wall in place. ARG!!!!!! Had to break off and go get a screw extractor and proceeded to break 2, yes two good bits on the stewpit things. Got the bright idea to grind 'em down with an air grinder then yank 'em free. Dadgum screws are made of crytonite and after ruining 2 grinding stones and going through about 400 gallons of air at 90 PSI, I decided to go to my favorite mechanic, Jerry, and throw myself at his mercy. You see, none of Jerry's tools have "Made in China" stamped on 'em. Plus he knows where all of his stuff is. LOL.
So, after drilling them with a carbide tipped bit and putting a good left handed drill bit on it, the first one gave up without too much fuss. 'Course, I think I softened that one up a good bit for him. Now, the one I hosed up with the air grinder had gotten pretty ticked at me and gave Jerry quite a bit of rasberries before it gave up after 20 minutes or so.
So, back to the house I go. Decided a good dose of air conditioning and a good night's rest would allow me to have better sucess on Sunday.
After Church, I get back at it. Removed the wall and charger and removed all of the floor plates and...........uh oh. Yeah, I know where the drain is and in fact, I can touch the compression nut with my middle and my ring finger as long as Gonnabe holds my feet, but there's no way to put an adjustable wrench on it even if I could peel away the 3" of remaining silicone.
Hmmmmm. On top of that, that ain't the real source of my leak. Oh, it's leaking, but not enough to be the real problem. Eureka! Caulk the snot out of it from the inside!!!!
OK, moving on. Let's see, the auto bilge is completely locked. No problem, I got a spare in the shop. Used, but hey, it'll save me from running all over town looking for one on Sunday. Same make, same model, but the dang base is different, so I had to take the old one out, splice and heat shrink the connectors. And I'm on to the next project. Sure was fun hanging upside down for 30 minutes though.
A'ite, now we're progressing. AH HA! This thing is chuck slap full of Mayfairs and the housing on the Livewell fill line or aerator was cracked and leaking like a sieve. Trouble was, it's mounted on it's side and leaking directly beneath itself and that's why it was hard to spot. No problem. Now, this one is one worth going to the store for. And I just happen to know that Wally World has a Tsunami cartridge pump on the shelf that would be a perfect match with a straight pump shank and a 90 degree discharge. OK, so remove the plate holding it in place. Uh oh, the shank goes into a T which is glued in place in the metal retainer that's bolted in. No way to remove it without breaking the T or cutting the pump out. Hmmmm, just so happens I have a 2 Mayfair housings I saved from an old boat in the shop, but they are 90 intakes. Hmmmm, looks to me, the end cap is a different part number, but the housing itself is universal, so I removed the screws on the intake cap and yep, they'll screw right down with the 4 screws from the straight intake. Bingo. Took me about 30 minutes since the metal retainer was in the way of 3 of the screws, but I got it.
OK, so splice and heat shrink it in, replace the cartridge and screw it back down. Hmmm, the lay of the pumps is pusing the auto bilge over on the valve actuator for the livewells putting it in a bind and making it hard to open and close. No problem, a chunk of treated 2x4 later and it's spaced properly and wedged tight enough that it'll stay out of the way.
All that's left is to fill and check my handy work. Yep, no leaks. I'm in bidness. Just for kicks while I had it all out, I filled the bilge to make sure no exterior fittings were leaking because I sure as heck don't want to be removing all this stuff again anytime soon. Yep, no leaks. I'm good to go.
So, reinstall the floors, drop the wall in place - I'll bet that charger weight 50 lbs by the way. Reroute the wires back through the wall. Reistall the oil tank, reinstall the cranking batt, reinstall the two TM batteries and spend 20 minutes trying to get the wires to the right batteries, put it all back in place, test everything and voila. I'm good to go.
All that's left is to jack the jackplate up and put the motor toter back on, put all the tools back up and go lay down. DOH! Jack won't jack. Hmmmm, oh I see, stuff the wires back out of the way and didn't notice them. OK, no problem.
Hey, check that out. This thing has a livewell pumpout on it. Hadn't noticed that before. Hit the switch and it's trickling like an old man. Yep, the pumpout pump needs to be replaced.
Oh well, at least it's back together for my brother's honeymoon and it only cost me a single weekend in the hottest weather so far this year.
So, in summary, you too can be a boat rigger. All you need is about 15 hours total, an understanding wife, a mechanic on standby and a realization that it's really hard to get it right the first time.
Wannabe...
PS, my brother called this AM from the road. They changed their mind and decided to go to Georgia and then on to South Carolina for the wedding and decided that taking the boat was just too much trouble. :eek:
PS. My bro
Sorry for the lack of pics, but that dang bilge area is a greasy nasty mess. No way to handle a camera for you back seat drivers come Monday.
Wananbe...
Whew! After reading that, I need to go take a nap.
Ram and Cannon mounts for the console came in today. I'm closing in on you.:cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabe...
So.....When are you going to really get started on this project? Bwahahaha :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Wannabe...
So he marrying your sister?Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabe...
You know, that'd be a funny retort if I was from AR. But, coming from you, it's just kind of.....well....sad. :)
Wannabe...
HEY get off here WB it is past your bedtime...or something
He must be waiting on the floor to dry T-man. :D
Ditto... You forget, I'm a transplant, not a native.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabe...
if you were transplanted, don't that mean that your roots is there now too...just askin?
Now you would have to go and point out the obvious, dang it. I just hate eggamacated folks sometimes.Quote:
Originally Posted by tritonman
hated to bring it up but you know WB is kinda slow so i thought i would help him out this one time