Budget boat build

[Overkiller]

So my first snafu showed up this morning, I'm hoping it's something simple I'm missing. I was thinking running the steering cable seemed like a good place to start. It's a used Morse cable and matches the one on the glastron that the motor and helm came from, just a bit longer and less stuck. It had the rack section on one end and the piece that goes through the pivot tube on the other. Obviously it wasn't going to make it through the piping from the console to the motor with nearly a foot of inflexible stainless steel on the end. As the motor end was clearly crimped in place I tore the rack end off. No big surprises or problems getting it apart until I tried to remove the solid piece that goes on the the end of the cable helm side. There's a clear split where it's joined together and a flat section on the end for a 5/16" wrench. Clamping the bottom part in the vice and turning the end I can spin the end indefinitely without it separating or tightening up it's clearly not threaded it just seems like there's something simple I'm looking past. There's no obvious marks where it's been crimped together at that point and once I get it separated there I'm sure it'll slide through the piping no problem. Any advice?

[Rollo]

Hang in there, your boat is not scrap worthy just yet.But you should take your time and not overlook anything try not to rush the project and get ahead of yourself.You seem to have enthusiasm and mechanical ability as well as a few tools to work with! Properlydone in some instances may set you out of pocket I think it would be wise to make your console repairs and prep your wiring for the long run if it looks bad get it straight and dependable before you chance taking the family out in it. You can do this and have something to be proud of. Last but certainly not least keep safety in mind ,Take small steps and soon youll get'er done! if I can help please pm me also Dawg is up on this topic and would offer sound advise! and Brion Evans is the man!! as well as many other sharp members in this Forum!!

[gregr1971]

I may be wrong, but I believe that hull was originally set up with a tall, skinny mercury, aka "tower of power".

[Overkiller]

Hang in there, your boat is not scrap worthy just yet.But you should take your time and not overlook anything try not to rush the project and get ahead of yourself.You seem to have enthusiasm and mechanical ability as well as a few tools to work with! Properlydone in some instances may set you out of pocket I think it would be wise to make your console repairs and prep your wiring for the long run if it looks bad get it straight and dependable before you chance taking the family out in it. You can do this and have something to be proud of. Last but certainly not least keep safety in mind ,Take small steps and soon youll get'er done! if I can help please pm me also Dawg is up on this topic and would offer sound advise! and Brion Evans is the man!! as well as many other sharp members in this Forum!!

Thanks man. The best part of this boat is there's not a wire on it, I get to do it all myself. I'm picky as hell about my wiring. The steering cable threw me today, I ended up having to cut it. Not what I had in mind but something was definitely wrong. I pulled the old froze up cable out of the Glastron and the piece in question unscrewed no problem. The threads are weird but I have no clue why the new one just spins. I spent a lot of effort at it before I finally cut it. I have the piece off the old cable if I'm able to get the cut piece out, if not I'll have to weld it up and polish it smooth. Not a huge problem just a bump in the road. I ran out of daylight and the skeeters came out before I could get the cable ran but it'll fit now. There is a bit of good news on the steering though, I mounted the helm up in the existing hole and it's much higher then I had envisioned. It's still a bit on the low side of ideal for driving while standing but definitely tolerable. The placement of the controls still needs redone but I'm glad the height isn't going to be a major issue.

Not a huge day for headway as the day just flew by while I worked on 3 different things at once in my own scatter brained lazy day sort of way. It does look like I'll be able to make the Merc controls work with the johnson motor but I need to do a bit more puttering on that problem. Still looking for advice on the gas tank. I'm leaning towards building a tank for the bilge area if no one tells me a good reason not to. I need to start thinking hard about the wiring so I can get some parts ordered up. Still thinking battery under the console. Will make for about an 11 ft run to the starter but I think that'll be alright. Does anyone know how my Academy tacks on in fees for their boat batteries? They're only about $67 for a big one but if they add $25 in fees at the register I'll go to Sam's.

Anyway here's the final pics of the day. One is the piece that unscrewed without issue from the old cable and the other is the helm mounted in the existing hole on the console. Stand off much further then I was thinking it would. I was hoping for more headway but I'll tinker on it through the week when I get home early enough. Thankfully I got a forum full of fishermen who might share the bay with this turd someday to keep me honest and from cutting any corners. I'm trying to buy all the safety and maintenance items first so it doesn't come down to being ready to go out for a maiden voyage except for life jackets or a proper trailer. Hopefully that'll keep me from jumping the gun. I am still hoping to take it out soon under trolling motor power to get a better feel for it. Even without the big motor ready it's still got to be better then my canoe and the whole famn damily can fit and walk around.

[Overkiller]

I may be wrong, but I believe that hull was originally set up with a tall, skinny mercury, aka "tower of power".

That's my hunch too, unless some has an old inline they want to trade for a V6 I guess I'll just have to see if this one can turn enough. I need to take a better picture of the motor vs. the bottom of the boat. I was looking today and I think (hope) the picture I posted makes it look higher up then it is. It really can't go any lower without a stand off plate and it would need to move back over a foot to let it clear the sponsons. I'm not liking that idea so I'll just have to hope this one will be ok and adapt if it's not. Might suck for docking maneuvers, I'll have to wait and see.

[gregr1971]

I have a 38 gallon tank I'll make you a great deal on, it has never been used, it was too big for my console.

[gregr1971]

[gregr1971]

That's my hunch too, unless some has an old inline they want to trade for a V6 I guess I'll just have to see if this one can turn enough. I need to take a better picture of the motor vs. the bottom of the boat. I was looking today and I think (hope) the picture I posted makes it look higher up then it is. It really can't go any lower without a stand off plate and it would need to move back over a foot to let it clear the sponsons. I'm not liking that idea so I'll just have to hope this one will be ok and adapt if it's not. Might suck for docking maneuvers, I'll have to wait and see.

Stay away from the old inlines, you could go with a merc v-6 or a later model evinrude 150/175, they are a 60 degree block which is narrower than that big dog you got there, more fuel efficient as well.

[Overkiller]

Wow I don't think I want to sacrifice all the storage area of the console to fuel. I also don't think it would fit in my console anyway with where the pipes for the steering cable and wiring are. I have no clue however how much fuel I need to carry, I know I can't have too much but this boat will never see the gulf and I can bring a gas can or 2 if I go farther then usual. 14 Gallons seems a bit low but not ridiculously low. I need to measure a bit more. I could plumb it to have a 6.5 gallon portable under the console to get home if the 14 gallon runs out. A bit of piece of mind without gimping storage too bad.

[Overkiller]

Stay away from the old inlines, you could go with a merc v-6 or a later model evinrude 150/175, they are a 60 degree block which is narrower than that big dog you got there, more fuel efficient as well.

Ahh ok good stuff, I thought my black max 150 was narrower then this behemoth.

[gregr1971]

Wow I don't think I want to sacrifice all the storage area of the console to fuel. I also don't think it would fit in my console anyway with where the pipes for the steering cable and wiring are. I have no clue however how much fuel I need to carry, I know I can't have too much but this boat will never see the gulf and I can bring a gas can or 2 if I go farther then usual. 14 Gallons seems a bit low but not ridiculously low. I need to measure a bit more. I could plumb it to have a 6.5 gallon portable under the console to get home if the 14 gallon runs out. A bit of piece of mind without gimping storage too bad.

No prob, if you need it, it's here in Liverpool, I won't use it, and the price it right. (free)

Put you a water separating fuel filter on there for a little insurance.

[gregr1971]

Ahh ok good stuff, I thought my black max 150 was narrower then this behemoth.

Yep, that motor's a thirsty beast!

[Overkiller]

I blew out of work right at 4 today to get some time in on Fugly. I laid back into the steering cable and got it ran finally. I'm not sure what was wrong with those threads but they were definitely boogered somehow. I hooked my air drill up to the remaining end piece and spun it fast in reverse while pulling on it and nada. I cut the the end all the way down and drilled it out with a reverse drill bit to get the old piece out. It came out clean but the piece from the old cable wouldn't thread in either. So it's getting welded together but if I'm going to weld something together my life depends on I prefer to use a TIG and I don't have one at home. I'm going to see about dragging Fugly into work this weekend to weld the steering cable, turn the control cables (more on this shortly), and pressure wash it. Then she should have controls and be one big step closer to being a boat. Here's a picture of the cable ran, admittedly not the most interesting picture but it was a moment of small triumph so y'all get to share in it. The pivot tube for the motor end of the cable is nasty rusty, I need to find something to clean it out before I hook up the motor end. Next up I rummaged through the boat shelf looking for treasures and found some anchors. The beer can is just there for size reference, I know a 12oz beer can will make a crappy anchor. Do either of these look big enough hold my boat in place?

[Overkiller]

With the steering at a stand still for the moment I turned to the motor controls. My glasstron that I robbed the motor from had Johnson side mount controls to match the motor. Cables worked fine but I couldn't think of a clean way to mount them to the console. The guy I bought the boat from threw in a set of mercury top mount controls for an extra $40. They'll look and work much better but the motor ends are predictably different. Merc on top, Johnson on bottom. This end didn't look like fun to untangle and I didn't want to break something trying so I turned to the control end.


Thankfully the control ends are similar enough to each other to be annoying. The sliding ends are identical which is awesome. The part that's fixed in the control is just a bit different. The barrel on the Merc is bigger and in a different place. The barrel is snapped around the part of the shaft with the 2 grooves it. So I just need to make some grooves in the right spot on the shaft and a bushing to take up the slop. That's doable. It beats shelling out for new cables and it leaves the nice Teleflex cables from the merc controls intact to sell to replenish the depleted boat fund.

[Rollo]

Aw who needs an anchor anyways,park it on a reef,just kiddin add plenty of chain leader to the galvinized anchor and use the mushroom for backup and drift control! use the beer for makin new friends! Doin just fine so far.