jgarciajim
Seaman
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2012
- Messages
- 50
If you like reading, this one is for you guys.
Well, I am happy to say that there are very few places these days where people are as helpful as everyone on this forum. I have been reading these forums for a while now and finally decided to officially join. Also, I decided to create a Restoration thread for my 1978 Skeeter as a little time line of the work I am going to do on it, and of course to ask you guys any questions that might, and most certainly will come along.
Just a quick background on the boat; The boat is a 1978 Skeeter Wrangler Sport with a 197 Johnson 140 on it. I purchased it for 800 dollars, along with a custom roller trailer (called something like that). The thing about the boat is that this a fish and ski boat, so you have the 2 bench seats up front instead of the normal deck area you find on most fishing/bass boats. The boat was sat out in the sun for a few years with no real protection from the elements, this took a toll on the seats and carpet. The boat itself was in decent condition with most of it's problems being cosmetic, such as cracked seats, rotted plywood backing for the seats, carpet rotted away and the usual dings and scratches on the gunwales. The motor started up and ran when I got there and it ran decently well for the most part, tilt/trim worked, trolling motor, bilge pump, aerators, etc.
Sadly, didn't take any picture of the boat the day I got it, but this thing was dirty, inside and out.
Day 1:
I began with the usual tune of of the motor, cleaned the carburetors, changed spark plugs, checked compression, bought some new batteries, everything checked out for the most part, and of course gave it a good scrubbing and vacuum. For the moment I had decided to stick with the cosmetic problems and just fish.
Went to the lake a few days later, motor started, and my buddy and I went to our fishing spot, when we decided to move the motor no longer started and began to flood itself. Ended up trolling around the rest of the day and trolled back to the boat ramp.
Day 2:
Got back home, and took apart the carburetors and noticed there was a lot of built up gunk from them sitting around for so long, went out got some rebuild kits and rebuilt both of them. Motor started back up everything was well, so I thought...
Made a road trip with the same buddy out to Lake Fork a few hours away and hoped for better results, not only with fishing but with the boat as well. Well what do you know, the boat didn't start up, and on top of that while attempting to start we basically killed the battery. We switched over some connections to the 2 other batteries to get the electronics working and just went trolling with the old little trolling motor again. We ended up fishing two days with this beast, however if the motor had been running we would have gotten to some better spots farther out.
FYI: This Ram Glide 1550 15/25 Trolling motor is a boss, excellent on electricity consumption and a powerful little thing even when trolling against the current. I'm pretty sure it is the same age as the boat, someone could probably give me some info on that.
Day 3:
Anyway, so I became pretty frustrated with the motor and continued to work on it. I replaced the fuel lines throughout, which seemed to be rotting from the inside and clogging up the carburetor, added a fuel filter to the fuel line just after the primer bulb and continued tuning the throttle and idle. Seems to be running better than ever now.
Day 4 Dec. 20
This is where I am at right now, and also where this becomes a full restoration project for the old 1978 Skeeter. I began looking at the boat and decided that there are a lot of things I want to do to the boat to make it just right.
-Replace all carpet on deck and hatches
-Convert the current Ski style front deck into a full fishing deck with some added hatches and compartments.
-Replace seats.
-Rewire some of the old gauges that aren't working.
-Add lighting to the deck (something I noticed we were in dire need of while night fishing on Lake Fork)
-Repair very minor hull damage where gel coat has been chipped off.
-New carpet for trailer bunks and new wood where needed.
-Repaint trailer since it is painted steel and has some signs of surface rust on places where paint is gone.
-Possibly repaint gunwales (guidance needed here if I decide to do so)
-New accessories such as rod holders and stuff to top it all off.
Pics!
Well, I am happy to say that there are very few places these days where people are as helpful as everyone on this forum. I have been reading these forums for a while now and finally decided to officially join. Also, I decided to create a Restoration thread for my 1978 Skeeter as a little time line of the work I am going to do on it, and of course to ask you guys any questions that might, and most certainly will come along.
Just a quick background on the boat; The boat is a 1978 Skeeter Wrangler Sport with a 197 Johnson 140 on it. I purchased it for 800 dollars, along with a custom roller trailer (called something like that). The thing about the boat is that this a fish and ski boat, so you have the 2 bench seats up front instead of the normal deck area you find on most fishing/bass boats. The boat was sat out in the sun for a few years with no real protection from the elements, this took a toll on the seats and carpet. The boat itself was in decent condition with most of it's problems being cosmetic, such as cracked seats, rotted plywood backing for the seats, carpet rotted away and the usual dings and scratches on the gunwales. The motor started up and ran when I got there and it ran decently well for the most part, tilt/trim worked, trolling motor, bilge pump, aerators, etc.
Sadly, didn't take any picture of the boat the day I got it, but this thing was dirty, inside and out.
Day 1:
I began with the usual tune of of the motor, cleaned the carburetors, changed spark plugs, checked compression, bought some new batteries, everything checked out for the most part, and of course gave it a good scrubbing and vacuum. For the moment I had decided to stick with the cosmetic problems and just fish.
Went to the lake a few days later, motor started, and my buddy and I went to our fishing spot, when we decided to move the motor no longer started and began to flood itself. Ended up trolling around the rest of the day and trolled back to the boat ramp.
Day 2:
Got back home, and took apart the carburetors and noticed there was a lot of built up gunk from them sitting around for so long, went out got some rebuild kits and rebuilt both of them. Motor started back up everything was well, so I thought...
Made a road trip with the same buddy out to Lake Fork a few hours away and hoped for better results, not only with fishing but with the boat as well. Well what do you know, the boat didn't start up, and on top of that while attempting to start we basically killed the battery. We switched over some connections to the 2 other batteries to get the electronics working and just went trolling with the old little trolling motor again. We ended up fishing two days with this beast, however if the motor had been running we would have gotten to some better spots farther out.
FYI: This Ram Glide 1550 15/25 Trolling motor is a boss, excellent on electricity consumption and a powerful little thing even when trolling against the current. I'm pretty sure it is the same age as the boat, someone could probably give me some info on that.
Day 3:
Anyway, so I became pretty frustrated with the motor and continued to work on it. I replaced the fuel lines throughout, which seemed to be rotting from the inside and clogging up the carburetor, added a fuel filter to the fuel line just after the primer bulb and continued tuning the throttle and idle. Seems to be running better than ever now.
Day 4 Dec. 20
This is where I am at right now, and also where this becomes a full restoration project for the old 1978 Skeeter. I began looking at the boat and decided that there are a lot of things I want to do to the boat to make it just right.
-Replace all carpet on deck and hatches
-Convert the current Ski style front deck into a full fishing deck with some added hatches and compartments.
-Replace seats.
-Rewire some of the old gauges that aren't working.
-Add lighting to the deck (something I noticed we were in dire need of while night fishing on Lake Fork)
-Repair very minor hull damage where gel coat has been chipped off.
-New carpet for trailer bunks and new wood where needed.
-Repaint trailer since it is painted steel and has some signs of surface rust on places where paint is gone.
-Possibly repaint gunwales (guidance needed here if I decide to do so)
-New accessories such as rod holders and stuff to top it all off.
Pics!
