1997 Mirrocraft 18' aluminum fish n ski

[redneck joe]

Points awarded to you for using the word 'aplomb'


I has a black max 150 for a year or so and yeah ... I hot 72 in that thing.

 

[BWR1953]

Points awarded to you for using the word 'aplomb'


I has a black max 150 for a year or so and yeah ... I hot 72 in that thing.

What hull was your Black Max on?

The PO of my XR6 had it on a bass boat and said he got 70mph, which I do believe based on my own experience with a 150 on a 17' bass boat years ago.

 

[redneck joe]

It was a 16 foot Stratos (Astro?) bass hull but topside it was a gofast style. Black. It was labeled something else can't remember the name but the HIN told me the story.

We had it about a year when we had the 36 down in guntersville for a few years as the supply boat for our group of 10 or so that would anchor out for the weekends. We could get ice, booze, steaks etc and back very quickly for everyone. iirc it was a 23 mile run from our usual anchor spot. Everyone else's chase boats for those that had them were like maybe 30 mph tops and ice melts fast. The Pig and the booze store were just across the highway from a ramp. We became friends with the owners of the booze store so they would shop both food and booze and meet us at the ramp. Thankfully there was a red-light there.

One morning run for ice to make bloody Mary's I looked at ac and told her I drink too much to own this boat. Never drove it again took about two weeks to sell.

 

[BWR1953]

Well, I'm just going to post the unedited videos and live with it. Ugh. Not up to my usual standards.

From inside my boat, using my phone.

 

[BWR1953]

From my buddy's boat using his phone.

 

[BWR1953]

 

[BWR1953]

 

[BWR1953]

Dry bilge after splash!

 

[redneck joe]

Yep that 150 sounds familiar.

 

[BWR1953]

I'm thinking that I just need to get the bow up a little higher like this guy.

 

[DWbaseball]

Congrats on the splash! Just in time for boat season, well done.

 

[BWR1953]

I forgot to mention the new hydraulic steering on this boat.

It was my first experience with the hydraulic type. It's incredibly easy to turn with almost no effort to move the wheel. There's not much feedback though. I'm used to the cable style, but the hydraulic type works very well.

 

[redneck joe]

Single cable or cable/pully?

 

[BWR1953]

Single cable or cable/pully?

No cables. Purely hydraulic. The steering hub is the pump, so no electricity required either.

 

[redneck joe]

Sorry I meant your previous. I grew up with cable and pulley and since I was a kid and small I got to do a bunch of that maintenance. Same as on the old aluminum boats dad kept the plug to the inside and when the leaks built up my job was to crawl to the bilge and pull the plug so the venturi effect could do it venturi effect thing.



Good times...

 

[Moserkr]

I really like that MC you got. Looks like a blast to drive and very stable. Sounds great too!!

 

[BWR1953]

I really like that MC you got. Looks like a blast to drive and very stable. Sounds great too!!

Yep, it's a good looking hull with a great ride. The engine is amazing. I still need to get it trimmed high enough to get some more MPH and I'm now working on getting the essential gauges working.

The boat is definitely a project though. Prior owners at some point really tore it apart; removing decks, live wells, storage areas and more. It's just a basic hull right now.

This is the modern version of my boat. My old 1997 boat had the same features when new, but no more! And I won't be restoring it back to its former glory.

 

[BWR1953]

Now that I've verified that the engine actually runs and that the hull is sound, I've started working on other stuff, starting with the gauges. I want to get them all up and running like they should. That'll bring a nice comfort level for my wife and me.

Yesterday I did a tach test. In the morning, I removed the tach from the donor boat dash and temporarily installed it into the MC. When I applied 12v by turning the engine key to "on", the needle immediately jumped to zero as it should. A good sign.

However, in the evening after I pulled the boat out of the garage and onto the driveway to fire it up, the tach failed. Yes, it jumped to zero when power was applied, but it didn't register any revs. I tried it on all tach settings, but no joy. Dangit. Either the tach is no good, or the signal isn't making it from the engine to the dash. I'll be checking the wiring, but I also went ahead and ordered a new tach harness, since none was used in the current setup.

Work continues.

 

[redneck joe]

Erratic tach is when I take it to the guy at the shop...

 

[BWR1953]

Erratic tach is when I take it to the guy at the shop...

Speaking of that, I learned today that my local favorite Merc repair shop will be closing at the end of September.

He's retiring after 35 years. A good run.