sold my 1546 and my flats boat to fund the new Jon Yacht, a 2017 Alumacraft MV1860AW :mrgreen:
custom order rigged with their smaller 1756 aluminum center console instead of the ridiculously too big polymer console standard on the 18' made for lots of extra floor space =D>
Here's Day 1 before GPS, transducer, cup holders, & cleats. The wiring was a mess from the factory as well, I had just stuck down the 1st piece of turf:
Bob's MJ5 jack plate $280 to my door in 2 days, great guys at https://www.bobsmachineshop.com !
be sure to leave ALL the jack plate bolts loose when hanging the motor or the holes won't line up. cherry picker made the motor hanging job nice & easy. another tip, don't use stainless nyloc nuts, use regular stainless nuts & 2 of them on each bolt, the 2nd nut is the locking nut to keep the 1st from backing off. When I first hung the motor I used nylocs & when I went to take them out they wouldn't come, i had to use a breaker bar & snap off the bolts!
WalMart B size cover for 17-19' boats fits well, & only cost $60:
found a nearly new 2004 Yamaha 60hp 2 stroke, compression test revealed 126psi on each cylinder :lol:
13x17p stiletto prop on the engine was too much, could only hit 5100 on the tach, but found a 13.25x15p which turns proper WOT RPMS around 5500 \
/
West Marine had the Simrad Go7 on blowout for $550, this is typically a $1k+ sonar/chartplotter & i was about to spend $500 on a non touch screen 5", but saw the deal & scooped it up, the downscan is unbelievable at mapping structure, it really is photographic. i love the interface too, pinch to zoom just like a smart phone. local boat shop had a scrap piece of starboard laying around, made for a nice transducer mount, used black silicone for the install. amazon stick-on rubber cable holders keep the wire tidy:
just like my last rig, i used the gray Blacktip Jetsports flooring off amazon for $60/sheet, 4 sheets total covered floor & decks
trick i learned on this build is to cut the overall shape out, & then press down on any cutouts, like this anchor light socket, & it will stamp the shape you cutout which you can trace with the razor. i then beveled the edge to look cleaner with a dremel sanding wheel, it also worked well for the seat post mount on the front deck
I used the leftover black tubing from the throttle/shift/fuel lines to clean up the factory wiring job:
i will say the welding quality on this 1860 is night & day from the 1546, the welds are absolutely perfect everywhere.
however, their electrical team leaves MUCH to be desired. they used wal-mart non-heat shrink, plastic non-waterproof butt connectors for the splice on the bilge! seriously?!
same horrible plastic non-waterproof butt connectors, ring connectors, spade connectors, etc. on EVERY electrical connection under the dash too ](*,) so I am going through with liquid electrical tape finishing their half-witted wiring job (knew i should've done it myself! lol)
Here's the Simrad installed before cup holders, notice the wiring mess:
& here's the boat after Simrad, cup holders, turf, & 4 cleats:
36.7mph as top speed so far
Still to come red LED under gunwale lighting, rod holders, leaning post, & some tunes...
custom order rigged with their smaller 1756 aluminum center console instead of the ridiculously too big polymer console standard on the 18' made for lots of extra floor space =D>
Here's Day 1 before GPS, transducer, cup holders, & cleats. The wiring was a mess from the factory as well, I had just stuck down the 1st piece of turf:
Bob's MJ5 jack plate $280 to my door in 2 days, great guys at https://www.bobsmachineshop.com !
be sure to leave ALL the jack plate bolts loose when hanging the motor or the holes won't line up. cherry picker made the motor hanging job nice & easy. another tip, don't use stainless nyloc nuts, use regular stainless nuts & 2 of them on each bolt, the 2nd nut is the locking nut to keep the 1st from backing off. When I first hung the motor I used nylocs & when I went to take them out they wouldn't come, i had to use a breaker bar & snap off the bolts!
WalMart B size cover for 17-19' boats fits well, & only cost $60:
found a nearly new 2004 Yamaha 60hp 2 stroke, compression test revealed 126psi on each cylinder :lol:
13x17p stiletto prop on the engine was too much, could only hit 5100 on the tach, but found a 13.25x15p which turns proper WOT RPMS around 5500 \
/ West Marine had the Simrad Go7 on blowout for $550, this is typically a $1k+ sonar/chartplotter & i was about to spend $500 on a non touch screen 5", but saw the deal & scooped it up, the downscan is unbelievable at mapping structure, it really is photographic. i love the interface too, pinch to zoom just like a smart phone. local boat shop had a scrap piece of starboard laying around, made for a nice transducer mount, used black silicone for the install. amazon stick-on rubber cable holders keep the wire tidy:
just like my last rig, i used the gray Blacktip Jetsports flooring off amazon for $60/sheet, 4 sheets total covered floor & decks
trick i learned on this build is to cut the overall shape out, & then press down on any cutouts, like this anchor light socket, & it will stamp the shape you cutout which you can trace with the razor. i then beveled the edge to look cleaner with a dremel sanding wheel, it also worked well for the seat post mount on the front deck
I used the leftover black tubing from the throttle/shift/fuel lines to clean up the factory wiring job:
i will say the welding quality on this 1860 is night & day from the 1546, the welds are absolutely perfect everywhere.
however, their electrical team leaves MUCH to be desired. they used wal-mart non-heat shrink, plastic non-waterproof butt connectors for the splice on the bilge! seriously?!
same horrible plastic non-waterproof butt connectors, ring connectors, spade connectors, etc. on EVERY electrical connection under the dash too ](*,) so I am going through with liquid electrical tape finishing their half-witted wiring job (knew i should've done it myself! lol)
Here's the Simrad installed before cup holders, notice the wiring mess:
& here's the boat after Simrad, cup holders, turf, & 4 cleats:
36.7mph as top speed so far
Still to come red LED under gunwale lighting, rod holders, leaning post, & some tunes...
