1970 ish Mirrocraft 14 Deep Fisherman Project

[DesertRAT]

Hi Everyone,

I've been trolling on this site since the beginning of this summer and picked up a 1970ish Mirrorcraft 14 Deep Fisherman back in July. I currently live in Apple Valley, California. It is the high desert (Mojave) and I live about 30 minutes from 2 lakes, Big Bear Lake at Bear Mountain and Silverwood Lake in Cedar Pines. I retired from the military, put in 23 years, and the last time I really had time to fish was when I was a teenager prior to joining the service. I retired in 2004 and got into off-roading with my 4 sons. That took a toll on my insides and have been forced to slow it up some. I'm still working for the government, as a civilian, and putting 10-12 hours shifts per day and only have about an hour or so per night to work on my projects. I renovated a used pontoon a few years back and that has been a blast, however, it is almost impossible to fish out of. My dad had our old tin boat from when I was in high school back in the late 1970's. He had this mirrorcraft sitting in a horse corral for the last 30+ years. He needed to get rid of it and I took it sight unseen. The boat was tarped up and I hooked on to it and got it home. It came with a 15hp 2-stroke Evinrude which also had not been run for 30+ years so I had no idea what to expect. I really would like to clean it up and put in some fishing decks and seats. From all of the other mirrorcraft owners on this site, I am very impressed what you guys are capable of doing to this boats. I am going to clean it up and start getting a plan together. I got a ton of questions to ask and will start this build within a week or two and will post pics as I go along.

I'll post some pics tonight when I get home. Hopefully I can figure this website out and get this post in the right forum.

 

[PA Delaware Fisher]

Good luck on your build. I am looking forward to see what you start with and what you finish with!

 

[DesertRAT]

Thanks PA Delaware Fisher, I pressure washed it over the weekend and got it cleaned out. The original paint started to come off so I guess I know what I'm doing first on it. My son took it out on Big Bear Lake and it had no leakes and the motor did start but it sure ran rough. At least I know the boat is sound so that's cool. I will have to take the motor to our local marine shop and get it worked over. For some reason all the hardware, nuts and bolts, are completely rusted over. They don't appear to be stainless steel and they look like original hardware. Once i rebuild the transom, i will use all stainless steel and/or aluminum. I'll post pics tonight.

 

[DesertRAT]

Dang, I just noticed that I am calling my boat a "Mirrorcraft" instead of Mirrocraft. I guess I am a newbie at this, lol.

Anyways, here are some pics I promised I would get on here.

 

[DesertRAT]

Here is another view of it.

 

[DesertRAT]

I got it back to my home town of Apple Valley and finally took the tarp off.

 

[DesertRAT]

I gave this boat to my son, who lives at Big Bear Lake, to test it out for me. The good news is, the boat does not leak. The bad news is, the motor needs some serious help.

 

[DesertRAT]

I tried to get it into my garage while it was still on the trailer but it didn't fit. I guess the first order of business is to clean out my junk and make some room.

 

[DesertRAT]

I am going to start cleaning out my garage this week to make some room. I want to take it off the trailer and flip it over and then put it on some saw horses to get it ready for some serious sanding. I'm thinking below the water line either white or battleship gray and on top maybe a nice deep royal blue.

I need to be able to have 2 of my sons fishing, one up front and one in the middle, both on elevated seats. Then I want to put two seats in the back for my their girlfriends. I promised I would build this for them and maybe they will let me use it sometimes, lol.

 

[jasper60103]

Looks like a nice project.
It probably wouldn't take much to get the motor running nice.
Btw, my brother is retired Navy after 20+ years. He still works at Edwards AFB and lives in Lancaster.
Look forward to your progress. Keep the pics coming.

edit: And thank you for your service!

jasper

 

[WPS]

Welcome to TinBoats!

Nice boat!.. Lookin' forward to see what you do to it!

Also, Thank YOU for your service! :USA1:

 

[DesertRAT]

Thank you Jasper and WPS. I'm still working out at Edwards AFB, I retired and took off my uniform, put on some jeans and grew a beard and went right back into the service. That's all I've ever known since high school.

I had the day off so I got busy cleaning out my garage. It is ready now for the boat to come in. Just waiting on my boys to come over tomorrow night and help me muscle it onto some saw horses.

 

[DesertRAT]

I did have time today to start on my instrument panel. I figured might as well since the boat isn't prepped yet for sanding. I had an old hatch (tempress type) laying around that I didn't use on my G3. I laid out what I wanted on it and started cutting holes. I wanted a small electrical panel that would power the bilge pump, the navigation lights, and the floor lights when out gigging for frogs. I also needed a depth finder, funny thing is that just a depth finder gauge runs about $175 to $200. Instead I bought a cheapy fish finder for $49 at Walmart which had the depth finder on it. I also wanted a 12 volt outlet to run a spot light and a socket to plug in my trolling motor. And for good measure, I also added a small courtesy light. All of these items are bolted to the top of the hatch. Inside the hatch I added a Positive and Negative lug so all I will have to do is run one wire each from my battery to this panel. Also, on the inside, I added a 50amp fuse for the trolling motor.

And just for gee whiz, I added a small marine compass.

I got all of this to fit on an 8" x 12" hatch.

 

[jasper60103]

Love the instrument panel. I like the clean, simple design and doesn't cost a fortune to make.
I think this is a good candidate for the innovative section of the mod thread. =D>
Thanks again for sharing.

 

[DesertRAT]

I'll try to figure out how to post it on that mod thread.

Here are some pics of the rust I was talking about in an earlier post. I am going to replace all of that with stainless steel.

 

[DesertRAT]

I'm still waiting to get my boat into the garage. In the mean time, I started to tinker a bit on a power box. I will use a marine style battery that is sealed. I'll purchase one down the road some. Not in a hurry to spend money on that yet. I picked up the box, a main power switch, and an on-board charging unit, and a male plug so that I can run an extension cord from my house to the boat and charge it without having to remove the battery after each trip.

As always, Walmart has been my friend lately. I'm not sure if this stuff is any good or not, they seem to be a little bit cheaper than iboats.com or amazon. I've been trolling on Overton's too. The internet is endless when it comes to parts for your boat.

 

[DesertRAT]

Finally got the boat into my garage. Started sanding with a small wire wheel on a drill but I think I have the wrong equipment. I'll have to go to Lowe's and get a larger wheel or this will take months to do.

 

[DesertRAT]

Also got a good look at the trailer as a whole. It seems in pretty good shape, I'll replace the carpet on the bunks and maybe get some new rollers, but that's about it.

 

[jasper60103]

DesertRAT,
you got a nice workshop there.
I would like to replace my transom sometime this winter. All the fasteners are fairly rusty too.
The only thing I would suggest on the trailer is to inspect the wheel bearings for safe measure.
Good job on the battery box. I didn't know those on-board chargers were available so small.

jasper

 

[rscottp]

Nice job, boat is looking good. What is the brand of that battery on/off switch? i would like to put one in my boat but the only ones I have seen are the perko ones that are for 2 batteries.