Benjineer's Lund S-16 Mod

[benjineer]

It was planing. The gas was suspect though, since it had water and who knows what else in it. The engines sounded good when running, but they would die if they sucked up some water. I haven't put it in the water since dumping and cleaning the tank. I'll be adding a filter/separator before I'm done. I hope I get to run it again soon to see where I am. It doesn't have to be a speed-demon. As long as it will stay on plane when loaded I think I'll be satisfied. The boat I use on the coast will only go about 30, which is way too fast if it's choppy. That's the only place I frequently fish where I would be going very far, so speed is a minor concern. That said, I can't resist going after another 10hp if I can get it just by swapping out the jets.

 

[benjineer]

Sand and paint over the factory red paint or remove the red and start over? It has some bare metal where it's been scratched, but it doesn't seem to be flaking off on its own. I've got two quarts of blue Interlux brightside polyurethane that came with my other boat. That's what I want to use in place of the red.

 

[Ranchero50]

That's a lot of feathering to get a nice surface.

One thing I lucked into was a case of Rust-oleum's textured paint for plastics in sandstone for $2 per can. The stuff sticks great and leaves a nice texture, almost like a fine nonslip. I'm thinking about spraying the whole boat in it, then going over that with a darker tan that'll match my carpet and seats.

Stripping is time consuming and you really have to clean anywhere the stripper can hide or the new paint won't work out so well.

Jamie

 

[benjineer]

Stripping doesn't sound fun at all. I will probably just sand lightly and put some paint on. I know it won't be perfectly smooth with all the dents, but the fish won't care. I bought an electric sprayer at a salvage store, but I'm afraid to try it on the outside, since I've never used it. Figured I'd try it on the inside. I've got some rustoleum dark smoke gray that I'll probably lighten with some white Interlux which also came with my other boat.

 

[benjineer]

Here are a couple of shots with the decking on and the trolling motor mounting plate in place. I still have to do a little trimming on the hatch section. I think I should have made it a rectangular hatch and had one continuous piece of decking instead of 3. I refuse to buy another board and start over though. I plan to seal the edges with silicone to keep some of the water out.

 

[benjineer]

Ok, here it is with the decking installed and TM mounted. The round black thing is the fuel filler. The tank vent is installed thru the hull below the TM foot. I figure I'll be less likely to snag it with the fluke anchor there. I forgot to take a picture of that. Pedestal base is recessed into the deck with router. Deck is thin, so I put more al angle underneath to bolt base to. Deck paint is Rust Oleum smoke gray with Kilz2 primer underneath. I plan to put something non-slip on the deck then spray the whole interior in that color when I'm done with other mods. I might decide to lighten it a little. I'm thinking exterior paint may have to wait for a while. It's time to start fishing!

 

[benjineer]

Took it camping this weekend. Weight was ok with 7 gal of gas. Ran with one engine much of the time. It does pretty well getting around a small lake if the other one is picked up. Not sure it's planed completely that way but not lugged down or pushing water like my fiberglass boat did when it was overpropped. I didn't get to do a speed test , but it is plenty fast with both engines running. The trolling motor did great and the front deck is pretty comfortable to fish from. It was real shallow pulling up to the campsite. I just smiled when a big bass boat got stuck trying to get in there. Engines need a tuneup for idle issues. Need to get a seat in the center for distance travel. It lists too much with someone on a side bench.

 

[benjineer]

Thanks for the compliment on my build.

Between jets and some Boyensen reed valves that thing should fly. I did the reeds on my old 9.9 and it made a huge difference in performance. 19mph seems pretty slow. Would it plane out? My 1448 when overloaded with wet plywood wouldn't with the single 9.9, yours with twins should get up and go.

Jamie

I've been looking into this, but it doesn't look real promising. The reeds I can do $30ea, but the carbs are confusing. There were at least 3 basic carb designs from what I can tell. It shows that the 15 is a separate carb from the 6/8/9.9. The parts blowups show that other parts are different too like pistons. From what I can tell, the motors are 86 models. Serials start with 0A944. I looked it up on mercurypartsexpress to try to figure it out. It has more detail as to which parts are for which HP. Oh well, I'm going to use it some more before I do major engine work.

 

[benjineer]

I'm going to use as-is a little more, but I'm liking a Mirrocraft layout I just saw. This would require totally removing the middle and rear benches. If I use tall side boxes like they did, I won't need the support arms. I never considered making them that high. That might be just right and give me some much needed storage. It would also make it really easy to put a one-piece floor in. It would have to be aluminum though, since the side boxes would attach to it. Too hard to remove if it rots.

 

[benjineer]

Here are pics of the tank vent and trolling motor plug.

 

[benjineer]

Finally added a temporary floor. I plan to add more aluminum angle and put in an aluminum sheet floor after I run it a while and decide if I'm happy with the layout or want to try something else like the pics I posted above. The 3/4" ply is like adding the weight of an extra person. This was some really nice old ply that was given to me (risers from a school play). Had to disassemble but not bad for free lumber. I know the work is a little sloppy, but it's a flat floor. It's amazing how much space it seems to add. The best thing is there are no braces for me and my little boy to trip over. Floor is 48" wide at the back, 46.5" middle, and 39" front. 82" long.

 

[benjineer]

I don't think the floor has hurt me much on the weight. I took it out Saturday just me and my little boy. It ran 13mph on a single engine. It still sat high enough in the water to not load the engine up. My GPS battery died, so I didn't get to test it with both running. I was waiting for my dad to show up before I tried it. Plan to get a real test this weekend. My dad and I are going to a big lake, and we'll be carrying large ice chest, more fuel load, etc. I'll have new batteries in my GPS then.

 

[Troutman3000]

Keep working until you get it how you like it.

 

[rook]

Im diggin the Twins. Thats hilarious. I read something about inshore fishing and see that you are from South Ms. Where abouts?

 

[benjineer]

Hey! I'm in Laurel, but I mostly fish saltwater anywhere on the MS coast. The drive is about 2 to 2-1/2 hours to anywhere down there. I'm hoping to do some trolling for specks this winter. I've never tried that before. I'm hoping this rig will be just right for that.

 

[rook]

Small world I was in Laurel last weekend working on the Chick-Fil-A in the mall there. Sawmill Mall or something. And you are correct it took me exactly 2 hours to get there for here. Not a bad drive. Hell I live 15 minutes from some fine inshore fishing and I drive 2-3 hours going over to La. all the time. Go figure.

 

[benjineer]

Yep, I keep saying I'm going to buy that LA license, but just haven't yet. I hear it's much better fishing over there.

 

[jasper60103]

The more I see your rig, the more i like it.

Just an idea if your concerned about weight,
I moved my battery to the bow to help balance out my rig because I mostly fish alone. I bought a 20' set of jumper cables and put battery lugs on the ends.

 

[benjineer]

Thanks Jasper. I considered putting the battery up front, but I think that would be too much up front. I'm only about 150lbs, so I think I need the weight in the back. The balance is good as-is. If you look back on page 1 you'll see I have about a 20gal tank under the front deck. It's only had about 6 or 8 gallons in it, but so far it is working nicely to keep the front down. The battery is a large starting battery. I may swap it out with the deep cycle I have on my other boat, since it's primary use will be to run the TM. I already had the piece of wire for the trolling motor, so it was easy to hook it up to the battery where it was.

The boat is also really stable side-side. I put my little boy on one of the side benches to do his business, and there was no chance whatsoever of tipping or sinking the side even with both of us leaning over it.

 

[jasper60103]

Yea, I have an 30 hp motor and TM on the transom.
So moving my heavy deep cycle battery to the front was a big help.

You will really appreciate all that open deck space, and having a low deck (or flat floor) is more kid safe in my opinion. I stand up and fish all the time and I'm about 267# now. No worries about falling in.

Enjoy.