Pweisbrod's 79 18' mr pike DUCK conversion/rebuild

[Eddie Spaghetti]

I have also made the decision to have the livewell through hull fitting welded shut. Dry storage baby.

Pweisbrod, You don't need to weld it shut. Just plug the hole. Something like the following will work fine, and leave the option of opening it back up at a later date. https://www.atafa.com/products/Thm-Drain-Plug-Ppdp-157925.html I used the exact same plug in both drains.

 

[Eddie Spaghetti]

TH Marine has a lot of the fittings you'll be looking for https://www.thmarine.com/. You want a TH-M DRAIN PLUG.

Ed

 

[Pweisbrod]

Eddie: I mean the through hull fitting in the rear. it's not like a drain plug fitting, it's probably a 1.5" opening. i will need to get it welded to have it closed up.

I got the transom 99% buttoned up today. cap and corners back on, and the force plate is back on as well. I can't believe it's straight again! it had a 1" sag backward in the middle before. No more! just have a few holes to jb weld or marine goop and it's good to go.

Part of me wants to convert this to a big fat tiller. My wife would kill me though. LOL

Pics to come later tonight.

 

[Pweisbrod]

Transom, ready to go in

Used the belt sander to trim this down flush all the way across.

Pretty much all buttoned up. a few more rivets and some marine sealant on "unnecessary" screw holes, and the transom is DONE. I can't believe I did this part of the boat!

 

[Eddie Spaghetti]

Eddie: I mean the through hull fitting in the rear. it's not like a drain plug fitting, it's probably a 1.5" opening. i will need to get it welded to have it closed up.

Oh, I know, the hole for the livewell pump. I have the same issue. I'm just going to seal it, and put the pump back in. Maybe even put a cork in the intake. There should be a check valve in the pump, so no worries. Ya know, I think all the 79 Mr Pike's were designed to use as a tiller as well as a console. Your re-build is looking good.

 

[Pweisbrod]

I saw a 75 Yamaha tiller on Craig's the other day. Heartbreaking!

What I do will depend on cost as far as the welding goes. There are 11 holes in the hull from various screws used on transducers over the years.

 

[Pweisbrod]

Sorry I haven't been posting, we are visiting family in Florida! We got up early for the drive to Tampa bay and got some fishing in yesterday morning. We are staying in davenport, my wife and I had an awesome time. I love saltwater fishing, and she had a great first experience.

We did very well on the big Spanish mackerel, I caught several over 5 lbs, my wife lost one that had to have been 8. Our biggest was around 7. A few bluefish, some Atlantic sharks, I caught a huge lady fish with a few smaller ones, I caught a nice whopper trout and we did catch some smaller ones as well. Katie my wife also managed to get a lizardfish and I got an ambitious pinfish on the mackerel rig. Next time we come down, I'd like to catch some larger fish, but the mackerel are real drag smokers!

We're here until next Tuesday if anyone wants to take us out! LOL!

 

[bigwave]

Are you guys going to be in the st. pete area? The weather is going to be iffy tomorrow, but after the weekend should be good.

 

[Pweisbrod]

We are in davenport but are willing to drive, we drove to Gulfport for our previous fishing trip. I can't get enough of the saltwater stuff! My wife wants to move down here, and the fishing almost has me convinced! Ugh

 

[bigwave]

That is cool, I live in Gulfport......very good fishing right now, after this front it will be good for the next couple of months. If you liked catching the spanish mackeral, just wait to you hook his big brother King mackeral. There is supposed to be a tournament this weekend for the kings, the weigh in is at John's pass, If the weather lets up you can see some of the best Pro Kingfish guys in the country and their rides are awesome. 36-39' boats with triple 300's. I have to work till noon on Saturday but after work I plan on going to the weigh in. Some of my friends will be in the tournament. I was supposed to go out 130 miles on friday for some marlin, but mother nature says no.

 

[Pweisbrod]

I will try and talk one of you floridians into taking two of us great white northerners out on the salt!

Ps yes I am shamelessly begging to anyone that will take my father and I out. My wife says she's too sunburnt, she foolishly forgot to wear her hat most of our day out! I will try and get some pics of our fish up. I am pretty proud of the trout I jigged up on the flats. She really did great, whupping on the bluefish and trout.

 

[Pweisbrod]

Anybody ever put trim tabs on a v hull?

 

[Jonboat Jerry]

I wish that you had given us a little more notice, our fishing club is hosting a family friendly
fishing tournament on the 16th and you could fish with us as a guest. We encourage our members to
fish with other members to pick up their spots and techniques which levels the field, we even call each
other via cell phone to find where the fish are.....everyone has fun. Jerry

Your mod/repair is looking good, keep hacking!

 

[Pweisbrod]

Shucks! Ain't that just the way life goes sometimes?

Thanks Jerry, I honestly am excited to get back from this vacation and get rolling again.

 

[Pweisbrod]

Interesting facts about my hull-

Built out of .100 aluminum! Sweet. It says .064 was used on the freeboard. Not sure what that means lol.

Hull height is 34 at bow, 28 amidships, and 20 at stern. Interesting.

Highest hp rating for lunds of that time. (100hp)

Can't wait to get back to hackin'!

 

[Pweisbrod]

Sorry about the long wait between updates. Our laptop bit the dust and I just now thought of the idea to use the wife's iPad to take and post pics. I don't know how to turn them though...

I've mostly just cleaned the boat out as best I can, and completely removed all the floor foam. I now have a few challenges such as re plumbing the bilge line I stupidly broke, plugging the through hull live well intake fitting hole back near the transom,, and filling all little corrosion holes and whatnot in the transom with 5200 to keep water out.

Anyway, I cut all my lids for the live well and front storage area, and they are varnishing in my office, I have a space heater in there to speed things up as much as I can. I am going two out on three coats total I think.

I thinned down the first coat 5 or 10 percent with mineral spirits and it really soaked in. These are pics of the second coat with straight varnish, no thinning.

 

[Country Dave]

Looks great keep up the good work.

 

[Pweisbrod]

Thanks Dave. Just got done at the self serve car wash. It's sanded and ready for some primer if I can get it in a heated space, or if the weather warms up.

 

[Badbagger]

Anybody ever put trim tabs on a v hull?

Looking GREAT and putting tabs on would help if you have issues. I went with Lenco's so we won't have to deal with pumps and hydraulics. Bought mine on ebay and saved a hell of a lot of cash. Keep up the great work!

 

[Pweisbrod]

Thanks man. Hydraulics would just freeze when I'm out in the cold anyway. We will see what happens when I get to that point.