Rat's 1977 Polar Kraft 1440 refit

[SrPhatness]

Wow rat,
You're boat is looking great. =D>
All of the epoxy and fiberglass will make those 1/2" boards STRONG.

I want to get me some of those courtesy lights too. Because I do a lot of night fishing.

Great work man.

 

[Rat]

I got the motor running Sunday afternoon. The parts arrived Friday and I was able to rebuild the carb and get all the new linkage and lanyard kill switch installed as well as perform a link and sync. Then I went fishing all weekend. When I got home on Sunday I installed the new thermostat, water pump/impeller and rebuilt the fuel pump; stuck her in the tank and she fired right off! It still has a little low speed/idle stumble, but it runs great and starts on the first or second pull! It is a 1971 18 HP Evinrude; it still needs lots of work, but it is functional now. I am going to try and get her on the water to perform a full load test today or tomorrow.

 

[dearl]

Good to hear Rat, you left out one major part... Did you catch any fish? Glad to hear everything is coming together. Great job on the ole girl, since I finally named my rig, whats yours going to be?

 

[Rat]

Well, I have been working on the motor and getting the hardware and accessories mounted.

I have added new fuel lines to the motor as well as a few other small parts and gaskets. She runs very well! I also cleaned her up and she is shining like a new penny, but missing a few chips of paint here and there

I just about have all the accessories mounted where I want them, just a few hardware items still need to be bolted down. All the wiring is complete but I still need the battery trays.

Next step is sealing everything, all the penetrations for wiring and screws etc with 4200/5200, then paint; if the weather cooperates. I will get some images today for y'all.

 

[Rat]

It looks like rain the rest of the day but I managed to get some of the wiring in the shroud and zip-tied up.
Pictures as promised.

Engine first: This motor was so filthy I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get it clean without tearing it down. The fuel lines had been leaking for sometime and the bottom of the cowling had about 1/8 to 3/8 of an inch of grime and more built up in the corners. A couple of cans of Acetone and some carb cleaner got her looking good as new. You can see the missing paint where the years of gunk caused it to come of during cleaning. I am not much of a boat motor mechanic but I am very pleased with how well she has turned out. Things I have done are, carb rebuild, replaced some of the linkage for choke and low speed control, thermostat, seal and gasket, rebuilt fuel pump, new fuel lines, new plugs, new kill switch, new lower unit lube and MAJOR cleaning of everything!

Front view of the new kill switch, it's a Sea Sense, very easy to install.


Starboard side view, re built fuel pump and lines.


Aft View, new plugs and removed the most grime from this area. I guess it had been stored on it back and it was FULL of gunk back here.


Port side nice and clean.


Rebuilt the carb, this was easier than I thought, The nice white plastic pieces are the new ones I installed.


And here she hangin' on the transom.


She is due for a paint job, but for now she runs and that is a major hurdle for me!

 

[Mojo]

Running beats Pretty... But it shouldn't take you much to pretty that up.. couple of can's of some high quality paint and an afternoon and that thing will be pimp!

 

[Rat]

Now for the general stuff. I put most of the wiring in the shroud today I haven't figured a good way to secure it yet, but I will make a run to the hardware store and look around to see what I come up with. Otherwise it is all tidy and out of the way.

Locker under the fore deck. Type 29 battery and the wiring. The stbd side will have the anchor locker and it will also have the PFDs in here. You can also see the finished trolling motor mounted to the deck.


Bilge pump and pass through wiring. The wiring passes through this area to the conduit leading forward.


Aft deck and locker open. A type 27 battery is in here, not sure what I am going to use it for yet, but I think I may need it for ballast. I always need a battery for crappie lights tho!


Switch panel layout, with my cool light added!


Here is how she will look closed up and ready for running. I REALLY need a week of good weather to get her all painted and ready to hit the water.

 

[dyeguy1212]

looking good!

 

[cavman138]

can't wait to see the finished product

 

[Rat]

I have a pretty good story on this motor.

I bought this motor for under $200 as a parts motor from a local guy. He said they had installed a new impeller and changed the ignition system (coils, points etc). He said it ran fine until they gave it the "tune up" (ignition parts) and then it never did run again, it wouldn't even start. So I got this thing for a song. During my working on it I found that the kill switch wire had been plugged into itself. Effectively the motor was switched "off" all the time which is the reason it would never start. I also found that they had installed the impeller wrong and it would not pump water; they did not seal the base plate correctly. So it's a good thing they couldn't run it or they might have burned it up anyway. The kill switch wires looked like they were supposed to plug in together; they had a male and female end which fit perfectly, but obviously aren't supposed to go together! Anyway, I just thought it was funny how it all came about.

 

[huntinfool]

Rat, what are you going to put on the inside? Are you just5 going to paint it? Gelcoat with webbing or perhaps Skid no more?

What color?

Can you catch any crappie at Granger on roadrunners or is it pretty much a minnow and float kinda thing?

 

[Rat]

I am planning to paint with an off white color and then add Kiwi Grip in Gray. Hopefully this weekend, but I got lots of Honey Dos to get done first. I am also rebuilding the trailer right now so the hull isn't even on the trailer...

Roadrunners at Granger are killer, especially the Crappie Thunder bodies. Sometimes we long line troll and sometimes we spider rig, both on the lake and in the river. Up against the banks, they aren't there yet tho, we switch to smaller Maribu or split tail grubs in the 1/32 to 1/16 range. I have also had good luck running a jig under a slip bobber over suspended fish around structure/brush piles. We switch to minnows at night.

Color can vary widely depending on temp, clarity and flow. I usually start with white or blue/white or blue/chartreuse. If they are tight to cover I seem to have better luck with solid chartreuse maribu.

 

[huntinfool]

The only two times I have seen the lake it was very dirty water so I wasn't sure if they would work. I am so ready to get into some crappie. Been thinking about a crappie/hog hunt in one.

 

[blazinmoto]

Hey Rat, do you know if the carpet glue will stick to the epoxy? I have two little ones and the carpet would help with noise.

 

[huntinfool]

Hey Rat, do you know if the carpet glue will stick to the epoxy? I have two little ones and the carpet would help with noise.

Yes it will!

 

[blazinmoto]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Dustin07]

Hey Rat, it's been a month! your boat looks sweet, did you get the honey do list done?

 

[Rat]

WHEW! That was the longest Honey-Do list of all time! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: But seriously, my best friend in the world got married, and in between trying to catch enough crappie for 100+ people, getting everything organized, getting everyone there; THEN getting him married off...I just haven't had the time to get sown and dirty. I have rebuilt the trailer tho and got the the boat back on her today.

This trailer had been jacknifed pretty badly at some point it its life; almost all the welds were broke, I extended the back by three feet and the tongue by three feet to actually fit the hull. I installed new bunks and got rid of the rollers and those goofy adjustable bunk stays. i added a new goal post loading system, that I will proly end up rebuilding at some point. It is a lilttle loosey-goosey. She got a new winch and hitch as well. I wanted to get it painted and all that but it is going to hafta wait; I need to get her in the water. maybe I can paint the trailer next year!

I loaded the boat on the trailer and it fits like a dream, I couldn't be happier; well, if it were painted I would be happier, but whatever...

I vacuumed all the oak tassels out of the hull and tomorrow i will take it down and pressure wash it at the local car wash. then final prep for prime and paint. the goal is to get it done by next weekend (21st) so I can go camping again!

Pictures as always...







BTW, that's regular lumber treated with Boiled Linseed Oil and I did put the carpet back on them. I will get shots of the boat on it tomorrow. These are from yesterday. Enjoy.

 

[Rat]

I stopped for some shots on my way to work this morning. So here she is back on the trailer...

 

[Rat]

I think I got her all sealed up and ready for prime and paint. When I got home from work today I trailered her down to the local car wash and sprayed her down good. Got all that crap from the liveoaks out of her. Tomorrow she will get her final Acetone bath and then the first coat of primer; she's ready.

So I spent the rest of the afternoon sealing everything up with 5200 and 8400; all the screw holes and transitions from metal to wood to make the final coats roll on nice and easy, and smooth. Final prep shots...