Finally got it running

Atlas Knife Company

Atlas Knife Company

Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
3,668
Spongeboat Basspants lives! This is a two year project, restoring this old boat to fishability. It's a 17' Sea-King tri-hull built in 1976. I love the layout of this model and the stability of the tri-hull much more than modern fishing boats. The fiberglass was originally blue and heavily oxidized. I wet-sanded it down to 220 and cleaned really well. Then a friend applied the vinyl over it. She did a great job with Spongebob's face! I'm having a yellow/brown cover made to match it.

I just replaced the original 1976 85HP Johnson with this 2001 115HP Evinrude. Still trying to decide if I should paint the motor. I'm thinking I might have it painted to look like an upside-down pineapple. Or even right-side up without the tassel.

I've had parents take pictures of their kids with it at the gas station, and people are always turning their heads to stare at it while driving down the road.
SpongeboatBasspants.jpg
 
Cool boat, YOu did a good job on it! Yeah I think I would do something with the motor, but not too much. My kids would love it! Steven
 
With the 115 hp outboard attached, I figure it will plane out very nicely.

Sweeeeeet!
 
Planes out around 12MPH, haven't had it at top speed yet but it runs 22MPH at 2500 RPM. Took it out and gave it a test drive, the motor ran great. None of the vinyl peeled, everything went well. Then the next morning when I went out to install the radio, The steering cable had snapped at some point after we put it on the trailer.

Boat: noun - A depression in the water that you throw money into.
 
Got it out on Lake Red Rock yesterday and today. Hooked up my Cuda GPS/sonar and it clocked in at 36MPH towing a kid in a tube with 2 adults and 2 kids in the boat. Still don't have the right prop and I think the controls need adjusted. It maxes out at about 4200RPM. It should get around 5000RPM. The prop is from an 85HP johnson, so I think I could get a bigger prop, also.

Kids at the beach loved it! They were all cheering when we pulled up next to the beach.
 
that is so cooooool, my kids would love it... !!!

I made the mistake this summer of having my seats redone on my pontoon, now I'm replacing the carpet, bimini, helm etc......... lower seals................

arghhh !!!! and the summers gonna wind down before I finish it........................................................................................................
 
We're going to be using the boat as a float in a parade next week!

Last few years, the local lakes have been flooded. Debris floating everywhere, filthy, murky water that I wouldn't want to swim in. However, this year, the lake has been 25' above normal but the water is the cleanest I've ever seen it there. As for the seats, I left them out of the boat when we go tubing/skiing. Much more room in the boat. We don't use the raised seats unless we're fishing, anyway.

Yep, just measured and the current prop is 12.5". OMC recommends 14" for this motor.
 
That is cool Zaph! I like it...I agree with the motor part...Either a pineapple or make it Patrick.
 
I got a little nervous, the boat was leaking water rather rapidly and we had a 3" puddle of water in the back main area. It turned out that the hose for the front livewell was completely rotted away and water was pouring in. I cut a rubber minnow in half and stuffed it in and now it's dry as can be.

Update: Latest speed achieved with four passengers was 41.6mph on the GPS. Water was choppy as heck, 15mph headwind, and still haven't replaced the prop. The prop is on the slow end of the recommended sizes, so I may not bother since that is really fast enough. I'm getting about 8mpg with this prop.
 
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