• Welcome to the Checkmate Community Forums forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and access to our other FREE features.
    By joining our free community you will be able to:

    » Interact with over 10,000 Checkmate Fanatics from around the world!
    » Post topics and messages
    » Post and view photos
    » Communicate privately with other members
    » Access our extensive gallery of old Checkmate brochures located in our Media Gallery
    » Browse the various pictures in our Checkmate photo gallery

    Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact support by clicking here or by using the"contact us" link at the bottom of the page.

1981 Enticer Questions

A

adrenaline_junkie

New member
First let me state that I am excited to have a checkmate again. I learned to ski behind a 1979 predictor and it was such a fun boat.

I rescued this 1981 Enticer from the woods. The interior is gone and the floor seems solid in most places but is very saturated. The bow section seat box and floor are gone so I know I will be replacing those areas.

Looking for advice and suggestions on the best course of action. Currently I am working on getting the engine running. The compression numbers are good 145,145,139,135,145,145 so thats a good sign.

Where can I find decent bucket seats?
Does the floor contain foam? I looks like it might.
Where can I find diagrams to put the control box back together or purchase a decent replacement and what would that replacement be?

In the photos you can see how the center section of the floor is exposed plywood. Is that how it was constructed originally?

View photos here
http://s1379.photobucket.com/user/Jason_Haag/library/1981 Checkmate Enticer Restoration Progress
 
:welcome: Welcome to the Forum. There are several threads on here with step by step resto's that members have done. To give you an some idea of what may be involved, I put a link below on a resto. What you'll need to do is dependent on the overall condition of your boat. I'm sure others will follow with suggestions. Best of luck on your up coming project. I'm sure she'll be beautiful when you're done, as Checkmates always look good.:thumb: Jim

http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22355
 
foam in the floor?

1981 Enticer

The floor has some bad spots and upon further investigation I have discovered that the entire space between the floor and the hull has been injected with foam. Is or was this a common practice back in the day? It looks like it was professionaly or semi professionaly done, however I am a bit baffled as to why the exposed wood was not fully glassed over. It looks like the edges and drill holes were sealed with a thin layer of glass (i stress thin). I doubt this is a factory job as they would have used 24 weight glass like the rest of the hull. also, there is foam on the sides in the gunnels.

I am puzzled as i have never seen that.

any thoughts?

In any case, it looks like I will be doing a complete floor replacement. oddly enough, it appears that only the areas that were removed suffer from rot, the transom and all the aft sections are SOLID.
 
adrenaline_junkie said:
1981 Enticer

The floor has some bad spots and upon further investigation I have discovered that the entire space between the floor and the hull has been injected with foam. Is or was this a common practice back in the day? It looks like it was professionaly or semi professionaly done, however I am a bit baffled as to why the exposed wood was not fully glassed over. It looks like the edges and drill holes were sealed with a thin layer of glass (i stress thin). I doubt this is a factory job as they would have used 24 weight glass like the rest of the hull. also, there is foam on the sides in the gunnels.

I am puzzled as i have never seen that.

any thoughts?

In any case, it looks like I will be doing a complete floor replacement. oddly enough, it appears that only the areas that were removed suffer from rot, the transom and all the aft sections are SOLID.
Click to expand...

I've restored three mates so far and everyone of them had foam between the floor and hull. Foam serves two functions; floatation that's required by the coast guard and to deaden the sound of waves slapping the hull. The floor if I remember correctly didn't have glass on the bottom only a rolled on resin. I'll have to look back at pictures to confirm that. I'm not sure where you're getting 24oz fiberglass for the floor to be encapsulated in. The factory doesn't go that route at least not that I know of. I've used 1.5 oz CSM to encapsulate the floor, then a final layer of CSM once the floor is install over the stringers. Good luck on your restoration!!
 
nice looking enticer! i love the all metalflake.

hate to be the bearer of potentially bad news, but based on seeing it sitting wet like that and having sat in the woods, i would plan on replacing all the wood above the hull, and taking a really close look at the core while you have it stripped, i bet the transom is rotted and youd be real lucky if at least some of the core isnt soft. On the plus side, the more rotted it is, the easier it will be to strip, and its really not all that much work, I did my floors (they were just exposed ply from the factory), transom, and a couple big chunks of core. Seemed like a lot, but wasnt all that bad in total hours, or price.

Tons of good info on how to do everything on this forum, you can easily be ready for spring!

not the most expert or best written resto and spread across a few threats, but heres some pics of my process so you can see how it goes on an enticer
http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9948
http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/blog.php?u=15413
http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11748
 
You had two different threads open, so I merged both together.:thumb: Welcome to the forum!!
 
Thanks for all the great info. Im not overly concerned with having to tear out the old stuff. Just wanted to know what I was dealing with.

I am considering pulling the engine and removing the top from the bottom. Any suggestions on a best way to do that?

Here are some pics that show where I pulled some rot

This is the bow section between the consols

2014-11-13090202_zpsc70cad84.jpg

Aft section with fuel tank removed. Its pretty solid but I will double check and inspect the transom.

2014-11-13090315_zpsfc6cb754.jpg

I found some hull damage that must be addressed.
2014-11-13090334_zps0dd2f8fb.jpg
 
After you remove the floor and stringers check your core for rot. The last picture posted is that the keel or side?
 
Its on the starboard side hull where it transitions from the water line, I dont know the name of that part of the hull but it must have a name. Looks like impact damage.

This photo shows where it is relative to the rest of the boat.

2014-11-13171350_zps24c1885c.jpg
 
That section of damage needs to be removed using a grinder. I would tape around the section about 4" to limit the repair area. I would also look inside where the damage is and check the core. Once it's removed build it up using fiberglass mat and resin. You might be able to fill the hole in with cabosil /resin then layer the mat and resin in until you got enough material to sand down even with the hull.
 
That's the primary reason I want to take the top off. I think it would be easier to move it around so I can get to both sides easily. Any advice on removing the top?
 
adrenaline_junkie said:
That's the primary reason I want to take the top off. I think it would be easier to move it around so I can get to both sides easily. Any advice on removing the top?
Click to expand...

Remove the rub rail then take a carpet knife or sawzall to break the top loose from the hull, the factory used a sealant to glue the two together. Be careful using the sawzall, you could cut the top. You could use some wooden wedges to break the top loose as well.
 
1981 Mercury 115

The engine on the enticer is a 1981 Mercury 115 ELPT. As mentioned in previous posts I rescued it from sitting in the woods. I estimate from the condition of the boat and the registration that it has been sitting up for about 10-12 years. The control box is disassembled which tells me they were having issues with it or it was cannibalized for parts (previous owner mentioned that). I expect to replace it.

Regardless. The engine compartment is fairly clean for being idle for so long. The compression is good on all cylinders so its time to attempt to crank her up. Im not an outboard mechanic so what should I do first? I want to get the engine running before I tear into the hull. I've been told to clean/rebuild the carbs and de-carbon it. Ive done neither so any advice is welcomed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top