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Boat Rundown w/Multiple Pics

MissBehavin

MissBehavin

Member
Been so busy trying to get my boat finished and some use out of it this summer that I never sat down to do a full write up on it. Bought a 1984 Enchanter off craigslist middle of last summer(2013) from a guy that used it up on Lake Erie. It had already been painted and appeared motor had been replaced with truck engine and edelbrock intake. Saw some delamination at the time beside the engine but underestimated the extent of the damage. Used the boat twice that summer and realized the core was partially rotten and the boat needed gutted. Chased the rot from the front of the ski locker, under the engine, and all the way back to the transom. Transom and motor mount wood was solid, everything else got replaced.

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Rebuilt boxes on both sides of motor mounts (took lots of measurements before cutting and hacking everything up). I opted to leave out the ski locker lid in the floor. I actually built the entire ski locker and even gel coated it black before installing the floor. That way if I ever wanted to (not sure why) I could cut the hole in the floor and put the locker lid and trim back in place. After a new coat of black gel coat on the bilge and deck lid, I tried to tidy up the engine area a bit with my battery cable, hose and wire routing to make it as close or better as I would have expected from the factory when new. I picked up the electric engine hatch from Firgelli Automations. It was about 1/3 the price as a marine unit, but its still dust and water resistant. Been pretty happy with it so far (was worried it would get overheated being so close to the exhaust as it is). The built in limit switched are nice, as I was able to shim it just right so the motor cuts off just as the lid closes which was a nice touch
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The boat got put away last winter with all the fiberglass work done, so I installed the carpet and interior this spring. I relocated the fuel tank slightly rearward and moved the rear support for the bench seat to make enough room to install the speakers. Infinity marine 6x9's in the rear and Infinity 6.5's for the front. Ended up fiberglassing some wood mounts in and mounting the speaker amp in the front right bolster area. (the Audiobahn subwoofer and mono amp have yet to be installed) I cant stand messy battery terminals when I work on a boat at work, so I made sure to keep mine minimal and wire most everything to the back side of the battery switch, which I hid behind the starboard side rear seat bolster
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I came up with a kind of elegant solution for my amp wiring, since I was running out of room on the battery switch and dislike cluttered battery terminals...I call it a "Power Distribution Panel" that I mounted inside the Starboard storage compartment, but its nothing more than a cheap pair of terminal posts that I mounted to a carpeted board. Heavy 4 gauge wire supplying the power in, then 8 gauge out to both amps. Added bonus, It also gives me a spot, if my batteries both go dead, to hook up a jumper pack to be able to raise my engine hatch and access the batteries. I also didn't like the fact all the accessories at the dash were wired with individual inline fuses and not a central fuse panel of sorts...so I added one under the helm...fed by a 50 amp breaker mounted on the back of the rear seat, in the engine compartment. All in all, once I got everything finished we only got about a half a summer's use out of the boat this year. The tired 5.7L/Alpha still runs good. I did add a Simrek drive shower earlier this summer. Tested as many props as I could get my hands on at work...choppers, tempest, enertia, etc...but the best performing overall has been the 24P Trophy that came with the boat. I would love to build a 383 for the boat, but the wifes not sold on it...YET. Maybe if I buy her a windshield for the boat first, she might change her mind

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Fantastic job!!!:thumb: I think most older boats have wiring from hell, plus previous owners abandon wire in place instead of removing it!:(
 
Very nice.

Will probably build an I/O some day. I sold them in the late 80's and always though the smaller I/O boats were great performers.

How fast is it, as is?
 
Rob B said:
Fantastic job!!!:thumb: I think most older boats have wiring from hell, plus previous owners abandon wire in place instead of removing it!:(
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I too like your wiring job. I really like the clean look of your new blade fuse block and it's definitely more user friendly. I might just have look into one of those myself. Jim
 
Awesome write up man, very nice work!!! That is a wild paint job for sure, looks good tho!! Your rigging looks excellent!! :thumb: That 5.7 must not be stock if you are turning a 24p, my Enchanter had trouble turning a 23p, i moved back to 21p Laser II and it runs really well with that! I'll be a "plus one" on the getting a windshield for your Enchanter, i love the sporty look of the sharp lines of the 80's Checkmate windshields!! :cheers:
 
CheckmateFever said:
That 5.7 must not be stock if you are turning a 24p, my Enchanter had trouble turning a 23p, i moved back to 21p Laser II and it runs really well with that!:cheers:
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Never had the engine apart yet, but the block is just a 70's Truck 2-piece rear main with perimeter bolt-style cylinder heads and stock Rochester carb. Tweaked the timing a bit and newer tune up, but that's it. There is another enchanter (1986 260HP/alpha) that runs around same lake, he runs a 23P 3 Blade Quicksilver (not sure what model). All my prop testing baseline were done with just me in boat, phone GPS and digital tach on engine.

4 blade 24P Trophy runs 62-63 MPH at 4450 RPM. Nice holeshot. Likes a lot of trim

I also own 25P Trophy ($80 at work "garage sale"!!) it runs 64-65 MPH but drops RPM down to bottom of WOT range 4250 RPM.

23P Tempest had nice holeshot. Ran 62 MPH at 4300 RPM, but didn't like midrange...tried to blow out a lot and touchy about trim position

Tried a Enertia (21 or 22 pitch? cant remember). It was okay, but max MPH was down a bit...60 MPH...just wasnt enough pitch

I like to test just about anything I can get my hands on at work, problem is we don't usually get many props in with more than 21 inches of pitch, so I'm limited on selection.
 
I may kmow where to find a Enchanter windsheild. I'll check with the later today to see if it's still around and undamaged and if he's interested in selling.
 
RNGRDVE said:
I may kmow where to find a Enchanter windsheild. I'll check with the later today to see if it's still around and undamaged and if he's interested in selling.
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Yeah, I'd be interested. P/M me if get any info. I'm only 2 hrs north of Cincy area. Have another lead on a windshield but havent looked at it yet, not sure if its right style
 
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