New boat owner!

[rickfenn1]

Well I finally pulled the trigger while searching craigslist and came out ontop!
I picked up a 1980 Predictor with a Mercury 1150 in good running order.
For the price I payed It's a pretty awesome little boat.

So far I've:
-Pulled out all of the hack repairs to the interior from the P/O
-Rewired most all of the major components in the boat correctly with good wire and heat shrink fittings and pulled out all of the un-necessary wiring that had been hack in throughout the years
-Cleaned the entire boat thoroughly.
-Pulled the whole fuel cell/ water separator assembly apart, cleaned it all out and put a new filter on.
-Doing a water pump later today since I have no receipts from it being done before.
-Fixed the one piece of rot in the rear under the fuel cell
-New Deep Cycle marine battery
-Got the bilge system clean and working again
-Fixed all of the wiring and safety chains and lights on the trailer

Future Plans:
-New front/rear/side panel upholstery
-New Prop
-Fix the tilt and trim so it doesn't bleed down on it's own.
-Get more than just the tach to work for the gauges and add a water pressure gauge
-Jack plate
-Possible roll and tip the black again since it's currently matte black instead of gloss. Only if I cant bring it back with wet sanding and polish.
-LED trailer lights
-Respray the trailer fenders
-New trailer tires
-This list could go on forever!!!!

I'm kind of OCD/Perfectionist when it comes to my vehicles so I'm not gonna cut any corners. ($$$$ permitting!)

 

[Gimme Fuel]

Welcome....and that is a nice looking Predictor. It sounds like you are going to take good care of her.

 

[boatman4021]

Nice looking boat! Good luck with her! boatman

 

[chrispallen]

nice, good to see another predictor

 

[Rob B]

Welcome to the board!!!

 

[yellowfiero88]

 

[lcboater]

Welcome to Checkmate!!!!!!

 

[justincase]

welcome

 

[Vandalizer]

Love that color combo! You may want to think about taking the planing fin off the back too- as long as that engine is running well it should get right up on plane.

 

[rickfenn1]

Well I finished the waterpump which ended up being a complete replacement of the upper and lower housings w/ impeller and all of the seals since the P/O ran it without water apparently. Hopefully it will be a happy running boat now. Decided on white blue and black vinyl for the interior in some sort of checkerboard pattern in parts.

Any benefits of taking the planing fin off? because currently I can get it to plane out quite fast with it which is ok for quick acceleration.

 

[Vandalizer]

The biggest reason is that it just doesn't need to be there and is (a tiny) bit of extra drag. I've also heard that that they can make the boat unstable in corners.

You may want to call Mike at Checkmate to ask about an all new interior. They have all the original patterns, and it will bolt right in and look perfect.

 

[rickfenn1]

I'll take it off and see how it goes, it's only 4 screws. I'll call checkmate later and ask them what they have. If the price is right that may be the way to go for me since vinyl and upholstery foam plus all of the work to put it together might not be worth it. I also have a place near me called kellogg marine that usually has refurbished interiors.

 

[Sam I am]

Nice boat!

 

[rickfenn1]

Thanks, Well 8 hours of wet sand/compound/glaze/polish brought the gelcoat and metalflake back to its former glory (sorta) Looks amazing compared to when I started. I'll take some pictures when I get the chance. Also swapped a friend for a nice 20p 13 1/4" stainless prop which brought the boat up to about 49mph with the planing fin while fighting with the ever dropping tilt and trim, haha. It's definitely fun seeing everyone along the beach with the same large cuddycab/ open bow white boats in a row then have a tiny, low, black and blue, closed bow, speed boat sitting in the mix. Definitely get people talking.

 

[Minor Threat]

I see your from western Ma. Where abouts. Im from eastern Ma. Nice boat. Im sure it came out great. I just did my enchanter over with wet sanding. Tough job but pays off. Welcome to the site. Great people here.

 

[Will30]

 

[rickfenn1]

I'm thinking about the roll and tip method for the black underside of the boat since that's all that is left to bring the paint back. how do you fill in all of the chips and deep scratches in the lower hull before paint application? I guess I'll start researching that today.

 

[rickfenn1]

Well, decided to check out under the carpet today.... bad idea, found from about the seat blocks back to be rotted under this piece of plywood that the previous owner had put on top of it. used a screwdriver to remove a 2 foot section of floor to find all of the foam to feel just like an apple and have about twice as much juice inside. so that means the entire floor is waterlogged and so is the foam. I dont mind fixing these things be I was just wondering whats the best method of removing the center stringer,floor and foam. and where do you get new foam for under the floor? is it sprayed in expansion stuff?

 

[Clemson327]

Nice looking boat...just bought an '80 Predictor myself. Hope you get everything sorted out with the floor.

 

[rickfenn1]

I'm trying to figure out the floor but you know how it goes, once you start picking at the scab it only gets worse. Which is shown in this picture where I currently am. I'm going to throw the false floor back in with some new carpet for this Memorial day weekend then slowly dismantle the floor back area and inevitably the rear boxes. I'm just gonna take it apart in sections so I can still have me and a passenger for the weekends and make all of the wooden pieces then spend a week and fiberglass them all in.......here's a picture of progress.