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Random Quote: You can pretty much fix anything on a boat with 3M 5200
This is my first attempt to show my project for the last two years. I have also fished the boat for the last two years while getting to this point.even trailering from south jersey to hatteras NC. twice. I did not want an aluminum bracket and did not want to pay for a potter bracket $$$ so I built my own. My bracket is integral with existing and improved stringers. Vinylester resin and biaxial stitched glass,all quality. I backward engineered other brackets dimensions. I didnt reinvent the wheel? Just built my own bracket my way with their base to start from.Oh I used the old fiberglass engine box from when it was an IO.then a lot of cutting, glassing and grinding.New from the old hull up. New fuel tank 120 gal. new hynautic steering. I had to have a teak helm pod. Teak covering boards because old gunnels were a mess. New floor.all new wiring.I have not posted last years pictures they are on our other computer, I will soon get them up here. before I put the stand up head cabin area on the boat this past April. It did 51 mph at 5700 rpm 34 mph at 4000rpm with a 14.5 X19t prop on a oxx250 hp yamaha that I just sold. With 90 psi on one cylinder and 100 to 105 on the other 5. It has seen tuna, gaffer dolphin and a wahoo already on the decks.not bad for a 40 year old new boat.
Nice, Bly! I like how you integrated the bracket to the stringers. Nice helm pod too. Looks sharp - great custom ride.
Thanks Kitebuz. Did you notice the outside chine on the stern shot? I have two big batteries,70 gal of fuel in a 120 gal tank and that bracket is stronger than the rest of the boat. She is a light boat.. These old formulas are still a great bargain compared to the regulator, carolina classic, 25 seavee and 23contenders.
Captbone I had a very reliable 99 ox66 250, It was wore out and I should have rebuilt it. It owed me nothing and never let me down. The compression was 90 or something on one cyl and the others were around 100-105. It knocked a little but always ran great!! Stupid me,I found a 2003 250 hpdi for roughly the same price I sold the 99 motor? That hpdi ate a piston on the first trip out? I sold it blown on ebay for a few hundred less than I paid. Now I have a 4 stroke. The only rot or wetted out wood in my 69 formula were the engine beds from the IO and the whole plywood deck. Almost everything is new. The boat is very light, You can see the outer chine out of the water and almost the second chine. She did 52 mph with the 2 stroke 250. I will be happy with 45 mph with the F225. Shes so light that I have to cruise slower anyway to save my body to fish enougher day. shes even light with the 120 gal aluminum tank down the center full. I fish 2 days easy on that tank so I guess I went overboard with that too.
I noticed you didn't have tabs, now that your boat goes about 10mph faster than the I/O you might want to consider tabs . nothing beats a good set of tabs to adjust your trim in a sea way. My old 223 didn't have them and at 25mph or so cruise with the original i/o I guess i got along with out them. After selling the 223 and getting a 24 seabird another I/O that had tabs, well it opened up my eyes to what they do. I basically run the boat I own now with the tabs. Sea change-adjust the tabs seldom change engine trim or throttle setting. Bennett are good ones as are Trim Master.
When you widen the bracket and put on a pair of 250 or 350's then you might want a set of K-planes.
Anyway, I love your boat and how you did it.
Beautiful boat. Please post more pictures when you can.
The bracket intergration into the stringers is extremely cleaver and I have not seen that before. It looks extremely strong and looks like your even have storage in the bracket.
I noticed you didn't have tabs, now that your boat goes about 10mph faster than the I/O you might want to consider tabs . nothing beats a good set of tabs to adjust your trim in a sea way. My old 223 didn't have them and at 25mph or so cruise with the original i/o I guess i got along with out them. After selling the 223 and getting a 24 seabird another I/O that had tabs, well it opened up my eyes to what they do. I basically run the boat I own now with the tabs. Sea change-adjust the tabs seldom change engine trim or throttle setting. Bennett are good ones as are Trim Master.
When you widen the bracket and put on a pair of 250 or 350's then you might want a set of K-planes.
Anyway, I love your boat and how you did it.
Thanks for the compliment and the advice on the tabs. I have been seriously thinking of them lately. My reasoning is to push the bow down more for a better ride hopefully not making the ride too wet? I noticed you omitted Lenco from your tab choice,any reason?
Beautiful boat. Please post more pictures when you can.
The bracket intergration into the stringers is extremely cleaver and I have not seen that before. It looks extremely strong and looks like your even have storage in the bracket.
I am just not familiar with Lenco and I have a basic prejudice against them, I know I'll get flamed but they seem too complicated with little electric motors and gears out there in in water. I just think hydraulic is the simpler solution. If you have a hydraulic ram start leaking or break off, the replacement cost would be far less. I have a set of Dana Marine tabs on my boat and didn't mention them either but I don't think you that sort of thing. One thing that comes to mind though, the way Bennitts are made, they are hard to thru-bolt and almost always are mounted with screws to the transom. Plenty times on older boats that have wood cored transoms, the wood may gone just where you want the screws to go. A solution to that could be go to longer narrower tabs and mount them above the line of the hull rather than like you usually see tabs that are mounted as an extension of the running surface. Maybe something like the Victory Marine Dual ram kit that uses bennitt parts. A pair of 12X15's could be mounted higher up the transom, say about 1-2" up and then with their added lenght the tips would contact the water and provide the triming. My boat is set up this way with the dana and mine are even at a flatter angle than the bottom of the boat. You don't need to do this but you could move then up if you don't have solid backing where the tabs would normally gho. you just need sdome longer ones so you can mount them differently.
Anyway I know you will find tabs to be a real help in running offshore.
And once more I must say, your boat is beautiful, I love the look of the 223 and you did a wonderful job.
Wow great job. I will admit that when I saw the first picture of the bracket I thought it looked like a little low and that the engine would sit to low. Not the case at all, the boat sits very well. I guess it was designed to have a small block I/O so the 250 Yam is actually much less weight.
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