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1975 V-Mate II Restore

This boat has really come a long way. You should feel very proud of the job you have done here. Now is the fun part, rigging and getting her ready!!! Looks awesome.
 
I finally mounted my fuel tank in the boat and since I picked up a battery this weekend, thought it would be a great time to start the motor up for the first time this year. It's the first time I've ever seen this boat with a motor that ran! The time to getting her splashed is not too far off. Before doing so, I need to change the impeller on the lower unit and install my rub rail.

However, I'm not a huge fan of how much gas is leaking out from the carbs when I pump the ball and while it's running. To me, it seems a bit excessive. Anyways, here is a quick video... http://youtu.be/ULyMjMvbi2k
 
Your other TOP does seem to run a little smoother. It's hard to tell via YouTube. If you figure out where the gas is leaking from I'd be interested to know, mine does that too. I can squeeze gas out with the bulb. Makes me feel like an environmental hazard every time.

You gotta be itching to drop that thing in the water now. :cheers:

I just took mine for a rip on lake Ontario this weekend and it felt good. :banana:
 
Today, I removed to lower off of this motor to change out the impeller. I also changed out the lower unit fluid which was almost a vanilla color. Now I'm feeling more comfortable taking this thing out for the first time.

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I finally have the carpet layed in the boat. It wasn't exactly a fun job but it's done. I've also put in my interior. :D The front seats still need to be mounted onto swivels but here are some pictures of the progress. I also installed the rub rail.

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With all luck, I hope to do a lake test either Sunday or sometime during next week. :surf: The only major job that I still need to do is the wiring of my electronics.
 
Nice!! I did the wiring on mine before any of the interior went in. Your right the carpet was a pain, and a bit frustrating, especially when the glue stuck the gloves together, then the empty beer can got stuck to them.

I never like to see water in the gear lube like that. This suggests that a seal may be bad. Keep an eye on it. In fact you may want to run it for a while on the trailer shifting in and out of gears, and change the oil one more time.
 
Boat is looking great, I cant wait to see some pics of it on the water. I loved my V-Mate II, wish I still had it.
 
Looks fantastic!!! :cheers: drop that thing in the water!

What are you planning to do about a window? I saw a while back you were playing with mock ups. I also saw this exciter window for sale and I thought of you. I wonder if it would fit, unless it's from a br. http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20515

Also what do you think about some chrome stripping on the bottom edge of the deck in the dash area? A lot of mates come with this. Can't deny your down to details now!
 
rickvi said:
Looks fantastic!!! :cheers: drop that thing in the water!

What are you planning to do about a window? I saw a while back you were playing with mock ups. I also saw this exciter window for sale and I thought of you. I wonder if it would fit, unless it's from a br. http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20515

Also what do you think about some chrome stripping on the bottom edge of the deck in the dash area? A lot of mates come with this. Can't deny your down to details now!
Click to expand...

With all luck, she's going to get splashed later this week. :cheers:
I was playing with the thought of a windscreen but decided against it. Too much work and it probably wouldn't look right. For now, I'm just going with nothing and see how it works out.
 
Hi Mike,

As stated in a previous post, be carefull with the lower unit gear oil.
As white as it was, there was way too much water in there. I had my
lower rebuilt last year and the dealer tried four time to stop the water from getting in. And I didn't have that problem when I gave it to him to replace the gears. I had to work with him to find the bad seal he put in.
You have 2 places to check. The seal under the water pump (main drive shaft) and the prop shaft seal.

Please get that fixed before you drop the boat in the water.

Jim
 
JT Patroni said:
Hi Mike,

As stated in a previous post, be carefull with the lower unit gear oil.
As white as it was, there was way too much water in there. I had my
lower rebuilt last year and the dealer tried four time to stop the water from getting in. And I didn't have that problem when I gave it to him to replace the gears. I had to work with him to find the bad seal he put in.
You have 2 places to check. The seal under the water pump (main drive shaft) and the prop shaft seal.

Please get that fixed before you drop the boat in the water.

Jim
Click to expand...

No worries, I'm heading down to switch out the motors today.
 
rickvi said:
Hey bigredinohio

We have been waiting since 1975 to see some pics of this boats rebirth on the water. Any updates? :poke::poke::poke:
Click to expand...

Here are some pictures of the maiden voyage from last Saturday:
http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21440

There really hasn't been many updates other then finally finishing the wiring, switching out motor and cable box, changing props & waxing. I'll post up pictures after the rally. :thumb:
 
I took the boat to Cumberland and she ran really well. It handled the rough water pretty well although it does have a tendancy to want to start chine walking if you stay on the throttle while in the rough. The motor also ran strong. My top speed was 50.1 on GPS while turning a 21p aluminum prop. The only problem I have is I still have no idea what RPM's I was turning. I was able to do some research yesterday and I'm am now hopefull that I've fixed my tach problem by taking the brown sending wire from the switch box and placing it on one of the yellow wires on the rectifier.

The only bad at this moment is the fact my trim is now leaking (I think). When we stopped on the way down to Cumberland to fuel up, I noticed the trim fluid had strayed all over the transom. I find it strange considering the motor was on a transom saver. The trim still works but if I trim the motor up, it will slowly come back down in a matter of minutes so I'm wondering if I might have bad seals in the cylinders. Looks like I'll be learning how to take those apart to fix.

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