1974 MX-15, before and after

[wet willy]

Check out this boat, I have always wanted one of these ever since I was 12 or so and used to watch Kenny Stabler and his buds run these boats with 150Merc's (tower of power) in Orange Beach Al. Now at the ripe old age of 47, I found one for $200 with trailer. I know a guy in North Florida that is the real deal when it comes to re-doing these little mates..., so several thousand dollars later, it has a New 75 E-TEC (50mph on the gps), Lenco trim tabs, new sterring, gauges, trailer, int. and custom paint. He even let my 10 and 12 yr, old kids make drawings on notebook paper, pick the colors and by george this is what we got. Real proud of this boat, makes me feel 16 again, enjoy and tell me what you think,
Will
If you can't see the pictures in this email, click here to see it in a web browser:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=540627300311%3A1754372965&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

 

[SCT]

WOW, Wet Willy. That old Mx 15 looks better then the day it left the factory......absolutely awesome job! That must be a blast to drive. I can't imagine the final bill on that boat. You need to post a video of it running.

Here is a pix from the gallery of Kenny Stabler and one of his Checkmates.

 

[Sean Tieben]

I agree that boat looks awesome. The running shots look like fun. Thanks for saving that old boat, not many around.

 

[checkmate525sc]

Very Nice!!! I am just about ready to start on a 1977 V-mate 1, Hope it turns out as nice as yours!!

 

[Great East Predictor]

nice, clean work...that looks great.

 

[wet willy]

Thanks for the kind words! The boat is different than anything I have ever driven, I am amazed by how good it rides, I really thought it would beat me to death. I just sold a 1995 13 Boston Whaler Dauntless with a 50 E-TEC. This was/ is a great boat, however it tended to "slap" the water more than this boat, different hulls for sure but the Checkmate 15 weighs 150lbs less than the Whaler.

 

[ezstriper]

Great job !!!!! looks like I can see that ear to ear smile in the drivin' pics !!

 

[82Diplomat]

If you don't mind - what does a restoration like this cost to have someone else do????

 

[wet willy]

I do not mind the $$ question. All in it was $17,500. I know we can sit here and debate "what would this kind of money buy" etc.... but, this is sort of my 1972 Chevelle SS396, its what I wanted and was able to have it custom made right down to the stainless steel grab handle on the passenger dash. It gets a ton of attention and when you tell people its a 1974, they freak out. As for the 75 E-TEC (I sound defensive, I am just answering a few questions folks may have), I wanted to keep it tame, I have a 10 and 12yr. old and they both run this boat with me sitting next to them. The builder did a cool job on the transom, he put in re-inforcemens L-brackets (fiberglas, intergrated) after he completly rebuilt the transom ie he has a 150 on his 73 and built mine to handle one in the future. Thanks to all for taking a look, I am really having fun with it!
Will

 

[glake]

Truly a beautiful restoration.

 

[groundloop]

That boat is georgeous.

On one hand 17.5K for that old of a boat might be a lot, but when you think about what a new boat like that would cost (if you could even find one) it kind of puts things into perspective.