speedman79
New member
Hey everybody, I've seen so many great shots of old Checkmates - I just wanted to be a part of this site! I have a 77 Trimate II that I bought 4 years ago. It was in pretty bad shape. The floor was rotted through the metal flake finish was worn on the top surfaces and all interior was toast.
(and it came with a running 1969 55hp evinrude)
I bought the boat, motor, and trailer for $800.
First thing I did was take off all the hardware, interior and sold the horrible electric shift 55hp on ebay. I replaced the floor with West system epoxy, wet sanded and sprayed clear over the tired metal flakes, replaced all hardware with stainless cleats, new gauges, and steering.
I use a manual HI-JACKER jack plate with 6" of set back. I wanted a mercury but being on a budget I settled for a 140 crossflow Johnson...price was right. I put a 22 pitch omc raker prop on it - It runs about 55 on my speedo but I haven't been able to GPS it yet. The motor is a little tired since I blew a head gasket and got water in the cylinder - one cylinder is down
20 psi. - It still runs ok though - until a piston shoots through the back of the block- I'm not fixing it!
Every year I try to improve something - this season it got Boyesen Power reeds, and CD player. Cant wait to try the motor with new these reeds - supposed to help idle through top end...we'll see.
I'll post pictures asap - is there a way to upload photos to this site or I have to host the picture and paste the link?
(and it came with a running 1969 55hp evinrude)
I bought the boat, motor, and trailer for $800.
First thing I did was take off all the hardware, interior and sold the horrible electric shift 55hp on ebay. I replaced the floor with West system epoxy, wet sanded and sprayed clear over the tired metal flakes, replaced all hardware with stainless cleats, new gauges, and steering.
I use a manual HI-JACKER jack plate with 6" of set back. I wanted a mercury but being on a budget I settled for a 140 crossflow Johnson...price was right. I put a 22 pitch omc raker prop on it - It runs about 55 on my speedo but I haven't been able to GPS it yet. The motor is a little tired since I blew a head gasket and got water in the cylinder - one cylinder is down
20 psi. - It still runs ok though - until a piston shoots through the back of the block- I'm not fixing it!
Every year I try to improve something - this season it got Boyesen Power reeds, and CD player. Cant wait to try the motor with new these reeds - supposed to help idle through top end...we'll see.
I'll post pictures asap - is there a way to upload photos to this site or I have to host the picture and paste the link?