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1984 Checkmate

Mike N

New member
I just purchased a 1984 Checkmate 17 foot Enchanter powered by a 1998 Mercury 150 cc 2 cycle engine. The boat is in very good condition and included a good galvanized trailer . The boat has a hot foot gas pedal and throttle go forward and reverse. The engine is a two stroke and runs well when the gas pedal is held down but seems to wants to stall when at idle . I thought I might change the six spark plugs and add some new gas and oil in tank to existing gaswuch is about a quarter tank any suggestions that perhaps I should do more maybe how to. Clean carb or any other additive ?
 
Seafoam, and adjust the idle screw up alittle but beware if you get the idle to high it can lock it into gear and being on the Mississippi river backing up doing backward circles with the current is no fun, if you plan to dig into the carbs there are cork gaskets that tend to break when open up so have rebuild kits at hand when you do them.
 
What would a 18 foot 1984 checkmate model name be called ? I curios to know . Could one tell by the hill numbers
 
To help a little more with ID - I just went outside and measured my 86 Predictor from the tip of the windshield where it touches the hull to the front of the bow along the centerline and it's 86.5"
 
In 1984 a 17' Checkmate was either a Diplomat (open bow) or a Sportfire (closed bow). 16 foot was an Enticer (open bow) or a Predictor II (Closed bow) They did not make an 18' in1984. A 19' was an Eluder (open bow) or Exciter. (Closed bow) Post a picture of the boat.
 
In 1984 a 17' Checkmate was either a Diplomat (open bow) or a Sportfire (closed bow). 16 foot was an Enticer (open bow) or a Predictor II (Closed bow) They did not make an 18' in1984. A 19' was an Eluder (open bow) or Exciter. (Closed bow) Post a picture of the boat.

This is for outboards, source the 86 catalog on this website. Predictor is 16'6", Diplomat/Sportfire is 16'7" (they have 5" more beam than the Predictor), Eluder is 18'3" (they don't list the Exciter OB this year, but it's the same length as the Eluder.) My Predicator is listed as 17' on the title. My Eluder was listed as a 19'. My Enchanter (20'1") is listed as a 21'.
 
This is for outboards, source the 86 catalog on this website. Predictor is 16'6", Diplomat/Sportfire is 16'7" (they have 5" more beam than the Predictor), Eluder is 18'3" (they don't list the Exciter OB this year, but it's the same length as the Eluder.) My Predicator is listed as 17' on the title. My Eluder was listed as a 19'. My Enchanter (20'1") is listed as a 21'.
Yes. You are correct. I am going by what they would be titled as. Not what they measure. As for the what the models are. You really have to go by looks. My 1989 17' Spectra 171 is titled and has the coast guard capacity plate for a "SPORTSFIRE". Even though there is only 1 s in Sportfire.
 
Yes. You are correct. I am going by what they would be titled as. Not what they measure. As for the what the models are. You really have to go by looks. My 1989 17' Spectra 171 is titled and has the coast guard capacity plate for a "SPORTSFIRE". Even though there is only 1 s in Sportfire.
In my state you declare the length on the registration, along with type of power, HP and fuel type. I just went with what the previous owner declared, since it doesn't really matter until you get to the 24'/25' length where the registration cost triples for boats over 24'. I made sure to declare my Formula 242SS as a 24' boat.
 
In my state to register a boat you have to provide the paperwork that was provided by the original manufacturer and passed to each successive owner. If you don't have paperwork, with a few exceptions, the boat is considered stolen and will not be registered. The only thing you declare is the information you provided is correct.
 
In my state to register a boat you have to provide the paperwork that was provided by the original manufacturer and passed to each successive owner. If you don't have paperwork, with a few exceptions, the boat is considered stolen and will not be registered. The only thing you declare is the information you provided is correct.
My state is surprisingly lax about boat titles, compared to auto and trailer titles. Probably because a different agency is in charge of it (Wildlife instead of DMV.)
 
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