Adambomb
Member
After running my 87 o/b Diplomat for two seasons with no floor and a rotten core, I decided it was time to find a "safer" more solid hull, and do a motor swap. Finally I found a good candidate, It was nearby and looked to be in good shape. the owner wasn't very motivated to sell, which made him pretty firm on the price. But after months of diligent searching on craigslist, ebay and the forum I was getting impatient. The owner told me the stringer and floor along with the carpet and seats had been redone by a friend who worked at a marina. The transom needed to be done but My friend Keith a.k.a kdebolt. offered to help rebuild it as a winter project for us. So I took her home.
The boat is a 1978 Predictor with a 1400 mercury inline. Keith and I agreed the three tone has to go, we're thinking all black with 90's checkmate logos.
I took it out a few times before I ended up selling the motor off it for way too cheap. it had a 3 blade 19 pitch prop on it, topped out around 50 and had awesome accelleration.



Heres a picture of the Donor boat. It's got a 23 pitch prop on it and will do around 60. I'm hoping I'll get more speed on the Predictor with a jackplate.

After we had all the rivets drilled out and the top deck off, we busted into the floor and could see the marine guy who rebuilt the floor and stringers probably washed boats for a living had no knowledge or concern for structural integrity. He had only replaced the stringer up to the front seats, and it wasn't even touching the hull anymore, he had glued it down with resin and used no fiberglass mat. He also cut two channels into the bottom of the hull when he removed the floor. The floor, stringer, carpet and seats needed replacing. we were quickly realizing the transom replacement was becoming a full restoration.










The boat is a 1978 Predictor with a 1400 mercury inline. Keith and I agreed the three tone has to go, we're thinking all black with 90's checkmate logos.
I took it out a few times before I ended up selling the motor off it for way too cheap. it had a 3 blade 19 pitch prop on it, topped out around 50 and had awesome accelleration.



Heres a picture of the Donor boat. It's got a 23 pitch prop on it and will do around 60. I'm hoping I'll get more speed on the Predictor with a jackplate.

After we had all the rivets drilled out and the top deck off, we busted into the floor and could see the marine guy who rebuilt the floor and stringers probably washed boats for a living had no knowledge or concern for structural integrity. He had only replaced the stringer up to the front seats, and it wasn't even touching the hull anymore, he had glued it down with resin and used no fiberglass mat. He also cut two channels into the bottom of the hull when he removed the floor. The floor, stringer, carpet and seats needed replacing. we were quickly realizing the transom replacement was becoming a full restoration.










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