Newbie in Tenn.

[knucklebuster283]

Hello y'll. I've been lurking on here for awhile thought it was time to let myself be known. I've owned a few small boats, in the 12' to 14' range and never had any issues with them. Been lucky til now all have been used boats. Just picked up a 82 ProCraft 1750V with a 82 Mercury 1150. She's in pretty good shape considering she's sat out sitting idle and uncovered for the last two years. Gave $500 with a nice Pro Craft trailer. What I have found so far, ignition switch has a terminal broke off, the down side solenoid is bad for trim, carbs need to be gone through, fuel tank needs to be drained new fuel filter and lines.

 

[southkogs]

Welcome aboard neighbor!

 

[mjf55]

Welcome KB. Congratulations on your boat, but you know the drill. Are there any floor soft spots to worry about? Did you take any core samples of the stringers and transome. Need to do that to see if there is any rot. A boat that age and sitting uncovered will probably have some. Do this before investing too much time and money to determine if you want to continue fixing her.
As to what you found and plan, those are some of the first things to correct. You can also invest in a small external fuel tank to get the engine running before you drain / clean the tank.
Google luck. Keep us posted.

 

[knucklebuster283]

Thanks for the welcome. mjf, the floors feel pretty solid and the first thing i did was pulled the seats and side panels off to clean out all the leafs and acorns. no signs of a nest anywhere, but all the screws came out pretty tight, and not stripped. The transom feels nice and solid also. She did have a transom saver on it, but the PO kept it. I've already got another one. The PO also kept the trolling motor that was on it so I need to replace that also. Which leads to my first question. How do I determine the length of shaft for the new trolling motor. As on this boat the bow is stepped down from the rest of the boat. Today I'm replacing the burnt solenoid for the trim down side of the trim pump, and will make the first attempt at firing this ole' girl up. I hail from Bethpage southkogs.

 

[knucklebuster283]

Some pics of the 1750V

 

[mjf55]

That looks like a good deal you got. I don't know much about trolling motors so I won't be much help other that searching the net for answers. Enjoy your new deal.

 

[southkogs]

I ran a Procraft (little newer than that one) on Priest for a couple days a few years ago ... I'm not crazy about the low profile of the boat, but I will say it handled VERY nicely. The hull looks in decent shape ... maybe a little buffing and some of the color will come back into it. Hope the motor goes easy for you.

I hail from Bethpage southkogs.

Cool ... I'm down in Murfreesboro. Got family up in Portland though, so occasionally I'm up your way. Tennessee is represented fairly well here on the forums.

 

[knucklebuster283]

QUOTE=southkogs;n10217702]I ran a Procraft (little newer than that one) on Priest for a couple days a few years ago ... I'm not crazy about the low profile of the boat, but I will say it handled VERY nicely. The hull looks in decent shape ... maybe a little buffing and some of the color will come back into it. Hope the motor goes easy for you.


[Cool ... I'm down in Murfreesboro. Got family up in Portland though, so occasionally I'm up your way. Tennessee is represented fairly well here on the forums.][/QUOTE]
Wow I have family just out Lascassas Pike going towards Milton

 

[knucklebuster283]

Got to work on the boat today. Drain the fuel tank as much as I could, 7 gals worth. Anyone know how many gals it is? Changed out the fuel lines and added a filter. Pulled the sparkplugs, they all look good. Compression is between 125-127 on all 6 cylinders, so I think that's good. When i had pulled the sparkplugs I had the motor turned all the way to the right, but when tried to turn all the way to the left, would only turn til motor was centered and no more. So I pulled the steering cable out as far as I could, cleaned it up and oiled it as best I could. That's now nice and free, can turn fully both ways with a fingertip. Hopped onto the creeper under the boat. Got two spots, one about 2"-3", and one about 3' long area that the gel coat is scraped off. The glass is in tacked and no holes, but need to address that before puttin her in the water. So next will be puttin gas and do the first run of the motor. May get to that this afternoon. Now I have not yet had this boat in the water, so no idea if there are any leaks. I have done this with aluminum boats, looking for leaking rivets, but fill em full of water in the driveway. Does anyone see any issues doing so on a fiberglass boat? Thanks

 

[southkogs]

As a rule, flooding a boat is not advised because you're affecting the wood and flotation foam. Better to just take it to the lake (IMHO) and slide it down the ramp on the trailer. Don't really even need to release it ... just see if water's comin' in.

Got no idea on the tank size for ya'. My first guess would be in the 10 - 15 gallon range, but that's a guess.

I haven't been out to Milton in a few years, that's a pretty area.

 

[knucklebuster283]

Update on the Pro Craft. After a bit of cranking, running the battery down, recharging, got the motor fired up. I didn't run it more than a minute or two, no telltale. Sounded pretty good though. So I know for sure I need an impeller kit. I need to get a service manual, as I'm not sure if there is a thermostat on this motor. Also she went into reverse nice and smooth, at first didn't want to shift to forward, then when it finally did got a grinding noise before it caught. Not liking that. Next thing to do is drain the gear oil, should have done that before trying to run it.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Welcome aboard. You will know what the size of the tank is when you fill it. I see what you mean about the bow dropping the profile of the boat. I like the prop to be at least10" below the water line because we fish in choppy water, Lake Erie. Depending on water conditions you really don't need to go that deep, with that shallow bow a 48" is probably enough. Just measure what you have from the bow gunnel to water line before shopping. The shaft length will depend how high the motor assembly is when deployed. I always recommend a 24V troller, power is King and more range on a charge, and get the most thrust that the budget will take. If you are going to fish the GPS anchor feature is fantastic. That's my next upgrade.

It looks like you got a great deal there. Everything is checking out well for you. I don't recommend putting her in gear unless in the water. Get that barge in the water, I bet she's tight based on the engine running after all these years. That was a well looked after water crotch rocket. I bet she will fly, be careful, safety first and second.