1997 Mirrocraft 18' aluminum fish n ski

[redneck joe]

Thought you had one of those fancy metal barns I here tell about...

 

[BWR1953]

Thought you had one of those fancy metal barns I here tell about...

I do indeed. And when it's raining, it's like being inside a snare drum in a rock n roll band. LOUD! We've tried it in the past and even though we wore ear muffs, it was too deafening to stay in there.

Here's a 15 second video from when I was in there the other day and it started raining when the sun was out, which is why I took the video.

Mind you, this is a light rain.

View attachment Sunny Rain 21Aug25.mp4

 

[BWR1953]

I got all 5 gauges fully wired and installed today. Tomorrow is major cleanup day.

 

[BWR1953]

I started getting the switches and horn button remounted today. Couldn't find the 4th switch, so contacted my buddy (who had set up everything for the splash) and he dropped by. After he crawled under the dash he said "Oh yeah, there was a switch which wasn't connected to anything." So he had trashed the grody old thing.

I ordered a DPDT switch a little while ago and am now searching for panel lights for 3/8" mounting holes to go at the top of the console. I'm planning on putting red LEDs there to indicate which switches are active. In the center hole, I'll have the LED connected to a loud buzzer/horn which will be connected to a water pressure loss switch on the engine.

No engine water pressure? Light comes on and starts screaming at me.

And I'm also working on seat height. The seats are way too low and I need to figure out a good height, plus a way to extend them up.

 

[BWR1953]

Been a very busy week for me, with non-boat related stuff.

However, this morning I did a quick gauge test. Found out that I'd skipped the tach/voltmeter power connection while running jumpers between gauges. Made up a new jumper and turned the ignition on. Voila!



And a little video. The temp and tilt gauge sensors aren't connected yet, but the pretty blue lights come on! The GPS speedo sweep is nominal. It's just looking for satellites.
View attachment First gauge test.mp4

The red warning lights are arriving today. I already received the DPDT switch for the nav/anchor lights.

But, now I'm overthinking. I do that.
The switch panel has provision for 4 switches.
Originally, it was:
Nav/Anchor,
Livewell,
Bilge and
Accessory.

But when I acquired the boat, the Nav/Anc switch wasn't 2-way. It turned on both lights simultaneously. If you want to just anchor up, put the anchor light in place. Want to run up the lake again? Install the bow nav light. Ugh. That's why I ordered the DPDT switch, so that I could turn them on properly.

I don't have a livewell and no plans for one, so no need for that switch or light to be connected. And I don't have any accessories, so won't need that setup connected either. That means 4 switches with only 2 operational.

I could use 2 independent switches for the nav/anc lights. Kinda silly. But, I would then be using 3 out of the four switches. Meh.
I dunno what I'm gonna do yet.

 

[redneck joe]

KISS

 

[redneck joe]

On my last two boats i put a switch inline to the ignition as an antitheft device. One was moored full time one part time so just wanted that little bit of mcgyver effect...

 

[BWR1953]

I'm still working on wiring and switches and whatnot. Made good progress yesterday but lost all day today because I was in the ER. I'm okay though. One of those "better safe than sorry deals."

Yesterday morning I spent removing the indicator lights from the console, then soldering up extensions for them.

My buddy came over last evening, crawled up under the dash and got some B+ from the fuse panel, along with a ground wire, out to where I can reach them. We discovered that there was a missing fuse, so we replaced that and the washdown pump now works! Not like I'll ever use it though.

I rewired a new DPDT switch so that the nav/anchor lights will work properly. All tested and all good.

More electrical work tomorrow.

My little soldering outfit.


Fuse panel with one missing.


Getting electrified!

 

[redneck joe]

I was beginning to worry about you since no updates.

 

[BWR1953]

Yeah, I'm slow and my buddy is a very busy man. Takes me forever sometimes.

I did buy a piece of aluminum to cover that gaping rectangular hole in the dash. And the store guy turned out to be a former boat salesman. He said that the hole most likely held an AM/FM cassette receiver.

 

[BWR1953]

This morning I did some more soldering and adding extensions to the console indicator lights. Made good progress, then ran into an odd thing.

When I added the indicator light to the courtesy light switch, the courtesy light would stay OFF when I turned the switch to ON. But the dash indicator light would come on! I removed the indicator light from the circuit and the courtesy light would come on again normally.

By then, it was in the 90s in the garage, so I didn't investigate, but just called it a day.

Still more wiring work to do.

 

[BWR1953]

More progress!

I really should remove that seat base and set it aside. I've tripped over it several times. But I only need to do "one or two" more things, so I'll wait...


I don't have a bus bar for the ground wires and didn't want to wait days and days to have one delivered. So, I took a hint from my neighbor buddy and made a "modified universal redneck busbar."


It worked! (The center light isn't hooked up to anything yet.)


Soldered up the bus bar, then after that I covered it in marine shrink tubing.


But! When I slid everything into place the nav/lights failed to work!


Started checking and testing.


It turned out to be that the brand new fuse I installed for the nav/lights had tabs which were "too thin" and weren't making full contact inside the fuse block. I reinstalled the old fuse and everything worked normally again.


A little glow time.

 

[redneck joe]

You gonna clean up that rusty fuse panel?

 

[BWR1953]

Well, it's been a month since my last post. I guess I should give an update on why this thing isn't done yet!

And yes, I have pix of all this stuff!

All of the parts that I ordered came in late last week. I haven't done anything with them other than to plop them down in the garage, where they await my attention.

I also created a thread about the sensors/gauges and whatnot over in the Mercury repair section and got some good advice there over several days. I then put that info to good use with some minor engine/gauge testing and parts ordering. Took awhile to research and find the correct parts to order. But I made good progress on that.

Five days ago I took my truck in for an oil change and 2 days ago I brought home a new 2026 truck! Got a really good deal on the trade-in.

And a couple weeks ago I bought a new laptop and have been getting it configured and set up. Got it 99% done just 3 days ago. Still have a couple things to do.

Also during that time, we had some much nicer weather and I got a ton of stuff done outside on the property. Repaired some yard damage and laid new sod. Then "discovered" a very effective DIY weed killer and used it to destroy vines and weeds in a variety of places. Really socked it to 'em!

So, I haven't exactly been slacking, but have definitely been busy, both with boat and non-boat stuff.

We have more good weather headed here in a couple days, so I hope to get back on the boat soon, so to speak!