LaConner goes under the knife

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Chaps
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LaConner goes under the knife

#1

Post by Chaps »

Finally getting around to the repower project on my '88 LaConner. Its an old tow boat originally equipped with a pair of gawd-awful 4 cyl mercruisers. Going to hang a single 225 Suzuki on a Porta engine bracket. So far I've pulled the engines and cut away the engine box (that sucker went across the entire cockpit), cut out the transom and wacked a few other things.

As she was built

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After major surgery

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All finished!!

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just kidding :lol:

Its over at NDI right now getting the welding done. I finally came to the conclusion that my skill set wasn't up to this job and it wasn't getting done so decided to bite the bullet and hire the pros. Hope to have it back in a week or two to start the engine install and the rigging. More pics to follow . . .
1987 24' LaConner pilothouse workboat, 225 Suzuki
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welder
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#2

Post by welder »

Just tell Justin that we think the trade for the above boats would work great. LOL

Chaps, you are going to have a NEW boat with all that room and fish ability , I think it is a wise move .

:thumbsup:

Is there room on the bracket for a Kicker motor ?
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#3

Post by Chaps »

Les, this is going to be more of a workboat than a fish machine though I'll eventually rig it to go offshore. There is room to mount a kicker though I'm going to wait to see if I'll need it. I'll be swinging a fairly low pitch prop on the main so my speed at idle may be slow enough to salmon troll negating the need (and expense) of a kicker.
Last edited by Chaps on Mon Feb 09, 2009 8:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#4

Post by ruggit »

Chaps

I think you like playing with boats. Lots of worse things a guy could be doing.
Armstrong 29 with Yamaha F350
Chaps
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#5

Post by Chaps »

ruggit wrote:
I think you like playing with boats.
Yer startin' to sound a lot like my wife . . . and most of my friends now that I think about it. Wait a minute, you're on your 5th Armstrong? If thats not an addiction I don't think the term can be defined . . . :thumbsup:
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#6

Post by MacCTD »

Nice looking boat, I am considering a similar project with a slightly smaller boat, how much does that boat weigh, how do you think it will perform with a single 225?
'05 Pacific 1925
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#7

Post by Chaps »

MacCTD wrote:how much does that boat weigh, how do you think it will perform with a single 225?
I'm going to scale it when it comes back from NDI, I'm estimating w/o power it will weigh 3700 dry. Performance? Not sure I'll have very good numbers to reflect its performance potential as I'm setting it up prop wise for heavy towing, not for speed. The motor will be plenty for what I do though I suspect it will be viewed as underpowered by some. We'll see what it does and thats what it will do :wink:
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#8

Post by ruggit »

My name is Ruggit and I am an alloy boataholic. It's been over a year since I bought my last boat.
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#9

Post by welder »

Chaps how is the Patient doing , can we expect a full recovery ?

What do you do with the LaConner , are you in the towing buss. like BoatUS ?
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#10

Post by Chaps »

welder wrote:Chaps how is the Patient doing , can we expect a full recovery ?

What do you do with the LaConner , are you in the towing buss. like BoatUS ?
Its coming along Les, I'd say another few days of work. Here's a couple of pics the guys at NDI sent me Friday. I'm going up there Tuesday so should have a chance to grab a few more photos. Much of what you are looking at here is not finished.

I do private towing, derelict boat handling, buoy & dock maintenance, log wrangling plus a bunch of volunteer work for our local municipality. Sometimes I get the time to fish salmon, halibut and we set crab & prawn pots. I'll be taking the Edwing out of service when this boat is done, might decide to sell it but maybe not.

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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#11

Post by Chaps »

Just noticed that NDI is now a site sponsor? I think they will benefit from exposure on AAB. I would imagine a lot of visitors to this site are looking for a custom vessel that might be a special purpose workboat, personnel transport, fishing craft or even a yacht. These guys seem to focus on that market (as opposed to producing a standardized line-up of recreational boats). They are doing a significant refit of an older boat for me which I assume they will also normally accommodate when and if their schedule allows. Good people, responsive, reasonable shop rate, etc. I'm happy with what they are doing.
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#12

Post by Chaps »

Picked up the boat today at NDI. They did a great job, they got it done fast and on budget. What more can you ask?

Anyway, the transom is looking a lot different than how we started out with the gruesome Merc outdrives (see pic at top of this post). The big hole has been filled in with 3/8" 5086 plate and the old swimstep was notched out to accommodate the hydraulic engine bracket that will mount directly to the transom. The big plate you see welded on just above the keel is 1" thick and the 6 holes in it are tapped (threaded) for the lower bracket bolts. Doing it this way eliminated any possibility of water leaks that I might have got if I had thru-bolted the lower bracket mount plate. The upper mount plate location isn't under water so that one is bolted through the transom normally. This method also allowed me to kick the bottom of the bracket out some so the angle at the motor mount plate was correct.

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When i got back to my shop I installed the engine bracket onto the transom:

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Some time ago I made a foam board mock-up of a V-6 Suzuki. Here it is on the new bracket. The bracket is about in its mid-range setting. It has 17" of vertical up-down from here. I can trailer the boat without tilting up the motor and I'll be able to get around in real shallow water without having to trim the motor up very much, if at all.

At it's lowest setting the engine will be very deep into the water which is ideal for towing boats since the tow line won't catch on the engine cover and it gets the prop down in solid water. Also, when I'm amongst a lot of floating logs & debris it will allow me to keep the prop down below the hazards. Also keeps the prop hooked up when cruising in lumpy conditions that normally cause cavitation when you go over steep swells. Lastly, the bracket allows easy adjustment to an optimum engine height for economical cruising.

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Here's the real thing, hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to hang it.

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Last edited by Chaps on Fri Feb 27, 2009 12:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#13

Post by Illgotoo »

Chaps: Your boat is looking really great! Its coming along nicely. I really like the control you have over
the placement of the outboard.

-tom
It's not getting what you want. It's wanting what you got. -Sheryl Crow



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Chaps
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#14

Post by Chaps »

Thanks, yeah, I really like the versatility that the Porta engine bracket can give a boat.
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#15

Post by JETTYWOLF »

As you probably already know the Porta-Bracket is hugely popular in Florida for shallow runners.

I have a friend that had one on a net boat and man that thing was awesome.

Fab-install-engine ready....looks like ya have your ducks in a row. Looking forward to the seatrial photos and commentary. :thumbsup:
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#16

Post by welder »

Chaps, she is looking good. :thumbsup:
Is there any thing on the threads on the tapped holes to keep the bolts from freezing up ?
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#17

Post by Chaps »

Yeah, the Porta's are never seen out here but are big down in your corner. I'm not using it for what it was designed as - flats boat giddy-up contraption but for my purpose I think its gonna be great.
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#18

Post by Chaps »

welder wrote:Chaps, she is looking good. :thumbsup:
Is there any thing on the threads on the tapped holes to keep the bolts from freezing up ?
Yeah, Tef Gel
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#19

Post by welder »

Tuf Gel , good stuff :thumbsup:
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#20

Post by Chaps »

Finally got around to hanging the engine today. Here are some pics showing the motor on the Porta bracket at max up/down. Well almost max down, there was about 3" of down movement left in the bracket but with the boat sitting on the trailer the skeg was hitting the floor of the shop.

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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#21

Post by JETTYWOLF »

DAMN, THATS BAD AZZ!
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#22

Post by welder »

Chaps, nice job. Now you have a BUNCH more deck space :thumbsup: Looks like NDI did a GREAT job on the remodel .
Are you going to have a ROLL BAR around the motor so something can't smack the motor while towing ?
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#23

Post by Chaps »

It Floats!

Probably the first time in 10 years this boat has been in the water.

Motor is fully down on the bracket in this pic, this is tow mode. I probably will put a guard around it. Nothing hooked up yet. Just wanted to see where she was going to ride compared to when the cockpit was stuffed with iron mercruisers. Yeah, I'm real happy with NDI's work.

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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#24

Post by MacCTD »

Looks like it is sitting nice, you towing it with a Xterra?
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Re: LaConner goes under the knife

#25

Post by Chaps »

MacCTD wrote:Looks like it is sitting nice, you towing it with a Xterra?
Just from my shop to the ramp (one mile) and right now its pretty light. By the time I get it rigged and fill the 125 gal fuel tank it'll be too much for the X, time to fire up the powerstroke at that point.
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