1972 Checkmate MX-15 Rebuild

[jnlazar007]

Awesome boat. Or will be. Both Checkmate and Baja were built in my home town of Bucyrus Ohio. There are still tons of them around town. I'll keep my eye out. Checkmate just so happens to be back open making boats to order. I do HVAC work for the first and second generation owners. I can stop in and see if they have any original spec info if you come across anything you cant find online.

 

[kcassells]

If ya run short let me know I have some xtras lying around. :embarassed:

 

[archbuilder]

Zool, When it got hot in July I shut down working on Fuggly and went to the lake! Now that it has cooled off I am finishing up some fall chores, should be back at it in a week or two. Upholstery is done, next I need to overhaul the drive and paint it. After that it is mostly get the drive train in, wiring, steering, gauges, trim and carpet.

 

[sphelps]

When you get that done Sam, we'll have to race....]

That would be fun ! Unfortunately I still have 2 boats lined up in front of the Bobcat ...:facepalm:

 

[zool]

Im a true believer that MBS is healthy lol

I got the transom, deck, and wet foam out..only took a few hours..so there just one center stringer, a narrow 1/2 inch deck,and there was 2 inches of wet transom.

easy peasy

 

[sphelps]

Looks like a sheet of 3/4" and a sheet of 1/2" and your done ... Not much under there but I would suspect the foam is part of the structure ...

 

[zool]

Exactly Sam, Thats about what I thought, except maybe 2 sheets of 1/2 for the transom sandwich, the deck, and the front bulkhead..maybe another 3/4 for custom mods for the rear seating and front seating.....regardless, it appears fairly simple....which is nice :happy:

 

[kcassells]

Finished yet?

 

[zool]

Finished yet?

Yep, all done!!!...and I never could have accomplished it without all your encouragement and assistance Kev!

Ill be running it thru Barrett Jackson this week :second:

 

[kcassells]

You dog!!! Did ya get tow insurance? At least you haven't sat on it like me for 3 years. :joyous:

 

[zool]

Update: So I finally got the rest of the hull gutted, the remaining deck, center stringer, and bulkhead are all gone. I also mostly finished the grinding, at least in the areas i need to replace the transom, stringer, bulkhead, and deck. Now its time to start putting her all back together....the transom, deck, stringer, and bulkhead will be basically the same, but the front seat base and rear seat base as well as the tank stand and such are kinda a blank canvas, so im figuring all that out
.


I was right that this boat was redone a while back, because the center stringer was also bedded in concrete, with no glassing at all....I doubt it was built that way, but I could be wrong.

Ill post some pics later on, so Kev doesnt get his panties all in a ruffle :boink:

 

[zool]

progress pics

annoying snowstorm to prepared substrate.....wasnt fun but better than the sportfish by a mile.

 

[kcassells]

Update: So I finally got the rest of the hull gutted, the remaining deck, center stringer, and bulkhead are all gone. I also mostly finished the grinding, at least in the areas i need to replace the transom, stringer, bulkhead, and deck. Now its time to start putting her all back together....the transom, deck, stringer, and bulkhead will be basically the same, but the front seat base and rear seat base as well as the tank stand and such are kinda a blank canvas, so im figuring all that out
.


I was right that this boat was redone a while back, because the center stringer was also bedded in concrete, with no glassing at all....I doubt it was built that way, but I could be wrong.

Ill post some pics later on, so Kev doesnt get his panties all in a ruffle :boink:

HEY YO, PLAY FAIR!

Nice pics there, crisp, clear and oh yea so is the work on the nasty grind. :moony:

 

[archbuilder]

Makes me itch!

 

[zool]

Yea, I didnt suit up this time, just threw on a mask, and went at it for a 1/2 a day..then showered, wasnt too bad....just wanted it behind me

That big dewalt just ate it up!

 

[sphelps]

Yeah I noticed you broke out the big grinder .. Maybe hard to get in tight spots but will sure cover a lot of ground ..

 

[ab59]

Brings back memory's of the 1977 16 ' Ski Barge I restored last year . I saw the little plunge cutter laying in the boat , worth their weight in gold , imho. I used a 4 1/2" grinder with a cutting blade to get the glass cut off the deck and cut a dang slot up front clear through the hull. Good thing fiberglass is easy to patch.
Was in the 108-106 * heat when I broke out my grinder to grind the lip and no suits at all in that heat, no shower was ever enough to get the itch out. Those Pictures bring back many itchy memories.
Good work so far , making great time as well , I'm watching to see the end results.

 

[zool]

Yeah I noticed you broke out the big grinder .. Maybe hard to get in tight spots but will sure cover a lot of ground ..

The best part was, there are only two corners I have to deal with, the rest was open field..

 

[zool]

Brings back memory's of the 1977 16 ' Ski Barge I restored last year . I saw the little plunge cutter laying in the boat , worth their weight in gold , imho. I used a 4 1/2" grinder with a cutting blade to get the glass cut off the deck and cut a dang slot up front clear through the hull. Good thing fiberglass is easy to patch.
Was in the 108-106 * heat when I broke out my grinder to grind the lip and no suits at all in that heat, no shower was ever enough to get the itch out. Those Pictures bring back many itchy memories.
Good work so far , making great time as well , I'm watching to see the end results.

Welcome aboard ab59, cutting a slit in the hull is supposed to be a right of passage..havnt crossed that bridge yet tho....the multi tool is easy to handle for the cuts.

I had to pick up some west 406 to do some securing on the skiff bottom, so i can move it. I want to move that out of that building, and move the checkmate in there after i put the bones back in...it will be warmer in there this winter....I only have one trailer here, so i gotta do some planning.

 

[zool]

Update:

Today I got the transom pieces measured and cut....test fitted and trimmed. They are now epoxied and screwed together. I just have to round off the edges and get ready to clamp it in place for bedding

I also got the center stringer cut, glued together and contoured to the hull bottom. I also did a mock layout with the fuel tank back in the stern, and the removable rear bench base set in place....it will be tight, but the tank will be removable by just taking out the removabe bench base

The front seats may be too far gone to reuse, so i found some bcuket seats obline that look like they will work well... The bench seat cushions will have to be fabricated to match...Ill post some pics in a little while to show what im trying to explain heheh