1990 Smoker Craft Fazer

[CaptnMorgan]

Hi..
I just purchased this boat only, planning to put my 1998-90 force on it...This boat is a complete overhaul inside with carpet and what I see now as more electrical fine tuning..Question i have..The dash board is faded and I would like to replace it with a new one, and likely the switches as well..where would be a good place to buy these? Also..The live well and I guess bait well...one has the Aerator set up but the other has only a factory hole at the bottom like a drain? Am I missing something here? how do these function? I know the pump works, which is at the back of the boat...but why does one have an aerator and not the other?
I'm in Manitoba canada if that matters.....

Thanks!

 

[lmuss53]

The hole gets a piece of pvc pipe in it as tall as you want the livewell to be filled to. The pump fills the livewell until it gets to the top of the pipe then overflows and drains out the bottom of the livewell. That drain should be plumbed to a through hull fitting out the bottom or side of the boat. You pull the pipe out to drain the livewell. Watch those fittings on old boats that have been sitting, sometimes they are broken off or cracked and you will get unexpected leaks there. Sometimes the livewell is not plumbed and just drains into the bilge, where it will have to be pumped out or drained by pulling the boat's plug at the end of the trip. These external drains will also sometimes allow the livewell to backfill through the drain when you launch the boat, which can ge somewhat confusing.

It's hard to find parts for these older boats, I found ebay to be a good source. I got a dash cap, switches, and hatches from a wrecked SeaNymph for my build.

 

[Silvertip]

You have one live well and one cooler. Putting ice in a cooler requires that the water have a place to drain. Hence the drain hole. Inserting a plug in the drain hole allows it to be used as a bait well but with no aeration, the bait will not live long. Boat manufacturers don't usually stock replacement parts like instrument panels because there is little call for them. After market manufacturers don't generally provide them either for the same reason. Switches are quite standard and you can get replacements right here on iBoats unless they were custom made for the boat manufacturer. If you find a boat salvage yard they may have the items you are looking for but they will likely be in the same condition or worse than what you have. Instrument panels can be restored if you have some creative ability.

 

[Teamster]

You could make a new dash plate out of a colored cutting board,...

Cut to fit and round over the edges with a router,...

Or you could paint to dash plate to spruce it up,..

Switches will probably need to be replaced with new,

 

[lmuss53]

Oops my bad, I thought he said the second well had a feed line coming into it.

 

[CaptnMorgan]

Thanks for the responses.....I'm hoping to dive into the project this weekend and next...Been out with a horrible virus delaying the Reno...There is a cooler already upfront,(Plastic) the other well is aluminim like the live well, which I will assume works as the bait well with the drain only. makes sense. Another question I have after looking over the boat...seems like a lot of electronics for one battery...Live well,radio,anchor, I don't have electric tolling motor yet...but should I consider 2 batteries? it doesn't look like the previous had 2...any thoughts to this?

 

[lmuss53]

I have always tried to have two batteries in any boat I owned, One as a primary outboard only battery and a second as a "house" or accessory battery and backup starting battery. I run the outboard, running lights and a auto bilge pump on the primary battery and EVERYTHING else on the house battery. I also have seperate batteries for the trolling motor. I join the primary and secondary together with a perko switch so I can switch it to charge both and then again to isolate both so the accessories can never run the starting battery down.

At a minimum get a seperate battery for your trolling motor and some jumper cables so you can use that as an emergency starting battery if you need to. You should also consider getting one of those battery jumper boxes and taking it along.

You are running a pretty big outboard there, I won't say you can't start it with a pull rope, but that's a tough job, you won't want to do it twice..

 

[CrappieHunter_1]

Hi,
I too am overhauling a 1990 Smoker Craft 171 Fazer. When I purchased the boat, I obtained the owners manual from the previous owner so I have access to the diagrams of the live well and battery harness/charge-run wiring as well as the Smoker Crafts explanation of how those systems operate. The manual describes the draining of the live well as gravity drained through the transom. I will use the starboard aluminum tank for ice or dry storage. If you are just getting started, I am probably a little further ahead of you in my overhaul. I have the the inside gutted, all old carpet & glue removed, wood for the floor and deck cut and now I am tackling my wiring issues. I will be using two batteries. Here are some of the vendors I have used thus far:

Blue Water- LED deck lights
Great Lake Skipper on Ebay- boat console/helm
Cabelas- live well / storage aluminum hatches ( top of tanks and latch openings in hatches had to be modified )
Del City Electronics

 

[CaptnMorgan]

That's pretty cool....I just started mine this weekend. Have the rotten floor portions removed and started playing with the wiring. so for so good with only a matter of cleaning up some connections. Like the idea of the LED deck lights...what size is the gas tank?