We have an aluminum '77 Mirrocraft 14' deep fisher w/ '78 Evinrude 25hp. When we pulled everything off for paint prep, we found that the wood and float foam under the seats was unsalvageable, the old cable/pulley steering system was spent, and the last owner's homemade side console was awful even before it started rotting. Hoping it'll be a great first fishing boat when we're finished.
From the beginning, my father and I decided that we wanted to make it a center console. During the trailer rebuild and prepping the hull for the paint booth, we kicked around designs. With the condition of the seats we decided that a full deck with raised fishing stations fore and aft was in order.
I've learned a ton from searching these forums, but I'm still scratching my head about a few things. The existing fuel system is 2 mismatched 6gal above deck plastic tanks with one quick-connect hose/squeeze bulb assembly that would have to be manually switched from tank to tank if one ran dry. We also have two batteries, one strictly for the transom mount trolling motor, and one to start the outboard and power accesories (fish/depthfinder, small marine radio, 12v socket, small livewell).
We're certainly not worried about speed on this boat, but I'm wondering if I should attempt to distribute these tanks(or tank if one would be enough) and batteries between front and rear or just keep everything in back under the rear platform? Plus I've seen some boats with above deck tanks and batteries under the same seats. Isn't that a little dangerous having batteries sitting next to open-vent fuel tanks in an enclosed area?
An under-deck tank is outside budget limitaions assuming we'd also need a filler neck and sending unit/fuel guage setup. We could afford a wedge shaped plastic tank to put under the bow platform (and junk the old tanks), and I guess just run a longer fuel line from the squeeze bulb to the tank, but that seems a little odd to me and would use most of the storage area up there next to the livewell. I also have no idea how to balance the need for fuel capacity against the need to save weight. Between the new deck structure, equipment, the two of us, and the motor we're going to get fairly close to the weight limit on the tag. We'd like to have some hull above the water, especially considering the lack of floatation material.
Sorry about the length, but we're new to this and probably missing some obvious answers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
From the beginning, my father and I decided that we wanted to make it a center console. During the trailer rebuild and prepping the hull for the paint booth, we kicked around designs. With the condition of the seats we decided that a full deck with raised fishing stations fore and aft was in order.
I've learned a ton from searching these forums, but I'm still scratching my head about a few things. The existing fuel system is 2 mismatched 6gal above deck plastic tanks with one quick-connect hose/squeeze bulb assembly that would have to be manually switched from tank to tank if one ran dry. We also have two batteries, one strictly for the transom mount trolling motor, and one to start the outboard and power accesories (fish/depthfinder, small marine radio, 12v socket, small livewell).
We're certainly not worried about speed on this boat, but I'm wondering if I should attempt to distribute these tanks(or tank if one would be enough) and batteries between front and rear or just keep everything in back under the rear platform? Plus I've seen some boats with above deck tanks and batteries under the same seats. Isn't that a little dangerous having batteries sitting next to open-vent fuel tanks in an enclosed area?
An under-deck tank is outside budget limitaions assuming we'd also need a filler neck and sending unit/fuel guage setup. We could afford a wedge shaped plastic tank to put under the bow platform (and junk the old tanks), and I guess just run a longer fuel line from the squeeze bulb to the tank, but that seems a little odd to me and would use most of the storage area up there next to the livewell. I also have no idea how to balance the need for fuel capacity against the need to save weight. Between the new deck structure, equipment, the two of us, and the motor we're going to get fairly close to the weight limit on the tag. We'd like to have some hull above the water, especially considering the lack of floatation material.
Sorry about the length, but we're new to this and probably missing some obvious answers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
