Popular Mechanics 1962 PM38 Build [SPLASHED 2017]

[pekstrom]

Well, the weather was good this morning so we braved the boat ramps and got her in the water. All 4 of us got in and off we went. I used a GPS based speedometer app on my phone and it showed 27.7 mph! I have a couple of videos but I don't think this forum supports those? How do y'all usually share your videos here? Via youtube?

 

[pekstrom]

Ok, let's see if this works.

 

[jbcurt00]

Great, video post worked

 

[Scott Danforth]

I bet you have such a big smile you could eat a banana sideways

 

[pekstrom]

I bet you have such a big smile you could eat a banana sideways

Lol! Yeah, I probably do. It was awesome!

 

[Patfromny]

Congrats. She sounds awesome

 

[gm280]

If you didn't get an ear to ear smile and that immense self satisfaction, you must be dead. Nice work and congratulation for such a build. You deserve to be extremely proud of that accomplishment. :yo: :usa: :first:

 

[Pcolafisher]

Outstanding!!! And, fast too! You should be proud.
Cheers

 

[Big Gee]

Way to go, that's a great accomplishment.

Stay safe and enjoy your boat.

 

[archbuilder]

Awesome build, thanks for sharing it with us! I forget, what hp motor are you running? Looking forward to more on the water pics!

 

[pekstrom]

Congrats. She sounds awesome

Thanks! For being around 37 years old it seems to be doing pretty good! :lol:

If you didn't get an ear to ear smile and that immense self satisfaction, you must be dead. Nice work and congratulation for such a build. You deserve to be extremely proud of that accomplishment. :yo: :usa: :first:

The wife says I had a big smile on my face so no worries there. Thank you for the kind words!

Outstanding!!! And, fast too! You should be proud.
Cheers

All in all I'm pretty happy with 27mph but I'll be tinkering a bit with the trim to see if I can squeeze another mph or two out of her. Thank you for the kind words!

Way to go, that's a great accomplishment.

Stay safe and enjoy your boat.

Thank you! Safety first, life vests are required onboard. :lol:

Awesome build, thanks for sharing it with us! I forget, what hp motor are you running? Looking forward to more on the water pics!

Thank you! It's been a blast and I have learned a lot in the process with all the help and great advice I have gotten from everyone here. The motor is a 1980 Mercury 25 HP. It had to work a bit to get her up planing with all 4 of us onboard but once she was planing it did good. Now I just need to clean it up and get the new decals on it. With everyone onboard I have no good pictures of her in the water. I'll see if I can get a video and some pictures of her at some point soon

I did damage a couple of nickel-sized spots when I winched her up on the trailer this last time. I must not have backed it into the water far enough. They line up perfectly with the bunks so I'm thinking I pulled over the back edges and they dig into the edge of the overlap. Nothing too bad so some of the green stuff will take care of it and then some paint. I need to be more careful in the future.

 

[pekstrom]

This is probably the best one I have right now. The wife snapped it from the boat ramp while we were waiting for her and my son to park the truck.



She sits pretty nicely in the water I think. I'll try and get some better pictures and hopefully also some more videos soon.

 

[pekstrom]

Wohoo! The HIN and registration number should get here in a couple of weeks! :bounce:

 

[pekstrom]

Actually, they updated the information online so I now have the HIN and the registration number. I'm just waiting for the decal to come in the mail. So now I need to get lettering and also figure out how I want to do the HIN.

 

[sphelps]

Congratulations on the splash ! She looks great and the 25 was pushing her pretty well with 4 onboard !
Very nice job !

 

[SGoergen]

Congrats Pek! The boat looks great sitting in the water and sounds like it performs great too. Really surprised on the speed with 4 people in it!

Your motor is manual trim, right? Did you have to adjust trim?

Great Job!

Scott

 

[pekstrom]

Congratulations on the splash ! She looks great and the 25 was pushing her pretty well with 4 onboard !
Very nice job !

Thank you! I wasn't sure what to expect but I was quite surprised myself by how it performed.

 

[pekstrom]

Congrats Pek! The boat looks great sitting in the water and sounds like it performs great too. Really surprised on the speed with 4 people in it!

Your motor is manual trim, right? Did you have to adjust trim?

Great Job!

Scott

Thank you Scott! I was quite surprised myself. I wasn't expecting such speed with all that weight. The throttle handle does have the power trim buttons built in, but the motor doesn't have any so manual trim it is. At first I had it trimmed all the way down which I believe would have dipped the bow a bit too much. So I trimmed it out a few steps so the prop points slightly upwards. I think I may have to lower it a step or though. It seemed to raise the bow a bit during planing. I'll have to experiment a bit. Power trim sure would have been nice! :lol:

How is yours coming along? Are you getting close to the splash as well? Oh, have you solved the problem of those bolts in the transom clamp? I haven't looked to closely at it yet on mine, but you are absolutely right. Those holes are just below the transom beam so it will take some work. I was pondering something like inserting the bolts from the outside and make some indentations in the beam for a washer and a nut for each. May be easier than to try and get the bolts through from the inside. Just a thought I'm having... Could be totally wrong. :lol:

 

[gm280]

pek, how is the engine mounted in comparison to the bottom of the hull? Usually setting the engine's cavitation plate level with the bottom will suffice in most conditions. But some times raising it just a little will yield even more top end speed. I found that out when I installed a jack plate on my Bass Boat. You have to be careful not to raise it so high that you are still drawing water in. So if you do decide to raise the engine, make sure you are pumping water still. JMHO

 

[pekstrom]

pek, how is the engine mounted in comparison to the bottom of the hull? Usually setting the engine's cavitation plate level with the bottom will suffice in most conditions. But some times raising it just a little will yield even more top end speed. I found that out when I installed a jack plate on my Bass Boat. You have to be careful not to raise it so high that you are still drawing water in. So if you do decide to raise the engine, make sure you are pumping water still. JMHO

I think I'm using incorrect terminology. The motor looks like it sits nicely on the transom I think. The cavitation plate is probably half an inch or so below the bottom. I don't think I need to raise it up higher on the transom. What I was trying to describe was how I changed the location of the trim pin that adjusts the angle of the motor to the transom. I guess I should say I adjusted it out from the transom a bit so the angle between it and the transom changed. Not sure how to describe it. :lol: