Hey, guys. Just passed my three year anniversary with owning a 1958 Texas Maid Falcon. It started out pretty rough and has sure came a long way and seen a lot of changes. A friend and I got into "magnet fishing" and we decided we needed a cheap boat that we could take along creeks and stuff without fear of tearing it up or being out too much money if it sank. We hit the jackpot when we picked this boat up for $100 and it came with a brand new Minn Kota 30 trolling motor. The motor, at the time, cost about $150 so we figured if all else failed we could get our money back by selling the motor. lol Well, practically as soon as we got it home we started talking about what all we could do to the boat. I take that back, we started talking about what all we could do to it ON THE WAY HOME with it! The idea of having a beater to take into creeks and swamps quickly turned into wondering how much money we could put into this thing and how nice we could make it. Go figure. lol
The boat didn't come with a title and the last time it was registered was in the early 1980s. I filed for a lost title, which was a serious pain and as many trips as I made to the tag office I was getting nervous that it was going to cost my rear to get it titled.....they came through and I got the title and it only cost me $9.00. lmao
Anyway, we weren't satisfied with the 3 MPH that the trolling motor got us so we upgraded to a 7.5HP Ted Williams tiller motor. The very first time out with it we got into some rocks and we snapped the shear pin. The motor had a couple extra shear pins and we put in a new one but the prop still wouldn't turn. We scoured the Internet for answers and had that thing as far taken apart as it could go but we couldn't find the problem. So we wound up selling the motor to another friend for the same price that we bought it, so we couldn't complain too much. We got about 8 MPH with that motor which still wasn't too satisfying. So we found a Johnson 15HP tiller motor. I can't recall the year of that motor as we did not have it very long at all. We only got about 12 MPH top speed with it and we were sorely disappointed. Then we found a 1987 Johnson 25HP tiller motor for it. We have seen a top speed of 26 MPH in good conditions. For this boat, that is a very good speed. Would faster be better? Sure. But we're pretty satisfied with what we have now. But it only took a handful of outings to realize that operating a tiller control motor with pull start is a ton of work! I'd be sore for a couple days after taking the boat out. So I set out to convert it from tiller controls to remote. We also converted it to electric start. Talk about money well spent. It took hours and hours of research to find what parts I needed for the job and then it took many hours installing everything, but it was extremely successful! It is SO much more user-friendly now that it has a steering wheel and electric start.
Since getting the boat, the boat and trailer were sandblasted. The trailer was primed and painted. The boat was heavily, heavily, heavily sanded and polished. We have a few hundred man hours invested in sanding and polishing. But the results are very satisfying!!
Trailer was completely rewired and all bow rollers were replaced. New LED lights, new crank winch, new tongue, new trailer jack.
I made new seats for the front and the back. Installed a stereo with Bluetooth and auxiliary input as well as CD player along with installing four 6x9 speakers.
Installed two batteries wired in parallel. My biggest regret with the boat is not mounting the batteries and speakers under the front seat rather than the back. The front seats are exactly center of the boat. I think it would've helped a bunch with weight distribution by putting that stuff in the middle of the boat rather than near the back. The motor and a full tank of fuel definitely add some weight the the rear of the boat.
Installed lighted compass and boat anchor bottle opener.
Boat was completely rewired. New light bulb sockets and LED bulbs. New stern light globe.
Installed a cigarette lighter plug, USB charging ports, and LED voltmeter.
Installed two cup holders for the front seats and two fold down cup holders for the rear.
Installed bilge pump in the rear for the little bit of water that intrudes after being on the water for a few hours or more.
Made a pouch out of leftover seat material to hold my iPod and some other odds and ends.
Had some leftover stainless steel sheet from my kitchen countertops and had the same metal shop that bent my counter tops to shape make a custom "dash" for the boat. turned out awesome and covered up all the holes that had been drilled into it over the years.
We affectionately named the boat "Piece of Ship". Can't claim this cleverness myself as I found the name online, but it suited the boat so perfectly that I had to borrow the name. lol
We've had many outings on the boat now and it has an absolute blast! Really the only other thing that I'd like to do is put a windshield on it. Probably won't go with the big bubble glass windshield like what was on it from the factory, but will probably do a sleeker split windshield. It'll probably honestly be more for looks than anything, but I'm sure it'll keep a little water off the passengers and maybe a little wind.
There hasn't been a single time that the boat has been to the lake that someone hasn't asked about it, taken pictures of it, offered to buy it, trade for their boat, or a combination thereof. People seem to really love the style and the size and the name of the boat! Very heartwarming to get such positive feedback. Makes the money and hours spent all worth it. Then again, cruising the lakes is pretty satisfying too!
Anyway, I just thought I'd share. I ask, please, that no one that has posted their restored/fixed up boats be offended by my work....I've looked through some of ya'lls threads and ya'll have done mind blowing good work...way better than mine. Especially the wooden boats....a bunch of them don't even need to be put in the water, rather they should be entered into shows and pulled through parades!! In other words, I'm not comparing my boat to ya'lls that are flawless. lol
I'd also like to thank everyone ON THESE FORUMS for the many answers to the many questions that I had. Also, thanks to the wealth of knowledge here and the time taken to share that knowledge!!!!!!!!
Thanks!
(Pictures are somewhat in order of beginning, during, and after, but not 100%)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=154h8DOk6X0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PhwaHboAdE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apjcN1YYvDw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-EHJoI6hE4
The boat didn't come with a title and the last time it was registered was in the early 1980s. I filed for a lost title, which was a serious pain and as many trips as I made to the tag office I was getting nervous that it was going to cost my rear to get it titled.....they came through and I got the title and it only cost me $9.00. lmao
Anyway, we weren't satisfied with the 3 MPH that the trolling motor got us so we upgraded to a 7.5HP Ted Williams tiller motor. The very first time out with it we got into some rocks and we snapped the shear pin. The motor had a couple extra shear pins and we put in a new one but the prop still wouldn't turn. We scoured the Internet for answers and had that thing as far taken apart as it could go but we couldn't find the problem. So we wound up selling the motor to another friend for the same price that we bought it, so we couldn't complain too much. We got about 8 MPH with that motor which still wasn't too satisfying. So we found a Johnson 15HP tiller motor. I can't recall the year of that motor as we did not have it very long at all. We only got about 12 MPH top speed with it and we were sorely disappointed. Then we found a 1987 Johnson 25HP tiller motor for it. We have seen a top speed of 26 MPH in good conditions. For this boat, that is a very good speed. Would faster be better? Sure. But we're pretty satisfied with what we have now. But it only took a handful of outings to realize that operating a tiller control motor with pull start is a ton of work! I'd be sore for a couple days after taking the boat out. So I set out to convert it from tiller controls to remote. We also converted it to electric start. Talk about money well spent. It took hours and hours of research to find what parts I needed for the job and then it took many hours installing everything, but it was extremely successful! It is SO much more user-friendly now that it has a steering wheel and electric start.
Since getting the boat, the boat and trailer were sandblasted. The trailer was primed and painted. The boat was heavily, heavily, heavily sanded and polished. We have a few hundred man hours invested in sanding and polishing. But the results are very satisfying!!
Trailer was completely rewired and all bow rollers were replaced. New LED lights, new crank winch, new tongue, new trailer jack.
I made new seats for the front and the back. Installed a stereo with Bluetooth and auxiliary input as well as CD player along with installing four 6x9 speakers.
Installed two batteries wired in parallel. My biggest regret with the boat is not mounting the batteries and speakers under the front seat rather than the back. The front seats are exactly center of the boat. I think it would've helped a bunch with weight distribution by putting that stuff in the middle of the boat rather than near the back. The motor and a full tank of fuel definitely add some weight the the rear of the boat.
Installed lighted compass and boat anchor bottle opener.
Boat was completely rewired. New light bulb sockets and LED bulbs. New stern light globe.
Installed a cigarette lighter plug, USB charging ports, and LED voltmeter.
Installed two cup holders for the front seats and two fold down cup holders for the rear.
Installed bilge pump in the rear for the little bit of water that intrudes after being on the water for a few hours or more.
Made a pouch out of leftover seat material to hold my iPod and some other odds and ends.
Had some leftover stainless steel sheet from my kitchen countertops and had the same metal shop that bent my counter tops to shape make a custom "dash" for the boat. turned out awesome and covered up all the holes that had been drilled into it over the years.
We affectionately named the boat "Piece of Ship". Can't claim this cleverness myself as I found the name online, but it suited the boat so perfectly that I had to borrow the name. lol
We've had many outings on the boat now and it has an absolute blast! Really the only other thing that I'd like to do is put a windshield on it. Probably won't go with the big bubble glass windshield like what was on it from the factory, but will probably do a sleeker split windshield. It'll probably honestly be more for looks than anything, but I'm sure it'll keep a little water off the passengers and maybe a little wind.
There hasn't been a single time that the boat has been to the lake that someone hasn't asked about it, taken pictures of it, offered to buy it, trade for their boat, or a combination thereof. People seem to really love the style and the size and the name of the boat! Very heartwarming to get such positive feedback. Makes the money and hours spent all worth it. Then again, cruising the lakes is pretty satisfying too!
Anyway, I just thought I'd share. I ask, please, that no one that has posted their restored/fixed up boats be offended by my work....I've looked through some of ya'lls threads and ya'll have done mind blowing good work...way better than mine. Especially the wooden boats....a bunch of them don't even need to be put in the water, rather they should be entered into shows and pulled through parades!! In other words, I'm not comparing my boat to ya'lls that are flawless. lol
I'd also like to thank everyone ON THESE FORUMS for the many answers to the many questions that I had. Also, thanks to the wealth of knowledge here and the time taken to share that knowledge!!!!!!!!
Thanks!
(Pictures are somewhat in order of beginning, during, and after, but not 100%)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=154h8DOk6X0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PhwaHboAdE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apjcN1YYvDw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-EHJoI6hE4