1974 Chieftan 21' 165 Mercruiser I/O

[Watermann]

Hey CJ did you get a top mount control for your Chief? I see the cut out on the right side of the helm.

 

[ShowMeGuy]

Yo cj, boat is looking better n better with each upgrade!!!

I noticed outo said you sed 3\8" plywood for the seat boxes. Have u mounted youyr pedestals yet???? Curious about how much if anyn deflection you have..,

 

[Watermann]

Yo cj, boat is looking better n better with each upgrade!!!

I noticed outo said you sed 3\8" plywood for the seat boxes. Have u mounted youyr pedestals yet???? Curious about how much if anyn deflection you have..,

I've followed CJ's work and he uses pretty much nothing but 3/4" ply for his projects, must have been a typo. Would have to be for a tooth pick skinny guy to get away with only 3/8" ply.

 

[cj8mule]

lol.... no, it's 3/8" ply. The seat box top is 1 1/4" thick with verical supports.

I didn't get a top load shifter H2O :grumpy: I better save some pennies to buy some epoxy for my Jumbo :joyous:

 

[GoldDuster360]

What a great looking boat, my 16 is starting to look too small to me

 

[cj8mule]

Opening day is creaping up on me.... I still need to replace the bellows and shift cable.

The glove box and console are finished with just some more wiring to do.

 

[GA_Boater]

Top notch again, CJ. :thumb:

So how long before opening day? tick tock tick tock No pressure! :smile:

 

[Watermann]

Looking great CJ! :thumb:

Whats up with the bellows? I hope it's just the lower shift cable and the shift boot, not the drive shaft or exhaust bellows!

Ugg you have to pull the bell housing...

 

[dozerII]

Looks great CJ, if you have to change the exhaust bellows, go with the tube way easier to install with not a lot of difference in sound.

 

[cj8mule]

Top notch again, CJ. :thumb:

So how long before opening day? tick tock tick tock No pressure! :smile:

Stripe Bass opens 18th of April GA! .... so, I still a few weeks

Looking great CJ! :thumb:

Whats up with the bellows? I hope it's just the lower shift cable and the shift boot, not the drive shaft or exhaust bellows!

Ugg you have to pull the bell housing...

The bellows are Ok H20, but the lower shift cable is stretched. I went ahead and ordered all the parts just in case. The last time I did bellows was on a workbench, but this time I'm going to do them on the boat... so, no pulling the bell housing.

Looks great CJ, if you have to change the exhaust bellows, go with the tube way easier to install with not a lot of difference in sound.

I'll have to google that Glen cause I'm not sure what the "tube way" is.

 

[dozerII]

I'll have to google that Glen cause I'm not sure what the "tube way" is.

The tube just fastens on the front when you trim down the bell housing exhaust connection goes in the open end of the tube, they are a little louder when you are trimmed up but I kinda like it.

 

[cj8mule]

The old chieftain has been a great boat for us. The other day we fished a little longer than we should have and the weather turned to snot. We were in 5 to 6 foot confused sea with a 1 to 2 second period. It was a very interesting ride back to port, but we never felt unsafe.

I'm starting to build a new boat which is plywood encased in epoxy and fiberglass. To get a feel for the epoxy, I decided to build a new engine cover and pocket door. Here are a few pictures:

 

[Watermann]

Hey CJ glad to see you're still having a good time in your Chief. They're amazing boats alright. Are you going to glass that whole dog house?

 

[GA_Boater]

Great old boats, aren't they, CJ? Doghouse is looking good.

DH is practice for a new wooden boat project and you leave us hanging.

 

[cj8mule]

Hey CJ glad to see you're still having a good time in your Chief. They're amazing boats alright. Are you going to glass that whole dog house?

I was thinking no need to glass the inside, but coated the inside with epoxy and taped the seams.

Great old boats, aren't they, CJ? Doghouse is looking good.

DH is practice for a new wooden boat project and you leave us hanging.

Lol. The new boat is called a Tolman Jumbo. There is a forum called fishyfish where most of the builders go.... it's kind of like this forum with great, helpful builders. A few of our members are over there and at least one I know is building a boat. In fact he is almost done! Everyone is welcome to go take a look (his user name is elkhunter338 just like on here)

I went tuna fishing last week on a 27' Jumbo. This skiff is powered with a 150 hp and does great on fuel. 140 ocean miles running and 14 hrs trolling
total about 235 miles on about 76-77 gallons.

I'm figuring the new boat will be around 600 hour build.... so double or triple what it takes to rebuild a Chief. The great thing is when I need a break from building, I've got the Chief to take out and go fishing!

 

[cj8mule]

I finally got around to installing the new doghouse cover and cabin door. The epoxy / fiberglass stuff is pretty cool. Here are a few pictures:

 

[GA_Boater]

Once again the incremental upgrades are top notch. CJ.

What's next?

 

[mickyryan]

Love the tolman jumbos

 

[Watermann]

Oh yeah that looks great CJ, nice work!

 

[dozerII]

Looks really cj, real clean lines on the D/H