1997 Mirrocraft 18' aluminum fish n ski

[BWR1953]

Although it's not a Starcraft, it's an all aluminum boat, including the deck. So, I hope you guys can go along with me on this thread.

In all reality, this will likely be my final boat. I'm too old with too many health problems, so I need something "simple" that will work for me and let me just go fishing. I simply cannot do any major projects nowadays. They wouldn't get completed. Ya know?

And as of this afternoon, the legal stuff for the MC has been completed, so I'm committed.

The boat is a 1997 Mirrocraft Dual Impact XL; 18 feet long, 89" beam, 1320 lb. empty hull weight and rated for 150HP outboard.

I originally got the boat to use as a "test bed" for my Chieftain project, but life sent me some major changes, so I had to adapt and move on. The Chief and my Kingfisher will be sold.

The MC hull is in good shape and as of now has no engine mounted. That will change soon.

On May 3rd, my wife and I took a road trip to Alabama and picked up a great running 1992 Mercury 150HP XR6 2-stroke engine for the MC. The engine is still attached to a donor 1992 Astro bass boat on a very nice trailer with brand new tires. The Astro transom is seriously broken, so the boat will be stripped, the engine will be removed and the empty donor hull will then be taken unceremoniously to the dump.

I haven't really started doing anything with the MC other than acquiring and started stripping the donor boat. The MC really needs a good cleaning and it'll need some minor stuff as time goes by.

Here's the boat on the day I bought it; went for a little test drive.


And once I got it home.




The MC next to the KF.


Here's the donor boat.


And here's the 150HP XR6 running the day I bought it.
This engine has been running great for 32 years, so I hope it holds on for awhile longer.

Anyway, thanks again for letting me hang around.

 

[airshot]

Nothing wrong with a Mirror boat, owned a couple and they were great boats. You don't need a Starcraft name to have a good boat....I have owned more aluminum boats than I have fingers and toes, over half were Star crafts but, I have actually had fewer issues with Mirro and my Sylvans. Most all are well made boats if properly maintained !! That boat should fly with that 150 hanging on the back. Looking forward to your progress, please keep us posted and the pics flowing !!

 

[classiccat]

Congrats on the acquisitions BWR! It looks like a fine vessel!

 

[BWR1953]

Nothing wrong with a Mirror boat, owned a couple and they were great boats. You don't need a Starcraft name to have a good boat....I have owned more aluminum boats than I have fingers and toes, over half were Star crafts but, I have actually had fewer issues with Mirro and my Sylvans. Most all are well made boats if properly maintained !! That boat should fly with that 150 hanging on the back. Looking forward to your progress, please keep us posted and the pics flowing !!

Congrats on the acquisitions BWR! It looks like a fine vessel!

Thanks guys!
I'll be getting started on this pretty soon. I should be getting the 70HP Merc running today (from my canceled Chieftain project, Post #308 in the Chieftain thread) and once that's done, I can start moving forward on the MC.

 

[BWR1953]

My neighbor buddy came over the other evening to help me with another project and he advised me to "do the big things first" on the MC. Meaning, get the 150 moved over before rebuilding the water pump. Then, strip the donor, haul it to the dump and then get the trailer ready for the MC. I'll take his advice.
(We did strip the seats out of the donor to use on the MC.)

He also said that I should go ahead and move the manual jack plate from the donor boat onto the MC as well. I know what the jack does, but have no personal experience with them at all. Thoughts about that?

 

[BWR1953]

I'll have to add brakes to the donor boat trailer. I hauled the boat home 350 miles and my little Trucklet had no problems with pulling power and just a tiny bit with braking, which I overcame with earlier braking. Got 18MPG on the way too!

My vehicle warranty states that I must have trailer brakes on trailers over 1600 pounds and the donor boat, motor and trailer are about 2,500 pounds, plus batteries and other stuff. The MC weighs the same as the donor, so I'll have to figure that stuff out too. I'm leaning towards surge instead of electric.

 

[airshot]

I'll have to add brakes to the donor boat trailer. I hauled the boat home 350 miles and my little Trucklet had no problems with pulling power and just a tiny bit with braking, which I overcame with earlier braking. Got 18MPG on the way too!

My vehicle warranty states that I must have trailer brakes on trailers over 1600 pounds and the donor boat, motor and trailer are about 2,500 pounds, plus batteries and other stuff. The MC weighs the same as the donor, so I'll have to figure that stuff out too. I'm leaning towards surge instead of electric.

Most state laws require brakes on trailers over 2500 lbs so be safe..

 

[BWR1953]

Most state laws require brakes on trailers over 2500 lbs so be safe..

Yeah, in Florida, it's 3,000 pounds. I'm looking forward to getting everything done on this boat so that I can put it on the water. Still much to do though.

 

[BWR1953]

This morning, while taking a break from boat work, I was sitting there staring vacantly out of the garage and noticed something interesting about the donor boat.

The seller had told me that when he noticed that the transom had failed that the bilge pump was running every 10 - 15 minutes as the boat was getting lower. Note that water line above the red line. It's right next to the bilge pump exhaust!

But, he didn't quit fishing! A man after my own heart!

 

[Moserkr]

Looking forward to your build BWR! I admit having a slightly longer/wider boat would be nice. Will keep an eye out for one of those hulls as a possible future project. The aluminum floor sounds really nice too!

 

[BWR1953]

Looking forward to your build BWR! I admit having a slightly longer/wider boat would be nice. Will keep an eye out for one of those hulls as a possible future project. The aluminum floor sounds really nice too!

Yeah, I look forward to finally getting after this little project too! The only things I've done so far are to remove the seats from the donor and get its trailer registered.

I've been busy getting the Chief and KF ready for sale. The Chief ad has been out there for a week now and is getting a lot of interest, but only one contact so far.

I have one small repair to do on the KF, then we'll clean it up nice and place the ad to sell that boat as well.

Then I can pull the donor boat into the garage and get started. I'll pull the motor and jackplate first, then strip the hull of everything usable and take the leftovers to the dump.

Then I can finally pull the MC into the garage and get to work!

 

[BWR1953]

Got the donor boat into the garage this evening. Stripping will start soon!

 

[BWR1953]

It begins...

Sold the KF yesterday and turned my attention to the MC project.

First step is to get the big 150 off of the donor. I got the cover off and things lined up, but that's all for today. "The boy" graduates from HS today, so we'll be busy preparing for that.

I'm gonna have a million questions soon, so here are some pix to lead the way.

 

[redneck joe]

Got the donor boat into the garage this evening. Stripping will start soon!

View attachment 398745

Please please no pictures of you naked and pole dancing

 

[BWR1953]

I'm not sure if I want to move that jack plate over to the MC. The boat is rated for 150HP, but I could end up hauling like the one below.

Remember this little girl imitating a turbo?
https://www.tiktok.com/video/7218812672240930091
I figure the MC with the 150 and jack plate might be like this. Is that good or bad?

 

[BWR1953]

Please please no pictures of you naked and pole dancing

You wish!

 

[Gibbles]

You wish!

View attachment 398809

 

[Gibbles]

When that glasser goes to the dump, you get good karma points for the guy that gets to run over it with the big crusher.

The guy at my dump, I made his whole day when he crushed a donor boat I left him.

Be sure to hang out to watch it happen.
it will make you smile as the guy makes a B-Line for it.

 

[redneck joe]

When that glasser goes to the dump, you get good karma points for the guy that gets to run over it with the big crusher.

The guy at my dump, I made his whole day when he crushed a donor boat I left him.

Be sure to hang out to watch it happen.
it will make you smile as the guy makes a B-Line for it.

Me too, he had never dragged one off the trailer and he was not a boater so I made some suggestions and popped right off. Gave me a thumbs up and a smile and got to crushing.

 

[BWR1953]

When that glasser goes to the dump, you get good karma points for the guy that gets to run over it with the big crusher.

The guy at my dump, I made his whole day when he crushed a donor boat I left him.

Be sure to hang out to watch it happen.
it will make you smile as the guy makes a B-Line for it.

Me too, he had never dragged one off the trailer and he was not a boater so I made some suggestions and popped right off. Gave me a thumbs up and a smile and got to crushing.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to doing this again. Y'all remember this video from when I had the KF donor crushed, right? Too much fun!