Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

[Mr Sam]

hello im Sam live in mid England and total noob to boats

wanted a boat for some years now and finally bought one, ive been half watching ebay for a while now with everything either being to far away or ridicliously out of my budget so couldnt believe my luck when i found this lillte gem very local and i thought a dam good price

its a Fletcher Arrow (made in England) unsure of its age or what power range it should take so hopefully someone may be able to help with a little more info on them

i payed ?130 delivered, ive got the hull the trailer, seats, throttle and cables and some of the steering assembly

'i see no ships'

so far ive stripped it out and given it a brief wash, the trailer needs some welding and new tyres, the hull needs a small hole fixing and a bilge hole bung, the i need a motor and steering system and some sort of screen

 

[proshadetree]

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

Cool looking find.Your at the right place.If the guys here cant help ya nobody can And welcome

 

[wewefirex2x]

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

Pretty neat. Almost looks like an F14 Disney World has.

 

[Mr Sam]

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

wonder if someone could give me some advice on suitable seats??

heres what the boat came with, the seats are out a bedford van and all cloth, the mounting framework is a custom build by the previous owner fixed to some marine ply

being all cloth though im dreading them getting wet and having to sit all soggy for the rest of the day,

would vinyl ones be any better, ive still got these sitting around somewhere


or are boat seats covered in a special material??

 

[Mr Sam]

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

long shaft / short shaft?????

went to look at used outboards today and was asked was i after a long/short shaft *i shrugged* the kind chap then kindly told me the differance and told me to measure from the top of my transform to the bottom of the keel

so ive got near on 20inch, would that be a long or short shaft???




anyway asides from that all ive got done today is pull off the throttle/gear lever, its got 2 cables but only one moves im asuming the other cable should move too to change from forward to reverse

should both cables move or is there a way of making the second cable engage? its an ultraflex system (ive cleaned it down ad given it a fresh lick of paint)

also finally found what it would of looked like back in the day, i should be able to form my own screen with some perspex shouldnt i??

 

[jonesg]

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

20" is considered a short, 25 is called long for outboard legs.

It looks like it would fly with a 50 hp and lift off with a 75.
There should be a plate, either on the transom or somewhere inside the boat with the engine capacity.

Heres one with a 40hp
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FLETCHER-ARRO...emQQimsxZ20090326?IMSfp=TL0903261110001r29993

video of seats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C98MR_YHR2k&feature=related

 

[Mr Sam]

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

speant a few hours on my boat started off by giving the insides another clean and sprayed one gunnel(??) in black meerly just to smarten it up a little instead of multi-coloured fiberglass resin. I had thought about boarding it out but thats only goig to add weight

then decided i would get the boat off the trailer on my own :bang: all went pretty smoothly actually, used the tractor to hoist it up then chock it with mk1 fiesta wheels and chunks of wood this now frees the trailer up so i can give that a good clean down fresh paint tyres and maybe whinch along with a jockey wheel

as said earlier there is a small hole in the hull ive now discovered its because one of its previous owners instead of buying some new rollers when the originals wore out just bound the mounting post up with loft insulation and bubble wrap :bolt:

now then??? will i need any special fiberglass for this or will car body work stuff do the trick??

last off anyone know what these 2 items might be?

at first i thought the piping must be a breather for something but closer inspection on the black bracket and it has a 'smiths' logo so i asume something else went on it to give a gauge on the dash a reading (speed??) and the tubing was just wor the signal feed wire?


thank ya, Sam

 

[jonesg]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

Well good luck with it .

 

[matthewp]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

looks like a bracket for to hold the paddle wheel for the speedometer, or maybe a depth finder.

 

[legoman67]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

cool looking boat, have you checked the wood in the transom and the stringers? I would guess that hose is a Peto tube, and bracket for the speedometer sensor. Something along the lines of this, the peto tube slides on on the top(the unpainted metal part)

 

[Mr Sam]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

ahh right i see, someone else has said to just remove it and fill the holes, ill use my satnav to get an idea of top speed when its done


the transform seems solid but i guess i wont know for sure until ive got an outboard o it and wiggled it about a bit. without ripping the top layer of fiberglass off i cant get to the wood to check it

decided togo for a single cable teleflex steering system as people have told me the pully system wont be safe with a 50hp motor

 

[matthewp]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

My boat didn't have a speedo when I got - I used my GPS to measure my speed. I'm in the middle of a rebuild and do not plan to put a speedo in. All of the boaters I know report that the GPS is a more accurate read anyhow.

Cool boat. I think you should name it "Bond... James Bond".

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

I think you should measure that transom again. Measure from the top of the transom, where the outboard motor will sit, to the bottom of the boat. That boat looks like it has a 15" transom, not 20", with the cutaway for the outboard.

If it's 15" or 16", then it takes a short shaft outboard motor. If it's 20", a long shaft. You want to get that right.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

Re: and so it starts...Fletcher Arrow

20" is considered a short, 25 is called long for outboard legs.

You are incorrect. 15" is a short transom. 20" is a long transom. 25" is an extra long transom. Please be careful. Purchasing the wrong outboard motor is an expensive mistake. If you're going to give advice to other boaters here on iboats, please try to get the information right.

 

[Mr Sam]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

thank you for clearing that up, im pretty sure it was 20" because i thought to myself oh its 2 foot (24") then measured it to be on the safe side ad it was just under at 20", i will of course check again before thinking about buyig an outboard

when buying the outboard i take it from top of the transform to top of the propeller has to be a minimum of 20"???



anyway finished work early so thought i would patch up that small hole with glass fiber, started off with a small sectio of aluminium mesh and used P40 glassfiber filler to hold it in place

then applied a small sheet of glass fiber cloth to cover that then a larger section then a small section (each with a lick of resin in between) and repeated on the underside

i cant see any water coming through once its finished off with the filler and a good few coats of paint

i then set about dismantelling the seating arrangement, seemed a shame because the previous owner had clearly taken time and pride to make up the framework, so ill use the frame as best i can to mount my seats

they should look a little better and be a little more water friendly

unfortunatly the hardwear store had run out of black spray paint so couldnt finish the inside off this evning,

next on the cards is a new board to mount the throttle assembly and then crack on with the trailer ......... grinder time

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

Very good, then. You need a long shaft outboard for that transom. Measuring from the point on the transom mount that rests on the top of the transom to the horizontal plate just above the propellor, you should find a measurement near 20". Depending on the age of the outboard, there may be an inch or two difference in that length. Older Johnson and Evinrude outboards from the 1950s and 1960s are a little confusing. The short shaft engines, designed for 15" transoms, will have a measurement of 17". Don't be confused by that. Long shaft engines from that period will have a 5" long extension clearly visible above that horizontal plate.

Rely on an experienced seller of outboard motors. Tell him you want a long shaft engine for a 20" transom and he will understand.

 

[Mr Sam]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

thatnks again for clearing that up and yeah the first place i tryed for a second hand motor he asked long/short and i hadnt a clue what he was on about so he briefly explained and just said to measure the transom

just got to wait till next payday now

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

Best of luck, then, on your new boat and motor. Keep us up to date on your progress, and ask any questions that may come up. We'll do our best to help.

 

[Mr Sam]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

tonights super exiting activity amongst washing the car and doing the watering...

the old throttle mounting boards were on the way to rotten so i thought id make some new ones up, aslo cut up the rear seats out the same car ill be using the front seats from to then cover the board with like the original board was covered with some fancy textured vinly stuff...........if any of that makes any sence at all

also may of sourced a nice 40hp yamaha literally over the road from where the boats stored so ill nip round and see how much he wants for it if its suitable and works, its a farm but he scraps cars (ive got one waiting for him as it happens) and i rember he had a smakk fishing day boat a while back he was doing up so it could be the motor off that

 

[Mr Sam]

Re: Mr Sam's...Fletcher Arrow

didnt have enough of the plain material so had to use some of the stitched stuff, its almost ready togo back on the boat once that side is painted