New project

G'day everyone,

Recently I lashed out and bought a little 5.2m tinny with a 60hp Mariner 2-stroke on the back that was sitting on a John Papas trailer.

Whilst not a particularly nice looking rig, she's a tough old girl with the entire hull made of 5mm aluminum. I have been told that it was an ex sea rescue boat out of Geraldton. I can't confirm that but did find an old advert for it from years ago when it was fitted with a jet engine (since replaced with a little pod on the back). It has a self draining deck and a dual battery setup for the radios and HDS5x sounder.

The hull is a '99 model, the trailer is an '05 modelas is the Mariner. I can't find anything about the manufacturer of the hull but it does seem to be a custom build.

So far the list of work to be done includes:

- removal of the little aux Yammie

- installation of a new sounder

- inspect and repair the electrics and wiring

- start saving for a replacement donk... I can't see a 60 pushing this around too well.

On the whole it appears to be in good shape. As always with older boats there's some quirks... It only has a 30odd litre fuel tank which is situated on (not under) the floor in the center console. The primer has been placed before the in line fuel filter 3 inches from the tank and a couple of meters before the engine. I might be wrong but I have always had the primer just before the engine, after the filter/water separator?

Any thoughts on the project are welcome.

Cheers

 

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Posts: 729

Date Joined: 22/08/12

Pretty sure the primer bulb is best installed before the

Fri, 2015-06-26 11:01

fuel/water separator so theat fuel is being "pushed" into the fuel /water  separator from the fuel tank rather than being "pulled" through it. Im def no xpert but when I went to install a separator on my boat the mechanic said thats how it should be done and ive never had a problem  

Devo1965's picture

Posts: 120

Date Joined: 29/09/13

Interesting.

Fri, 2015-06-26 11:06

A few photos of the whole boat in day light would be nice to see, looks like an interesting project.

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Devo1965

Posts: 5738

Date Joined: 18/01/12

 yeah closer the primer is to

Fri, 2015-06-26 12:30

 yeah closer the primer is to the tank the better, as they blow better than they suck

Plus as boclock says above

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 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

Posts: 4561

Date Joined: 01/02/10

 Tasco = tapco? They were

Fri, 2015-06-26 16:04

 Tasco = tapco? They were making similar rigs up that way around that vintage, maybe a little earlier. 

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Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?

Posts: 12

Date Joined: 24/06/15

Tapco - not Tasco

Fri, 2015-06-26 20:40

 

Thanks Dodgy, you are right. It should have read Tapco.

Posts: 12

Date Joined: 24/06/15

First run

Mon, 2015-06-29 03:43

After tidying up a few of the electrics I took a quick trip down the river for a test run.

The motor ran really well however there are a few issues:

  • The motor sits very low in the water. Around 17knots the back of the motor was less than 2 inches above the water
  • around 25knots on calm water it felt like it was riding through small waves (bunny hopping - for lack of a better word) even though there weren't any waves...
  • the original transducer location doesn't work and water is sprayed all over the side of the motor as soon as you go above 15knots

The transom is 20inches tall, whilst the 60hp is short on berries for the weight of the hull I think there is definitely a problem other than the lack of power.

I took a couple of photos (the latter ones in the original post) to try and show what is happening. I haven't got a problem moving the transducer but the other issues are new to me. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Cheers,

Ben

nico's picture

Posts: 226

Date Joined: 17/08/10

 Hi BenI would think your

Tue, 2015-06-30 10:26

 Hi Ben

I would think your bunny hopping would be refered to pourposing, this is usally referred to boats that have outboard pods and poor LCG longatudial centre of gravity this comes down to weight displacement where the batteries are placed fuel tank position this can be worked out by moving weight around the boat. I noticed you have a Hydrfoil which would help the boat plane you could also look at raising the engine up 1 hole to see if this changes your running altitude from there you look at prop sizes i imagine this should be the correct size, does the engine reach full RPM? few veriables to look at just small changes at a time until you sort it out.

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In Mocean

Posts: 4561

Date Joined: 01/02/10

My only real memory of

Tue, 2015-06-30 17:23

My only real memory of tapco's was trying to reduce the porposing. Tried lots of different things on one of them. I'm pretty sure the end result was a 4 blade prop with a bit of extra lift and a transom wedge. Was on a bigger one than yours though. 

When they were still being built I spent a bit of time working at a Gero boatyard and there were a few coming through.  

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Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?

Posts: 812

Date Joined: 09/10/06

 Looking at the pics your

Tue, 2015-06-30 18:15

 Looking at the pics your motors mounted at the lowest position it can go. I would raise it as high as it goes. Probably help with the porposing issue.

epic restos and marine's picture

Posts: 226

Date Joined: 22/06/15

 all out of 5mm and a 60hp?

Wed, 2015-07-01 20:57

 all out of 5mm and a 60hp? she must sit very low and not really go that fast but hey even in bad conditions it will hadle very safely. spray defectors all the way down the side tells you take a rain coat you will need it. also a boat built to suit jet (weights would of been applied) to transfer to lighter motor well mmm, but at tthe end of the day a 5m  made out of 5 mm now that would smash most things thats as good as the old fiber swiftcraft with the inboard

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epic restos and marine's picture

Posts: 226

Date Joined: 22/06/15

also look at running a

Wed, 2015-07-01 21:06

also look at running a longitudenal fuel tank to help combat jet motor weight if void is still there it would be easy people are correct it is a weight issue  removing the motor has done this for piece of mind take boat out again and place two or three big water tanks where jet unit used to sit and watch the difference

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Posts: 12

Date Joined: 24/06/15

Thank you

Sun, 2015-09-27 09:54

 Apologies for the slow response guys. It is a nice stable boat but it's just not what I'm after at the moment so it's time to sell it.

Thank you very much for the advice.

Enjoy the long weekend!

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

I had a Tapco

Sun, 2015-09-27 19:07

 Bought it new through Jacksons in  Gero, just a solid flat-bottomed thing with deck welded in. Fitted it out myself, added a console and a 50 Hp 2-s mariner, had a lot of fun with it. Such a shallow draft, hard riding, very stable and you drove it like a jet boat in the shallows, throwing it sideways round the lumps. Went to Darwin as a mackerel dory when I sold it, apparently he had it for years after in that role.