Took it to the river -

[mtechmarine]

While we have had some cold blasts from the northlands, Northwest Florida has recovered nicely. A couple of weeks back the grandson came by and inquired "when are we going to take the P-14 out?"

"Well last time out it wouldn't fire unless you let off the key" (at Old Town Suwanee river meet) then i realized that was a year and a half ago. And all I have done is make excuses - -

So that being said he went to work and:

Installed the stern light and wiring, switch. etc.

Installed new battery.

Tore the control box apart and rewired the switches correctly (correcting my bad)

Installed electronic speedometer. While I, now somewhat motivated pulled the distributor tower and cleaned, relubed the rotational parts and installed a rectifier in place of the selenium plate setup originally equipped, routed the output directly to the bat terminal on the start solenoids.

Saturday the 22nd dawned bright, sunny and in the low 60's. by the time we were ready to go a marine layer snuck in and it got gray. Still tolerably warm (today 24th it hit about 72)

Hit the water and had a good ride. calm waters, no wakes to interrupt smooth running.    

YAGOTTALUVVIT!! 74 and still crazy after all thes years!

So, GET OUT THERE! Times A-wastin'

[daveswaves]

Nice pics Bill, that middle one would be a good calender pic, boats running nice and high.

[DaytonaJohn]

As I recall you had some history with this boat going way back. Please rewind that story. My mind is shot .  

[Toby Hall]

These are great!  

[mtechmarine]

A short synopsis of the P-14.

Not too long after relocating here from Hawaii to a waterfront home here in Florida -

I found this boat on eBay, no bids at 200.00, so I contacted the owners in Clearwater and made them a deal. Drove down and picked the boat up, overnighted there and the next day attended the Big winter meet at lake Shipp. On the way home stopped in the Tampa area and picked up a 1939 ELTO Fastwin. Quite a trip!

The plate sats "P-14 fiberglass boat" "Motorboat Manufacturing, Paramount California". Now there were several iterations of P-14's, the most well known one was built by Bramco / Seaswirl in Oregon, finally one of the OMC boat group, I think finally history along with the parent company. I have only heard of one other California P-14, you can tell them from the others by the molded in spray rail.

In September 2004 hurricane IVAN ended that waterfront dream with a 12 foot storm surge. The boat was in the garage, on the trailer, after smashing its way thru the overhead door it wound up out on the driveway on the end of the winch cable. Only thing that kept it from being washed away. Actually the tree down on the roof saved the entire shop, as 3 smaller outbuildings were totally destroyed.  

So after 3 more years and a move to higher ground I set to work on it. Gutted it and rebuilt the insides with Meranti marine plywood and epoxy tab method. Here's a few pics before and after.    

As found, note the plant growing out of the wet well drain.

The white ribbed thing to the left of the boat is the stairway from the 1st floor deck to the 2nd floor balcony.

I winched the remains back on the trailer.

Removing plant food.

If you all want to see the entire rebuild, I'll post it as a discrete thread. Let me know.

[Michael]

Nice work Bill looks fantastic... I like the P14 hull aswell

[LarryR]

Sweet, nice post, enjoyed the read.
Any of the three top photos would make good calendar photos , but my choice would be the third one as it shows the engine up better.

[1500J]

Killer story!  Thanks for sharing.  Its interesting to know what these old hull's have been though in the time they have been around.

C

[Fastjeff]

You are one awesome dude!

Jeff (only 71)

[rkdownes]

If you all want to see the entire rebuild, I'll post it as a discrete thread. Let me know.

I'd like to see such a thread, if you have time to write it.

[Pondrocket]

Sweet Ride !!!  

[Fingerlakeskid]

Beautiful restoration! Thanks for sharing. What's the background story on the Merc?

[mtechmarine]

MARK 75 on the P-14
One built from a pair that came from Denver area. One had good powerhead, the other, gearcase. With little actual use all it needed it was a tune up mechanically - new crank seals, top main, and cooling system parts, i put new bearings and rotor shaft in the distributor. of course the motor needed detailing/refinishing. I had Doug Kay rework some hydraulic steering to adapt to the package, works great.

Finished MK75 awaiting assignment.
My 40H in foreground.

At Dougs , cylinder assy on another IL6

[mtechmarine]

Last weekend (December 13-14th) the P-14 made a foray over to Moss Point Mississippi, Presleys Outing. My friend Lynn has quite a collection of boats and motors on display at the restaurant at the campground. We had finally figured out the wiring on the electronic speedometer so now we had 2 ways to determine speed - GPS function in Havens' phone and this speedo. Both gave me a reading of 40MPH. The electronic speedo has a rotating wheel spun by water that passes a sensor, feeding 12V pulses to the instrument, similar in function to an alternator tachometer.Its cool, no needle fluctuation.

This boating was on the Escatawpa river, Presleys have a great place to enjoy the water activity. Enjoy the pics.

Ready to get on the water

Beautiful day for a boat ride. Air temp. 70 degrees

Cruisin'

New water, slow and easy.

Dusk

End of a perfect day

Merc by starlight

More to come - get out there!

[Lake Racer]

Lovely looking boat and motor.  I really like the classic runabout lines and rear steer, the center pass through makes the boat that much more user friendly.  Thanks for sharing!

[dndsam]

The Merc by starlight photo is a great shot.  One to consider for the 2016 calender voting lineup.

The electronic speedometer you speak of sounds like what was used on inboard competiton ski boats for many years when equipt with a Perfect Pass speedomter setup.  Perfect Pass has since moved to GPS technology.  

http://www.perfectpass.com

Doug S.

[gfgarland]

A job VERY well done, I know the amount of effort this takes. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

[gfgarland]

Bill, is the green primer correct for the powerhead for that year? I have a 1957 Mark 75 to restore and want it right

[mtechmarine]

As best I can discover, yes, (1957)s were chromated -  both the MK75 I combined were unmolested, and I have a 1957 MK55 with this same green treatment.

Ron Hill stated the "green" blocks made the best 55H replacements, we decided they were indeed, 1957.

[1500J]

Great photos and write up.

[squirrelboydeluxe]

Bill
You are an inspiration to us all and a true hero for not letting even a HURRACANE stop you            
George B

[mtechmarine]

HAVEN PUT TOGETHER A VIDEO OF THE WEEKEND, THOUGHT YOU MIGHT ENJOY SOME "WINTER" BOATING!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvXAbi9cjbc
[youtube]VvXAbi9cjbc[/youtube]