90 ETEC on a Potter 20 CC???

[DonV]

Way to go Benjamin!! Now you have went and increased the size of Terry's head, I can here the swelling of pride all the way from lower Tampa Bay. However I must admit his old clunker is cooler than my old clunker.

[Terry England]

Originally Posted by benjamin

Terry, I was just reading through this entire thread yesterday and got to page five and seen your sawzawd bowrider. Couldnt stop thinking about it. Came back here this morning and screenshot it. I think I read somewhere that you don't think its as pretty as most of the boats on here... its my new favorite. I think the splash guard, flat wheel position on the console, and the old sea craft script on the stern makes it. And the performance from the 90 ETEC is pretty sweet too. Is there a thread where I can read more about what you did to it?

I was asking my girl about what she thought of some of the seacrafts on craigslist and she basically said, "why do you like all these old boats?" So I let her see yours and I said, "because they can look like this." And she said, "oooooh, I like that one!"

Ill be free diving in homosassa when gags open up. Hope to get good performance in pounds per gallon like that too.

Tight lines.
Ben

Ben, You don't want to look too close at that thing. It's got rust streaks running down the transom, a non-skid dash and the electronics box is an old seat back. It's rough. A 1967 is so old it doesn't even have the little reverse on the bow edge that the fancy "cutt'in edge" Potter boats like Don V has. It's a dang SeaCraft Panga, stripped down to the bare essentials but it does everything I need it to do and I don't have to fuss with it much. In the Design World the term is "Form Follows Function". I don't have a thread but there is a album on my member page with some more pictures of the old dawg.
Let's go scouting before July 1 so we know where to point when the season opens. I understand the red tide is still causing havoc in the panhandle area - if it "pushes" south it's going to run the Gags ahead of it and kill everything else. Last summer we caught them bunched up on the Meisner Crane and it was "shoot out at the OK corral" - we got our 6 and were pointed east by 10:30 to snag some hogs in 25'. Keep yout fingers, toes and eyes crossed that it leaves us alone this year.
I keep inviting Don V., Skiblet, Trader Ter, G FS, Denny, Snookerd , and No Bones to come on and go Scalloping or Diving up there with Kmoose and I but they are dead beats always polishing their bow rails or something equally as important, the weenies!

[ocuyler]

Hey Terry,

I think the Moesly Flats Panga is a whole new category here that may gain traction.

I'm just putting the 19 back together. I noticed the spray rails on yours. I did notice that she was a wet ride when I tested her last fall. Can you suggest a size, length and method of attaching? Thanks!

[Terry England]

Originally Posted by ocuyler

Hey Terry,

I think the Moesly Flats Panga is a whole new category here that may gain traction.

I'm just putting the 19 back together. I noticed the spray rails on yours. I did notice that she was a wet ride when I tested her last fall. Can you suggest a size, length and method of attaching? Thanks!

Otto, I sit way in the back so if it is blowing 15, I get a lot of salt water in my Celebratory Red Solo cup on the way home. To prevent salt water intrusion and dilution of said spirts I "stuck" a couple of 8' spray rails on her. Since The Marshtackie is a work boat here is the I did them -
1) Slit and brake a 5" wide piece of 26 ga. metal to 80 degrees
2) cut one leg of the angle at 4" spaces to the bend point
3) screw the uncut leg of the sheet metal to the hull with a few screws at the chine with the cut tabs radiating out from the hull.
4) lay up a couple layers of cloth maybe 3/16" or so thick then when it sets pull everything off the boat and pop the fiberglass off the sheetmetal form. (I trim a lot of fiberglass with a good set of right or left handed tin snips - if it isn't too thick)
5) The strips should hold the profile of the hull but will have some waves where the cuts were in the sheetmetal.
6) straighten everything up with a grinder (yuck) and lay up a few more layers of glass on each side of the now "hull profiled" spray rails.
7) Tape off and grind the gel coat off the hull where the rails will attach and stick them on with some bonding epoxy and some temporary screws though the rails and into the hull.
8) When everthing sets, pull the screws, fill the screw holes and the little gap on the bottom side where the spray rail and hull meet.
9) Gel coat or paint the new rails to match your hull.
I thought possibly something would start to seam crack or work loose someday but it's been a few years and I have no sign of anything opening up.
Otto, they are a little rough when you look at them up close, but so is the boat AND the Captain - so everything kind of matches! The best deal is the dang White Merlot ain't watered down on the way home.

[benjamin]

Originally Posted by Terry England

Ben, You don't want to look too close at that thing. It's got rust streaks running down the transom, a non-skid dash and the electronics box is an old seat back. It's rough. A 1967 is so old it doesn't even have the little reverse on the bow edge that the fancy "cutt'in edge" Potter boats like Don V has. It's a dang SeaCraft Panga, stripped down to the bare essentials but it does everything I need it to do and I don't have to fuss with it much. In the Design World the term is "Form Follows Function". I don't have a thread but there is a album on my member page with some more pictures of the old dawg.
Let's go scouting before July 1 so we know where to point when the season opens. I understand the red tide is still causing havoc in the panhandle area - if it "pushes" south it's going to run the Gags ahead of it and kill everything else. Last summer we caught them bunched up on the Meisner Crane and it was "shoot out at the OK corral" - we got our 6 and were pointed east by 10:30 to snag some hogs in 25'. Keep yout fingers, toes and eyes crossed that it leaves us alone this year.
I keep inviting Don V., Skiblet, Trader Ter, G FS, Denny, Snookerd , and No Bones to come on and go Scalloping or Diving up there with Kmoose and I but they are dead beats always polishing their bow rails or something equally as important, the weenies!

That's just minor cosmetics in my opinion.. Its still a sweet looking boat that catches fish. That's all that matters. I grew up fishing off a cobbled together 17 mako with my dad that makes yours look like the Queen Mary. It was the rat rod of boats.

[berts80]

Guys I hope you don't throw me off this board because I have a 20' Hydra Sport. I've removed the liner and lightened it as much possible. It looks very similar to Terrys boat, It's wide open. I was struggling with which motor to use and after finding this thread I think my choice has been narrowed down. I don't know the weight, but it's much lighter now than when I got it. I know Evinrude makes a 90 E tec for a pontoon which has a different gear ratio than the ones you are using but not sure if it comes with a 25" shaft. I'm really glad I found this thread as I would have never thought a 90 would power a 20' boat. Thanks for all that contributed to this thread and I look forward to more discussions.

[gofastsandman]

Originally Posted by Terry England

Ben, You don't want to look too close at that thing. It's got rust streaks running down the transom, a non-skid dash and the electronics box is an old seat back. It's rough. A 1967 is so old it doesn't even have the little reverse on the bow edge that the fancy "cutt'in edge" Potter boats like Don V has. It's a dang SeaCraft Panga, stripped down to the bare essentials but it does everything I need it to do and I don't have to fuss with it much. In the Design World the term is "Form Follows Function". I don't have a thread but there is a album on my member page with some more pictures of the old dawg.
Let's go scouting before July 1 so we know where to point when the season opens. I understand the red tide is still causing havoc in the panhandle area - if it "pushes" south it's going to run the Gags ahead of it and kill everything else. Last summer we caught them bunched up on the Meisner Crane and it was "shoot out at the OK corral" - we got our 6 and were pointed east by 10:30 to snag some hogs in 25'. Keep yout fingers, toes and eyes crossed that it leaves us alone this year.
I keep inviting Don V., Skiblet, Trader Ter, G FS, Denny, Snookerd , and No Bones to come on and go Scalloping or Diving up there with Kmoose and I but they are dead beats always polishing their bow rails or something equally as important, the weenies!

Polishing weenie.

[JohnC]

I have a 23 Hydrasports so I am an undocumented alien along with you (I have a SC hull picked out but have not begun work yet). The reason for putting the 90 on the Seacraft is that the boats were designed in the late 60's when outboards were no more than 300#. The SC trim angle, especially when adding a bracket, is affected by motor weight more than some other hulls might be. Your boat may not have the same weight limitations that the SC has because its a newer boat that is made for heavier motors, I really don't know for sure. I would guess that your HS 20 would work alright with a 90 but it's just a guess. I personally would not be willing to spend a whole bunch of money on a guess.
The ETEC V4's are probably more in line with what your hull was designed to use. There is also at least one advantage to the V4 models; the ability to use I Command gauges. Sweet gauges! There is also a new Mercury 2.1L 115 4-Stroke that is lighter than the V4 ETEC and looks pretty impressive so far (probably cheaper than the 90 ETEC too).
Good luck with whatever you decide and keep us posted (just post in Spanish so no one knows its really a Hydrasports, they'll never figure it out).

[berts80]

My hull is a 1980. It's called a Duralight hull. It's not kevlar but the documentation mentions lighter weight construction with duralight. Not sure what it means but the previous owner ran an old 115 Suzuki on it. I've taken a lot of weight out of it. The boat was a cuddy model, all of that has been removed. I want to weigh it and then I can decide what to do. It's a modified V hull.

[Terry England]

Berts80,
Here is what I know from first hand experiance. The E-tec 90 triples have a very flat touque curve and pull like a John Deere through the power range. They are the only Evinrude that is horsepower rated at 5,000 rpm's, because at 5500 they make 102 HP. They wouldn't get a big enough seperation between the 75 and the 115 unless they slowed it down to only make 90 hp. My 2006 is a 20" 2 to 1 gear motor. The 25" are 2.25 to 1 and the pontoon series is 2.36 to1, I believe.
I also have a pair of e-tec 115's on a 25 Bertram Hardtop Moppie. The 115's are a little more "Pipey" they are a little flat in the torque curve until you twist them to 4,150, then they "launch". They have adjustable expansion chambers in them and they change the back pressure or somethin', but it is like a 125CC motocross when they "come up on the pipe". This past weekend I ran down to Anna Maria (Snookerd and Conner's back yard) and raided the Hogfish and Magrove Snapper sites. Four divers, 9 tanks, 150 qt fish cooler, food cooler and dive shit - 104 miles round trip - 41 gallons. I'm about 7,000#'s loaded that way. Spooled up to 5500 "Team 115 E-Tec" hurl that slug loaded like that along at 34 mph.
The real issue is what are you going to use the boat for, and what is the intended loading on a normal trip? If you are not river racing and just plodding along offshore 20-25 mph is all you need. The old 20 SeaCrafts were made to function with the Mark 78, 75 hp Merc's in the 60's. The VDH hulls worked well without too much power. I don't know too much about Hydrosports except the 27's used to fall over on their sides alot and you would trim, trim, trim and then they would fall over on their other side. The SeaCrafts pretty much stay upright without trim tabs, unless you got someone like Kmoose or I wallowing around like a couple of walruses on board.
Buy something light, keep the weight forward, call Ken at Prop Gods for a wheel and go use the dang boat. Put a Seacraft decal on it and the Bayliner gang at the ramp will be impressed! They wouldn't know the difference. You only got so many sunsets left here - enjoy the trip.