Wanaflatsfish Posted September 30, 2017 Report Share Posted September 30, 2017 Well, I was rushing before the hurricane to get the skiff "safe".... Was working no the skiff before the storm and had the lower unit down as I was running her on the muffs. Storm was coming and I needed to get her on the side of the house and jumped in the truck and then drove forward and backed her up and heard a thump.... So, I went from..... To......... Special Thanks to Ralph @ AIM Welding and Mike and the team at the Boat Center in FLL on 441 North of 595 Because of where the break was, the welders had to heat the seals and they were shot....but, as they said, it probably was a good idea to change them as they were 22 years old. They did a complete rebuild of the lower unit, water pumps, etc. and it painted like new time to get the skiff back fishing.... DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coto Posted September 30, 2017 Report Share Posted September 30, 2017 That looks great. I did not tknow they painted the lowers as well if so I would have let them done mine while it was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanjj Posted September 30, 2017 Report Share Posted September 30, 2017 Looks good as new.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted October 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 52 minutes ago, fishmanjj said: Looks good as new.... Basically they replaced everything inside along with the impellor....so, it's a complete rebuild.. I ran her this afternoon.....ran like a champ..started up on the first turn...... DonH....ready for da oyster bars of Choko dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted October 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 1 hour ago, Coto said: That looks great. I did not tknow they painted the lowers as well if so I would have let them done mine while it was there. It was a surprise for me.....yep, they did a great job....it took them 2 days and 6 hours of labor..they had to heat the LU, then hit with PB blaster, let is cool, then get it apart, they said it was totally corroded and they were glad it came apart. definately not a DIY project (LOL). dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
localangler Posted October 1, 2017 Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 I forgot lower units were supposed to be painted around the skeg! It sure does look pretty though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE OUTLAW Posted October 1, 2017 Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 Thanks for the kind words Dino . Glad to hrlp ysll get back on the water . 🇺🇸☠️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conocean Posted October 1, 2017 Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 12 hours ago, Wanaflatsfish said: DonH....ready for da oyster bars of Choko Don't donate that rebuilt lower unit to a shifted Glades bar or submerged "object"! The repairers in Marco Island & Naples have been quite busy the past few weeks with lower unit repairs & replacements from boats fishing the Goodland area & south, so be careful!! Two guides I spoke to in Choko said they're only running at dead high or dead low and praying for the best the whole time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted October 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 27 minutes ago, localangler said: I forgot lower units were supposed to be painted around the skeg! It sure does look pretty though. Let's see for how long.... dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted October 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 27 minutes ago, THE OUTLAW said: Thanks for the kind words Dino . Glad to hrlp ysll get back on the water . 🇺🇸☠️ thank you again Ralph....your team at AIM is da BOMB Anyone in South Florida - take it to AIM for welding repair or build....they know lower units...and will treat you fairly and on-time as promised. The key to any LU repair, as I've learned from Ralph is you must cool the inner unit....don't just give it to any welder...they must know what they are doing.... I knew going in that the seals were gone be burnt up, and given the LU was over 22 years old, it was probably time for a reseal...so, for me, it was an unforeseen investment, but, it's a boat. The team at Boat Center has been taking care of my skiff's and Pathy's for over 15 years and they are the #1 in my mind...not Cheap, but, they do it right and most importantly, THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND DON'T GUESS DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted October 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 9 minutes ago, conocean said: Don't donate that rebuilt lower unit to a shifted Glades bar or submerged "object"! The repairers in Marco Island & Naples have been quite busy the past few weeks with lower unit repairs & replacements from boats fishing the Goodland area & south, so be careful!! Two guides I spoke to in Choko said they're only running at dead high or dead low and praying for the best the whole time I hear ya brother....not heading to Choko for a while and as you and I have spoken....time to take our time and do the Idle thing for a while and take the deeper channels dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conocean Posted October 1, 2017 Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 Amen! There's plenty of good lookin areas to fish within a mile or two of Choko, especially now that the landscape has changed. I've been saying for 15 years that I'm going to spend more time fishing within site of the island, so the time to do that has come. After hardly being used for 2 years, I finally dropped off my TM for service at Bob's (IMS) the other day cuz it looks like I'll be getting plenty of use out of it the next several months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted October 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 1 hour ago, conocean said: Amen! There's plenty of good lookin areas to fish within a mile or two of Choko, especially now that the landscape has changed. I've been saying for 15 years that I'm going to spend more time fishing within site of the island, so the time to do that has come. After hardly being used for 2 years, I finally dropped off my TM for service at Bob's (IMS) the other day cuz it looks like I'll be getting plenty of use out of it the next several months Yeah, time to upgrade to the 36V on the skiff's Then we can water ski down Indian River channel dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE OUTLAW Posted October 1, 2017 Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 Went out of FLL yesterday . The amount of dock boards , dock pilings , coconuts etc we saw ... plus , more alge in the water thatwr have ever seen , I wiuld be very cautious , running on plane , for a while . ENP gonna be that way for a long time . Let youknow bout that . Will be there next weekend . 🇺🇸☠️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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