On Sun, 14 Nov 2010 01:31:22 -0800, Gunner Asch
wrote:

https://www.allpar.com/photos/boats/commando.jpg

Picked up one of these, no idea of the year. They were made from '68-72

Its in rather surprising good shape, missing the bow rail......and the
motor. On a factory trailer also in rather good shape.

Hull and deck needs polishing and a new coat of paint would not be out
of order.

Last time it had tags on the boat, was in 2005. Originally it had a
Chrysler 75hp outboard, but somewhere along the line it was removed and
evidently a Johnson installed..as there are replacement Johnson controls
installed. I dont think it saw much sal****er, based on the hull
condition, but..shrug..I really dont know.

One of my clients bought an anodizing company and the boat was way
outback in the yard, tires flat, engine missing, filled with trash.
They were going to scrap it the day I asked about it..and they simply
gave it to me.

Ive restored a number of sailboats over the years..so the fiberglass
cleanup and repainting isnt a big issue, but finding an outboard is.
Its 15' long, and the hull has a dry weight about 665 lbs. according to
the docs Ive found on the net.

Any suggestions as to what sort of engine to put on it? Probably a
Johnson..shrug...but what hp?

Im very much of two minds...one is to hire a local kid to buff out the
glass, Ive got the proper media, electric buffer etc etc then polish it
and put it up for sale, or to keep the thing and add an outboard. It
really could use at least a bottom paint..but..shrug....

Any comments, suggestions, etc etc to help me make some decisions would
be appreciated

Gunner

I would stick with the US name brands: Mercury, Mariner, Johnson,
Evinrude. The Japanese make very good outboards, but they're pricey.
Even the US makes are pricey. Off-brands like Chrysler and Force are
risky.

"Don Foreman" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 14 Nov 2010 01:31:22 -0800, Gunner Asch
wrote:

https://www.allpar.com/photos/boats/commando.jpg

Picked up one of these, no idea of the year. They were made from '68-72

Its in rather surprising good shape, missing the bow rail......and the
motor. On a factory trailer also in rather good shape.

Hull and deck needs polishing and a new coat of paint would not be out
of order.

Last time it had tags on the boat, was in 2005. Originally it had a
Chrysler 75hp outboard, but somewhere along the line it was removed and
evidently a Johnson installed..as there are replacement Johnson controls
installed. I dont think it saw much sal****er, based on the hull
condition, but..shrug..I really dont know.

One of my clients bought an anodizing company and the boat was way
outback in the yard, tires flat, engine missing, filled with trash.
They were going to scrap it the day I asked about it..and they simply
gave it to me.

Ive restored a number of sailboats over the years..so the fiberglass
cleanup and repainting isnt a big issue, but finding an outboard is.
Its 15' long, and the hull has a dry weight about 665 lbs. according to
the docs Ive found on the net.

Any suggestions as to what sort of engine to put on it? Probably a
Johnson..shrug...but what hp?

Im very much of two minds...one is to hire a local kid to buff out the
glass, Ive got the proper media, electric buffer etc etc then polish it
and put it up for sale, or to keep the thing and add an outboard. It
really could use at least a bottom paint..but..shrug....

Any comments, suggestions, etc etc to help me make some decisions would
be appreciated

Gunner

I would stick with the US name brands: Mercury, Mariner, Johnson,
Evinrude. The Japanese make very good outboards, but they're pricey.
Even the US makes are pricey. Off-brands like Chrysler and Force are
risky.

Chrysler was Force, and Force was bought out by Mercury in the Early 1990s
and then Mercury killed off the Force name. Nothing wrong with a well
maintained Force except:

1. It will be close to 20 years old for the newest ones.
2. Parts are getting harder to find.
3. They are horsepower rated at the power head, not the props shaft, so
they tend to under perform compared to modern outboards.

I have a 50HP Force (1990) and a 50HP Mercrury (2005). I have run them both
on the same boat rated for 50HP. The Force will push it just over 30 mph
when dialed in just right with a fresh prop. The Mercury will push it over
40 mph.

Are both running the same prop ? One a power and another speed prop?

Giving you a hard time bud.

Good info.

Martin

On 11/14/2010 7:06 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
"Don Foreman" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 14 Nov 2010 01:31:22 -0800, Gunner Asch
wrote:

https://www.allpar.com/photos/boats/commando.jpg

Picked up one of these, no idea of the year. They were made from '68-72

Its in rather surprising good shape, missing the bow rail......and the
motor. On a factory trailer also in rather good shape.

Hull and deck needs polishing and a new coat of paint would not be out
of order.

Last time it had tags on the boat, was in 2005. Originally it had a
Chrysler 75hp outboard, but somewhere along the line it was removed and
evidently a Johnson installed..as there are replacement Johnson controls
installed. I dont think it saw much sal****er, based on the hull
condition, but..shrug..I really dont know.

One of my clients bought an anodizing company and the boat was way
outback in the yard, tires flat, engine missing, filled with trash.
They were going to scrap it the day I asked about it..and they simply
gave it to me.

Ive restored a number of sailboats over the years..so the fiberglass
cleanup and repainting isnt a big issue, but finding an outboard is.
Its 15' long, and the hull has a dry weight about 665 lbs. according to
the docs Ive found on the net.

Any suggestions as to what sort of engine to put on it? Probably a
Johnson..shrug...but what hp?

Im very much of two minds...one is to hire a local kid to buff out the
glass, Ive got the proper media, electric buffer etc etc then polish it
and put it up for sale, or to keep the thing and add an outboard. It
really could use at least a bottom paint..but..shrug....

Any comments, suggestions, etc etc to help me make some decisions would
be appreciated

Gunner

I would stick with the US name brands: Mercury, Mariner, Johnson,
Evinrude. The Japanese make very good outboards, but they're pricey.
Even the US makes are pricey. Off-brands like Chrysler and Force are
risky.

Chrysler was Force, and Force was bought out by Mercury in the Early
1990s and then Mercury killed off the Force name. Nothing wrong with a
well maintained Force except:

1. It will be close to 20 years old for the newest ones.
2. Parts are getting harder to find.
3. They are horsepower rated at the power head, not the props shaft, so
they tend to under perform compared to modern outboards.

I have a 50HP Force (1990) and a 50HP Mercrury (2005). I have run them
both on the same boat rated for 50HP. The Force will push it just over
30 mph when dialed in just right with a fresh prop. The Mercury will
push it over 40 mph.

"Martin Eastburn" wrote in message
...
Are both running the same prop ? One a power and another speed prop?

Giving you a hard time bud.


LOL.

Actually both are propped to run at redline at full throttle on that boat.
There are a lot of factors when propping an outboard, but in general that's
the baseline for top speed. Prop it to run right at redline at WOT. The
props on the two are radically different because the motors are radically
different. Still an increase of 33% from one to the other is a lot more
than just some minor tweaking and adjustment. I got the most difference in
either motor though by raising the motor up so the cavatation plate was just
barely under the hull. It does mean I have to cut throttle and/or trim down
in turns to keep it sucking water.

Of course stainless vs aluminum can make a difference. Stainless wastes
less energy in flexing. A certain type of polish makes a difference on
stainless. Factory balanced vs prop shop precision balanced. Number of
blades etc. Fewer blades is less drag. Mercury has a new stainless prop
that's more rigid than most existing stainless props, and can often produce
more speed with a lower pitch, etc etc etc... There are a lot of factors,
but most of them are measured in just a couple MPH difference on much more
powerful motors at much higher speeds. The baseline is still to prop it to
run redline at WOT for top speed and then go from there.

That is only about top speed though. Holeshot, 0-30, 30-60, etc are not
achieved with the same combination that achieves top speed. I'm no expert,
but I have won a tournament or two because I got to my best spot first.
(not in that boat) Many ski boats are under propped for top speed so that
they can get better holeshot and acceleration. If they ran at WOT for very
long they would over rev and blow a motor.



Good info.

Martin

On 11/14/2010 7:06 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
"Don Foreman" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 14 Nov 2010 01:31:22 -0800, Gunner Asch
wrote:

https://www.allpar.com/photos/boats/commando.jpg

Picked up one of these, no idea of the year. They were made from '68-72

Its in rather surprising good shape, missing the bow rail......and the
motor. On a factory trailer also in rather good shape.

Hull and deck needs polishing and a new coat of paint would not be out
of order.

Last time it had tags on the boat, was in 2005. Originally it had a
Chrysler 75hp outboard, but somewhere along the line it was removed and
evidently a Johnson installed..as there are replacement Johnson
controls
installed. I dont think it saw much sal****er, based on the hull
condition, but..shrug..I really dont know.

One of my clients bought an anodizing company and the boat was way
outback in the yard, tires flat, engine missing, filled with trash.
They were going to scrap it the day I asked about it..and they simply
gave it to me.

Ive restored a number of sailboats over the years..so the fiberglass
cleanup and repainting isnt a big issue, but finding an outboard is.
Its 15' long, and the hull has a dry weight about 665 lbs. according to
the docs Ive found on the net.

Any suggestions as to what sort of engine to put on it? Probably a
Johnson..shrug...but what hp?

Im very much of two minds...one is to hire a local kid to buff out the
glass, Ive got the proper media, electric buffer etc etc then polish it
and put it up for sale, or to keep the thing and add an outboard. It
really could use at least a bottom paint..but..shrug....

Any comments, suggestions, etc etc to help me make some decisions would
be appreciated

Gunner

I would stick with the US name brands: Mercury, Mariner, Johnson,
Evinrude. The Japanese make very good outboards, but they're pricey.
Even the US makes are pricey. Off-brands like Chrysler and Force are
risky.

Chrysler was Force, and Force was bought out by Mercury in the Early
1990s and then Mercury killed off the Force name. Nothing wrong with a
well maintained Force except:

1. It will be close to 20 years old for the newest ones.
2. Parts are getting harder to find.
3. They are horsepower rated at the power head, not the props shaft, so
they tend to under perform compared to modern outboards.

I have a 50HP Force (1990) and a 50HP Mercrury (2005). I have run them
both on the same boat rated for 50HP. The Force will push it just over
30 mph when dialed in just right with a fresh prop. The Mercury will
push it over 40 mph.