Thread: 1996 Blazer VL100 Restoration to Crappie Chaser

I fish Crappie, single poling most of the time but casting too. My other Blazer has Vertical Rod Holders installed on top of the Gunnels which when you are swinging in a Slab you must clear the rods. They get in the way often. I use the pipes in the stern on the other boat also but in that boat the pipes penetrate out of the Cap in the back. Thinking outside the box these Rod Holders store the long jig poles very low but they remain readily accessible. Once the concept was imagined and metal broke I taped the parts to the boat for fitment and function testing. Realizing another part would need to be designed and fabricated to prevent a problem the forward "Deflector" part was made. I TIG welded both parts together, painted them, and bedded the install with 5200.



Areas where reels , guides, rods, etc could rub I am installing SeaDek to prevent damage to my boat and Tackle. I can carry 4 14ft Jig Poles in the 2 gunnel Rod Holders.




Rod Holders are also installed on the inside, Starboard side holds 2-9ft Jig Poles and 2-7ft Rods. The Port has Holders for 2 Ultra-Lites.



Also installed a little more SeaDek. More will be installed after mounting the Bimini top.

Well I deleted the oil injection completely not so much for the weight but the age. Ran the boat today with the Solas HR3 21P 3 blade prop. It bites like a 22in pitch, real stiff. Turned 5400rpm at the same 52 mph but that was against a good running tide. The Solas is not drilled and biting a bit too much out of the hole. So after lowing the engine a bolt hole (I have it all the way up in Hole 4 right now) to see if any improvement I'm looking at adding a set of Bob's Machine Transom Wedges and Wedge Washers. I think 5 degrees would be enough but will level the pad then measure prop shaft angle with a inclinometer so I have reference measurements. Give me a little more stern lift out the hole. When you hit the trim the whole boat lifts out the water like its Turbo Charged.

Sleeping on the water test allowed me to think about all the behavior traits of yesterday's water test and fishing trip. Posting it up for future boat restorers will give them something to watch out for. I was fishing in a blind spot to boat traffic, had a guy blow by me close but slowed down producing a massive wake before correcting. I only had time to troll away from the tree and get the bow into the waves before they were on me. Well I took a bit of water over the bow, it ran right to the floor drain centered in the lower curvature of the deck floor (remember the deck was crowned at the drain when starting the project). The floor drain worked excellently, the forward hatches did not leak a drop, the automatic bilge switch turned the pump on draining the water catch basin I created while sealing under the fuel tank. very little water was left on the deck.

Lastly in the turns of the bayou my prop cavitated. This morning I went right out into the Shop and measured Pad to Prop Shaft height and found the starting Prop shaft height too high. I had it in the 3rd hole when removing the extra setback and should have left it there. Well it is only 1-15/16in below the Pad with 4 inches of Setback. Since the Engine mounting holes on most Outboards are 3/4in apart centerline I need to move the engine down 2 holes the get as close to 3-1/2in below the pad, where I should have started out to begin with. Included is a picture of the calculations.