65 Mustang trailer bunk question

Don't worry about the stringer width matching the trailer bunk width. Take a look at the reference section and look at the trailers.. All bunks were wider than stringer spacing.

Welcome to CCfan. We demand pictures!!!

So the basic plan for this thing is a resto-mod. I'll be swapping in a replacment motor as I'm 99.9% certain the original is junk (plugs were never pulled). I have a turnkey mercruiser 188hp pulled from an IO boat that I planned on dropping in.

there is some glass repair to be done, just cosmetic where the heat scortched it a bit.

The green paint has to go. Not sure what color to put on it but I'm leaning toward orange

I'm hoping the stringers are still solid but if they aren't i'll just dive into it.

I have way too many projects going on so I dont expect to have this thing in the lake any time soon. but I figured best to get it off the rotten trailer and maybe pull the motor out of it for now. I could wrench on the powerplant over the winter and maybe do some of the hull repairs in the fall when I am less busy.

The wiring harness on the old motor is cooked as are some of the hoses. The boat has been motionless for 8-10 years now.

i'll be pulling the motor soon and will better be able to asses any obvious damage besides the scorching.

Thanks for the info on the motor, is the LH rotation true for all IO's. I'm sure the mechanic i bought it from would have known that but he is probably less familiar with the old cc.

I might consider domestic microbrew but now that I am investing significant sweat equity it might take more than a 12 pack

RockRidge wrote: jacked up the Mustang today and cribbed it up. The old trailer pretty much let go during the process. the left hand frame rail cracked right through. Yikes. But all is well now it's 3' off the ground on cribbing. I think I'll use some 4x8x8' PT beams I have lying around for the bunks. I'm going to space them so that they support the main stringers and wedge them so they follow the hull contour. I am considering using a power planer to shape them a bit too. I'll need to weld in some additional supports on the trailer to support the ends. Also thinking of flipping the axle to drop the frame 6" as it sits really high. As of now, the frame rails are 24" above the ground and the bunks will add another 3-1/2. What do most of these boats have for rudder clearance when the boat is loaded and level?

Contoured bunk boards provide good support. here's some photos of one of mine. Have since had to modify. Originally had 3 levels of bunk boards which was perfect at normal grade ramps in NY. Ramps here in GA are almost flat, hadda remove a layer and still tough to get it off.

The tranny can be set for LH rotation; you must re-index the pump. Don't just run it in reverse.

The down side to a LH prop is the torque reaction, when operating the boat alone, will cause it to list to starboard. With 2 or more persons the torque effect is not noticible, from what they say.

Do you think the engine you have now is a right hand? If so you could rebuild it.Basically it's the crank,camshaft,distributor gear and front and rear seals that are rotation specific.The crank has lines in the seal area that pulls oil away from the seal.Reverse the rotation of the crank and it will push oil past the seal. Those other parts are wear items that you would change in the rebuild anyway.

Give Al a call. This 302 should work (you need to check on 289 bolt on stuff ) ... sure looks like its priced right.

Finally got the boat back on the trailer tonight. I ended up going with the 4x10's and will wedge the outsides to acheive some kind of angle to support the hull. I was surprised in that the trailer looked much bigger until the boat was on it. It's a perfect fit. I'll need to fab some side guides, but on the plus side the outer rails are almost flush with the sides of the boat so it will all come together nicely.

At one point I was like 3' off the ground in order to roll the trailer under, and of course my cribbing stacks were 2" too close together to clear the wheels so I had to adjust them before making any downward progress.

The tires were a bit soft and I ran out of light but my prop and rudder clearance looks good and the boat is nice and low too.

Sure would like to find some streamlined fenders, I wonder if VW beetle fenders would work?