1988 290 XF updated pics

[nyguideservice]

Well I was finally able to finish the deal on the 1988 290 XF that I found last fall. It has been a long wait, but after the initial survey, and a very long winter, I was able to sea trial, and complete the deal. Here are a few pics from last week, I will add more as the new toys are added!!! She has 2007 5.7l crusaders with 200 hours on them, 4 blade wheels, all systems have been replaced, going to up date electronics over the next 2 years. She will be spending the next part of her life in fresh water on Lake Ontario trolling for King Salmon and trout. Stay tuned for more updates!!

  At the launch in New Bedford, MA


   Warming her up after a long sleep!!


   

   My new work area.
 

  The cabin.


  The storage area.


  The Large enclosed head.


  She sure does get up and move!!!!


  Here she is after her 300 mile trip west, she is in Sodus, NY getting ready for her new toys!!!



Capt. Rich

[seabob4]

She's a beauty, Rich!!  And obviously well taken care of by the PO.  And with '07 motors, which should be EFI, you'll see better fuel #'s as well as instant starts.  I'll take Crusaders any day over Merc's (sorry Farley!)...

[Double Trouble]

Great looking classic you should do well with it on Lake Onterio. By any chance do you know Charlie and Frank DeNoto from port bay they ran Pier One Charters up there. I chartered with them for 10 years or so in the 80's and early 90's. Great people.

[nyguideservice]

I do know of the DeNoto bros, but not personally. They have been on the lake for a long time!! The engines are not FI, the PO said sea water and all the electronics with EFI do not go well together. He is a retired mechanic, and knows his stuff, when he replaced the engines he made sure they were sequential, came off the line at the same time. He is very meticulous about his boats. I will post more pics as the additions are added. Thank You for compliments.

Capt Rich

[seabob4]

Interesting Rich.  We've been dropping EFI I/Os and I/Bs in new builds since the late 90s.  Don't take this wrong, but I think it's more the mechanic's personal preference than anything.  Or else there would be literally hundreds of thousands of EFI equipped boats that just were't working these days...

[nyguideservice]

I hear ya, that was his choice. I would love to have efi. Any idea what it would cost to install efi on the existing motors? I was going to look into that for the near future.

Capt. Rich

[Capt. Bob]

First CR, she's lookin' good.

Second, I'd think you would need a few other "items' (besides just the delivery system) in order to convert to EFI and thus realize its full benefit but the pistonheads will chime in I'm sure.

Third. Being a member on this Forum, you offer a unique insight to this model Aquasport. We would be grateful if you could provide us with information you gather while using the 290 for charter/recreation. We don't have a lot of "hands on" experience in the daily functions of Aquas of this type and any information/data/photos you might provide would be greatly appreciated as we continue to expand our database on all Aquas.

Thanks in advance and as always,

Good luck.

[seabob4]

Yeah, Bob, just did a quick check (used Teague, they are VERY well known), over $2K per motor W/O electronics...

[nyguideservice]

Yea I figured it would be a couple grand atleast per engine, almost better to save up a few years down the road, and repower and sell these. Even though there will be less than 500 hours on these. lol  I sure will provide any insite I can, I have already had numerous guys say that this platform was as close to perfect as you can get for our type of fishing. The only thing I am having an issue with is the seating. If I have 4 more clients, and it is raining or nasty, I would have to a couple ride down in the cabin. I will be getting some ideas to throw around on a poss seating change for next year. more pics to follow very soon!!!

Capt. Rich

[wingtime]

4 Gs would buy a bunch of fuel!

[SaltH2OHokie]

I like the idea of being able to half-way troubleshoot a "no fuel" situation when away from land.  No spark is pretty cut and dry with a distributor and ignition module like my motors have (finite list of spare parts necessary).  No cooling is pretty straight-forward. And, with a carb...no fuel is a heck of a lot easier to narrow down and hopefully repair than with EFI.  Also agree with PO of your boat...right or wrong, I know saltwater wreaks havoc on everything else I have electronic, so I can't see where EFI would somehow be immune.

I had to argue with the fella installing the motor in my Fish Nautique to get a carb'd 350.  He kept pushing EFI.  I told him that if he would ride in the bilge every time we went offshore, and troubleshoot/repair if I ran into EFI troubles, then I'm all for it.  Otherwise, I don't mind if I have to pump the throttles a few times and turn the key.

That's my logic anyway.

Beautiful 290, by the way!

[nyguideservice]

Here are some updated pics of the new toys and some of the work that I am having done. I have learned a bunch about the the way these boats were constructed. The transom is very thin, and needs to be reinforced for any type of additions to the transom. Even a swim platform would be much better if the transoms were a little thicker, looks to be between 1/4-1/2" glass and thin piece of wood between the liner and the glass/gelcoat.
  Here is a pic of the new Furuno 587 after install, went with an Airmar B60 thru hull ducer.


Here is the transom before install of reinforcement:




After the reinforcement, now there is about 2 1/2"of glass and wood there, along with a nice cleaned up trim tab motor, the new hydraulic pump for the Bob's Kicker Jack, also had a new bus bar installed to run downriggers and the rest of the electrical need in the transom.





I had a Yamaha T25 installed for quiet fuel efficent trolling on Lake Ontario, and also as a safety factor. This little motor will pay for itself in short order!!





ALong with some other additions added to the topside, she will be a fishing machine in a few days!!! I will post more pics when she is floating and fully rigged!!

Capt. Rich

[Callyb]

Rich, is your motor mounted too low?

That 25 isn't going to plane the boat out, it is just for trolling right?. Maybe I'm not understanding something or missing something, but I would think you would want it high enough that when you lower the bracket it would be in the water and out of the water when the bracket is up? It looks like it is rigged so that the cav plate is even with the bottom of the hull when lowered and I'm thinking you would swamp the motor in some poopy conditions.

I had a 35 on the back of my 32 foot Uniflite, and I had mine rigged higher.

Again, just trying to understand.

Thanks,

[nyguideservice]

Carl,
     The jack plate/ kicker bracket is electric hydraulic, I can adjust the height on where I run the kicker. Also this motor has power tilt, so I can tilt it up even more when the plate is in the upright position. This motor is just used for trolling and just incase something happens to the mains. Thank you for the concerns, I had the same ones when I got the pics first sent to me, but after seeing first hand in ok with the positioning.

Capt Rich

[Callyb]

Sweet, I figured I was missing a piece of the puzzle. My 35 doesn't have tilt and trim.