Brooks Reid 1975 Seacraft

[Brooks Reid]

77SceptorOB, Yes as far as I know Layson was the only authorized Seacraft dealer in the area. Eventually Boat Center (when it was in S. Miami) got the dealership too. Old man Layson was pretty tuff guy to make a deal with but I got the my 1975 20SF (with red color and options), Seminole trailer and Mercury 150HP for a total of $6500 rigged and ready to go. Purchased in June of 1976. Seemed like a ton of money at the time. I remember I could have got the 23' for another $1000 but could not afford it. The list price for the 20SF was about $4200 and the 23' was about 5400 as I recall. I bought mine from "JB" who was like used car salesman. Seacraft had just introduced the 20MA and I could have purchased either the 20SF or the MA for the same price. I liked the layout in SF better. I repowered my Seacraft about 6 months later when Mercury came out with the 175HP Black Max. Took a big hit on the trade but I had to have more power and go faster! Hell I was 26, what do you think?

[red20]

I bet you have tons of family, fishing, snorkeling that show your Sea Craft in all her original glory.

I love looking back at our families pictures and the boat (sea crafts)of the past.

[Blue197320]

i bet that motor will start right up with a carb cleaning. nice looking boat btw.

[Brooks Reid]

Well Blue I'll find out today. My mechanic is Jeff Blam Accutate Outboard in Homestead Fl. I highly recommend him. He did a compression check when I first got it and it was good. We pulled the engine off last week and he is finishing up on work today. He told me the carbs were the worse he'd ever seen. Bowls were glued with thick varnish everywhere. Replaced fuel pump and water pump. The inside power packs had melted and left a black tar in the bottom of the cowl. At first I thought it was rat excrement since I found a nest in the same area. I pulled the power packs off and cleaned. The components looked ok so I re sealed with black silicone. Also replaced the wires from the power packs to the coils. Stator wires had melted to a goo probably from my liberal use of WD40. I stripped the goo and re sleeved with heat shrink tubing.
Since transom was raised I decided to extend my lower unit with a kit from Bay Manufacturing. The cost was $650 -Owch! It's a spacer that fits between the mid unit and the lower unit and converts the 20" shaft to a 25" shaft.
I'll be looking for a Mirage prop if everything goes well.

Everything should be complete today and Jeff will start it up. I've got my fingers crossed. 1993 Mariner 150HP with 50 hrs on it and 10 years of sitting.

There was a Hydro Jacker jack plate on the boat but I'm not sure if I'm going to reinstall it. Never had one before so I would not miss it. Any fans of jack plates?

[Brooks Reid]

Hey Red
I've got tons of pics and even some videos on YouTube called Spincast which was a fishing TV show pilot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1OC5...e_gdata_player

[ct9amr]

Great story! Glad to see it will be back in the water.

[Blue197320]

so did it start????

[red20]

Originally Posted by Brooks Reid

Hey Red
I've got tons of pics and even some videos on YouTube called Spincast which was a fishing TV show pilot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1OC5...e_gdata_player

Cool stuff. I grew up on and then owner my own red 20. Notice my screen name. Now I have a late 70's master angler that I plan to paint red one day soon.

[red20]

Why no water on the deck in part 3 when releasing the grouper. Three guys in the stern of an old 20 = wet feet.

[Brooks Reid]

Got to my Jeff's (my mechanic) house and he had all the work finished up. It started right up and sounded strong. It was a nice feeling to hear that 1993 outboard roar to life again. Bay manufacturing lower unit extension installed, fuel pump, carbs cleaned, power packs all wired. Jeff made some adjustments and ran for a few minutes. I decided to reinstall the Jack Plate so that was hung first. Then finally the motor was bolted on. Everything went smoothly and we headed back home to button up the coffin and get the console on.
Ran into a snag when I started to install the Seastar hydraulic steering. The steering was was completely clogged. Really bad. We finally managed to pound a steel rod through but was not sure how or if I could get it clean. Took it back to Jeff and he had a drill bit sized for the tube that did the trick. Then a lot of working it with the right sized pipe cleaner. Finally got it clean and fairly smooth.