Pre 1983 hull… the original 25 mako with a single 225 or 250 or either twin 130 or 140’s, etc. The model I’m talking about had a raised fishbox/livewell in front of the motor(s) which made it a somewhat closed transom with a splashwell - not the notched transom with fold down splash gate most old Mako’s had. Also had U-shaped raised forward seating. Brown deck gelcoat. If it came with white deck gelcoat it was one of the 254’s they made from '83 til about '89, and that’s a different hull.
Fishability should be much better than my Mako 21B, but will the ride be significantly better?
Will it be worth my time to bring one back to life? Would like to power with a single 250HP OX66 or HPDI.
Who’s riden on one or fished one, and what were your thoughts?
That guy is going nuts on that boat. I would do about half what he’s doing. New fuel tank and spray the deck with some new nonskid. Replumb and rewire. Then elbow grease.
Got a buddy in N.C. that has one for sale or if you wanna email or call him to get his opinion on his I can get you in contact with him!! He has had his for quite a while!! Its a cuddy but nice boat we used to fish a bunch of tourneys out of OIFC with Capt.Brant!! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help!! I rode the boat quit a bit and I didnt think it was to bad of a boat!!! Went through some rough conditions and I’m still here!! Good luck!!!
Hope to find a used DF300 or F250/DF250 in a few months.
Long way away from that point.
'96 225 Johnrude on the back of the boat now. I haven’t even tried to turn it over and check compression yet.
I was told it was running good but the lower unit went out and that’s when the rig was parked.
I figured on the motor not even being on the hull when I made my offer.
We’ll see what happens.
Looks like great hull to restore! Glad you made the jump to a bigger boat,rember the bigger to boat the more horses neeed and they love to eat!A single 250 should be plenty for all around running and fairly good on fuel, Ive got a new 250 E tec and love it so far!
Phin congrats on picking out a sweet 25’- where did you get it? you will be really happy with it over your current boat
Jacksonville.
Rode all over Florida pulling an empty trailer this weekend looking at I was told was in better condition than the one I got. What a pain. I drove over 1300 miles, and my wife came along to make sure I didn’t hurt myself. Was not a good time for either of us- especially her. I really regret going anywhere past Jacksonville, and in the future I’ll remember a lot of hard earned lessons from this shopping trip.
Here’s one I looked at in Sarasota. Guy said the boat was near 100% and only needed some cosmetic stuff done.
Walked up to the boat and started tapping around on the bottom with the handle of a screwdriver. Found two delaminated areas immediately. Guy had just put new bottom paint on to cover it up. He played it off… Got into the boat and started crawling around. T top welds were cracked, and the T top didn’t fit the boat right to begin with- trash. Got on my stomach and got under the console. Popped open the fuel tank access and instead of a 100 gallon tank as was told to me on the phone, I see a 56 gallon tank with enough room between the stringers for two people to lay down side by side between the tank and the deck. Oh, and there was mopped on non-skid all over the boat and portions of the deck in the bow and stern were soft. There was also sprayed paint on the exterior and interior of the hull. This was a shade tree job, and all of the stuff done to make the boat look good from 100ft away would need undoing to be made right. Things like this really make me angry, and this was at 8AM after I’d driven all night.
Phin, I feel your pain on the florida mako searches. When i bought my boat in Stuart, i got an hour down the road and blew a tire. The place i bought it from came and jacked it up and put a terrible spare on it. I drove another 3 hours and right before exiting to sleep at a hotel the back right wheel blew off the trailer and the tire in front blew as well. I limped into a FORD dealership and left the rig there for the night. Next morning went to a shop down the street and paid almost 900 bucks for 7 new tires and a new rim. And then i continued driving by myself at 55mph on I-95 in a toyota tundra getting 7 mpg. All good used makos are earned my friend…part 1 of the earning is over. Im sure yours will work out well.
Mako used brown gel coat on the decks from the 60s to early 80s. Yes it does get hot. No idea on reasoning, but it’s a mako trademark pretty much. Maybe they liked the brown as it looked more like teak or wood as fiberglass was first catching on in the 60s.
Scout uses that almond type color now… The darker color doesn’t show dirt as much.
