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1984 Schiada 20' outboard upgrades

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kjlectric

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I have an 84 20' Schiada with an 88' Merc 200. Original owner. The boat was kept on the Parker strip from 84 until 96 until we moved 25 miles down river to Hidden Valley. This is a family ski boat that has been used and abused for over 30 years. After 20+ years of running the lower river I had my first big hit. Needles to say, I brought the boat back to LA to get the lower unit replaced. I was thinking of making a few upgrades while I have the boat here at home. I do not have an unlimited budget. I'll do what I can for now and start planning for a future rehab.

Lower unit. Replace it with the stock unit or is there a better option that I should consider?

Any recommended Mercury dealers in LA? I'm in the South Bay Area.

Power steering would be nice. Any recommendations?

It has a foot pedal throttle that is very stiff and sticky. The cable exits the pedal towards the front of the boat, 180's towards the back and almost does a 360 getting back to the motor. There's got to be a better way but I do want to keep the foot pedal. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The carpet is original! It definitely needs to be replaced. DIY? Carpet source? Recommendations?

The gel coat is in decent shape but is dull and has plenty of dings and scratches. Whats the process to make it new again? Recommendations?

I'm sure I have more questions later.
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GGames

GGames

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Check out the gater step instead of carpet. It's what's on all the newer boats now and it looks really clean.
 
GGames

GGames

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I had a 20 with a merc 200 before... ran wide open all day long. Sometimes stalled while idling through the keys since mine wasn't fuel injected... but great boat and motor combo.
 
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kjlectric

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kjlectric

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GGames said:
I had a 20 with a merc 200 before... ran wide open all day long. Sometimes stalled while idling through the keys since mine wasn't fuel injected... but great boat and motor combo.
Click to expand...

The boat came with a Evinrude 235 (or 225? cant remember) from Schiada. The boat was stolen while parked in front of my house in 87 or 88. They took the motor and abandoned the hull nearby. That's when we got the 200 Merc. The Mercury 200 did better than the 235 performance and weight wise. It's been running strong for almost 30 years!
 
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kjlectric

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GGames said:
Check out the gater step instead of carpet. It's what's on all the newer boats now and it looks really clean.
Click to expand...

I just checked Gator Step out. I like it. I'm not sure if that would work well on this boat. The front plywood bulk head is carpeted as well as under the deck and half way up the side tanks. It has a carpeted piece of 3/4" plywood on both sides of the floor that makes a small storage area too. I'll have to check out some other Schiada 20'ers to get some Ideas. Anybody have ant 20' interior photos?
 
CycloneRacing

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There is not much in the South bay as far as Mercury dealers. I lived in Torrance and had to get my Mercury 300 parts from M&K, Pfaff or Dick Sherrer.
For what you are doing I would just take it to M&K or Dick Sherrer and have the factory lower unit put back on. No need to go all aftermarket for a family ski boat. Mercury parts work great as shown by your 30 years of trouble free running. It would probably have gone another 30 if you didn't hammer it. HAHA!
Only drawback to Mercury parts is the price but since insurance is paying who cares.

M&K Marine
Address: 4567 W El Segundo Blvd, Hawthorne, CA 90250
Hours: Open today ? 8AM?5PM
Phone: (310) 675-1801

Dick Sherrer Marine
Address: 12328 Firestone Blvd, Norwalk, CA 90650
Hours: Open today ? 9AM?6PM
Phone: (562) 868-9809

- As far as the power steering goes you can put hydraulic steering on it. It is expensive but is nice. I have the IMCO setup on my cyclone. Cheaper setup that would work for what you are doing is Sea Star
- The foot throttle definitely keep it. Chances are is is just worn out. My friend had a 20' Schiada outboard with a foot throttle. They had such a heavy return spring on it your calf would get tired after 15 minutes. Maybe check the spring or lube all the parts. Also the throttle cable running forward and then making a 180 degree turn under the bow to go towards the engine is how mine is run in my Cyclone. It depends if your engine is a push or pull setup on the throttle arm. Have M&K check that too.

Just my opinion.
 
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kjlectric

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CycloneRacing said:
There is not much in the South bay as far as Mercury dealers. I lived in Torrance and had to get my Mercury 300 parts from M&K, Pfaff or Dick Sherrer.
For what you are doing I would just take it to M&K or Dick Sherrer and have the factory lower unit put back on. No need to go all aftermarket for a family ski boat. Mercury parts work great as shown by your 30 years of trouble free running. It would probably have gone another 30 if you didn't hammer it. HAHA!
Only drawback to Mercury parts is the price but since insurance is paying who cares.

M&K Marine
Address: 4567 W El Segundo Blvd, Hawthorne, CA 90250
Hours: Open today ? 8AM?5PM
Phone: (310) 675-1801

Dick Sherrer Marine
Address: 12328 Firestone Blvd, Norwalk, CA 90650
Hours: Open today ? 9AM?6PM
Phone: (562) 868-9809

- As far as the power steering goes you can put hydraulic steering on it. It is expensive but is nice. I have the IMCO setup on my cyclone. Cheaper setup that would work for what you are doing is Sea Star
- The foot throttle definitely keep it. Chances are is is just worn out. My friend had a 20' Schiada outboard with a foot throttle. They had such a heavy return spring on it your calf would get tired after 15 minutes. Maybe check the spring or lube all the parts. Also the throttle cable running forward and then making a 180 degree turn under the bow to go towards the engine is how mine is run in my Cyclone. It depends if your engine is a push or pull setup on the throttle arm. Have M&K check that too.

Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, I'm going to disassemble/reassemble the throttle pedal & cable replace the cable if needed. The wife has to grab the steering wheel sit up and push her full 100 lb body weight to the top of the gas pedal to get full throttle to pull out a skier.

I ended up going to M&K. The splines on the lower unit drive shaft are beat up. I'm not sure if it's normal wear from 30 years of shifting into gear or from the impact. Bottom line is M&K can't guarantee that the splines in the crank will hold up. Apparently there is no way to verify the condition of the crank splines. The crankshaft would have to be replaced to be 100% sure. Insurance already approved replacing the lower unit. I don't know what they will do about the damaged crank splines yet.
 
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