"Singing the Blues" Update 24 Schiada by Prime Marine

This week we will showcase a boat we built for one of our many great customers. This particular individual has been a customer for many years. The boat is a 24? Schiada. It started life with Mercury 500EFI, Imco stand-off box and a Bravo I. It was originally rigged by Schiada and is a very clean boat. Over the years it has had few changes such as a 2.3 Whipple and an Imco lower unit installed. Mostly we have maintained and made slight cosmetic and rigging changes during the years he has own ed it. Most recently he decided to dig into it this past year and do a few things.

The bilge had some stress lines in it and we decided to pull the boat apart to repair those concerns. While we were in there he decided he would like to revamp the floors throughout the entire boat. We figured it was now time to remove the fuel tanks and add bulkheads to the boat as well. The tanks were then powder coated white to match the hull. The decision on the floors was to continue the original idea of the balsa wood into the cockpit area and stripe it with matching colors of the boat. Rick at Islander performed all the work and while discussing the project a few times, Rick and I decided to put a little twist on the floors in the cockpit area. This particular Schiada had a storage locker up front just under the dash so instead of eliminating it we decided that we needed carpet up there and a smooth transition to the balsa floor in the walking area. Rick and his guys asked me for the particular carpet we use in our projects and he recessed the areas to be carpeted around the balsa floor. Then we decided on a combination of grey and blue pin lines to match the colors of the boat along that edge. We used those colors in the engine compartment to keep the same theme throughout the boat. Of course it was all color sanded and buffed to be as shiny and as smooth as the boat itself.

When we received the boat back from Islander it was time for us to put a few prime pieces into the boat. We decide that we would start with the engine so along with Gordon Jennings from Paul Pfaff, we removed the 2.3 Whipple and installed a polished quad-rotor Whipple onto the engine. This package would offer another 100-150 horsepower to the boat and since the customer was already comfortable with the previous engine he decided to go ahead and up the power a bit as long as it would keep the reliability. Gordon finished the engine, dyno tested it and to our surprise it made closer to 200 more horsepower on only 8 lbs. o f boost. At that point I began discussing the characteristics of the boat with Lee Spindler from Schiada. He and I decided that a shorter lower unit would be in order to get some more performance out of the boat. So I went ahead and picked one up from Imco in San Dimas CA. Of course the hatch clearance needed to be addressed so again Rick at Islander and his guys helped us out.

The customer wanted a stock appearing hatch and Rick was happy to oblige. I insisted that from the front, the hatch needed to look stock and the only modifications that could be performed would need to be done to the inside and at the rear. He and his guys did a great job and created a perfect piece and gave us exactly what we wanted. Now that the puzzle was coming together it was time to get the Prime side of things in the works. We decided to put one of our billet pedal assembly?s onto the wood floors which would give it a more comfortable feeling while driving the boat. In keeping with comfort and ease of driving the boat we decide to put some of our custom billet rocker switches and leather wrap a st ainless 3-spoke wheel in order to be able to trim the boat without having to remove your hands from the wheel. As for the interior we would be using the existing interior but opted to eliminate the cooler under the rear seat and turn it into another storage area. With the large storage that the rear seat offered we utilized the sides for the two batteries. This idea was to keep the bilge area clear of ?clutter? as we like to call it. I decided to bind the edges of all the carpet throughout the boat which to me gives it a more finished look. I wanted the floors to have a snap-in carpeted mat so Ivan from Columbia Custom Interiors took care of that along with reupholstering the hatch, and modifying the rear bench seat to clear the supercharger belt. We reinstalled the engine and all the components with some custom billet bracketry we made and rerouted all the plumbing and wiring in the bilge area. The boat came out extremely clean and everyone seemed to be impressed with the outcome so now it was now time to put a little attention into the trailer. It is an original Ellis trailer with some frenched in lights so making only a few changes would give it an amazing look. We switched out the wheels to some billet 17? Boyd Coddingtons? with some Falken 245/40/17?s and installed new stainless fenders to give it a slightly lowered look. Then we dismantled, chromed and reassembled all the pieces of the trailer tongue, winch, side guides, and swing jack. We always try to do something with the trailer because it spends most its life there and besides it has to look good rolling down the highway!

This project was a great upgrade to an already beautiful boat and we appreciate the customer
allowing us the opportunity to help him achieve a new look. The boat tested well and now runs in the
mid 90?s. There are a few more props I would like to test with but for now the customer is happy with the outcome. There are few ideas in the works for a couple changes down the road. Maybe some Prime "race style" cavitation plates? We?ll just have to wait and see. .

Mike
President
Prime Marine
10742 Edison Ct
Rancho Cucamonga CA 91730
909 484-8338
www.primemarineusa.com
[email protected]