WELCOME TO RIVER DAVES PLACE

1994 25' Eliminator Eagle 250

Nanu/Nanu

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Thanks for clicking on my thread. This is my thread to document the mods I'm doing to my Eliminator. But first I'd like to give you some history of me and the boat and how we came together.

First off I did not grow up around a boat, my wife on the other hand did. We worked hard and bought our first boat in the summer of 2019. It was a 1996 crownline open bow. Its one thing to be a guest on a boat and another to own one, but I fell in love with it. That being said we tent camp on the water and have 2 kids and 3 big dogs. Although the 22' was nice it was quite crammed going anywhere so I was looking for something bigger. So the covid summer came we were using boat a ton and we found one that worked for us. A 1994 Eliminator 250 Eagle.
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The crownline
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The Eliminator

So we get the girl home and we keep her stored in the garage. She fits but she's a tight squeeze so i decided to put a swing away coupler on the trailer.

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So here is my before pic. This is the trailer with an inch between tongue and garage door. That's about 15" between the bench and boat. Pardon my mess on the bench.

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So off with the old. I started by cutting the bulk of the old coupler off with a sawzall. Then I cut what remained with a grinder and cutoff wheel inside of the welds. This left only the welds and minimal coupler material left to grind off with a grinding wheel.
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To help combat corrosion I primed the tip of the trailer then placed the trailer side piece of the coupler and made a mark where the weld was going to go then stripped the primer off leaving what was going to be covered still primed and the weld clean.
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The finished product. I know I didn't photograph the steps in between. This is my first time. Turned out good im not finished but this is 90% complete.
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So much more room for activities! Now there's 30" between the boat and bench!

My next project will be addressing issues with my trailer fenders. Stay tuned and thanks for reading.
 

HydroSkreamin

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Welcome to the jungle! Glad you’re on the water and found a boat that fits your family’s needs.

Nice work, and keep us updated on your saga.
 

D19

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Nice boat. Pretty colors!
 

Nanu/Nanu

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Thanks I have 3 and 4 year old daughter that say it's just like their Barbie boat. Haha
 

grumpy88

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Keep up with the activities ! Nice boat
 

ChrisV

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beautiful boat! Can't wait to see more progress!
 

Husqy510

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Congrats, I look forward to watching your progress.
 

Nanu/Nanu

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Alright so today I was able to start on my fenders. As you can see the existing fenders were pretty bad in regards to being to low. Below you can see how low they are to the tires And this was the best I could do after I bought the boat.
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So I picked up some 7.5" x 66" fenders from shadow trailers. Now let the festivities commence.

I I started by cutting the existing steps off, using a cut off wheel and sawzall. Then once the bulk of the material was off I used a grinder wheel to clean up the old welds on the frame of the trailer.

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Once the welds were ground down I sanded all of them with 80 grit then work out to 320. (240 grit would have been fine but I only had 320).
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I then was ready for a primer coat but first I cleaned the frame with denatured alcohol. Remembering to dish a little out for the homies who ain't with us!

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At this point I was ready to start welding fitting the steps in place. I put 2x4 blocks on the tires measured the fenders at 66" found center with a plumb bob at 33" marked that on the fender. Set the fender on the tires dropped the plumb bob again and centered it between the tires best I could. Then I ever so slightly held the steps up and sharpie market for reference. Then I cleaned primer off then tack welded in place. Once the steps were in place then it was just figure out where I want to place the fender and clamp and drill holes for bolts.
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So now as I'm typing this I have a the paint drying on the fender. Maybe at some point this week I can get out to the garage and get it mounted and be done with it.

Thanks again for reading and stay tuned for the other fender. Or Don't (spoiler: it will be the same as this side) But the next project will be tackling some bunks that are too long!
 
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Nanu/Nanu

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So I fired the girl up because I had some spare time and I had an electrical demon I was chasing down.

My first trip upon purchasing her she fell flat on her face. Replaced alternator, starter and batteries and she wouldn't charge. Voltmeter gauge would only show charging at 11 volts. So I researched some threads on here and found the post I needed to hook my one wire to for the alternator.

And...... Whaaaalaaaa!
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Nanu/Nanu

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She actually started showing 13v after this photo.

So relieved to have captured this demon.
 

AZmike

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I'm having that issue as well. do you have the post link that you found?
 

Nanu/Nanu

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@AZmike I could have swore I found the link on here.now I can't find it to save my life here are some photos that may point you in the right direction for now while I keep searching. I found these typing "single wire marine alternator" on google and clicked images.

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The one that is for sale on ebay looks similar to what I have.

So I got no directions when I got my alternator and I was looking at the back where it says battery sense there was a S stamped I figured that S stood for starter. Yeah no worky. The difference between the battery sense and battery plus studs is battery sense is 3/8" nut and the battery plus was 7/16" nut on my alternator. The 7/16" is the one you want if yours is similar to mine.
 

AZmike

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@AZmike I could have swore I found the link on here.now I can't find it to save my life here are some photos that may point you in the right direction for now while I keep searching. I found these typing "single wire marine alternator" on google and clicked images.

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The one that is for sale on ebay looks similar to what I have.

So I got no directions when I got my alternator and I was looking at the back where it says battery sense there was a S stamped I figured that S stood for starter. Yeah no worky. The difference between the battery sense and battery plus studs is battery sense is 3/8" nut and the battery plus was 7/16" nut on my alternator. The 7/16" is the one you want if yours is similar to mine.

Thanks man I appreciate it. Unfortunately I don't have the boat in front of me. I'll have to dig into in a couple weeks. The engine in my boat is an older Volvo SBC and I don't have any info on it either.
 

Nanu/Nanu

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Your welcome. I totally understand the situation Ill keep looking around.

Some back story here. The existing alternator I had was a true one wire.

When I pulled up mercruiser parts and put my information in the starter that came up was similar to the black one for sale on ebay but I had no instructions and there was letters stamped on the back. And a small description that said it could be used as a one wire alternator but didn't really show how. So i just swung for the fence and missed.

I would say you may want to check cp performance. They have a bunch of alternators to choose from if you need a new one. My life would have been easier if I just purchased one from them but I am kind of a believer in factory first aftermarket second unless strongly advised not to prior to purchase.
 

Nanu/Nanu

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So I got my bow cover made today!
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Huge shout out to Rex @ covers plus in Chandler, AZ. Dropped the boat off at 930 this morning and he was done at 4 this afternoon. I'm super happy with how it turned out.

Since I hade to burn a day of PTO I took the wife and girls along for the ride and we went to canyon lake while we waited. We had a blast swimming and chasing ducks. The water.was freezing but hey a day at the lake is better than no day at the lake.

Also thank you to @mesquito_creek for the referral.
 

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BUDMAN

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Great thread. Keep up the great work. It’s inspiring seeing everyone’s upgrades & repairs.
 

aj923

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Did your boat have a bow cover before or did you have to add all the snaps too? I would really like a bow cover for mine, I just don't want to drill in all the snaps lol!
 

Nanu/Nanu

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No bow cover period for $500 this is what I got cover snaps and labor.
 

Nanu/Nanu

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Oh snap! This just showed up on my door step! This is my test fit super excited!

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Nanu/Nanu

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Did you order through gatorstep or seadeck? or someone else?

You are doing a lot of the mods that I plan on doing to my 250!

Heck yeah! I love my Eagle!

Gator step. They will have two designs now for Eliminator Eagles. A two piece design and now a one piece.
 

Nanu/Nanu

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That should solve the biggest negative i ever found in the older Eagles. The angle of the swim step made it what we called the “swim slip” but the GatorStep should really solve that issue.
Yeah that thing is like a launch ramp! haha
 

DarkHorseRacing

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That should solve the biggest negative i ever found in the older Eagles. The angle of the swim step made it what we called the “swim slip” but the GatorStep should really solve that issue.

Older Eagles? They're all that way. I've got a 2013 26' and I'm adding Gator Step there as well because Eliminator didn't put it there in the beginning and that texture they have there isnt cutting it. Though we did get it on the 2018 30 Eagle but we used SeaDek on that one. I think I like the Gator Step material better.
 

Nanu/Nanu

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Had a great time on the water this weekend at powell For mother's day and the boat ran great! Be back there for memorial day if anyone goes up there. I need to get better at taking pics on the water. I'm just really good at putting my phone away though.
 

Nanu/Nanu

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Back again. Since the mother's day trip we've been out a couple more times and I think we've put something like 30-35 hours on the boat so far this year not bad.

On one of our trips I lost a fuel pump and the housing. For those that are aware, yep the seal between the pulley and the fuel pump cam blew lost the gear oil and smoked the finger. So yes it was a spendy fix but we're back on the water.

With that being said I have had some projects in the making just waiting for some time And today I got it.

I cut in a fuel pressure regulator. I also got hot pink spark plug wires and blue looms. Spark plugs are only have done but before long I'll post up picks. Really I'm just not happy with how the engine looks. To me it looks like a bowl of spaghetti. So hopefully some of this will help uncluster it.

Yes I know I put the regulator on my bench seat. I run an Edelbrock carburetor (hate if you want) to me they are simple and easy for ME to work on. With that being said it limits where I can mount the regulator and I havent found a engine mounted bracket I like that works.


I'm really happy with how everything is turning out.


Enjoy the pics and holler if you got questions. First few should be befores then the Afters.
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MPHSystems

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i could not do that with an etch-a-setch. I can’t even make a circle. I’m aces at shaking them and wiping out whatever you made though.

@DaveH
 

Nanu/Nanu

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Alrighty.... Back from my hiatus. So we're now in boating season so why the heck not get all my projects done I've been procrastinating all winter about doing.

So this last week when I have had time. I've been working on my trailer. At the end of last season I started to develope a crack at the junction of the side rail and tongue. So I wanted to do some sort of gusset to limit flex and strengthen this area.
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So once I got the surface rust cleaned off I primered all my surfaces to help fight again rust in the future. Then I lay down my steel tack into place then weld. I used 3/16" plate steel for all of this to by the way.
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So here's what I came up with. I know my welds aren't badass, But I'm sure they are strong enough to get the job done. So this is where this I am at with this project. I have to do all my bottom welding and I'll be all set for prime and paint. Last night I went to work at midnight and got off at 5 this morning so came home got some shut eye. At 8 this morning I got up and decided I was going to tackle installing a stereo deck that somebody accidentally hosed down last season. I'm not gonna name names but it wasn't the kids nor was it myself. 😂

That was an easy task really I just went with a single din media player no cd Kenwood deck. I have purchased 1 remote for it but I'm undecided where I'm going to mount it at. I'm going to get a second one with a splitter to but that can be decided later.

Ever since we bought the boat the bow light has bugged the crap outta me. We have this nice sleek boat then this god awful hood ornament of a bow light sticking up. I'll take a sec and tip my hat to Nordic boats you guys know what's up. Anyway... so here's what I changed.
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So there it is for today. On my to do list I have bunks and transom eyes I'm going to install for some transom trailer ratchet straps. Again thanks for reading.
 

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ChrisV

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I gotta put lights on my boat too. Really don't want to drill anything.
 

Nanu/Nanu

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Just do it! It's exhilarating! Haha I was more nervous about my wife coming out seeing me cutting the boat! She would have kicked my butt!
 

Nanu/Nanu

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Lmfao I thought about it but honestly I get on the water at 6-7am. I usually never make it to night time.
I'm in the same position we get off the water early too. But I did break down once late in the afternoon and had to get a fuel pump from page. So I needed it then as we got back to camp at 1100 at night. Making memories 😀
 

ChrisV

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I'm in the same position we get off the water early too. But I did break down once late in the afternoon and had to get a fuel pump from page. So I needed it then as we got back to camp at 1100 at night. Making memories 😀
Damn. Gotta stay ready so you don't gotta get ready. 🤣
 

Nanu/Nanu

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So today i worked on a couple things. Removed a drive shower and also did some jetting on my carburetor.

The drive shower was removed just as an experiment. When i drive my father in laws advantage without a shower it doesn't blow out in tight turns and the prop stays hooked up through the holeshot. So im gonna see how it works out for me.

Also i have been meaning to do some tuning work on my carburetor. As it far as i understand the carb is supposed to be jetted at 1* from the factory. I peaked at the main jets and rods and as far i could tell it was jetted really rich at bubble 6 according to the graph. So i changed the jets and confirmed the metering rods and its jetted at bubble 1* now, so we shall see if results are complimentary!
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