XB03AllyProud
Active Member
This was my Father n laws baby that he ordered new and I finally talked him out of it last fall. I tried for years to buy it as it sat in his shop forever-10 yrs since it had been in the water. I always figured it had no more than 150 hrs in the water. He rigged it with a '89 XP175. He had limiters removed, couple minor tweaks and Bobs did a Bigfoot on lower. It was dam quick and ran great for a JohnRude, plus He could air it out. In Central Tx back then he hurt a lot of feelings at local lake and even some of our SDBA friends testing/tuning their squirt boats.
Anyway, I got it, sold the 175 and sold my Prosport keeping my 225 PM. Have a lot going on work, working to finish house etc but finally getting close to having her rigged again. Wish I took more before pics before I started but it is in really great original condition with exception of keel it has sandbar rocking showing a bit.
Big thing it need was stripping out the dash and OMC harness shifter and gauges which was a minimal set. I have added AutoMeter Monster series Carbon Fibre face GPS speedo and 8k Tach w/ recall switch in the console and then the same series of temp, pressure, volts and fuel level along with Stainless Marines dual trim/ jackplate indicator. I made all new harnesses for everything with plugs off the main Merc harness, so I can pull the console off quick easy just unplugging 1 plug for the GPS and Tach. Same for dash gauges-they have a plug on their harness so if i need to pull them out, Kill switch, etc. I labeled everything before covering and tie wrapping the plastic loom over it all for neat clean organized install. I did same with the dual Pro-Trim blinker switches for the trim and jackplate- neat clean covered and plugged in to respective wires from the back.
Couple things took some thinking and modifying as in the dual rack steering. I had to make a 1-1/4" spacer to bring the wheel and blinker switches out further to clear volt gauge on right of column. The cast aluminum steering piece that bolts to dash that I had to space out further had to be notched and blinker metal frame opened up to fit recessed into the aluminum so the steering wheel was all normal. The old black plastic dash had a time warp going on so I got some plexiglass and made a new one and same thing for console. Console design and the 2 holes he had wouldn't work for the Monster GPS/ Tach so 1/4" thick plexiglass that extends down further was cut and then both it and dash covered in Carbon Fibre look vinyl from sign shop. I trimed edges of both out and looks pretty good I think. Depending how it all handles heat and holds up it will be a easy change out with my harness setups I did if I find a different material or splurge for real CF later. I used one of Brent's shifters off SnF. Got to redo red darker in winter but I like it
Anyway here are pics so far.
Anyway, I got it, sold the 175 and sold my Prosport keeping my 225 PM. Have a lot going on work, working to finish house etc but finally getting close to having her rigged again. Wish I took more before pics before I started but it is in really great original condition with exception of keel it has sandbar rocking showing a bit.
Big thing it need was stripping out the dash and OMC harness shifter and gauges which was a minimal set. I have added AutoMeter Monster series Carbon Fibre face GPS speedo and 8k Tach w/ recall switch in the console and then the same series of temp, pressure, volts and fuel level along with Stainless Marines dual trim/ jackplate indicator. I made all new harnesses for everything with plugs off the main Merc harness, so I can pull the console off quick easy just unplugging 1 plug for the GPS and Tach. Same for dash gauges-they have a plug on their harness so if i need to pull them out, Kill switch, etc. I labeled everything before covering and tie wrapping the plastic loom over it all for neat clean organized install. I did same with the dual Pro-Trim blinker switches for the trim and jackplate- neat clean covered and plugged in to respective wires from the back.
Couple things took some thinking and modifying as in the dual rack steering. I had to make a 1-1/4" spacer to bring the wheel and blinker switches out further to clear volt gauge on right of column. The cast aluminum steering piece that bolts to dash that I had to space out further had to be notched and blinker metal frame opened up to fit recessed into the aluminum so the steering wheel was all normal. The old black plastic dash had a time warp going on so I got some plexiglass and made a new one and same thing for console. Console design and the 2 holes he had wouldn't work for the Monster GPS/ Tach so 1/4" thick plexiglass that extends down further was cut and then both it and dash covered in Carbon Fibre look vinyl from sign shop. I trimed edges of both out and looks pretty good I think. Depending how it all handles heat and holds up it will be a easy change out with my harness setups I did if I find a different material or splurge for real CF later. I used one of Brent's shifters off SnF. Got to redo red darker in winter but I like it
Anyway here are pics so far.
