New Cajun Owner-Need Model Info Help! (1989 Cajun Bass Boat)

[Svickstc]

Hey Cajun Lovers,

I just inherited a 1989 16' Cajun Bass Boat (Single Console). It came with a Mariner 60hp 3 Cylinder (Serial #OC161280). The boat belonged to my Father & Uncle and use to be their "shared" boat for Canada every year. Since my Grandfather passed away a few years ago this boat has sat idle as my dad took over my Grandfathers bass boat. They purchased the boat off someone they knew who took very good care of the boat. My dad has since floored the boat with new carpet and new marine grade plywood, he also replaced the rectifier during ownership. Replaced the bench sit that originally was in the boat with 2 seats and a walk through to the stern of the boat.

The boat sat for about 3 years off the water and this season i was able to trailer it home and begin to breathe some life back into the boat. I siphoned the old gas, 2 new batteries (onboard charger), new premium fuel, some additive and it fired right up. First time out on the lake i got a warning sound for overheating engine (no water out the tell tale) when in idle, spit out just fine when 1/2 throttle or more (so i need to get the water pump impeller replaced). I am thinking of tackling this myself as i am pretty mechanical inclined and it doesn't seem to hard looking at my service manual.

Also plan on changing the lower gear oil and checking for water in the oil and replacing any seals needed.

I was wondering if anyone knew the model of my Cajun boat (it needs to be cleaned up pretty good as the top is heavily oxidized), but my girlfriend would appreciate me adding a Bimini Top to the boat if possible and what size i would need.

The boat shows 180 hours on the clock

Some nice features include:
Minn Kota On-board Battery Charger
2 Fish Finders (Older Hummingbirds)
Minn Kota 55lb thrust Auto Pilot Trolling Motor
2 Live Wells (front and rear)

Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated, i ran across this forum searching Google, and was happy to see a section dedicated to Cajun boats. I will add more pictures shortly!

Day i brought it home (now has current registration)


First day on the water:

[CastingCall]

Welcome! That looks like a really clean little rig.
Best guess is it's a Demon (based on similar internet images)
http://www.nadaguides.com/Boats/1989...-Mastercrafter
That probably won't help much, since Mastercrafter has been out of business for two decades - so not much for documentation or original parts exist.

Be sure to head over to the Mercury motor forum - those folks are experts and will should be able to help with all things motor related.

For the bimini, simply measure the gunwales at the point where you'd need to mount the base poles and find a generic top according to the base width and whatever height you desire. Amazon carries fairly inexpensive bimini tops as do most online boating supply places.

You'll need to drill mounting holes in the gunwales to mount the base brackets and strap brackets. Use painters tape to layout their locations and mark holes. Drill pilot holes (run the bit backwards until through gelcoat, then forward through laminate to avoid chipping gelcoat), and use stainless screws with sealant for mounting.

[CastingCall]

Oh, and head over to the Restoration forum and read Basscat7's sticky post on restoring gelcoat. If the gelcoat is dull, you may need to compound/polish/wax, or wet sand/compound/polish/wax to get the shine back and protect from further UV damage.

[Enskyte]

Welcome. Slick little rig. If you don't want to go drilling, the offset seat post with umbrella holder is a thing.

[Svickstc]

Hey everyone thanks for the replies, thought I had trouble posting this...

as for restoring the oxidation I took a similar approach I do when restoring cars I had to lightly wet sand up through 3k grit then I used rubbing compound wax and then marine grade polish on the buffer the results were amazing i will have to post pics of the process

i also redid the Silicon around the top bumper and bottom bumper as it was missing in places and heavily faded and a patch job just wouldn't sit with my OCD.

also after my first trip out I realized the water pump impeller was not pushing water through the tell tale anything under a1/4 throttle so I will be pulling that this weekend and replacing the Lower gear oil as well as new plugs.

will get some new pics up tomorrow


thanks all!

[Svickstc]

Before Pictures:







The entire inside of the boat was very similar condition, but didnt take too many pictures as i was focused on the hours of work ahead of me!

Additional Before Pictures:

[Enskyte]

Those don't work. Following.

[CastingCall]

Try posting your images to this site, then copy/paste the "Hotlink for forums" address directly into this forum.
http://postimages.org/

[Svickstc]

Sorry All, was on my phone trying to post pictures...obviously that didnt work out to well, see above for fixed links.

The difference is night and day and still needs another coat of Marine grade polish in about 30 days or so, then i will hand polish it in about another month or so. Notice the old silicon in some of the pictures vs. the new, was a timely process of taping everything off, but it was done right i believe.

I need to work on the bottom hull as there is minor and i mean minor oxidation compared to the top of the boat, but since im doing it might as well do it big right? I just ordered original decals for the hull from "Discontinueddecals.com" i opted for the 28" long ones, because i measure the faded outline left on the hull and was around 26" long.


A little back story, this is my first boat at 28 years old. Although this boat is been in my family for quite a few years and ive been around boats all my life being that everyone in my family seems to own a few, but having your own and working on it is still quite a learning experience everyday. I am fortunate to have the service manual for the motor as well.


Water pump is on order from a local shop! Added a safety lanyard (missing), new fire extinguisher, took my PWC license exam for PA, throw able type IV float was added to the boat as well.

I appreciate anyone and everyone advice and guidance with my new to me Cajun!!

Ill work on getting some proper pictures up here shortly.

P.S Casting Call...Thank You Also, i fixed the links above and now the post looks totally removed, i guess i have to get use to the way things work around here?

[Svickstc]

Still a ton of work left to do but she is getting there...

After Pictures:


















New decals for the sides will be here today, going to those put on, then i just need to finish doing the very bottom of the hull which most likely will only require 800-3K and Buffer to bring back to life.

Water pump will be picked up tomorrow night and attempted sometime this week hopefully as well as the lower gear oil change.

I am going to use this thread as my build/progress/restoration journal. I am going to try and source new gauges for the boat as they dont seem the most reliable.

Does anyone have a general idea of what the value of this boat may be?

[CastingCall]

Nice work on restoring the shine!
Question: In your first post, what's the big off-colored rectangular area on the inside port gunwale? Was there some kind of sticker or something there?

[Svickstc]

Nice work on restoring the shine!
Question: In your first post, what's the big off-colored rectangular area on the inside port gunwale? Was there some kind of sticker or something there?

Thanks, I appreciate that its been a lot of work and still going, but rewarding at the same time.

That are use to be a carpeted piece of wood, that i guess was used for putting lures, hooks onto? My dad removed it when he redid the plywood and carpet and exposed what the gelcoat use to look like (why i knew there was hope in bringing her back to life, as that was my first test spot area as well). Now the inside of the boat is pretty well blended, and only someone who knew that spot was there prior could maybe pick it out at this point.

Decals arrived today for the side of the boat, going to get them put on and get some pictures up.

[Svickstc]

Decals arrived today (not original design to the boat, but a newer cajun design). Applied and took a couple more shots. Need to clean up the carpets, but making major progress. I still need to correct the very bottom hull of the boat, im thinking of leaving that until next season :)

I will probably order some fresh seats for the new season as well as these are quite faded, i have the original Cajun pedal stool seat, so i will be using that most likely up front as i like to stand and fish.

[Enskyte]

Looking really clean. You wouldn't want to come by and do mine up, would you? Jk
Now get out there and fish on it. Gonna have to put it up soon.

[Svickstc]

Looking really clean. You wouldn't want to come by and do mine up, would you? Jk
Now get out there and fish on it. Gonna have to put it up soon.

Plan on having the new water pump in before the weekend, let all the crazies on the lake for Labor Day weekend and then hit the water after all the summer people are gone for the season :) hopefully weather stays warm enough to have the boat out a little later this year to get some use out of it this season

[Enskyte]

What your home lake? Just wondering. You definitely don't see many cajuns on water. I've seen one at about everywhere I fish tho.
Keep up the good work. I hope to start back on mine after I finish this stereo build in my expedition.

[Svickstc]

What your home lake? Just wondering. You definitely don't see many cajuns on water. I've seen one at about everywhere I fish tho.
Keep up the good work. I hope to start back on mine after I finish this stereo build in my expedition.

My nearest unrestricted lake is Beltzville State Park in Jim Thorpe area, my other main lake is Lake Wallenpaupack up a little further. next year I'm hoping to get out on raystown lake and going down to lake Norman in NC

appreciate all the comments keeps me motivated to keep knocking out little things, water pump is on deck for tonight if the weather holds out, probably have my pops over to lend a helping hand and tap this new keg of Victory Dirt Wolf :)

[Svickstc]

Tackled the water pump replacement tonight with the help of my dad lining things up easier. I am actually shocked it worked at all given the condition the impeller was in. Also, the bottom housing was starting to melt/burn so im glad i ordered the entire replacement kit as opposed to just the impeller. Hardest part was getting the lower unit back on the motor in the correct gear, the water pump was the easy part.

Got it fired it up and she is spitting out water like the best of them. What i did notice was that my "trim tab assembly cover" was missing from the lower unit. I ordered a new one and it got me thinking about picking up a hydrofoil if i ever plan to redneck tow some people around via the stern hooks and a float, haha

New trim tab assembly cover will be here Friday, and thinking of the Sting Ray Classic Senior Hydrofoil before the season is out.

[Enskyte]

Friend of grew up on Wallenpaupack. He always talks favorable about the lake even though it can be really tough fishing.
That pump was toast, I bet mine looks like that too. It will be the last thing I work on. Keep grinding away and tight Lines.

[Svickstc]

Friend of grew up on Wallenpaupack. He always talks favorable about the lake even though it can be really tough fishing.
That pump was toast, I bet mine looks like that too. It will be the last thing I work on. Keep grinding away and tight Lines.

Thanks Bill! It is a tough fishing lake. Most of the unrestricted lakes in PA are out eastern side of the state are. They are more recreational lakes for sure, but at the right time in the morning and at night can have some good success



Also, see that a member here makes very nice hydrofoils, so I think I'll go that route to support a smaller business venture and the quality looks top notch