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I hope I’m posting this topic in the proper sub forum. If not, please let me know, and I will delete and repost.

Hello, I’m a classic 17’ Montauk owner (1982) located in the Sportsman’s Paradise, better known as Louisiana.

I’m sorry for the long post. But I figured I would take this opportunity to provide a bit of introduction, as well as ask a few questions from some of the knowledgeable folks here at Whaler Central. I hope to provide pictures of my restoration process whenever I learn how to post them on this site.

THE HULL:
My dad just gave me his old Whaler. I have fished out of this thing since I was five or six years old. It has been barn kept and babied all of it’s life; but is in need of a little refresh. Since it has been stored indoors all of its life, the hull is in great shape. I estimate it is in 90-95% condition. There are no cracks or crazing in the interior or on the exterior of the hull. There are just a few very minor scratches or chips in the gelcoat that are presently being professionally repaired. I have already removed and sold the 1982 90HP Johnson that powered this boat well for almost 40 years. All of the rigging has also been removed. The mounting holes from the previous engine, the holes for the speedometer pitot tube, and mounting holes from an old sonar transducer are all being filled and re-gelcoated. After the gelcoat repairs are complete, the whole boat will be lightly compounded, polished, and ceramic coated.

THE MAHOGANY CONSOLE & BRIGHTWORK:
My particular specimen of the Montauk 17 is the “Sport”. This means that is equipped with a mahogany side console. All of the brightwork was in need of a total refinish. Since I am replacing all of the gauges and adding a new Lowrance GPS plotter/sonar, I decided to replace the deck of the console with a new piece of 3/4” mahagony veneered marine grade plywood so I can have a clean slate for mounting the new gauges. I also went ahead and replaced the front bow hatch while I was at it. 2 quarts and seven coats of Totalboat Gloss varnish down, one more coat to go!

THE NEW ENGINE & RIGGING:
New Yamaha 90HP VMAX SHO
Baystar Hydraulic Steering
Yamaha Console Mount Binnacle
Yamaha Digital Gauges
Lowrance Elite 9 FSB GPS/Fish Finder
LED bow light / stern light conversion
Console mounted LED courtesy lighting
New bilge pump

MY QUESTIONS:

In researching Whaler repowering, I stumbled across Fassē Company’s recent 17’ Montauk restoration named: “Remedy”. If you haven’t heard of this guy, you can tell that he loves what he does. Check him out on youtube! His boat restorations are sublime. However, I noticed that Fassē Co. chose to add what looks like a Bob’s Machine 5° transom wedge to most (if not all) of their restorations (regardless of boat length). Can anyone comment on the advantage that the transom wedge adds to the classic Whaler? Were they added for an increase in performance? Or were they added to assist in the mounting of modern outboards on these classic whalers because of the shallow splashwell that they were designed with?

How do I determine where to have the dealership drill the holes in the transom for the new engine? I definitely don’t want the dealership drilling angled holes into the bottom of my transom to accommodate the bottom of the shallow splashwell.

Since my Whaler is equipped with the wooden side console, and the 18 gallon aluminum fuel tank is stored under the rear bench seat, the weight distribution is probably a bit different than the more common center console setup. Should I have the dealership mount the engine with the bolt in the third hole from the top or should I have the engine mounted 3/4” higher by installing the bolt in the bottom of the new engine’s mounting bracket?


If you have a moment to spare, leave me a comment. Any assistance that y’all can provide is greatly appreciated.

Best regards from a fellow Classic Whaler Enthusiast,

-Bru