Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
mike
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Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby mike » Sat May 08, 2021 6:09 pm

I have found a good deal on a 1988 Temptation 2500 with a Whaler Drive and two low-hour 1998 Yamaha 200-HP two-stroke-power-cycle engines with electronic fuel induction that just had about $6,000 of work done because the boat had unused on a lift for many years.

This hull is one that I have always admired, but I have no desire for a cuddy cabin.

I am contemplating buying the boat and removing the Temptation cap, and making as much of an Outrage as possible.

I am not stranger to fabrication, but would appreciate any input.

jimh
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby jimh » Thu May 20, 2021 7:49 am

Bad idea. Buy an OUTRAGE not a TEMPTATION.

biggiefl
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby biggiefl » Thu May 20, 2021 9:59 am

Anything is possible. Depends on time, money and skill.
On my 24th Whaler. Currently in the stable: 86 18' Outrage, 81 13' Sport(original owner), 87 11' Sport, 69 Squall(for sale cheap).

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Phil T
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby Phil T » Thu May 20, 2021 12:33 pm

You are going to get A LOT of pushback on this.

Wrecking a classic low-volume model in decent shape is never going to win you friends.

Finding OEM parts in this market period is really hard, takes a lot of work and luck. Also buckets of money.

Do you buy a Tahoe to make it into a convertible?
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dtmackey
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby dtmackey » Thu May 20, 2021 3:47 pm

I've seen Outrage cuddy models with the cuddy removed to provide a open bow Outrage. It's a lot of work and with a national backorder on polyester resin you may find it hard to secure materials. It would be easier to buy something that is built the way you like because a modified Whaler of that magnitude will have little appeal for most Whaler buyers when you sell it.

D-

mike
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby mike » Fri May 21, 2021 7:17 am

I'll explain;
We've been looking for 25 Outrage with a Whaler Drive for most of the last 20 years. We are content with our 22 Outrage, so it has not been a must find item, but we've still been looking. We have not found a suitable candidate that we thought was an adequate value. Most that I've seen being a Floridian with roots in the Carolina's, have been well loved.

A good friend has owned this whaler since his father in law left it him some years ago. The father in law had it for decades before. It spent most of it's life in Canadian Lakes. It lived inside on a trailer. It has spent about a decade on a covered lift in Florida. It has gone unused for as much as 5-6 years at a time. My friend recently put nearly $8,000 into the boat solving bad fuel problems from sitting for six years unused. This included engine work, draining and cleaning the fuel tank. He has been trying to sell it without success and leaves Florida for the summer soon. He was a little panicked that he may face the same fuel problem when he returns after the summer. His kids have grown and the 25 Temptation was too much boat for him. He just wanted it gone.

There have been two 25 foot Temptations on the market for the last several years. The one on the Gulf Coast, asking price $9800, was a a museum quality boat that sold for less than asking price after more than a year on the market.

We just purchased this Temptation from my friend yesterday and got a very good deal. Our hull is in better shape than any I have seen since the 1990's. It is a big boat with about eight foot of usable space outside of the cabin. The topside upholstery is not in good shape. The boat is not suitable for our use.

We are purist, and very unsettled about destroying a rare model and are willing to sell it to anyone desperately seeking a Temptation.

I have secured a Boston Whaler Super Console/. and I am looking for a leaning post. I have some other Outrage parts, including bow rails and hatches in storage. I am unemployed until international travel resumes and have time on my hands.

An OUTRAGE 25 Whaler Drive is our end goal boat, and I know I can make this a close proximity, and it fits my budget. There are a couple of smaller Temptations in Florida that are in my opinion, great conversions.

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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby jimh » Fri May 21, 2021 3:47 pm

If you got the Temptation for easy money, a better plan would be:

—buy an OUTRAGE 25 with a notched transom
—build up the OUTRAGE 25 to be a full transom
—take off the Whaler Drive from the Temptation
—bolt-on the Whaler Drive to the now full transom OUTRAGE 25
—sell the Temptation

Another option:
—buy an OUTRAGE 25 with notched transom
—build up the OUTRAGE 25 to be a full transom
—install an engine bracket with buoyancy box like an Armstrong Bracket

padrefigure
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby padrefigure » Fri May 28, 2021 10:11 am

Or: buy a 27 OFFSHORE and get the same waterline length and the benefit of all that space INSIDE the boat instead of hanging off the transom.

mike
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby mike » Tue May 23, 2023 5:35 pm

[About two years later]

Introducing "Mutation"--formerly a 1998 TEMPTATION 2500, and now converted to an OUTRAGE 25 Whaler Drive

We are happy with what we have and the relatively small investment. The hull is in superb shape and has never had bottom paint.

25-footer.JPG
Fig. 1. A 25-foot hull.
25-footer.JPG (109.28 KiB) Viewed 3398 times


Twin Yamaha OX66 250s are fitted and rigged with Saltwater Series II propellers in 21 pitch.

twinEngines.JPG
Fig. 2. Twin engines.
twinEngines.JPG (83.27 KiB) Viewed 3398 times


A few electrical things to sort and we should splash this week.

helmConsole.JPG
Fig. 3. Helm console
helmConsole.JPG (134.91 KiB) Viewed 3396 times

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Phil T
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby Phil T » Tue May 23, 2023 7:08 pm

Keep up the good work.
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jimh
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby jimh » Wed May 24, 2023 5:58 am

The conversion to an OUTRAGE 25 Whaler Drive from the original TEMPTATION 2500 looks very good.

The Yamaha Ox-series engines are perhaps the nicest example of two-stroke-power-cycle engine of their time.

You should give us a narrative of how you were able to separate and remove the molded upper deck structure of the TEMPTATION, and how you repaired the remaining OUTRAGE-style hull from any penetrations of fasteners for the TEMPTATION structure.

Also, I suspect there were many little details to get correct along the way, and to hear of them would be illustrative of the tasks you have performed in making this conversion.

In FIgure 3 the gunwales and cockpit gel coat color looks like a pale blue, but the Super Console looks like Desert Tan. Are the colors in that photo being shown as they appear?

mike
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby mike » Wed May 24, 2023 5:54 pm

I will add some more commentary once she is in the water. I can't wait to report the performance.

The gel coat on all of the hull is in fact the Temptation white. The the live well/leaning post, acquired from a 90s post classic Outrage, is a close shade of white; it just looks bluish in the photos.

The super console, correct vintage to the hull, is still in desert tan. We still have not figured out what to do with it yet.
We will revisit once electronics are selected.

Here is the cap being removed:https://youtu.be/8bPeWFQdBBg

and another video I love to share:https://youtu.be/jVKiwPZ49U8 the rocket launch shot was taken from our 22 Outrage.

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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby jimh » Thu Oct 26, 2023 8:26 am

MIKE--I must have missed your post back in May 2023. To follow up on that post, I would like to say:

The method of removal of the superstructure molded part from the hull is quite nicely demonstrated in your recording. I am curious to know that happened to that part after removal. I suspect that a SAWZ-ALL might have been used in further demolition.

Your recorded presentation of your extensive travel to the locations mentioned in the song "I've been everywhere," is very nicely done. I have visited a few of those places mentioned in the song, but not made it to all of them.

One of the more obscure locations mentioned is Mattawa, which I assume refers to Mattawa, Ontario. We have been there. Also been to Cadillac, which I hope means Cadillac, Michigan, a town we often drive through on the way "up North."

The most intriguing image in your presentation is the apparent "selfie" you took by hanging out the open window of a jet airliner cockpit while in flight at considerable altitude. That shot calls for more details on how it was done.

And, again, your transition to an OUTRAGE center console of the TEMPTATION boat was very nicely done. And I still would like to hear more details of the work.

mike
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby mike » Thu Oct 26, 2023 10:41 am

Thank you Jim,

I have not posted an update because I have had little time to operate the boat and investigate her capabilities: the OUTRAGE is living on a lift in the backyard in Florida. I have been mostly living in a Hotel in Denver for over three months due to work. I have maybe an hour on the boat since the conversion.

The Temptation cap indeed met its demise by SAWZ-ALL. It was a 1400-lbs-weight-reduction that I delivered to the landfill.

There are many of the "Everywhere Song" places that have duplicates. I have been working on that bucket list for over 20 years. I'm a professional traveler with insatiable wanderlust. I've many duplicates, including over 12 Eldorados.

I've also been to Mattawa, Ontario, but the picture in the video is Mattawa, Washington.

Some locations do not have duplicates like Schefferville, QC in Canada.

Some locations like La Paloma, Uruguay have duplicate locations that don't make sense for the context of the song.

The original I've been everywhere song was written by Geoff Mack about locations in Australia.

https://youtu.be/1OZWi-mTkNU?si=RjLTt2NyquRdnKhd

When Mr. Mack achieved success with the song down under, he created an American version. It is believed that he used an atlas to select the North and South American song places.

The song was first made famous by Hank Snow, who toured at many of the locations, but did not visit them all. It is highly unlikely that Johnny Cash completed the quest.

The location Ombabika no longer exists. It is noteworthy that when I first researched the location, I was rewarded by Google search with a continuouswave trip report. It was the only mention of Ombabika town other than obituaries at the time.

Ombabika was a logging town that was closed down in 1963 and the residents were evicted. Only a cemetery remains today.
There is a good narrative here: https://everywhereman.me/2020/03/11/hank-snow-goes-to-ombabika/#more-7822.

Three people have visited all 92 places; Brett Anderson from Nebraska was the first to complete the task. I was the first to start the journey and complete it.

My son made the video. https://youtu.be/jVKiwPZ49U8?si=h5McFKo7i2ytWeJI

The selfie from the cockpit window was taken on the ground at the Newark airport.

Selfie small.JPG
Fig. 4. Selfie with some altitude.
Selfie small.JPG (29.43 KiB) Viewed 1218 times

The background and sky was an art school project many years earlier by the same son.
Last edited by mike on Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby mike » Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:05 pm

To keep it on subject, here is the console and interior with fresh Anderson Upholstery and new Electronics

console front.JPG
Fig. 5. Upholstered seat forward of center console.
console front.JPG (45 KiB) Viewed 1207 times


console lectric.JPG
Fig. 6. New electronics at helm.
console lectric.JPG (47.16 KiB) Viewed 1207 times

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Phil T
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby Phil T » Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:19 pm

Mike -

You both have done a great job.

Hope you get on the water soon.
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mike
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Re: Converting a Temptation to a Center Console

Postby mike » Thu Oct 26, 2023 11:30 pm

Took her for a cruise today