Bought my first speedboat. Can anyone help me identify steering setup?

[davieboy1986]

I have just purchased my first boat, It is a 1980s 14ft shakespeare speedboat with what I think is drum cable steering? Anyway I thought I would ask you guys if you knew what type of engine this boat will take as there seems to be a lot of knowledgeable people on here. I am looking for something under 20hp with throttle control but not sure if I need a long shaft or short shaft and if the engine has to be an old type that will connect to the steering.

Also is it easy to replace the rub rail ? as it has came away slightly at the back of the boat.

Heres a few pics of the boat

Thanks

 

[mainshiptom]

I would say trial it and see, short shaft should be ok,

Tom

 

[alant]

I have just purchased my first boat, It is a 1980s 14ft shakespeare speedboat with what I think is drum cable steering? Anyway I thought I would ask you guys if you knew what type of engine this boat will take as there seems to be a lot of knowledgeable people on here. I am looking for something under 20hp with throttle control but not sure if I need a long shaft or short shaft and if the engine has to be an old type that will connect to the steering.

Also is it easy to replace the rub rail ? as it has came away slightly at the back of the boat.View attachment 41427View attachment 41428View attachment 41429View attachment 41430

Heres a few pics of the boat

Thanks

Where are you going to use it?

 

[Spi D]

Regardless of where you are going to use it, you need the right shaft length and proper steering.

I'd strongly suggest you replace the steering with a cable system - these boats are pretty lively when fitted with recommended hp so you need to be in control. Rule of thumb is no less than 75-80% of max recommended hp if you want it to perform as designed to.
All engines use same steering connectors (ol' ones may differ between makes, though)

Measure leg length:

15" and then 5" increments exist.

Take accurate boat measures and then identify & get details here:
http://people.dsv.su.se/~klas/Boats/home.html

Presumably a Skiman 13'6" so then max 65 hp. Certainly will feel it's racing pedigree then!

 

[jfm]

As SpiD says, there can be no guesswork on long/short shaft. Measure the transom height, and if 15inch then you need short shaft/ if 20 inch then long shaft. From the picture it looks short shaft 15inch

Any outboard, from 40 years old to brand new, will fit any steering type, just by buying the right brackets to connect to the outboard's tiller. However, that cable drum steering is pretty awful and almost universally no longer used, and you would be much better buying a push/pull cable set from Teleflex or one of the other manufacturers

As for the engine itself, 20hp will work but it wont be fast on a 14 foot GRP boat. 40hp would be ok; 50-60 would be better. An older 2 stroke would be nice as these are much lighter than modern 4 strokes. In any case, among new engines you wont find any of the mainstream makers doing 50 hp in short shaft, so you'll need to buy an older 2 stroke to get a 50hp short shaft

Good luck