# 1978 mako 17 restored



## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

Labor of “love”


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## Jred (Sep 22, 2013)

Awesome! I picked up a 73 I’m redoing and converting to a tiller. Did you raise the stringers?


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

Jred said:


> Awesome! I picked up a 73 I’m redoing and converting to a tiller. Did you raise the stringers?
> View attachment 96554


Nice. No my stringers were all solid as was the deck. I just had 4 previous owners, and 3 previous decades holes and gouges to fill. Around 300+ hours of cosmetic fiberglass work on my end.


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## Dustin2785 (Apr 30, 2013)

Jred said:


> Awesome! I picked up a 73 I’m redoing and converting to a tiller. Did you raise the stringers?
> View attachment 96554


You going to have a build thread here for it? Always liked the 17 mako


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## Jred (Sep 22, 2013)

Dustin2785 said:


> You going to have a build thread here for it? Always liked the 17 mako


I’m taking too long...I’ve seen what everyone’s done to boatbrains and I just don’t want that for myself lol


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Sweet what r u powering it with? Gonna get outside for some mahi in it?


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

Was going to put the clamshell merc back on but found a super good deal on a pro xs 115 with a couple hundred hours on it still under warranty. She’s popped her fair share of dolphin. Flamingo is her happy place but she does just fine offshore.


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

Jred said:


> I’m taking too long...I’ve seen what everyone’s done to boatbrains and I just don’t want that for myself lol


I’m glad I didn’t do a build thread. My pains and dark moments were private.


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## GaG8tor (Jul 8, 2019)

Very nice. There was one for sale near me awhile back that was partially redone. I wanted to jump on it. Wifey wants new though.


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

GaG8tor said:


> they’re hard to find. There’s a reason no one is selling em.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

That hull will provide many years of service still.... and it's a perfect all-around boat for most any weather condition. Enjoy - you've earned it..


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

lemaymiami said:


> That hull will provide many years of service still.... and it's a perfect all-around boat for most any weather condition. Enjoy - you've earned it..


Thanks Bob. She’s hard to beat in the versatility in 17 feet category. And she deserved some love and attention. Thanks for the kind comment.


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## Steve_Mevers (Feb 8, 2013)

Love to see those classic hulls brought back to fish another day! I had a ole school 22’ Aquasport for 19 years before I decided to get a smaller skiff, love the old Mako’s, Aquasport’s and Seacrafts. Enjoy.


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## Alvin Dedeaux (Jul 27, 2017)

Lowtidelowlife said:


> Labor of “love”


That thing looks sweet, nice work!


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Sweet man! Catch em up, should move great with a 115


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

GoGataGo52__20 said:


> Sweet man! Catch em up, should move great with a 115


In my opinion the 115 is the perfect power for these heavy 17s. My 90 would guzzle gas, the old 2 stroke 115 barely had to work to move her. Looking forward to my first 4stroke power though. Heard lots of good things about these 115 pro XS.


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)




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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Sweet ride man, I love old Mako's. I have a 1982 224, not nearly as nice as yours, but it's a tank.


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

Rigging is 98% done. Finally got her back behind the house.


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Very sweet. Glad you brought her back to life. That ProXS should be the perfect power package.


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

Zika said:


> Very sweet. Glad you brought her back to life. That ProXS should be the perfect power package.


Thanks man. I haven’t had the chance to even open her up yet. Shitty weather down here. My original plan was to be finished with restore before the mullet run hit. I think I overshot the mark a little.


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Oh well. Better to do it right than rush. 

I had a 17 Aquasport that I stripped down to a flats version. Great boat but I know why they named it Aquasport.  The Miami Makos before BPS were classics.


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

Nice!

My in-laws have a "classic" 17 and a 261. I had a 181 "Flats" before moving down to my tech skiff.

Those old classic Mako hulls are still popular for a reason.

https://forum.classicmako.com/forum/classicmako-com-forums


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

and actually fishing again, I’ve probably turned down a couple dozen invites during my restore. Glad to have the wheel back. We got a few nice flamingo triple tail. And a bunch of snook not worth photographing.


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

My dad had a '74 model 22 that I grew up fishing on. One day I'll forgive him for selling it.


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

SomaliPirate said:


> My dad had a '74 model 22 that I grew up fishing on. One day I'll forgive him for selling it.


My old man had a 25 with a dodger. The ultimate dad boat. Heavy as sin but that was always his most dependable boat. The 22 is a crucial hull though and I would love to bring one of those back to life. But on the other hand if you bring back one of those Potter 20’s you could actually make a few bucks. Fiberglass is a disease. I kept saying I’ll never do this again but I know it’s all lies.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

That is a beautiful ride! Very nice restore. Did you do those boxes in the back? I have never seen one set up like that. Mu son and I did a 17 key west a couple years back. Sold it for down payment to build a house. Have fun, and be safe. Michael


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## Lowtidelowlife (Aug 19, 2014)

Mike Haydon said:


> That is a beautiful ride! Very nice restore. Did you do those boxes in the back? I have never seen one set up like that. Mu son and I did a 17 key west a couple years back. Sold it for down payment to build a house. Have fun, and be safe. Michael


my bad didn’t see the reply. This is the “angler” model a little lighter than the standard, the standard just had to boxes on port and starboard and deck straight to the transom


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Ok. It looked factory but I had never seen that before. Only the standard model. I like this model way more than the standard. Thanks for the info.


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