Trojan 9M - New Owner
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:05 am
Hi everyone,
I've enjoyed this site immensely and wanted to introduce myself. I recently purchased a 9M and love the boat. I've grown up on a lake in Oklahoma and have spent most of my life around Trojans. From the days of sanding teak on a 44 to looking forward to the sound of the exhaust of an international pulling in the cove, I'm at home on a Trojan. The local dealership was the marina I grew up at - they were the only Trojan dealer on the lake. All of our friends owned Trojans - from F-32s, F40's, 44's and many many 10m's. I think I spent more nights on a Trojan than in my cabin as a child. There are probably 75 or more Trojans on our lake - and most are still in service.
I've been into go-fast boats, but recently purchased a new lake house where I had extra dock space for a new boat and it had to be a Trojan! There are several F44's on the market here (and all very nice boats) but my covered dock isn't tall enough to accommodate the flybridge. I ran across several internationals as well and fell in love with the 9m. I've spent a lot of time on a 10m and am absolutely blown away by the performance of the 9m. It's night and day! She planes off at 2400 rpm running about 25mph. Most of my cruising is done around 1600 rpm at 15mph. I'm averaging right at 1mpg as well.
In addition to having the original 'blue binder' and manuals, I was able to obtain all of the original sales documentation for the boat from the dealer - along with all sales literature and work orders from the day it was sold new.
So far, I've done a lot of cleaning and she's looking great! I've been using her every weekend - thanks to enclosures with heaters, and bilge heat. We even participated in the Christmas parade. To date, I've put about 25 hours and well over 125 miles on the clock. (Purchased her on December 9th) Sadly, I see colder weather in the forecast and I don't trust my power service when we have ice / snow, so I'll likely be winterizing this weekend. I do, however have winter projects in the works.
She doesn't need a lot, but I'm going to have her as nice as I can. The genset (Onan 6.5) is off of the boat and I am tinkering with it. It has the aperture start and cranks pretty slow - even with a series 27 battery. I've gotten it to cough, but not really fire up. Getting the genset running and on the boat by spring is my main project as we really use the AC here in Oklahoma!
I also need to repack the stuffing boxes (with Gore-Tex packing) and some general maintenance. My starboard engine isn't getting any more than roughly 12* total advance. I'm betting that the springs / weights in that distributor are shot. It doesn't make much difference if I'm operating under 2krpm, but I plan to rebuild both distributors over the winter. I'll match the weights and springs up and curve them for a total advance of 30* at roughly 2750 - 3000 rpm. Sound right?
As you can tell, I'm eager to get her back into tip top shape! I have a bunch of photos, but don't know how to post them on here. I'd like to share the project as I go along. Also have some photos of the rear end of the boat out of the water. The transom on a 9m is very interesting. Rudders are all the way at the end of the swim platform and the props are under the platform. It's like they took a 10m and moved the transom forward while leaving the propulsion in the same location. Very interesting to say the least!
Tips / insight always welcome and needed! I'm not new to Trojans, but new to inboards / getsets / AC systems, so I'll be full of questions!
Joe Zaloudek
Tulsa, OK
I've enjoyed this site immensely and wanted to introduce myself. I recently purchased a 9M and love the boat. I've grown up on a lake in Oklahoma and have spent most of my life around Trojans. From the days of sanding teak on a 44 to looking forward to the sound of the exhaust of an international pulling in the cove, I'm at home on a Trojan. The local dealership was the marina I grew up at - they were the only Trojan dealer on the lake. All of our friends owned Trojans - from F-32s, F40's, 44's and many many 10m's. I think I spent more nights on a Trojan than in my cabin as a child. There are probably 75 or more Trojans on our lake - and most are still in service.
I've been into go-fast boats, but recently purchased a new lake house where I had extra dock space for a new boat and it had to be a Trojan! There are several F44's on the market here (and all very nice boats) but my covered dock isn't tall enough to accommodate the flybridge. I ran across several internationals as well and fell in love with the 9m. I've spent a lot of time on a 10m and am absolutely blown away by the performance of the 9m. It's night and day! She planes off at 2400 rpm running about 25mph. Most of my cruising is done around 1600 rpm at 15mph. I'm averaging right at 1mpg as well.
In addition to having the original 'blue binder' and manuals, I was able to obtain all of the original sales documentation for the boat from the dealer - along with all sales literature and work orders from the day it was sold new.
So far, I've done a lot of cleaning and she's looking great! I've been using her every weekend - thanks to enclosures with heaters, and bilge heat. We even participated in the Christmas parade. To date, I've put about 25 hours and well over 125 miles on the clock. (Purchased her on December 9th) Sadly, I see colder weather in the forecast and I don't trust my power service when we have ice / snow, so I'll likely be winterizing this weekend. I do, however have winter projects in the works.
She doesn't need a lot, but I'm going to have her as nice as I can. The genset (Onan 6.5) is off of the boat and I am tinkering with it. It has the aperture start and cranks pretty slow - even with a series 27 battery. I've gotten it to cough, but not really fire up. Getting the genset running and on the boat by spring is my main project as we really use the AC here in Oklahoma!
I also need to repack the stuffing boxes (with Gore-Tex packing) and some general maintenance. My starboard engine isn't getting any more than roughly 12* total advance. I'm betting that the springs / weights in that distributor are shot. It doesn't make much difference if I'm operating under 2krpm, but I plan to rebuild both distributors over the winter. I'll match the weights and springs up and curve them for a total advance of 30* at roughly 2750 - 3000 rpm. Sound right?
As you can tell, I'm eager to get her back into tip top shape! I have a bunch of photos, but don't know how to post them on here. I'd like to share the project as I go along. Also have some photos of the rear end of the boat out of the water. The transom on a 9m is very interesting. Rudders are all the way at the end of the swim platform and the props are under the platform. It's like they took a 10m and moved the transom forward while leaving the propulsion in the same location. Very interesting to say the least!
Tips / insight always welcome and needed! I'm not new to Trojans, but new to inboards / getsets / AC systems, so I'll be full of questions!
Joe Zaloudek
Tulsa, OK
During the summer we ski at least two nights a week and spend the weekends at Grand Lake. Your family probably had a place at Lake Keystone. It's not the prettiest lake (muddy water), but it has a lot of sandy beaches that are a lot of fun! Skiatook and Tenkiller are some of my favorite lakes because of the clarity of the water. Grand Lake is highly developed, boasting two large yacht clubs and many marinas. A handful of the offshore racers summer at Grand Lake and that makes the nightlife great! Kinda odd being in Oklahoma, but it's a big deal!