Cool find at a great price. As long as the hull and transom don't have any rot you might be in luck. Change the fluids on the engine, put in some new plugs and try to fire her up
Cool find at a great price. As long as the hull and transom don't have any rot you might be in luck. Change the fluids on the engine, put in some new plugs and try to fire her up\\Way ahead of ya brother..(; I took out the plugs and ran a compression test on all 4 cylinders. C1-115 psi, C2-130psi, C3 120psi, C4-115 psi. Not bad at all. Then I trimmed the motor all the way up and poured some Marvel Mystery oil into the cylinder heads. I let em sit for several hours , got new plugs and installed em when I got back. Would you believe she fired right up and idled perfectly, went into gear perfectly forward and reverse!!! Only problem is that I'm not getting water flow. Next step it taking the lower unit off and rebuilding the pump with a new kit and changing the impeller.
Cool find at a great price. As long as the hull and transom don't have any rot you might be in luck. Change the fluids on the engine, put in some new plugs and try to fire her up\\Way ahead of ya brother..(; I took out the plugs and ran a compression test on all 4 cylinders. C1-115 psi, C2-130psi, C3 120psi, C4-115 psi. Not bad at all. Then I trimmed the motor all the way up and poured some Marvel Mystery oil into the cylinder heads. I let em sit for several hours , got new plugs and installed em when I got back. Would you believe she fired right up and idled perfectly, went into gear perfectly forward and reverse!!! Only problem is that I'm not getting water flow. Next step it taking the lower unit off and rebuilding the pump with a new kit and changing the impeller. Excellent! That impeller if its still their will probably just fall out. My guess is it dry rotted to powered Lol
The crazy part of all this was getting the paperwork. I looked up the name of the registration and found the phone number at the address listed in Allentown PA I called and left a message on the answering machine that had a very elderly sounding woman's voice on it. a week later I got a call from a a younger woman who was the older lady's daughter. She told me that it was her fathers boat but that he had died in 1996 and that they moved out of their house and left the boat behind because they had no way to move it. So apparently it has been sitting untouched in the new owners back yard since 1996. I asked if they would mind signing the boat over to me and explained how it came to me. I sent them a picture and the elderly woman was sad to see the state it was in and asked me if I could fix it up again and I promised her I could so they agreed to meet me at Burger King where I bought them lunch and heard all the old fishing tales about the old man who passed away and how much he loved the boat which was pretty cool. They signed the paper work and the elderly woman made me promise again to "fix it up and catch a big fish" in honor of her husband and she got all teared up....I admit I got a little choked up too. She was a real sweetheart and had to be in her late 80's. a little tiny old lass. So I got the paperwork and the Titles...THAT NEVER HAPPENS...hahaha.
How is the gel coat looking? Looks pretty good from the photos. Might need just a good compounding
The crazy part of all this was getting the paperwork. I looked up the name of the registration and found the phone number at the address listed in Allentown PA I called and left a message on the answering machine that had a very elderly sounding woman's voice on it. a week later I got a call from a a younger woman who was the older lady's daughter. She told me that it was her fathers boat but that he had died in 1996 and that they moved out of their house and left the boat behind because they had no way to move it. So apparently it has been sitting untouched in the new owners back yard since 1996. I asked if they would mind signing the boat over to me and explained how it came to me. I sent them a picture and the elderly woman was sad to see the state it was in and asked me if I could fix it up again and I promised her I could so they agreed to meet me at Burger King where I bought them lunch and heard all the old fishing tales about the old man who passed away and how much he loved the boat which was pretty cool. They signed the paper work and the elderly woman made me promise again to "fix it up and catch a big fish" in honor of her husband and she got all teared up....I admit I got a little choked up too. She was a real sweetheart and had to be in her late 80's. a little tiny old lass. So I got the paperwork and the Titles...THAT NEVER HAPPENS...hahaha. What a great story. Is there any way of sending her a picture of it cleaned up and you working on it? That would make her and her daughter's day!
How is the gel coat looking? Looks pretty good from the photos. Might need just a good compounding It looks really good for it's age, pretty dull but like you said some elbow grease and some polishing compound and she might just look pretty.
Great story BF!I got a free boat once and I said there's no such thing as a free boat...It looks like you paid something for yours so I expect you'll have better results than I!
Cool find at a great price. As long as the hull and transom don't have any rot you might be in luck. Change the fluids on the engine, put in some new plugs and try to fire her up\\Way ahead of ya brother..(; I took out the plugs and ran a compression test on all 4 cylinders. C1-115 psi, C2-130psi, C3 120psi, C4-115 psi. Not bad at all. Then I trimmed the motor all the way up and poured some Marvel Mystery oil into the cylinder heads. I let em sit for several hours , got new plugs and installed em when I got back. Would you believe she fired right up and idled perfectly, went into gear perfectly forward and reverse!!! Only problem is that I'm not getting water flow. Next step it taking the lower unit off and rebuilding the pump with a new kit and changing the impeller. Excellent! That impeller if its still their will probably just fall out. My guess is it dry rotted to powered LolNo doubt. I'm just stoked I didn't have to rebuild the carbs!
Great find! As long as a motor turns over and isn't seized, you can do a lot with it. Amazing there was no rot after sitting in the environment it was in for 25+ years. Also amazing that you didn't need to rebuild the carb after sitting so long. You see boats like that from the '60s through the '90s abandoned in fields and marshes all along the Chesapeake. Most are rotten hulks, but your story shows that every now and then there's a gem among them.It's cool you were able to find the previous owner and get the history of it. Not something easily done, especially after so much time has elapsed. I know for cars and motorcycles you can register them in the state of Vermont with just a bill of sale if they are over 15 years old. Not sure if it's the same for boats and trailers.. A lot of people I've known have used this method to get paperwork for their "barn finds" so they can transfer them back to their home state.And whatever you do, don't let a drop of this overpriced ethanol-infused elixir touch it!!