1987 Cheetah 170 *FIRST TIME DIY*

[killingunicorns]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum. I am picking up a 1987 Cheetah 170 from a family friend. I will start with saying that I know very little about boats, I'm very handy with cars, so I figured I'd give it a try. The deal was just too good to pass up. It does need work. I have attached images of the boat below. A couple things I wanted to do first are:

-Bilge Pump Replacement
-Motor Block Crack Repair (he said it is in the external water jacket and fairly small)
-High Idle (current owner says it runs like it's at half throttle. carb adjustment?)
-Re-Finish Hull

According to the friends everything works, it's just in a little rough shape and mainly just needs man hours, not parts. It comes with a trailer that's in great condition. I've attached some pictures below,

My main question is what kind of hull does this boat have? I'm going to check it out Sunday, but I'm tying to get an idea of what I can do to the hull to make it look good again.

Next, are there any main components I should inspect before patching the block and testing it out?

I am going to do a full restoration on the boat over the next few years, but want to get it in running condition to start with.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Woodonglass]

What do you mean, "What Kind of Hull does it Have???" Looks to me like it's a 17' Fiberglass V-Hull with an open bow, ski Locker and an Inboard 140 hp Merc engine. What else do you want to know. She'll have Stringers, Motor Mounts and bulkheads under the deck and some flotation foam that may or may not be waterlogged. These all may be rotted and need to replaced or not. The transom may also need attention. You will need to inspect and core sample all of them to determine their condition.

 

[killingunicorns]

Hi Woodonglass,

Thanks for the reply. I had been bugging him all day with questions and figured that was a stupid question. Just wanted to clarify with a member that it was of fiberglass construction. From the pictures it sure looked like it.

I'm going to do some digging on restoring fiberglass hulls, I'm sure there are plenty of threads on it.

I am looking at the boat on Sunday and was thinking of things I should be looking at that could be expensive. checking for rotten stingers seems to be a good thing to look for. I was reading about the easy way to check by turning the motor mount bolts. I'll probably give that a try as well as knock around on the fiberglass to listen for the dead spots.

What would be a good way to inspect the transom? As I hinted at, I am completely new to boats mechanically (i've been driving them my whole life, but never had to do maintenance or work on them) and am looking for any help I can get.

 

[Woodonglass]

Get under hood of the motor cover and use a screw driver to poke around on the inside of the transom looking for soft spots. Bounce on the lower unit/outdrive and see if it flexes the transom. Ask how the boat has been stored. Get IN the boat and check every nook and cranny for soft spots on the deck. Open the ski locker and look for soft spots and wetness. Take a flashlight with you. Get under the boat and look for damage and or any shoddy patch work. That cracked Water Jacket May or May not be problematic. It could lead to more serious problems. Motor problems and get expensive in a hurry. A total rebuild on a boat like this with motor work could end up costing you close to $5K

 

[killingunicorns]

Alright, I picked up the boat this weekend and got a good idea of the work it's going to need. I checked all over for rot. There were 2 places where major rot has occurred and will need attention. The rearmost bulkhead is rotten and falling apart and the back 1/4 of the floor (over the gas tank and around the motor). The better news is that the transom is pretty solid. It has one soft spot slightly larger than a quarter on the starboard side. Motor bolts do not turn in their spot. The wiring I want to completely replace, some wires are broken open or fraying. I have a friend who builds automotive wiring harnesses, he said he would help me with the wiring and dash.

I want to take my time and get this thing looking good by next year. My goal is to have it usable in the next few weeks so I can enjoy it a little this summer, then do the whole interior over the winter. Here were my thoughts on the process I should replace everything:

1. Structure- remove all carpet, cut out rotten deck and remove the rotten bulkhead. Make stencil for new bulkhead, cut, then fiberglass in. Cut floor section out of plywood, seal, fiberglass it in.

2. Mechanical and Electronics- run all new wiring for all controls and sensors. Pretty easy, cut to current lengths, I just want to make everything clean, new and well organized. The block has a small crack in the water jacket, so I am going to patch that. The carb needs adjusted and fuel fill line replaced. Finally, I want to test out the throttle controls. I have the quicksilver control unit (not sure of proper term there). The unit's trim switch seems to have broken springs in it and doesn't work. I will have to read into adjusting the controls if they don't work properly. I'm not sure if the dash gauges work, so I will have to test them. I'm thinking of building a new cluster with switches.

3. Interior-I want to custom make my own interior pieces. The rear bench is completely shot including the engine cover/platform. I will rebuild my own design for the seats. I'm missing the very front bow seat, the triangular shaped part. I also will need to come up with a solution for the floor and the interior sides. The teak wood is also all needing attention. I was thinking of replacing the wood parts with the new plastic polymer pieces. They look like wood, but aren't. Has anyone ever tried this? I was thinking of possibly using something similar for the floor and interior sides as well. I'm removing what's left of the puffy interior sides and going to be replacing with something solid that I can mount speakers in. This is where I think most of my time will be spent.

I do have some questions going forward with the structural work. I plan on doing that in about a week. When cutting out bulkheads, what is the best way to disconnect it from the fiberglass hull? A Dremel? one out and the replacement is cut to the perfect structure, what's the best way to make sure it's tied in and sealed properly? I'm sure there are plenty in the forums who can tell me about this, but I can't seem to use this search function very well.

​If you could assist me with links to any resources to redoing fiberglass bulkheads or boat decks, that would be absolutely fantastic!

 

[drexton311]

Curious to see how it turns out. I'm thinking of a deck replacement in my 88 Reinell sometime soon, so have been reading many of these related forums.

 

[sphelps]

From the looks of your pics I would be very surprised if this isn't in need of a full stringer transom replacement ... I may be wrong .... Need to do some core samples to really see how bad the structure is ... jmho...

 

[jbcurt00]

OP hasnt been back since May 2, may not followup to your reply Drexton.

Closed

Killing, if you want this topic re-opened, PM any moderator