There was a free boat offered on the local freecycle and I was the lucky recipient! The offer merely stated "OFFER: old fiberglass boat on trailer". So naturally, I jumped all over it. I picked up the boat a few days ago.
The owner contacted me and said it was an old 16' fiberglass boat with an old 40 hp motor on a trailer that had been sitting in the field for some time. So, I was expecting a trash boat, a parts motor, and a trailer I could turn into a utility trailer.
Went to pick it up and after hacking through the weeds I was suprised to see a classic boat with a nice look to it. The tongue was on the ground and it was full of green water. The trailer however was a havey duty galvanized trailer and only needed one tire replaced and it pulled great. The boat is a early 60's Hydrodyne. Its a really neat looking boat. It has a double airhorn, a chrome spotlight, and other chrome hood ornament type things on the front enclosed bow. The windshield is perfect, and it has the original guages in the dash which includes a speedometer and a compass. The flooring is solid, the transom is solid, and there are very few scratches and nicks in the hull. Overall, the boat needs new paint, new pads on the seats, and the rubber bumper strip that goes around the front needs replacing. A very solid boat. I hooked up a battery and all the nav lights work, the spotlight works, and one of the airhorns works. That was suprising.
The motor is a 1971(I think) Chrysler 2 cyl 60hp outboard. I looked on the internet and the general consensus seems to be that these motors are junk and very few are still out there as they overheat and blow up. So, I was not expecting much from it. The steering works good. Today I got out there and changed the lower unit oil, put on a new fuel hose and fuel filter and a plastic gas can. I hooked up the hose and cranked it over. It would turn over and actually grumble for a few seconds on its own before dying. I did this for about 10 minutes and finally a mud dobber nest came spitting out of the exhaust. It spit out dirt pieces while cranking for a few times and finally cranked up and actually idled. I was blown away. I really didnt expect it to run. It idled rough at first and died twice but then finally seemed to idle fairly decent. I put it in gear and the prop spun in both forward and reverse. This was much more than I expected. I could actually take this thing out on the water as it sits! There was not a whole lot of water coming out of the telltale so Im sure the impeller needs to be changed. But it actually runs!
Im in love with this boat. It just looks so classic and cool. It is super solid andheavy. Man did they build boats back then to last. The trailer needs some work to fit it to the boat. They basically have the boat sitting on four bare 2x4's and thats it. So, Ill need to add bunks.
But, Im just blown away. I wasn't expecting much and got a great new boat! Just need to paint it and do a few minor things. Here are the pictures. Does anyone know where I would be able to locate the rubber bumper strip that runs around the front? Any info on these boats or motors would also be appreciated.
The owner contacted me and said it was an old 16' fiberglass boat with an old 40 hp motor on a trailer that had been sitting in the field for some time. So, I was expecting a trash boat, a parts motor, and a trailer I could turn into a utility trailer.
Went to pick it up and after hacking through the weeds I was suprised to see a classic boat with a nice look to it. The tongue was on the ground and it was full of green water. The trailer however was a havey duty galvanized trailer and only needed one tire replaced and it pulled great. The boat is a early 60's Hydrodyne. Its a really neat looking boat. It has a double airhorn, a chrome spotlight, and other chrome hood ornament type things on the front enclosed bow. The windshield is perfect, and it has the original guages in the dash which includes a speedometer and a compass. The flooring is solid, the transom is solid, and there are very few scratches and nicks in the hull. Overall, the boat needs new paint, new pads on the seats, and the rubber bumper strip that goes around the front needs replacing. A very solid boat. I hooked up a battery and all the nav lights work, the spotlight works, and one of the airhorns works. That was suprising.
The motor is a 1971(I think) Chrysler 2 cyl 60hp outboard. I looked on the internet and the general consensus seems to be that these motors are junk and very few are still out there as they overheat and blow up. So, I was not expecting much from it. The steering works good. Today I got out there and changed the lower unit oil, put on a new fuel hose and fuel filter and a plastic gas can. I hooked up the hose and cranked it over. It would turn over and actually grumble for a few seconds on its own before dying. I did this for about 10 minutes and finally a mud dobber nest came spitting out of the exhaust. It spit out dirt pieces while cranking for a few times and finally cranked up and actually idled. I was blown away. I really didnt expect it to run. It idled rough at first and died twice but then finally seemed to idle fairly decent. I put it in gear and the prop spun in both forward and reverse. This was much more than I expected. I could actually take this thing out on the water as it sits! There was not a whole lot of water coming out of the telltale so Im sure the impeller needs to be changed. But it actually runs!
Im in love with this boat. It just looks so classic and cool. It is super solid andheavy. Man did they build boats back then to last. The trailer needs some work to fit it to the boat. They basically have the boat sitting on four bare 2x4's and thats it. So, Ill need to add bunks.
But, Im just blown away. I wasn't expecting much and got a great new boat! Just need to paint it and do a few minor things. Here are the pictures. Does anyone know where I would be able to locate the rubber bumper strip that runs around the front? Any info on these boats or motors would also be appreciated.
