1977 Cheetah speed boat

[Drewb082001]

So i picked this 1977 Cheetah speed boat up the other day for parts for my other boat a 1978 Campion Arrow. Well the Cheetah def. needs work! i got it for free, and am wonder what i can do to fix it? the Transom is cracked, and the floor is soft. the previous owner over powered the transom. supposedly had a 200hp motor on it, and had these stupid lil aluminum brackets that didnt support anything. here are a few pictures.

How do you think i should re-enforce the transom? because the top and bottom of the boat are one solid piece. i looked and you cant seperate the top from bottom it not two different pieces like my other boat! I dont really have any money due to the other boat. so im just trying to get the best/cheapest way to do this?

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1977 Cheetah speed boat

Nice looking boat! Looks a LOT like mine when I started. Looks like you have some glass work to do on that transom.

 

[Drewb082001]

Re: 1977 Cheetah speed boat

Well it has been a while since I have posted, But I have made some progress on the cheetah. Got the deck ripped out, the stringer ripped out, grinded all the fiberglass, got the transom out and getting ready to replace. I had to cut the splash well out to get access to the transom because the boat is 1 piece fiberglassed all around.

I also ordered 10 gallons of Nida-Bond today. It ships out on monday, and hopefully I will get that poured in the next couple weeks. My intent is to put a swim step and jacker plate on the transom, to make it easier to get in and out of the boat.

Here are some pictures of the progress.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1977 Cheetah speed boat

Welcome to iBoats. Very nice work so far. You might want to check out this thread.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=364284

This boat is very similar to yours and Arch did a GREAT job on restoring her. You could learn a lot from his restore experience.

Good Luck!

I'm just sayin...

 

[Isaacm1986]

Re: 1977 Cheetah speed boat

Work so far looks great, Good call on the Nida-Bond. It will be fun to finally have that thing on the water soon!

 

[Isaacm1986]

Re: 1977 Cheetah speed boat

Drew asked me to put this video online for you guys to see what you guys thought of this idea.

He is thinking of converting the transom to a 15" and building a built in swim platform for skiing/wake-boarding, and using the jacker plate for the motor. The link below is the video of him explaining it. Just click on the picture to view the video.

I am just posting this for him.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1977 Cheetah speed boat

Looks like a fun project. What kind of seat layout are you planning with the new configuration of the splash well? How high will it be? Looks pretty low already, I have about 8" of free board, which can make you wonder when a big wave is headed your way!

 

[Drewb082001]

Re: 1977 Cheetah speed boat

 

[Drewb082001]

Re: 1977 Cheetah speed boat

 

[quilterc]

Hey i'm very interested in how the rest of you restoration went with your 77 cheetah...I just picked up a cheetah and it needs a lot of love. Just wondering if you had more after pics