new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

[bouncefactor]

We are looking at a 70s Holiday that seems to be in okay shape. Seller stated he had some rivets replaced. Upon crawling under boat there were some rivets with missing heads and all the rivets areas on the bottom had some kind of sealant(clear probably silicon)appliead by what looks like a 3 inch putty knife. How big a deal is this. We are mechanically well equipped with equipment and experience(auto related though).

Is the rivet problem one of those things that seems like not a big deal that can turn into a nightmare(fix it and still leaks like crazy)? We also think transom will need to be replaced although that seems fairly straightforward especially since this one is not terrible shape(getting soft in a couple of spots) and should be able to get a good pattern off of it.

We are definitely Noobs to working on boats(I grew up in 70s riding driving my grandfathers late 60s starcraft with a 650 mercruiser and owned a 70 glastron with a 40 Johnson but other than maintenance didnt really work on them).

On a side note owner of boat we are looking at is more than willing to take us out on the water in it anything specific to look for? Thanks sorry for length

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

Rivets are cake. Use closed end pop rivets on the areas that are innacesable (under the deck). Drill out the old and put in the new. I did some on the Sea Nymph. I would use a solid rivet whenever possible, though I'm being very picky here. I'm a Manufacturing Engineer, it's both a curse and a blessing, you'll want to filter what I say accordingly. lol Use Gluvit on the INSIDE of the boat to take care of any stray leaks. Aluminum boats don't have to leak if you take a few precautions.

I'll let the tinhoard answer a few questions also.

Good Luck
don

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

Look at EVERYTHING... Put your hands on EVERYTHING they can reach...

If the transom has soft spots, the deck may have soft spots hidden by trim, seat boxes, consoles etc etc

The transom & deck replacement are straight forward on a tin boat. No nearly the long process as a fiberglass boat.

The leaking/missing/damaged rivets should be REPLACED, the goop is temporary, and most applied coatings are too on the exterior of the hull....

NONE of that ^^^^ should keep you from purchasing the boat, but it should reduce the purchase price...

A water test (under power & after a through inspection) at a local waterway. Give the trailer a good once over before you let the seller tow it to the ramp.

Pix of the boat would be great if the seller makes any available.

Best of luck w/ your pending Starcraft, & welcome to Iboats, tin division

 

[bouncefactor]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

thanks for the responses. Next step is getting it into the water and if good bring it home. Bringing cash and tow vehicle to test drive.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

Keep the last $500 of whatever YOUR maximum price is in your other pocket. Try to keep it there until AFTER you tow it home :watermelon:

Good luck & pix either way.

Pending a positive water test, congrats....

 

[barato2]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

Don and JB nailed it on rivets....no problemo, just one of the minor things you deal with on tinboats. if it doesn't leak too bad (note how long you're on water and check bilge when you pull it out to see how much it took on.) and you're not boating on big badarse water, you could just install an auto bilge pump for now. i suspect from the crude n ugly fix on bottom that there is signif leakage, tho. still, it's an easy fix....biggest part is R&Ring floor and everything bolted to it , which tends to turn things into a "might as well do the floors and transom while i have it apart" resto.

what drivetrain? has it been winterized properly if an I/O? check for water in oil, or signs of coolant leakage on exterior of block, common issues with old I/Os. people forget to winterize properly and block cracks from ice. does it shift smoothly? i assume you know how to check compression from your auto work? likewise, i assume you know how to clean carbs?

closely inspect hull for signs of damage or corrosion, esp around ribs and strakes. check inside motor cowling for signs of salt water use.

where are you located and where do you anticipate using it? this would help us list some more specific Qs to ask. and as JB said, pix would help a lot.

 

[bouncefactor]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

. It has a outboard, built in floor tank, bilge pump(he stressed how well that worked so that threw up a red flag about leaky rivets)looking at it tomorrow (thursday) on water. Was used in Saranac Lake(northern NY adirondack area) so i doubt it saw seawater. Got a few electronic goodies on it(fish finder, marine radio etc...) When we looked at it he had a clamp fitting so you could start it with a garden hose. It seemed to run right. He fogged it with winterizing oil for winter and had lower gear oil changed. Trailer is in good shape lights work but it is using alligator clips for grounds so we would rewire some of it. One tire is dry rotted. Interior is decent we walked on floors and they felt good, pulled up as much carpet as possible and they looked good from what we could see no soft spots etc.. transom will need to be replaced has soft spots and the outside of it has some ugly holes from what i guess was a ladder that were caulked over. Teak was original and looked the part not sure if it can be saved. Has power tilt that works. Price is in the mid teens

 

[barato2]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

"an outboard"? make, size, appearance make a big difference in what boat is worth. is it a 50hp Chrysler or a 115 OMC? and don't just assume seller is telling you right on salt, look inside cowling. if you're from upstate NY, you know what salt damage looks like. look at hull also in this regard.

don't assume electronics work or are anywhere near current. test em on water and write down model #s etc so you can check em. likely in a 70s boat they're pretty obsolete. a modern fishfinder can be usually had on CL for 50-75, and a VHF radio goes for as little as 80-90 new plus maybe 40 for an antenna. IOW, don't make the value of the accessories much of your deliberations.

same for bilge pump. a basic 5-800 gph one can be had for <50 new. complete LED wiring kit for trailer is also <50 and is eeeezy to install.

after you pull to the lake, check temp of trailer hubs. you don't want a bearing seizing on way home, when new ones are so cheap and easy to do (and no longer filth city, since the advent of plastic gloves). you do em just like front wheel bearings on traditiuonal RWD cars.

the transom part puts any rivet issues in perspective. i bet you'll find that floors also could use to be done, and this makes replacing/rebucking/sealing rivets easy.

overall, the $ sounds a bit high for this boat unless it's a 22'. closed bow boats don't have near the market of bow riders, and this one sounds like a resto candidate. wanna guess what % of the people on here restoring boats thought their floors were OK when they brought the boat home?

on the plus side, sounds like seller basically knows the boat and has done maint. use the transom as a big bargaining chip to talk him way down, or walk away to think about it. remind him that boat is not safely usable in anything bigger than a farm pond with rotted transom, and that very few prospective buyers will want to (or be able to) replace it. and cost to have a shop do it would not be cost feasible, if you could even find one that would work on it.

sorry if i sound negative. but now is the time to find the flaws in the boat, not after you plunk down $.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

Bounce - Nothing in your descriptions are deal killers as long as the final price reflects leak fixing, trailer re-wire (cheap), trailer tires (if one is dry rotted, so is the other) and the transom. As stated by others, if the transom needs work, most likely the floors will need attention too. The highest cost item is the transom. Two sheets of exterior plywood- NOT pressure treated, various sealants and hardware. If you're real handy, a couple of week-ends. If she needs floors, add an other week-end. I'm not being overly optimistic, the work is to get you on the water. Then you have all winter to sit at the helm, make motor boat sounds and decide what else to work on.

Hope the float goes well and good luck. Also if you snatch her, pix are mandatory for gaining admission to the Starmada.

 

[bouncefactor]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

It is 18' is a 115 johnson. We were supposed to be leaving now but when we called seller he said he left all his life preservers at his cottage and we would need to bring some. We dont have any yet so today we are chasing down 3 life preservers(or at least 2).

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: new member looking at buying mid 70s Holiday with a rivet question and others?

Walmart....

PFD's are required, that includes seat cushions that float. Unless you are somewhere w/ more specific rules.