Picked Up a 1974 Holiday 18 OB

[Laker99]

Someone had put down CCA plywood on top of the old floor. They just used random deck screws here and there and didn't tie into the aluminum. It looked like a job that someone did in about 4 hours. I bet it added a couple of hundred of pounds of weight not counting whatever amount it waterlogged.

 

[Decker83]

Nice start on a great looking rig..
There's alot of great gentlemen here with a vast amount of knowledge to share..

 

[Watermann]

You may have gotten lucky on the chine area fatigue like I did. I didn't find any cracks either in my '74 18' outboard. I also took a calculated risk in not adding chine braces, as I was in a hurry and on a tight budget. This is by no means a rule or statement of absolute fact, but most of the boats with rib cracks seem to be inboards. Lots of weight and torque right in the middle of the boat. There are exceptions, of course, but if you don't see cracks after looking carefully, I wouldn't worry too much.

PS: nice boat!

Maybe more so with the I/O's but CC's SS is an OB and it had those nasty rib end cracks too. I'm thinking it's the HP + weight combined with using the boat while compromised. I'm sure there's some variables us dunder heads can't even think of but SC did and the fix was to add hull stiffeners. I don't know of any other guys here who've really gone the extra step and added the stiffeners so I'm the odd man out there. There's been a bunch of these boats resto'd and if guys would have had an issue I'm sure we would've heard about it by now. My thing was going from a lighter 120 HP to a heavier 205 HP V6 and I just did not want to take a chance.

Something else that may just be anecdotal but I've not seen any of the 16'rs have the stress crack problems just 18' and above so just look her over carefully once flipped for peace of mind.

 

[jbcurt00]

I suspect many of the 16ft'rs aren't subjected to nearly as rough water conditions as the 18ft+ rigs are, compromised or not. I'd certainly consider taking an 18ft Chief out in a bit rougher seas then I'd ever take a 16ft SS.... Esp anywhere that's BIG water.

Speaking of CC, did he mention thinking some of the problems were roller related, or was that someone else? Lets not subject Laker to a roller V bunk debate, just another thought about why CC's was so thoroughly cracked.

Anyway, nothing I've seen so far is overly concerning, just more work then some, less then others...

 

[dozerII]

I think jb nailed it, big water and a captain that wants to get there what ever the pounding is the biggest cause of the cracks. I have owned both 16's and 18's and what I have been in with the 18 I would not dream of going out in a 16.

 

[Laker99]

Well, I know one thing is that this boat came off an Iowa lake which would be described as more of a mud hole than "big water." So I got that going for me!

 

[laurentide]

Just to add more purely anecdotal speculation to the rib crack/chine debate, I think dozer, jb, and watermann have the two major contributors to the issue: beating the snot out of a structurally compromised hull. Transom, splashwell, side panels...they're all real important and all of our PO's didn't know/care that the engine/out drive was mounted on mulch. The 1/2" side panels have a ton of strength and will go a long way to keeping the rib ends intact, but a rotten transom still lets the boat flex too much.

I bet laker has heard enough shade tree engineer banter . If you put it back together right you're probably good!