Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

tunerauto

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
95
Growing up we had a lake house at Triangle Lake in Oregon.
I learned to drive in a boat and It was my job to keep it clean ,etc.
Well that was 20 years ago and I always told myself Id buy my own boat.
Something cheap that worked and floated.
Today I did just that. :)

Picked up a well used but solid 1976 Hydroswift 17" fiberglass boat with a Mercury 500 50hp , thunderbolt ignition , 10" prop and Trailer for $700.
The previous owners were a nice gentle family of 4 and they used it for fishing in the Columbia river and a few other spots.
Paint is faded and needing a good scrubbing.
Gelcoat is good except for a few spots on the bottom of the hull.
a few soft spots on the floor and cracks that were covered up with a piece of plywood, thus trapping in more moisture , ugh.
Was maintained and winterized before this last winter and it started right up w/3 cranks of the starter on a questionable and very old battery.

My family and I are so happy to have a boat this summer to take to detroit lake and pull a tube or wakeboarder behind. No more burning up on the shore.

Im going to have lots of questions about some of the tasks of prep this boat up for the water and look forward to using this site for those answers and suggestions.
My background in automotive repair is going to help immensely :)

Here she is on her way home to Salem oregon from Vancouver Wa.

photo.jpg
 

jjacobs007

Lieutenant
Joined
Mar 10, 2009
Messages
1,257
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

happy fathers day!looks good, old but floats right.boating is all about the adventure of getting there and coming home for me, knowing i was to blame for all the stuff.have fun be safe.
 

JoLin

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
5,146
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

Happy Father's Day!

Enjoy the boat. My story's similar to yours, but my 'hiaitis' from boating was more like 40 years... was like coming home again. Why'd I wait so long?

Have a great time.
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

nice little rig.
 

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

Welcome to iboats. You will have a lot of fun with that little boat.
 

JZammetti

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 20, 2008
Messages
181
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

Congratulations on your Father?s Day present? The question is how will you top it next year?
 

tunerauto

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
95
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

Thank you for all the kind words.
Were looking forward to many adventures and not expecting to be the cool boat on the lake , LOL.
Got her interior all gutted out , i.e. seats, carpets , battery , fuel tank , etc.
Going to wash her up and wax the hull today.
I have a tarp for now but am in search for a canvas top for her thru the winter.
Know any decent online vendors for canvas tops at decent , recession prices? :)

Also , what engine oil do you all recommend?
I service all my show, daily drivers and customer cars with Redline Gear oils and Mobil 1 engine oil. Do these manufacturers also make outboard oils?
Spark plugs , any recommendations? I always run NGK el cheapo coppers as they have a better rate of combustion in the cylinder than platinum plugs. better fuel econo and power.
Going to repaint the interior , is a standard Rustoleum paint ok for this or does it have to be a marine grade roll on?

Thanx
:)
 

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

MANY of us on here use the cheap Wal-Mart SuperTech oil for our old outboards with no issues. I painted my whole boat with Rustoleum and it's holding up well. I know Champion spark plugs are the best for OMC outboards, not sure about your Merc. And no such thing as a cheap bimini top unless you can find a used one.
 

this forum wont let me

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
46
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

My opinion on the canvas cover is no good. Now there will be many people that disagree with me but that is ok they are allowed to have crazy ideas lol. I spend the $ every year and shrink wrap my boat. Now some will say canvas cost some money but you use it year after year and what not. I love my boat so much that to just about guarantee my boat stays safe and dry not exposed to any of my New England's great winters. Then I do my part every year and with the wood from the structure I have one hell of bon fire and then I recycle all the plastic shrink wrap. Well just my thought's good luck happy fathers day and welcome back to your habit.
 

tunerauto

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
95
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

Rostoluem - Was this a roll on paint ?
Super Tec aka Penzoil - is this a 80w90 gear oil and or 2 stroke oil your talking about.
Im not going to shrink wrap it but I am going to buy a canvas top for under $200. It rains alot in oregon but in the willamette valey it rarely gets below 35* in the winter if even that.
 

BumbleBeeTuna

Seaman
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
66
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

My opinion on the canvas cover is no good. Now there will be many people that disagree with me but that is ok they are allowed to have crazy ideas lol. I spend the $ every year and shrink wrap my boat. Now some will say canvas cost some money but you use it year after year and what not. I love my boat so much that to just about guarantee my boat stays safe and dry not exposed to any of my New England's great winters. Then I do my part every year and with the wood from the structure I have one hell of bon fire and then I recycle all the plastic shrink wrap. Well just my thought's good luck happy fathers day and welcome back to your habit.

What kind of money are you talking about to accomplish all that?

Have you looked into storage space for the winter months?
 

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

Rustoluem - Was this a roll on paint ?

I sprayed mine using rattle cans but it was a nightmare and used way too much paint. Many on here have rolled it and it looks great. That's how I'll do it the next time.
Super Tec aka Penzoil - is this a 80w90 gear oil and or 2 stroke oil your talking about.

Both

Im not going to shrink wrap it but I am going to buy a canvas top for under $200. It rains alot in oregon but in the willamette valey it rarely gets below 35* in the winter if even that.

Believe it or not the $40 cover from Wal-Mart is pretty decent and waterproof. I parked my boat under some dirty trees for a while and didn't want to invest in a nice cover that would just get all nasty. One of these is a great thing to have: http://www.overtons.com/modperl/pro...Support&str=cover support&merchID=1008&r=view
 

tunerauto

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
95
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

That TeePee stand from Overtons is pretty nifty. :D
Ill look into the $40 Walmart cover as were headed that way today for grease, oil etc.
Do they make a specific gauge for tacs in boats? My normal takes are 4,6,8 cylinder rated will one of these work from SunPro on my 4cyl o/b?
 

This_lil_fishy

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Messages
841
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

Krylon Plastic paint is amazing on hulls. Used it when I had to patch some holes (the previous owner screwed the seat THROUGH the bottom of the hull). My old 14' fiberglass...not the boat below! :D Color matches pretty good to gel coat too! Even a loading mishap didn't scratch it off.

Ian
 

PAK

Cadet
Joined
Jun 12, 2009
Messages
6
Congrats

Congrats

Looks like you have a nice lady there. Treat her nice and she will treat you nice. Post some pics of your maden voyage.

Regards,

Drew
 

sparticus

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
May 31, 2007
Messages
92
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

Gotta love those old Hydro Swifts! Mine is the same size but 10 years older. I have a Merc 650 on mine. Bought it for just about what you paid for yours! Enjoy it! We plan on putting ours in the garage this fall and gut it. It desperatly needs new seats and the carpet is extremely funky. I will tear out the floor and all the no doubt water soaked foam and replace it all.
 

tunerauto

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
95
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

Yes pulling of the carpets today revealed a floor that was all pretty soft with a few already been patched spots.
Figure itll go in the garage this winter for a floor resto but for now just a new sub floor and carpet. :)
Wanna go play ya know.
 

tunerauto

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
95
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

So I havent been able to get a mercury manual to do the tune up yet so how much gear oil do I need and whats the weight? 80w90 standard gear oil. Anybody know the spark plug # I need aswell ? Do these O/B motors have a distributor cap and rotor that needs replacement?
Fuel filter?? Location?
Thanx
 

tunerauto

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
95
Re: Happy fathers day to me - Bought my first boat today

After 2 coats of wax she smoothed up quite a bit.
You can see half the hull waxed and the other half not in the 1st pic.
Halfwaxhalfdull.jpg

IMG_4994.jpg
 
Top