Need Help! 1987 Glastron 18.8 bowrider QUESTION

Ok so I have posted a couple times on here, gotten great info and I really appreciate it. I really need some help as I am not sure what I am dealing with here.

As stated in title, I have a 1987 Glastron CX-19 I/O 18.8 open bow. All in all it's a good boat mostly solid and currently (thanks to me replacing the fuel pump and lines - thanks guys for the help diagnosing) running very solid. It's a 1985 OMC 3.0 litre engine mated to a Mercruiser Alpha One out drive. It's my understanding that this is not a normal situation, but it's what I have. :facepalm:

Anyway, she takes on water, it's not the seals or bellows on the engine. I have checked them all and they are solid. That said, from what we have noticed while underway, we think it's coming in around the plug and the bottom of the outdrive. It looks like the transom will need to be replaced along with some major wood replacement at some point. Looking in the ski locker I can see the starts of rot (since the water makes it that far up when she gets full), nothing bad yet, but we all know, rot only gets worse.

Now the question. How does a boat act when the foam is soaked? This boat seems to ride nice sometimes and others it seems to be lop sided in the water regardless of the weight distributed in passengers. (I have a buddy who is prolly 250 or more, and I run 250 and then the girls in the 120-150 range each) and I can have me and my buddy on one side and still feel heavy on the other. Also if the water gets rough I have trouble getting her planed up on top of it and it beats us to death, I mean it feels like it will tear the boat apart. And this is a small lake, even at it's roughest I see other boats similarly sized skipping along the top of the water and not having near as much trouble.

So ... am I looking at needing to tear her apart this fall and do a complete restoration? I am lost here cause I don't have much frame of reference. Last boat was when I was a kid, it was a 16.5 foot Glaspar tri hull with an outboard engine and I never remember it riding this rough even on bigger lakes like 3-5 times this size.

Any help appreciated.

Re: Need Help! 1987 Glastron 18.8 bowrider QUESTION

87glastron said:

So ... am I looking at needing to tear her apart this fall and do a complete restoration?

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Yep. She's soggy and rotten.

Re: Need Help! 1987 Glastron 18.8 bowrider QUESTION

It's a 1985 OMC 3.0 litre engine mated to a Mercruiser Alpha One out drive. It's my understanding that this is not a normal situation, but it's what I have.

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ezmobee said:

Yep. She's soggy and rotten.

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Ayuh,.... Sounds like a soggy rotten junkyard cob job dog....



Sorry, but that's what it sounds like...

Re: Need Help! 1987 Glastron 18.8 bowrider QUESTION

Bond-o said:

Ayuh,.... Sounds like a soggy rotten junkyard cob job dog....



Sorry, but that's what it sounds like...

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Define "soggy rotten junkyard cob job dog."

I get the soggy rotten part, but are you saying someone threw together a bunch of junkyard parts on this boat?

It looked like someone cared about it and just maybe didn't have all the skills, time or money to do it all right. Maybe I was just professionally scammed, pretty on the outside, rotten garbage on the inside, I don't know. But I am not happy.

Thanks guys.

Re: Need Help! 1987 Glastron 18.8 bowrider QUESTION

It's a 1985 OMC 3.0 litre engine mated to a Mercruiser Alpha One out drive.

Click to expand...

Ayuh,.... An OMC motor, on a Mercruiser drive is a Cob Job, junkyard dog....

Re: Need Help! 1987 Glastron 18.8 bowrider QUESTION

It's a nice looking boat. It's always a real bummer when a boat that doesn't show obvious evidence of being left out in the elements turns out to be rotten. The damage is repairable but it's a BIG job and the materials required to do it properly aren't exactly cheap. If you don't mind a project and the driveline on this boat is solid, then go for it. Otherwise, it may be better to just cut your losses. The OMC and Mercruiser 3.0's were the same or similar so it's not a big thing to have mixed/matched parts. Someone probably cracked a block due to improper winterization.