1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

I just realized I've been having a brain fart..... mine is a 10,000 lb trailer....lol ... still gonna need to do some cutting and welding to locate the bunks where I need them but at least it's up to the load.
We're at it again.... picking up another 28 footer (that sank) this weekend..... have fingers crossed (but not holding breath) that the engines are ok.... my friend who found mine will be getting the boat and building as he gets time and money
wish us fools luck

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

well I picked up a 28' regal commodore for $700 in philly... left friday evening got back 1500 miles later sunday morning..... that dang blizzard was not fun.... the engines have been full of fresh water for two months but have closed cooling with good antifreeze... the oil pans are not bulged and the manifolds (new 2 weeks before it sank) do not appear to be cracked. I have the drives off, looks like one has been leaking oil at the input because there was LOTS of milky water oil slime in the bellows... I wil be pulling the pans to inspect internals and replace the oil pumps.... the crankcases are currently full of water to the top of the dipsticks.
The engines are 260hp 350 magnums with remote oil filters mounted to the risers (bonus) Keep your fingers crossed for me folks

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

both engines have now been run in the shop floor for about 2 hours each They both sound really good and carry 40 psi oil pressure at 1000 rpm warm
I have changed oil pump timing set and related gaskets and seals on one and will do the other in the next few days..... I still need to go through the carbs and since one of the oil hoses squirted me in the eye I'll be having all 4 rebuilt...I will try to get transoms swapped out next weekend sometime as we have balmy 30+ degree weather forcasted..... I also have a line on a mid 50's? 2500 watt onan genset for $350... sound like a buy? The guy on ebay never sent me the tierod so I got him to refund me as I won't need it now anyway

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

well it was a looooooong week but I have the transoms assy's in but I need another y pipe.... it's a rare bird but I may have one lined up ... they have the 4 bolt pattern with the top bolts being at an angle from each other like this

I still need to swap out the timing set, oil pump, gaskets, and seals on the second engine and pull the oil hoses off to be rebuilt. I'm still looking for an a/c unit and a water heater I also still need to make it to St Louis to pick up my genny

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Well today was rough........ made the trip to st louis to pick up my new genset, onan 2.5 kw $350 plus $100 in gas and trans fluid
It's about a 5 hour drive up there so to save on fuel cost I pulled the passenger front seat out of my 92 mustang beater (4cyl convertable) to make room for the genny.... as I hit st louis traffic I started losing power..... changed fuel filter and all was well..... less than 10 miles later I stopped at a light and a cloud of smoke surrounded my car.... familiar smell of tranny fluid ..... Got gen picked up and hit auto zone for trans x and atf.... went through 8 quarts on return trip.... halfway back the fuel pump starts howling and I start getting passed by semi's on the (very slight) hills..... So here I am climbing a little hill at 51 mph in a 70 zone at full throttle..... I top the hill and very gradually gain speed..... by the bottom of the next hill I got up to 78 just in time to get popped by a trooper Luckily he was a real person instead of a kid with a chip on the shoulder..... I explained.... he asked how many tickets on my license... I said none and he said ok, if that's true then just a warning.... Any how I'm headed to dayton friday for my other y pipe and I'll try to get pics up of the genny tomarrow.

Also I have a line on a (late 80's ?) 10k ac unit with reverse cycle and included sea water pump for $500..... DOES THAT SEEM HIGH? I don't know the brand or model yet

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

who ever said convertibles weren't practical?


It just fits.... now for mounts... any ideas?

 

[rbh]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Thats a nice little onan, 2.5kw will be enough to run the battery charger on full load, but not sure about the AC unit, how many watts does that draw on full?????
Just remember when your using appliances, IE toaster, coffee maker microwave, wifes hair dryer, these are all heavy draw, and the watt use builds
as more are used (10x100 watt light bulbs = 1000 watt usage)

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

thanks... I believe it is gonna be ok but marginal.... I have been seeing 10.x amps to run and up to 20 amps to start on various ac units..... the gen is rated at 20.8 amps I believe


I'm thinking of running as much as possible on 12v and setting up the micro and coffee maker etc to run off of an inverter and set up a relay to cut off the converter/charger when the a/c compressor starts so the batts will give me a buffer..... Not sure yet if all that will be needed and I hate the idea of losing juice by converting to dc and back to a/c

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

well I picked up the a/c unit today.... It needs a new condensation pan (rusted) made up but I got it for $300 with the water pump included and I plugged it in and ran it for a few seconds.... heat exch got warm and evap got cold.....er...... quick.... All seemed good except no reverse cycle.... Still, with a little sheet metal work and a wee bit of welding and I should have penguin mode .....
I have a line on a good water heater for $50....

So far......
boat $543
fuel to pick up boat $900
trailer $270
drives and engs $700
genset $350
A/C $300
Y pipe $175
water heater $?


I was also told today that my 1kw onan could be worth alot more than I thought so that could help finance this build if he's right... He claimed he could get $1500 or so for it...... hmmm we'll see

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

I spent a few hours messing with the a/c unit today.... It does indeed have reverse cycle but things weren't working right..... After a while I finally figured out how it worked and determined that the t-stat and fan speed switch were both bad..... tore both apart and figured out that the mosfet in the fan had zero resistance across it no matter the position of the rheostat... not sure why but either way cleaning contacts won't do it.... also found that a pivot arm on one of the contactors had rusted off..... Went to my local dealer (Kentuckiana Yacht Sales) and talked to R.J. (great guy)... He had a used control panel on the shelf probably from an upgrade many years ago.... $20 was the price and he gave me a money back guarantee!!!

I hooked it up and now I have control of the fan speed and it heats and cools just like it should (although very little without water running through the heat exchanger). I also hooked up the seawater pump and it spins up right away as it should but have not put water to it yet

 

[wilkboater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

I'm enjoying following your build. Also, I love your "road trip" mentality; the only thing better than a road trip is a road trip with some "treasure" following you home on the trailer.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

thanks..... road trips are great but this towing in blizzards thing is getting old..... we decided that if there is another long one it needs to be some place warm.... lol

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

here's a couple shots

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

and another

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Well I spent today on electronics.... UGGGHHH

The boat came to me with a sitex mds (old) radar array with no head unit.... A complete interphase twin scope system with a bad head unit.... and 4 thru hull transducers... well 3 transducers and a speed temp sensor.... one transducer and the s/t is for the interphase one is furuno andd the other terminates in bare wires behind the dash.... might be for a flasher???....

I have been told that the radar unit is old tech and won't work with a modern plotter so it's likely junk.... the interphase transducer will work with a new unit but the s/t won't.... the furuno will be an ebay item if I can verify that it works somehow. the other one well I guess I need to find out what it is.... It has a smooth bottom and only sticks down from the hull 1/8"


I plan to plug the unused holes witth brass thru hull fittings and pipe caps for now and save the glass work for after I decide what electronics to run....

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

had a delay but my water heater should be here tomarrow.... that's the last component

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Cool project dude!

I look forward to this build....

This is gonna be a fun boat! Nice score on the twins and drives!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

thanks.... getting closer

I built a bypass manifold and plumbed in the water heater yesterday.... I also wired it up with a weatherproof switch in the engine compartment.. The idea is that when I drain and bypass the heater I can turn it of locally so that it can't accidentally be turned on at the control panel .... this will save me 6 gallons of pink antifreeze every year.

here's the plumbing

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

well I changed up the water heater plumbing and added in the transom shower lines....

I have decided to add an overboard fitting for the pressure/thermal valve..... thinking of using a vent fitting so as to reduce the chance that a malfunction of the water heater could scald swimmers as it would at least spray down instead of projecting a stream.

I also completed the wiring of the heater and the genset.



I ordered some mounts for the genny yesterday... should be here soon.
I got them from vibrationmounts.com and they have a HUGE selection, great prices and excellent tech info available. Below is a pic of the one I chose.

It seems that the worst part of buying any previously owned boat has to be fixing the maintenance of the previous owner.

I spent most of today rewiring bilge pumps and rerouting battery cables... mounted the muffler for the genset with 3 screws instead of the one that someone else felt was good enough... I rerouted the hose from a bilge pump so that it didn't block a drainage hole and added a strainer to the float switch.

example there were two bundles of wire from two float switches.... one was wired in and excess wire was bundled instead of removed and when it went bad another was spliced into it's wires and excess bundled again .. so I removed two splices and about 4 feet of wire along with a couple more feet of electrical tape..... which has no place in a bilge anyway.

I am still wondering if running two mufflers in series for the gen set is a good idea

 

[Bucks45]

Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Smoke....really enjoying your rebuild. Keep the pics coming.