MFG Seacruiser

adoseth

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
109
Hello fellow MFG'ers (hmm good thing i put that "G" in there),I am new here and happy to see there is a forum for our boats, I have had my 1966 MFG Seacruiser for about 15 years now. I bought her for 800 bucks with trailer and a 105 Chrysler in 1997. After getting the engine running i took her out on a test run,got about 20 feet from the ramp in reverse and heard a god awful CRACK.... it was the transom, threw her back in foward and back on the trailer she went. I replaced the transom myself , quite an undertaking seeing i had never done such a thing before but it came out ok, good enough for me to have about 4 years of great fun and exploration of the S.W. Florida waterways, well after setting up for about 11 years i found my transom is now shot again, so i did some research online and found a product called Seacast (i noticed a lot of you all have used it as well), Awsome stuff it is, i will never have to replace my transom ever again! (i hope), anyway just thought i would share the love with my old girl to you all. By the way i havent been able to find any other Seacruisers on this site, could i be the only one to have one of these fine Glassics?...here are some pics of her, i am currently fixing her back up and putting a 115 Johnson on her
 

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AviatorJim

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 20, 2010
Messages
111
Re: MFG Seacruiser

I just saw a SeaCruiser on Ebay, so there is another one out there. Don't let it sit up again, or something else will die of neglect. Can I call you if I need a transom?
 

adoseth

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
109
Re: MFG Seacruiser

LoL hell no on the transom!!!, man that was rough doing it with plywood, once she is done this time i plan on protecting her from the elements a little better, ill post pictures of the progress in the near future
 

adoseth

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
109
Re: MFG Seacruiser

oh , on that MFG on E-bay, its a 1971 16' MFG , they stopped making seacruisers in 68? i think, but it is too small anyway, i believe they were all roughly 19 foot, they made an I/O, and an outboard model, none the less that boat on E-bay looks really nice for price
 

SteveMFG_Oxford

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Nov 22, 2011
Messages
207
Re: MFG Seacruiser

That's a great looking Sea Cruiser! You've got a lot to work with there. Looks to be in pretty decent shape.
Congrats on the transom rebuild. I considered Seacast too but used plywood and epoxy on my Oxford because I was more comfortable with it. I have a much smaller engine as well.

If you haven't seen this brochure have a look ... it's your boat! http://forums.fiberglassics.com/mfg/mfgb64004.jpg
 

Mark_VTfisherman

Lieutenant
Joined
Nov 29, 2008
Messages
1,486
Re: MFG Seacruiser

That's a great looking Sea Cruiser!...... I considered Seacast too but used plywood and epoxy on my Oxford because I was more comfortable with it.....

If you 'glass your plywood you will have a longer lasting transom.

I personally would not use seacast to "fix" any boat I cared enough about to work on. I am not saying it won't/doesn't work, I just *know* that i can build a plywood transom that both looks good and lasts well.... seacast is like using a tube of "liquid metal" to repair a valve seat in a Chevy 350 to me...
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,429
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Well I finally know what to do with my Edinboro hard top head room problem!!:rolleyes: Anyway
Welcome aboard Adoseth! That,s a great looking Seacruiser you got there. If you use Seacast or Nida-bond on
your transom make sure you clean the inside skin very very good for the best possible bond. I have looked all
over the internet and only found ONE case where the pourable transom system failed. There may be more out there
but I have not seen them. It failed because they left over half of the wood in place and poured over the top of it!
Bad installation! Now lets count how many wood transom,s have failed. That being said, If you install a wood
transom correctly and protect the openings it,s should last a very loooong time. I,m pouring nida-bond in a few
weeks I hope I do it right and will last.
Looks like we are getten another boat for the calender Jon!:cool:
See ya S.P.
 

adoseth

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
109
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Yea, i definitely have my work cut out for me. As for the transom Mark, the first time i did it i cut 2 pieces of 3/4 in regular plywood,soaked and warped them to fit the contour of the back of the boat as best i could , bolted them in place(leaving the outer fiberglass skin on the back of the boat uncut) and let them dry for about a month just to make sure they were dry, removed them,applied resin to inner rear skin, glassed it, more resin, and another layer of glass, resin the first piece of plywood,installed bolts thru transom to squeeze it to rear skin, let dry, glass plywood, add layer of glass, resin,install 2nd piece of plywood,re-clamp to rear skin and 1st piece, resin/glass/resin/glass untill desired transom thickness was achieved, gelcoated,and 11 years later because of some small cracks in my gelcoat on the top of the transom, my transom was rotted again, so yea, im done with wood transom's, so easy using the seacast, the hardest part was chainsaw'ing the old wood out from between the inner ans outer skin, once that was done and all cleaned out, the rest was downhill, and that Seacast is lifetime, no more transom repairs, and better and stronger than wood, i highly recommend a pourable transom.Thanks for the compliments on my boat guys, got the engine running today, once i get the engine,throttle,steering all done , then i will start making her look good ;)
 

Jon Sob

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
827
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Hi adoseth ..... welcome to iboats. I have a 1960 MFG Corry Carefree that had a 50 yr old wooden transom that I just replaced this year. If I can get half that time out of this one then I would be very happy.... lol.

That's a great looking Seacruiser ..... good luck with it I'll be following along and don't forget to post lots of photos ... we love photos.
 

adoseth

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
109
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Thanks Jon, ill keep posting photos of her as the work progresses, just got through putting the motor on and firing it up, so far so good,
once i get the steering and controls rigged i will start on cosmetics
 

Jon Sob

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
827
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Are you staying with the old steering or are you updating?
 

adoseth

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
109
Re: MFG Seacruiser

I updated a bit, got a good used cable and steering wheel and mount to replace the old one that was frozen up, the old cable was stuck and i couldnt find one to replace it of that style
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,429
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Is that the original bow light ? It looks like mine but I,m not sure if they were crome or painted. Is it white?
And I just noticed you may want to put a plug or something in that trailer tire it looks a little low.:eek: :D
 

adoseth

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
109
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Aye,It is the original bow light, unfortunately it is pitted real bad, it is chrome though, i am hoping to clean it up, also the red lense is slightly dulled but the green one looks fine, and i replaced both wheels,leaf springs and hardware
 

adoseth

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
109
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Update: The Wife and kids cleaned her up, I mounted the engine, and installed the throttle and shifter, tomorrow night I finish the steering system and take pictures and i will post them
I have boat fever now!!!!
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,429
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Sounds like your about ready to put her in the water. You got any pics of the seacast pour ? I,d like to know how that turned out!:)
 

adoseth

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
109
Re: MFG Seacruiser

CIMG0234 small.jpgCIMG0361 transom.jpgCIMG0374 transom.jpgCIMG0374 transom2.jpgUnfortunately i do not have pic's of me actually pouring, but i can take some of the finished transom, so far it feels very strong but the true test will be when i take her out and throttle her up on plane
 

Jon Sob

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
827
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Hey adoseth ..... great job on that transom. Can't wait to see her all finished.
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,429
Re: MFG Seacruiser

Nice job on the transom . Did you put any temporary braces on for the pour to keep it from bulging out?
How many gal did it take?
 
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