exodave
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2010
- Messages
- 107
Hi Folks. I need some help to ID the year and model of my current project boat. Here's the story, pics below:
June 5th, I bought a dirty old Thunderbird out of someones back yard. It had been passed around a couple times for a decade, and hadn't been registered since 2001 because no one could figure out how to get the 1967 100HP Johnson Outboard to run. Excited about the Flipper Boat, and confident in repairing old 2-strokes, I took her on as my next project. A month later, motor fixed, began the twice weekly beach trips, Lake Erie perch fishing, and now I'm even wondering if my Dad wants to break out his old water skis.
Before getting into major repairs, I need a season out of her to prove her seaworthiness, so after the motor was ready I installed a temporary deck over the old soft one, beefed up the seat boxes (which are a hack job with some old Four Winns seats on top), shored up the cushions with plywood and stapled the vinyl back together, rewired the dash with a new fuse box, scrubbed her down as best I could by hand, tossed in a new battery, chunked her in the water and tied her up at our dock for the Summer. Now, we're all in love with her. At full throttle, near 30mph, no one can believe how softly she takes the chop and waves compared to our old Boston Whaler back in the 80s. Every day at the beach, people swoon over her with good memories from their childhood.
Once out of the water for the season, we'll begin the work on the hull, floor, stringers (if necessary), interior, and eventually some new paint. To make sure I can correctly restore and identify this hull, I'd like to see if any of you can confirm the year and model. There's a pic below of the plate riveted to the inside of the transom. Using this info (serial CY56703, Max HP 150, Capacity 1500) and a chart I found at fiberglassics,
http://www.fiberglassics.com/wiki/images/a/aa/Thunderbirdbb004.jpg
I can infer that she's probably a 1966 Cheyenne.
Here are some photos. A few from the day I towed her home, and one more recently from the beach.
June 5th, I bought a dirty old Thunderbird out of someones back yard. It had been passed around a couple times for a decade, and hadn't been registered since 2001 because no one could figure out how to get the 1967 100HP Johnson Outboard to run. Excited about the Flipper Boat, and confident in repairing old 2-strokes, I took her on as my next project. A month later, motor fixed, began the twice weekly beach trips, Lake Erie perch fishing, and now I'm even wondering if my Dad wants to break out his old water skis.
Before getting into major repairs, I need a season out of her to prove her seaworthiness, so after the motor was ready I installed a temporary deck over the old soft one, beefed up the seat boxes (which are a hack job with some old Four Winns seats on top), shored up the cushions with plywood and stapled the vinyl back together, rewired the dash with a new fuse box, scrubbed her down as best I could by hand, tossed in a new battery, chunked her in the water and tied her up at our dock for the Summer. Now, we're all in love with her. At full throttle, near 30mph, no one can believe how softly she takes the chop and waves compared to our old Boston Whaler back in the 80s. Every day at the beach, people swoon over her with good memories from their childhood.
Once out of the water for the season, we'll begin the work on the hull, floor, stringers (if necessary), interior, and eventually some new paint. To make sure I can correctly restore and identify this hull, I'd like to see if any of you can confirm the year and model. There's a pic below of the plate riveted to the inside of the transom. Using this info (serial CY56703, Max HP 150, Capacity 1500) and a chart I found at fiberglassics,
http://www.fiberglassics.com/wiki/images/a/aa/Thunderbirdbb004.jpg
I can infer that she's probably a 1966 Cheyenne.
Here are some photos. A few from the day I towed her home, and one more recently from the beach.
