1969 IMP "Thunder" 20 ft, Restoration

Ptr.Torch

Cadet
Joined
Dec 23, 2024
Messages
20
I. Traded a snowblower for a boat.

Yeah, this thing is 56 years old. Classic 69 modeling. Classic teal green (yuck!). I'm going from a 10 ft aluminum boat and a 6HP outboard to this. I'm taking a huge step, and it's going to be a huge learning curve. So no room for pride and know-it-all-already-ness. I'm going to need ample and copious amounts of good advice.
So why do it? WHY such a large boat? Why is important.
I will be turning 62 this year. And one thing I'm having trouble getting my brain around if this fact that I'm getting old, and I won't be here forever. My time is growing short. Time, for all of us is of limited quantity. I still feel like the 30 or 40 y.o. version of me. I still think like the 30 or 40 y.o. version of me. I want to do great things. I've got huge dreams and huge plans. (Gee, if I could just win the lottery!) The fact is, that time and money limit our choices and bring some reality into our dreams.
My "WORD" for this year, 2025, is -=Realignment=- 2025 is my year to realign myself with goals and dreams that are doable and have a point and purpose. So why a 20 ft boat that's way out of my league?
When I was a youth, a man from our church took us out on his boat. Mr Greenway took a few of us fishing. I can still remember that, if not the boat or what lake we fished. In my youth, dad and I got to go out with some men from a church in Louisiana and fished the Gulf of Mexico. They pulled up close to oil derricks and we hauled in some huge 'Big Red's'. When I was in the service, stationed at Patrick AFB, FL. Fellow AFTAC'er Carl Swenson took me out on his 18'ft open deck boat and we caught some 'dolphin' (fish so named for the porpuse like face they have) All these events are still fresh in my memories.
As I grow older, I find that I just want to build memories like that with my friends and my family, and my grandkids. So a boat. A boat is a tool. It's a tool I hope to employ and enjoy as I build relationship and create memories with people I love and want to be with.
 

Ptr.Torch

Cadet
Joined
Dec 23, 2024
Messages
20
Okay, so here is what I have figured out so far:
(Catching up)

Engine: Listed as a 165HP, in-line 6, and that leads me to a GMC 250 cid.

Drive: Mercerizer MR (Pre-Alpha). Found a crack in the lower half.

Rot: checked the transom and sides. I find none. The floor might be another story. The ring pulls came out and the floor panels stayed in place when I tried to lift them and look underneath.

To date I have charged the battery, and cranked the engine over. It didn't fire. I didn't try priming it yet. That will come after a compression test. The lower obviously needed to be replaced, so I looked around and found one on Ebay. Bought it and I've got it here at the house. The seals are dry, cracked and need to be replaced, so there is more work to be done there. The upper had no oil in it. It appears undamaged. How or where it leaked too, I can't tell, but the case has zero fluid oil, only a residual coating.

So I pulled the upper off and brought it all back to the house. I can rebuild them here in the garage when time permits and parts are available. The label on the upper says it is for a 120-140 HP. I am thinking maybe someone swapped out the case and re-installed the gears for the 165HP ? Is that possible? In any case, how can I know what gears I'm running here. I looked for some numbers or tag to identify them, but found nothing useful.
 
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