1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer project

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

I thought yours was older. It's gunna be one of these. the number should be 85193A

http://www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php?year=1971&hp=85

Your (85/100) powerhead is a small bore block, 92 cubic inches, smaller than the 125 of that same year and of the more modern 99.6 cubic inch models. They suffer from discontinued parts (lower unit) and from expensive replacement parts (amplifier) for those that are still made. Few folks still work on these older models, esp the electric shift components.

If you need an original factory service or owner's manual you can contact Ken Cook Co., in Milwaukee or on the web. These engines make a lot of torque and use any of today's BRP props.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

sorry Woodon I was outside installing the VIN plate on the trailer. I'd have to find the paper that I wrote down the OB numbers to give you the model/SN the number you posted looks correct 85193A. I figured parts were going to be tough for this old of a model so my plan is to see if I can't get it running correctly (water pumping, shifting correct, etc...) and then I'm going to moth-ball it. Fog it really good and might even pull the float bowls off to make sure all the fuel is drained out of them and then I'm going to shrink wrap it and put it in storage. Planning on swapping my pontoon 90 hp Johnson over to the boat. I'll just need to get new cables since I believe the current length for the console for the pontoon is going to be too long for the small boat. It would be the perfect time to go ahead the upgrade to hydraulic steering anyway. Bite the bullet and dump the $$ of the system. When Fall comes I'll just take the motor off the boat and put it back on the pontoon and get some longer hydraulic hoses for it.
Anyway, I just want to make sure I have this old OB in working condition before putting it away. If in the future once I restore the MG15 and want to take it to a boat show, I can pull the 90 off and put the original back on it for that.
Thanks for your help. I'll look at the links you've provided so I can get things ordered.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Henrico police are quick. I called the non-emergency number asking for a officer to stop by and sign VIN paperwork for trailer and within 20 minutes a patrol car pulls in, looks over the trailer, checks the VIN to the paperwork and signs it. Now I just have to go back to DMV for the plates next Monday. For no title for boat and trailer it sure went smooth today. The officer really liked the boat and couldn't believe the price I got it for.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Great! Glad it went smooth. Congrats! Good luck w/ lower unit

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Well, trouble showed up earlier than I expected I was out at the boat moving one of the fuel tanks that I pulled out from under the splash well and I noticed a dip along the side by the back of the folding seat base. I pulled up the outdoor carpet (the area between the seats to the splash well is carpet and not vinyl) and along with the carpet comes up peg board. Yes, I said peg board. :facepalm: Under the rotten peg board is nothing!! Well, nothing if you don't count the hole that was there!! Yep, the whole back section of the floor is beyond toast!! I didn't jump in and start poking around I didn't have the time right then with a storm heading towards our place. I covered it back up and I'll deal with it when we have clear weather. So....a rotten floor is the first sign of more to come...drilling time!! I wasn't planning on a restore this early, I wanted to get one summer of water skiing with my daughter in and then jump into the pulling the cap and fixing everything this Fall and Winter. Water skiing puts the seal on the coffin when it comes to the transom showing any signs of moisture and rot. Dang it....this is not part of the plan.

 

[rickryder]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Well thats a buzz kill for sure! You'll get her in better than new condition Sorry to hear you found that rot

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Thanks Rick. Going to get the main carport prepped for the restore job. Pull my pontoon out and cover it and then start setting the area up to pull the MG in it and start removing all the hardware so I can pull the cap.
My insurance agent needs to swing by and inspect the boat before I can start taking it apart; it's for the coverage on the boat. Just hope he doesn't start digging around on the inside of the boat and find the hole in the floor. :facepalm:

Kicking around the idea of setting up a webcam under the carport and dumping the feed on to my website. Most work is going to be done on the weekends and Monday since I pull 10 hr days the other days of the week. I'll look into what it's going to take to set that up and will post up the link if I do do it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Before you get carried away, make absolutely certain you have to remove the cap to get the transom out. On some of the old runabouts, (like mine for instance) you can get the transom out and replace it with out removing the cap. You don't have any pics of the splashwell so I can't tell but there's a possibility.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Woodonglass,

I'll try to get some photos in the next day or so. I figure if the floor is gone in the back section, the stringers are probably gone and maybe the transom. There's definitely sprayed or poured foam under that floor, all under the bow area and under the rails. Look into the hole I was hoping there'd be room under the floor to put a belly pan fuel tank in but it doesn't look like there's enough room, so I'm thinking about putting a bow tank in something around 24 gallons.
I'm planning on redoing the transom if I'm doing all the other stuff and when I do I'll have plenty of question and/or needed suggestions because I'm wanting to not install wood in the transom but go with aluminum square tubing with seacast. I'll go into greater detail when the time comes.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Uhhmmm, a 24 gallon tank in the bow will add approx 200 lbs to the front of the boat. That would significantly change the planing dynamics of the boat. You might want to reconsider that. If you decide to use seacast that will quadruple the cost of the transom replacement and I'm not quite sure what your thinking is for the need for aluminum square tubing. Be careful and don't overthink/engineer things. The boat as was built has lasted 50 years so going back the way she was is typically the best way to go.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Yes, I understand the weight issue with the tank up front. My friend's 24ft SeaArk has a 50 gallon bow tank on it and I do notice the difference in the ride. No matter how much you trim the OB, it seems you can't raise the bow out of the water much so it rides pretty much on a flat plane all the time. The fuel weight would be roughly 151 lbs and then the tank weight would depend of the thickness of the aluminum I would use to build the tank. I figure 10g (0.1019") would be thick enough which would be 1.43 lbs per sqft. and the size of the tank would need to be around 3.25 cu. ft.. A rough estimate on tank weight would be less than 10 lbs. using a size of 17" x 18" x 18"= 24 gallons I averaged the size since the true tank would be a wedged triangle shape.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Thanks Woodonglass. I'll drop building the transom out of tubing. Thinking about it caused me to consider what my goal was and that was to eliminate wood so there wouldn't be any future rot. The problem with that goal is, I still would have to come up with a solution for the Stringers and Floor to completely eliminate wood from the boat. That would be costly for the floor and I can't tap into my floor funds for the pontoon's aluminum flooring project so I'll have to settle for going back with glassed over ply.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Remember, the factory glass work on your boats stringers would have been less than 50% as good as your's will be and look how long it lasted. You sound alot like me, in that, this will be a Pampered Boat. If so, then if your glass work is sound and your maintenance is up to snuff, then putting wood in this boat will NOT be an issue. Barring some catastrophic issue, she'll be in great condition 50 yrs from now. My boat's transom is like brand new because she was always maintained and stored properly for the past 50 years.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Thanks. Woodonglass let me ask you a question about gelcoating related to my boat. I have chips in a number of places that need repair. (I know, photos would be great about now) Anyway, I have a very short deadline for the floor/stringer/transom project, this boat needs to see summer water and it's March already. With that explained, if I just touchup the spots with gelcoat (several layers) for a temporary fix, what would I have to do to spray it this Fall after the boating season? It's going to be tougher to flip the boat with the cap on isn't it? I'd have to remove the rubrail again? I know all the hardware would have to come off again. I'm going back with the same colors and was thinking of just spraying 2 coats...1 waxed and 1 non-waxed. Would that be enough if I spot repair the chipped areas or would I have to spray additional coats due to the repair areas?

I am figuring that I'll glass the floor boards and then throw indoor/outdoor carpet over it without attaching it so when the time comes to spray the boat in the Fall I won't have an issue with glued down carpet. A good plan or not?

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Woodonglass,

If these storms will quit long enough to get some photos of the transom I would post them up for you to look at. Hopefully tomorrow evening I can untarp it and take a few photos so you can see if the cap needs to come off or not. When I looked at it, I didn't see any other way except pulling the cap. The splash pan is long, it goes from the transom about a little over 24" and then curves up about 2" to the cross section that ties the two sides together. You can see the cross section just in front of the motor in the side shot of my boat. It's about 6" wide and of course it molds right into the side structure and it has a hole cut out for the battery and fuel tanks to slide under the splash pan. It's a perfect design to add a bench seat back there since the cross section would support the backrest of the bench seat. Anyway, I'll try to get some photos in the next day or so.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Thanks. Woodonglass let me ask you a question about gelcoating related to my boat. I have chips in a number of places that need repair. (I know, photos would be great about now) Anyway, I have a very short deadline for the floor/stringer/transom project, this boat needs to see summer water and it's March already. With that explained, if I just touchup the spots with gelcoat (several layers) for a temporary fix, what would I have to do to spray it this Fall after the boating season? It's going to be tougher to flip the boat with the cap on isn't it? I'd have to remove the rubrail again? I know all the hardware would have to come off again. I'm going back with the same colors and was thinking of just spraying 2 coats...1 waxed and 1 non-waxed. Would that be enough if I spot repair the chipped areas or would I have to spray additional coats due to the repair areas?

I am figuring that I'll glass the floor boards and then throw indoor/outdoor carpet over it without attaching it so when the time comes to spray the boat in the Fall I won't have an issue with glued down carpet. A good plan or not?

Yeah, pics will help. Are the chips you're referring to in the hull or on the Cap? If they are not too big or deep you can mix up some Gelcoat Paste and clean em out with Acetone and fill em for a season of fun. If your plan is to totally re-Gelcoat the hull next yr by spraying it, well... that is a BIG undertaking with special equipment needed and a LOT of work. We can discuss this in more detail later. You can flip that hull with the cap on with no problem. I did mine with just two helpers. Just remove all the hardware and you're good to go. Get some pics and use a penney or bottle cap to use a reference in the picture. Clear close ups are the best and make notation of where they are specifically located. As long as you lay a minimum of 2 layers of 1.5 oz CSM on the deck and make it bubble free your carpet idea should work for a season. YOu could use some Velcro to help keep it in place.

Woodonglass,

If these storms will quit long enough to get some photos of the transom I would post them up for you to look at. Hopefully tomorrow evening I can untarp it and take a few photos so you can see if the cap needs to come off or not. When I looked at it, I didn't see any other way except pulling the cap. The splash pan is long, it goes from the transom about a little over 24" and then curves up about 2" to the cross section that ties the two sides together. You can see the cross section just in front of the motor in the side shot of my boat. It's about 6" wide and of course it molds right into the side structure and it has a hole cut out for the battery and fuel tanks to slide under the splash pan. It's a perfect design to add a bench seat back there since the cross section would support the backrest of the bench seat. Anyway, I'll try to get some photos in the next day or so.

I kinda thought the splashwell was big. Still if there is room to get the old wood transom out and a new one in, it might be worth considering. I would be tight quarters but if you can do it, I think it would be worth it These old classics aren't lke the tri-hulls and newer designs that almost always require decapitation. Take some pics inside the boat look back and under the splashwell especially back under it and into the corners and upward towards the top. Need to try and see the top corners of the transom and how much room you have.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

OK Woodonglass.....you asked for photos, here they come.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Here's a few more of the damaged areas that I want to fill with gelcoat jelly.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

The transom width looks like it's made to carry twins! If it's max rating is 85 hp does that mean I can put 2- 85 hp on the back?!!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 MG15 Crestliner w/85 Evinrude Electric shift and Spartan Tilt Trailer projec

Ok, for sure you'll either have to remove the cap or cut it in front of the splashwell. The gelcoat can be repaired with Gelcoat paste. Really not that bad at all.