1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

[joelstoner]

I picked up an Arrow Glass Cougar with a 70 Evinrude outboard. The motor runs, used muffs. It will spin in reverse, but not forward. The Steering cable was split, and beyond repair. Looking to get a replacement, but i need to know if and how this piece is removed. It has TX 13FT A6 on the cable, does this mean it is 13 foot?


This picture shows the part in question.
I think it screws onto the end of the cable.
Is this part necessary? Or would a new cable not need it?


This picture shows the helm side of the cable.


This picture shows the mount area of the outboard.


This picture shows the number on the cable.

 

[coolbri70]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

:welcome: to iboats, that could be a 13' cable but measure to be sure. that board across the transom is a bad sign. have you checked for rot? if not you should

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

I was wondering if a fellow Missourian (South of Tater Lake) could climb aboard and follow along?

 

[joelstoner]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

:welcome: to iboats, that could be a 13' cable but measure to be sure. that board across the transom is a bad sign. have you checked for rot? if not you should

I'm not exactly sure where to measure, seeing as the cable came completely apart, i do not know how much cover was lost. Do i measure the rubber/plastic, and add 18 inches then round up?

I plan to replace that board. Not sure if last owner did it, or if the one before him did it. Or could have happened while it sat for 3 years.

 

[coolbri70]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

measure from the wheel to the motor, the board doesn't belong there, its likely a band aid for a rotten transom core that needs replaced. unsafe as a boat sinks fast if the transom fails and motor falls off, or you hit a log and get the prop in your lap

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

Hi and welcome to the Iboats dry dock, joelstoner...
Check out this link...
Boat Controls & Steering
Here is a link that shows how to measure for a replacement...
http://www.**************************/userportal/document.do?docId=694

And I would definitely look into how badly rotted your transom and the sub structure of the boat is...
Best of luck and boat safely!
GT1M

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

Welcome to iboats!

The TX stands for teleflex and yes it is a 13' cable ............ now do the math a replacement cable is around $125 and a complete steering unit with a new helm (Rack and pinion or rotary if you want to change) is under $175

Considering the age of the boat I would strongly suggest you change the entire unit Boat Steering Systems

 

[greenbush future]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

It may be a wise choice to hold off on buying the steering cable, until you inspect that transom board, which isn't original and suggests or looks like yours is rotting to some degree. Once you see what the floors, stringers and transom condition is, you can add up the cost's and work to decide if the boat "project" is what you really want. Do a little reading here, to see what boats of this age tend to require to make them safe and useable again. You are in the right place to get advice, it's how I learned all about this stuff too.

 

[joelstoner]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

measure from the wheel to the motor, the board doesn't belong there, its likely a band aid for a rotten transom core that needs replaced. unsafe as a boat sinks fast if the transom fails and motor falls off, or you hit a log and get the prop in your lap

The Transom core goes between the fiberglass on the back of the boat? Would it be wood, or fiber glass? If it needs repair should i use seacast? I will look at it tomorrow, and take some pictures to post for advice.

 

[coolbri70]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

yes, the core is likely plywood, or as in my case when I got my boat, rotten muddy mulch that used to be plywood:facepalm:, plywood is way cheaper than seacast. I used plywood for mine, but if I ever have to do it again I will probably try seacast, just because the piece of mind knowing it can't get wet and rot. do a search in the restoration section on transom rot. you will find lots of threads on the subject. I have one too. the board on yours is something that people do as a temporary fix to get by, when the bolts pull through, but will just make for a bigger hole if it fails. I don't know that your transom is rotten, but there is really no other reason for the board to be in the splashwell :noidea:

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

I can almost guarantee you that your transom is toast! You really need to do a thorough inspection of it and your deck and the stringers under the deck before you ever take the boat out onto the lake. Boats of this vintage that have not been taken care of can have dangerous structural defeciencies that must be addressed before they can be safely take out on the water.

 

[joelstoner]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration


Took off a corner of molding, and this is what it looks like under the splash thingy.


This here seems to show seacast, makes me think someone tried to fix it at some point?

I couldn't get a good view from under the splash area, it's too small, will see if the snake camera will work for that.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

Took off a corner of molding, and this is what it looks like under the splash thingy.

This here seems to show seacast, makes me think someone tried to fix it at some point?

I'm not sure what you're seeing, but neither of these pix look to have seacast:

What you are seeing may be a resin filler used to fill any gaps & attach the spalshwell cap (the flat surface the motors 'hanging' off, beneath that aluminum L) to the transom & lower portion of the hull. Any of that filler material would have been applied to the top of the plywood transom just before the cap (everything from the rubrail up) was installed on the hull.

 

[joelstoner]

Re: 1975 Arrow Glass Cougar Restoration

On a youtube video i watched about seacast, it looked blueish. The top pic has something that looks like either metal or resin. In person it looks blueish to me. Made me wonder if someone tried to repair it before. I spoke to the former owner, it had the outside board on it when he bought it. Weather permitting i plan to take the motor off, and take a better look at the transom core.