1976 Montego 16- The "Free" Puppy

[ratdude747]

Having no luck drilling it.

JB waterweld ok for filling holes? I have some and that was my plan.

Never mind. Pulled the carpet and the locker floor is soft and failed the test. Ugh. Guess this is a bigger project or a sunk cost ...

Drilling the sides, there seems to be no wood, rot, or moisture behind the glass at all. Fiberglass over foam?

 

[ratdude747]

Made some discoveries. First, the rot in the locker floor runs up to the front of the seats. Beyond that, dry wood.



(Upper hole dry, lower hole moist)

Plugged the dry holes with water weld:



Second, it looks like the locker floor was glassed separate from the rest of the locker. Look at the front:


The sides of the board are exposed.

May just need the bottom board and part of the deck done?

 

[ratdude747]

Different subject while it's on my mind: screws.

The outdrive currently has a 4-blade composite on it. Here's the remains of the box:



Also included was an aluminum screw. Has a ding in it:



The damping rubber is cracked too... Probably junk? FWIW it's part number 48-74888-21, also marked with other things:



Might be original; the PO was very fond of the plastic screws (based on how many bladeless (crashed) cores were in the garage).

Thoughts?

 

[ratdude747]

Not to spam post, but made yet another discovery while getting the cover on the boat. Apparently whatever built the nest in the ski locker got it by shredding the insulation under the bow seats:



As dense as it is/was, it isn't part of the flotation foam, right? Or do I need to replace it to be safe? I'll need to shop vac it either way.

 

[redneck joe]

If you are on the edge of continuing this project or trashing , talk with us, reread the replies and take a deep breath. This will be one of the best th ings you have ever done, or the worst. Best is better of course and could be a 40 year love.

 

[ratdude747]

If you are on the edge of continuing this project or trashing , talk with us, reread the replies and take a deep breath. This will be one of the best th ings you have ever done, or the worst. Best is better of course and could be a 40 year love.

Understood. A bit of a gut punch at first.

---

Need to get an oscillating saw and cut the glass from the locker floor and see what's under the rotten wood. Given that it looks like they just tossed the board in there and threw some loose long hair glass on it, there is hope that the damage is limited to that board. My thinking is that the rain incident caused water to collect in the ski locker and the carpet kept it from airing out. As for what messed up the deck, the edge of the deck board is exposed back there and since the water pools in the back of the locker, the high humidity from said ski locker water did it in.

 

[redneck joe]

One rain incident will never rot wood.

 

[ratdude747]

Well... Under the locker apparently is the keel... And an icy lake:



Darn it. Not sure how far back it goes. Going to bail out what I can. The back area is still a chunk of ice.

 

[ratdude747]

Going to give it time to thaw and dry up a bit. I need to see what's at the back of the cavity under the locker. No stringers in the suspect area towards the front of the locker (based on how much ice slid out). Looks like they glassed the hull first, then threw the board down and glassed the top of such to form the base of the locker.

Unless there's a good reason not to, would there be harm in not putting a floor back in and leaving the locker down to the keel as extra storage? Or is this an intentional bilge cavity?

 

[alldodge]

No reason to not leave it open.
Do see if there is a drain and if should not be clogged

 

[ratdude747]

No reason to not leave it open.
Do see if there is a drain and if should not be clogged

No drain after cutting more of the locker out.



There maybe is a 2mm gap or so at the keel. But I wasn't able to pass anything I had handy through to see if it makes it to the engine bay.

I took some measurements... About 17" from the back of the locker to the front of the engine bay.

It's virtually dry. A couple of lightly damp spots where debris was piled but that'll be dry in the next 20 or so (mopped it out with paper towels).

Well... Mystery solved? I don't know what's between the locker and the bay but the glass under the former locker floor looks nice a d rot-free in the picture. A case of poor locker design and nearly 50 years of floor drippings and the like?

 

[alldodge]

Incorrect design makes boating even more fun

 

[ratdude747]

Updates and new projects:

First, I swapped out batteries and put in a new battery hold down today:

Best Battery for MerCruiser 888 (1976 Ford 302)

Question: My 1976 Starcraft Montego (Mercruiser 888, carbed 302) had a group 65 Car Battery in it. I pulled that battery to put in my truck, as it's obviously the wrong battery, like a lot of auto parts on the boat that didn't belong and have since swapped out. I'd like to know what suggestions...

forums.iboats.com

Second, I'm trying to get the gauge issues resolved. Pulled the console, only to find that the voltmeter with a broken needle isn't fixable as the gauges are crimped closed. Other issues that exist:

-The oil pressure warning light/sender is broken and sounds like death
-The speedometer hose needs patched in the back if it is to be used again
-All gauges look like junk due to paint fade and cracking. And are stuck in the 70's with incandescent bulbs (which I think may be dead).



Here's an idea that I'd like to bounce off some wiser minds: Why not replace all the gauges with modern replacments:

-Tachometer is a standard V8 tach. Common size from the looks of it, so nothing hard there
-Replace the pitot tube speedometer with a GPS unit. Some units include a compass and volt meter too, which I'd want.
-Dunno on the fuel gauge... but I could probably use a generic unit with a matching generic sending unit. But I may need to pull the rear seat wood to remove the existing sender. The gauge reads 1/2 tank (dunno actual level) and the existing gauge works based on some testing I previously did (disconnect and short cable to make sure needle moves).
-Replace the temp gauge with a generic unit. May need to replace the sender too, but nothing too hard there
-With the volt meter replaced by the new speedo, I'm thinking an oil pressure gauge makes sense. The Mercruiser 888 has both an analog sender and a switch installed and wired, so either by repinning the connector or swapping wires on the engine side, such could be done
-Trim gauge is a standard Mercruiser-compatible gauge. Also seems to be common. Other than a twitchy spot (probably an issue with the refurbished sending unit), existing gauge works fine.
-Plug over the removed oil pressure light/buzzer, since the added gauge replaced it.

Thoughts? I'm going to try to put a parts list together and post.

 

[alldodge]

Can replace some stuff but going full modern is mostly out of the realm without some major investments to go to something like NEMA 2000. The helm also doesn't have much space available

Could go with miniature gauges or quad type. Maybe install a smaller chart plotter with combo fish finder

 

[ratdude747]

Can replace some stuff but going full modern is mostly out of the realm without some major investments to go to something like NEMA 2000. The helm also doesn't have much space available

Could go with miniature gauges or quad type. Maybe install a smaller chart plotter with combo fish finder

My plan above reused the existing gauge holes. Small holes are standard 2" gauges. Tach and Speedo appear to be standard 3 3/8" holes.

Speedo example I found:

Amazon.com

 

[alldodge]

Should work good, and be way more accurate then original

 

[ratdude747]

Should work good, and be way more accurate then original

I should have clarified... "Modern" as in "new, drop in replacement", not "Modern" as in CAN bus. A bit too old for that!

 

[alldodge]

Didn't see anything on the gauge specifying CAN Buss

 

[ratdude747]

Didn't see anything on the gauge specifying CAN Buss

Exactly.

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That same company also makes this wonder:

Amazon.com

The only boon to this would be if I wanted to knock out everything but the trim gauge to add something else completely different or add a digital readout (talk about false precision!). Not the planned direction. Still digging... and will need to take resistance measurements on the fuel sending unit.

 

[alldodge]

No expert but appears to work. Your sensors are 240-33 ohms and spec shows

Unit switching: Press the button first, then power on, and then enter the parameter selection mode. You can select the 0-190ohm(European) or 240-33ohm(American) level sensor. switch the units of speed (MPH,km/h or knot), water temperature (℉ or ℃) and pressure (psi or bar) with the unit button.