1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

[laserbrn]

Re: 1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

I was in rear-end collision about a month ago so I haven't been able to do a whole lot. I did manage to tear down the motor and get the heads off. I have them in the back of my truck and I'm looking for a shop to do a "Valve Job" for me. I'm trying to work a deal with a guy to trade for some shwag from my work. It looks promising and hopefully I can get those turned around in a week.

I'm going to post in the engine section to see if I can get some guidance on what considerations need to be made for a marine engine.

 

[laserbrn]

Re: 1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

Well, things are moving along. The cylinder heads have been returned and I've actually got them sitting back on the engine. The bottom end looks good and clean and the factory cross-hatching is still visible with no signs of any real wear or problems.

I had some trouble locating the S pipe I needed for my through hull exhaust, but after much searching I finally figured out who made them and where to get a pair.

It sure feels like this project isn't moving along, but there were a few things that needed to be done just in preparation and I'm pretty happy with the pace. Hopefully the engine will be fired up in the next couple of weeks, then I need a new fuel tank and she's pretty much ready to go.

I've had to spend money on everything else it seems like, but I have a few $$ saved up right now to try to get over the hump. $880 for tires for the tow vehicle....$800 valve job. $3000 van. ~$4000 total on the trailer.

Crap, I only bought the boat for $2250 . Thank goodness.

Hopefully <$2000 for a fuel tank...as a matter of fact, I'll call today.

Edit: Well, I called. It's $950 for a new aluminum tank and the guy wants $950 to take the old one and $950 to put in the new one. I started to feel like he only had one price for things, lol.

That price seems absurd, so I'm going to do some investigating. My current tank has been replaced once, so I'm guessing that it's just tabbed in and not surrounded and foamed in like the original tank was. The deck is already cut and just has screws to lift it up so I don't really see any reason I would pay someone $950 for removal. I'll at the very least remove it myself.

I'm a bit concerned about how I could get the tank home if I was going to attempt installation myself. Regardless, when I get to that point there will be pictures and I'm sure I'll post a thread on the general section looking for some guidance.

 

[Rich Hargis]

Re: 1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

Any more progress?

 

[laserbrn]

Re: 1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

It's moving slowly. The weather has been rainy and cold and I've had to spend some $$$$ on other things (mostly guns). I will hopefully get some work done this weekend and I'll post up an update. The heads are on, the manifolds are on, I just need a couple of gaskets for the risers and she should come roaring back to life. I need to replace all of the hoses and belts as well, but that should be an afternoon job. Actually, I'm glad you brought up this thread...lol. I'm gonna try to bust my *** on this thing this weekend.

 

[jackcaptjr]

Re: 1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

Nice looking Skippy. I too have rebuilt one of these babys. They are a labor of love. Mine is a 74 and has gone through countless restoration upgrade projects since I bought her in 86. It was originally powered by a 307 Chevy and an OMC drive. That OMC drive supported several SB Chevy engines up until 1993 when I converted to a Merc Bravo ll drive. I have had various SB Chevy power plants but currently powered by a ZZ-4 crate motor and it seems to provide the best speed and fuel economy. She will avg 2.5-2.7 MPG on a 25 MPH cruise and that has been verifyed many times. She will hit low 40's with a light load.....way fast for one of these hulls. However she will plane at 17-18 with minimal tab and is super sea kindly for a 24' boat.

Mine still had the original steel tank up until 10 years ago. I did the floor cut and removal myself. It wasn't that bad. I ordered a new V bottom tank from Barry Sheet Metal in Costa Mesa Ca. They built the original tanks and new exactly the size I needed. Shipped it to me here in Austin TX and I slipped it in and resealed the floor. Also had a rotted transom thanks to the poor deck drains which cracked and allowed water to weap into the transom core and never to escape. Discovered when we switched to Merc drive. Opened it up from the outside and rebuilt the wood and glass. Again, sounds like a big deal but was not that hard once we started.

If you have any questions I would be pleased to try and answer.

.

JR

 

[laserbrn]

Re: 1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

Thanks for the info. That's a great looking skippy. I'm just finally finding the time to get back to work here. I now have all of the exhaust parts and I'm going to try to put everything back together throughout this week and over the weekend. Once the engine fires and I know it's all good and settled I'll get started on the fuel tank project. Due to recent events, my $$$ has gone elsewhere and I'm just starting to turn my focus back to this boat. I may have to sell my lake boat to get together a bit more $$ for this thing.

 

[laserbrn]

Re: 1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

I know the updates aren't exactly flooding in. This boat has been a pain in the arse so I hope she's worth it in the end. It took a long time finding all of the cooling fittings and parts. Somehow some were misplaced during the engine teardown, long story but basically my significant other is a cleaning nazi and exterminated my parts!

The engine finally fired up and it seems to be in working order. I've checked for leaks and everything looks good to go. I'm going to get started this weekend on tearing into the deck and pulling the old fuel tank out. I found a guy here locally who's going to be build me a new 115 gallon aluminum tank. I'll post some pics during that process, I promise.

Still left to do:
Fuel Tank Replacement
Outdrive Service/Paint
Bottom Paint repair/repaint
Replace exhaust flappers
Repair/Rebuild tilt motor for outdrive
Repair/Rebuild Trim Tabs

So we aren't quite finished, but we aren't miles away anymore either. I'm a pretty hard worker and most importantly I have about $6000 to spend right now so I should be able to get this done without any further delays.

I shot this video today of one of the first starts on this engine since tearing it down. It was leaking water so I shut it off after getting the timing set right and this is the first start after that.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

I do love the sound of a sbc coming to life. Congrats! I hope to someday be at the same stage. Til then, I will live vicariously through the videos of others

 

[laserbrn]

Re: 1976 Skipjack 24' Flybridge

It's a big block. Most of these skippy's came w/ 350's, but the PO bumped it up to a 454 when he repower it. For this I am very thankful. The only thing better than a SBC coming to life, is a BBC coming to life.

 

[laserbrn]

It has been another while since I've updated this thread....The boat is coming along, just way slower than I would like. Work really ramped up for me and I had to prioritize. In the past year I have completed the following:

Replaced Fuel Tank
Replaced Bilge Pumps
Replaced Blower Motor
Replaced Outdrive with a freshwater used Volvo Duo Prop in much better shape
Bottom Paint
Installed Power Steering (Can you believe this thing didn't have power steering?)
Rebuilt Trim Tabs as they were corroded
Replaced Fuel Filters
Replaced Throttle Control Box and all cables/linkages
Replaced Water Pump and all rubber lines


It doesn't seem like a very productive year in writing, but the new outdrive was a bit of a project as I'm a complete noob and had to learn on the fly. The opening was different on this boat which caused a bit of a headache, but at least the trim motor and everything else was in working shape.

I am currently repainting the non-skid areas on the deck as they got pretty stained during the engine rebuild, removal and installations. After this I'll remove all of the hardware and start prepping for gelcoat restoration while I work on saving some more dough for an electronics package.

I'm currently looking at the Lowrance HDS7 Gen 2 Touch vs Garmin GPSMap 4208. If you have any input it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[laserbrn]

Holy crap this boat has taken me a long time.....but, the wait is over. The boat is ready to hit the water for the first time in 3 years!

In addition to the other work that's been performed as mentioned in this thread I've already now replaced my trailer wheels and tires, rehabbed the trailer with new brakes and lines, new coupler, etc. Repainted and ready to rock and roll.

I've also added all new electronics in the form of a lowrance HDS Gen2 Touch 12". New VHF Radio and all a used, but new to me and working anchor windlass.

If all goes well, this weekend I'll get her on the water. It may be the local lake as I don't really want to haul it all of the way out to the marina (about an hour away) just to find an issue in the first 15 minutes and need to get it out. So the first shake down will be at the lake about 12 minutes from house. This is going to be a great summer....pictures and video to follow after she's on the water.

 

[laserbrn]

No Title

I've taken her out 3 times already and so far everything is working properly. I was unsure if I'd like going out or if it would be too nerve racking, well, I love it.

It's going to be really hard to get me to stay home any weekend this summer.