1977 Cruise Boats Restore

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Yesterday I pretty much finished up all the remaining small items and I am going to try to splash the boat today if the weather gets warm enough.

So yesterday I started off by installing weather proof rubber boots on the breakers and switches of my switch panel. The basic panel was not weather resistant at all. So I bought the cooresponding rubber boots for the panel.

This was the basic panel.

Here it is with one boot on the top breaker button. You have to unscrew the original retaining ring and then screw on a new ring with the boot.

And then the finished panel.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Next I had to install the second battery box and battery.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

And this post is dedicated to Ezmobee. He has this nack of triggering my obsessive/compulsive side with his thoughts and suggestions. I was going to leave the seats alone. But noooooo...EZ was getting bummed out by them.

So okay...FINE!!!! BE THAT WAY! I took the seats out, cleaned them good and painted them with a Kraylon plastic paint. And guess what...they turned out great. So, many thanks go out to EZ for pushing me to the end and keeping me honest on the finishing ouches. Thanks big guy.

Nice thing about the plastic paints is no sanding and no priming. Just a good wipe down with paint thinner.

Before they looked yellowish and tired:

After a few light coats they look new:

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore (SPLASHED)

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore (SPLASHED)

We have splash down!!! Dropped the boat in the water today and took it for a spin. The tide was way out due to the wind so launching was tough. Next time I'll wait for a higher tide for sure. Motor wouldn't start. Flargh!!! I suspected the ignition safety switch to be suspect before so I quick tore open the remote control and snipped the wire. Varooom the engine fired right up. Put everything back together and cast off. I puttered out to the river and started the video recorder for the maiden run. Here is the
video of the first run. Warning! I suck at video recording. It was a fun run.

[video]http://s796.photobucket.com/albums/yy249/gpmrozinski/?action=view&current=100_0039.mp4[/video]

The boat ran great! Took a little while for the engine to clear out some but then ran strong. The boat itself was very solid and handled great. A few minor things need to be corrected. I need to move the remote control back about two inches. The throttle lever hits the dash at about 3/4 throttle. The tach doesn't work. Probably a bad wire or a misconnection on my part. I need to recheck that. Enjoy!

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Just for completeness her are a few pics of the boat just after pulling her from the warehouse for the first time.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Before:

After:

Happy owner: