1977 mfg carefree

[hobiekat]

Got my new boat home last night and today I got all the snow and leaves out of it. Been sitting out in the guys back yard for over a year. Hull seems to be in good shape except for one area. You can tell there has been some type of repair done to the bottom of hull beneath were the drivers feet would be, it is noticeably softer than the rest of the hull. Rest of the hull seems solid as a rock. I only paid $300 for the boat, 40 hp 1968 Evinrude, and a trailer that got the boat home from 30 miles away, seems solid enough. Repair appears to be a DIY, is this something that can be fixed properly to ensure the integrity of the boat. Any info on the carefree would be apprciated.

 

[proshadetree]

Re: 1977 mfg carefree

Need some pics and more information. Old rudes are built out of nails, hard to hurt them much. Welcome to the insanity

 

[drewpster]

Re: 1977 mfg carefree

Do a good assessment of the damage and go in to it knowing that old boats exposed to weather do not fair well. Generally speaking, soft spots are signs of greater underlying damage. Do you want to make the water by spring? If so, you might want to go buy a newer boat. If you are looking for a good long term project, forge ahead.
I don't mean to be all doom and gloom. If you invest the time and money it can be fixed. But 70's vintage fiberglass boats with leaves in them take allot of work to get safe enough to go boating. At least that has been my personal experience.

1977 Thundercraft after pic

 

[jonesg]

Re: 1977 mfg carefree

Ditto, hull repairs have to be from the inside. So it will probably need gutting.

 

[hobiekat]

Re: 1977 mfg carefree

Thanks for the replies. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the only thing covering the inside of the hull is the carpet which I assume is glued to it. Don't know what there is to gut on this model. Took about 30 minutes to take out the old seats and thier bases, nothing left but the carpet. Would love to hear from another Carefree owner. Not expecting any miracles here, but what little research I did before buying seemed to indicate a pretty simple boat. This is a great site, spent almost all afternoon reading a restoration thread on a tinny, lots of great info for any restoration.

 

[jonesg]

Re: 1977 mfg carefree

No-one knows what it looks like. Is it glass or alum?
My first boat was a 16' MFG, then after I sank that one...hahaha...
Too bad it was a good boat too.

 

[Fisherball]

Re: 1977 mfg carefree

It doesn't appear there is much difference between brands of 70's fiberglass boats as far as rebuilding them. I'm partway through my tear down on my '75 MFG Gypsy. Got too cold too quick & I have no heated space to work in. (Ohio- The climate is great, the weather sucks!) Click the link under my signature to connect to pix of almost all that's done so far. I'll bet a '75 Gypsy & a '77 Carefree are real close in construction. Be sure to check the MFG forum in the manufacturer's section.