1978 Chrysler Conqueror 115 Project

[skyaggie]

Here are some quick shots of my little boat project

Picked up this little Chrysler Conqueror for next to nothing on craigslist this spring
as you can imagine, it was in pretty poor condition when i took possession.

The wood rot was extensive. the hull was heavily oxidized and sun damaged and the motor had been sitting unused for the better part of 5 years.
This was my first boat project and I was excited to jump right in and see what i could make of it!!



the whole interior ended up having to be scrapped, including the to front seats, bench seat, dashboard, and side panels. was lucky enough to have a solid floor and good carpet!

 

[skyaggie]

Re: 1978 Chrysler Conqueror 115 Project






We rebuilt the old bench seat and replaced the two front passenger seats
using what was left of the old wood as templates made cutting the parts much easier
some of the old seat foam was salvageable and was used in constructing the new ones

we decided to go with a simple marine grade grey vinyl for the interior. nothing at all fancy just functional

the dashboard was also cut and covered with the same vinyl as were the two swim plates on the rear of the boat

 

[skyaggie]

Re: 1978 Chrysler Conqueror 115 Project






we buffed out the oxidation and found the gel coat to actually be in pretty decent shape

did some fiberglass repair on the rear (not Transom) but nothing too bad

the ugly blue paint had to go!!!
we ended up repainting the hull with Sonic Blue Pearl paint and I was pretty satisfied with the way that it turned out

we weren't going for original but rather a more functional restoration, so the new paint was a no brainer.
we also added a Humminbird fish/depth finder allong with an automatic bilge pump setup since the boat did not have any kind of pump originally (big no no in my book)

the motor cover has yet to be touched as i imagine it will take me the longest and will make a good winter project

 

[skyaggie]

Re: 1978 Chrysler Conqueror 115 Project

The motor for the most part wasnt too horrible.
of course sitting for long periods of time is never good but with a little elbow grease and some quick maintenance she was running good.

we pumped the tanks and cleaned them, cleaned out the carbs, replaced worn rubber fittings and other rotten pieces,

replaced the waterpump (of course) and checked the lower unit, which was surprisingly enough, in great condition.

We lost a cylinder on labor day weekend on Grand Lake (SCARY!) and as i figured we had a bad head gasket
I had a small disaster while removing the head gasket as a broke a stud in the engine block

took it to an old buddy and he was able to fix me up for a fair price. slapped it all back together with a new gasket and head bolts and had her running once more!

 

[mark1961]

Re: 1978 Chrysler Conqueror 115 Project

Love it, if only i could find one of those here, id be all over it like a rash......

 

[skyaggie]

Re: 1978 Chrysler Conqueror 115 Project

Thanks! Yeah i was pretty fortunate to get a hold of this one. It's a great conversation starter out at the lake. we get lots of people asking "Hey what year is that boat?" lol. hope to get a lot more accomplished on the off season

 

[mark1961]

Re: 1978 Chrysler Conqueror 115 Project

Good luck with it and please keep updating us on your progress.

Im guessing you've already seen this but i will post it anyway.......http://www.chryslercrew.com/