Advice from somebody who had a 1979 cruisers beachcomber holiday

[Karas13]

Cant find any information on how this boat runs so if anybody has owned can you please help?

 

[jbcurt00]

How this boat runs?

If you're considering buying it, the actual condition of it, as its nearly 40yrs old, is much more important then how anyone else's runs

What engine does it have? Does it run?

W out an on the water test, no sale

 

[Scott Danforth]

Welcome aboard

as JB pointed out, this is a 40 year old boat.

Cruisers make a good solid boat, however after 40 years it will have problems. most likely you will have rotten wood somewhere and the foam probably is water logged. those boats had a ton of teak on them. not figuratively, literally close to 2000# of teak with the dash, cockpit, cabin doors, swim platform, etc.

most importantly, if you are thinking of buying the boat, which motor and outdrive does it have. Most likely it will be OMC, and based on that fact, I wouldnt buy it. if it has the mercruiser that would be better

at the top of this forum is a sticky on what to look for when buying a boat http://forums.iboats.com/forum/gene...eeding-help-buying-a-boat-a-buyer-s-checklist

 

[Karas13]

Thank you both sorry when I originally posted this the site kept giving me an error on the number of characters so kept it short...

Back story we got this boat for free from a friend that used it past 2 years for a fishing boat, we understand the basics as far as the boat running but are hard pressed to find any data on the electrical or system layouts in the boat such as a schematic that would have been in a manual. the boat is our summer project as we are pretty sure the deck and stringers in back need to be replaced. Now my husband was in a previous life aircraft fabricator and repair for the air force and is very familiar with fiberglass repair and rebuild so is our friend who was coast guard that worked on hulls. The motor is a mercruiser Chevy 305 V8, and last October the motor started overheating and water got in the oil tank. My husband and his father are also car mechanics by trade so they may be able to fix it but were leaning more toward a rebuilt with a warranty anyway if we can get the interior up to par. We are prepared to do full rip out and rebuild if needed thankfully the previous owner already removed some of the cuddy items for us already such as the toilet and the sink area. We are not sure if we plan on running water again or leave dry and make due have to check out the waste water tank as it was not used in a long time, but again that goes back to the fact a schematic would help lol. More likely than not we will have to make this our own on a rebuild we were just looking for any advise on this model or something close to it or if anyone had an old manual or layout the hull looks to be solid never took on water, new bilge pump too so yeah that's our deal... We are looking to make a youtube channel and share the entire rebuild to hopefully get some advise on the fly as well I will also update this site with links and pictures once we start in a few months should be interesting!

 

[dwco5051]

Sounds like it is a doable project. However if you are not planning on keeping the boat for some time you will not get out of it the money spent to bring it back to top shape. Plan on spending a lot more time and more money than you expect on the project,

That being said a project like this can give you an object that you are proud to have completed. I have friends that enjoy rebuilding every thing from motorcycles, classic cars, farm tractors, and airplanes. Consider it as just another expensive hobby

Factory wiring manuals for the drive and motor are readily available on the internet for sale or can be downloaded for free.

There are usually no wiring diagrams for specific boats. Once again the internet will give you standard color codes for boat wiring and basic generic boat wiring diagrams. Rewiring an older boat can be frustrating for someone without basic wiring and electrical skills but isn't all that much different than for an automobile.

If you decide to start this project keep us posted on the project.

 

[harleyman1975]

I used to own a 23 ft cruisers with a 302 MC-1 I totally redid it from top to bottom and used it for 3 summers. Very seaworthy boat. Smooth ride. electrical system was pretty straight forward on mine. would love to share some pics if you want to pm me your email. I think you will really enjoy that boat.