Bought a Used Boat, but what is it?

[ColdWater Cowboy]

Hi All, I bought this boat recently but have no idea what make it is. I bought it off a farmer who's neighbour gave him the boat when they, literally, sold the farm. It measures 18' and appears to be in good, used condition. The hull appears to be in good condition and the floor is solid. I believe it is powered by a 1969 Chev, 153c.i., straight 4 w/ dual carbs. I'll go through the engine and stern drive first and that'll point me in the direction to go.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

Congrats, you bought somebodies disposal problem.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Before you spend any money, check yo get it in your name

You bought an old/obsolete OMC electric shift

 

[Scott06]

Hi All, I bought this boat recently but have no idea what make it is. I bought it off a farmer who's neighbour gave him the boat when they, literally, sold the farm. It measures 18' and appears to be in good, used condition. The hull appears to be in good condition and the floor is solid. I believe it is powered by a 1969 Chev, 153c.i., straight 4 w/ dual carbs. I'll go through the engine and stern drive first and that'll point me in the direction to go.

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What is it - probably a bucket of chit. The more you stir it up the more it will stink.

I think by the time you check the stringers, transom, and floors for rot you will wish you left it where it was sitting. As others have eluded it is a really obsolete engine and drive combo. Yes the engine is a chevy 153 CID that morphed into the ubiquitous 3.0, but stringers were last made in early 80's.

Problem is everything around the long block is really long obsolete so parts availability will be a huge issue.

Before you do anything

1. make sure you can title it

2. go to restoration forum and look at the gut and redo of floor, transom, and stringers as that is what this boat is likely in need of. if you decide you want to go through the expense and work to gut it, then you will want to upgrade to a newer non obsolete drivetrain for sure as the transom cutout hole is different for the OMC drive in there than modern merc alpha and VP SX drives.

 

[southkogs]

You're up against a lot with that one. Look up Fibra boats - similar lines, but not sure if it's the same. You can also do some digging around HERE and see if you find anything.

Seriously: do a gut check on the boat. I like old fiberglass, and I even like the OMC electric shift - but it's obsolete, parts are getting hard to find and it's finicky. You will spend as much time taking care of it (after you restore it) as you will boating.

The advice above is good. A power change will be a TON of work, as suggested look at some other topics on that. It could be a cool old boat; but it'll be a lot of work to get there.

 

[JimS123]

Well, everybody has an opinion, but based on the pictures it looks like it is in very poor condition. It surely has been sitting out in the elements a very long time.

 

[ColdWater Cowboy]

I've got a clean bill of sale for it. I've got next to nothing in the purchase. The trailer and 2 vintage cragar ss mags are worth way more than what I paid for it. But it would sure look pretty behind my 69 Ford F250 Crewcab 4x4.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I've got a clean bill of sale for it.

Depending on where you are, a BOS is only part of the documentation you need.

 

[ColdWater Cowboy]

Laid back little town in Alberta. It won't be a problem.

 

[jimmbo]

Where in Redneck Country? I'm in the Capital

 

[airshot]

Not what you want to hear, but you have a 6-8 K dollar and about 6-12 months of very messy, nasty fiberglass work and after your done, you won't get 2 K back from all your efforts. Your boat, your call, but the seller just passed his problems on to you. Old rotted glass hulls can be hard to get rid of !!

 

[jimmbo]

Old rotted glass hulls can be hard to get rid of !!

Not really

 

[ColdWater Cowboy]

Where in Redneck Country? I'm in the Capital

Outside of Rocky Mountain House.

 

[jimmbo]

I was out that way in 2000, I was doing an Information Run for an IBEW Local.
I assume you will be boating on Crimson Lake. It is about 600 ft higher than Wabuman, where I usually go

 

[ColdWater Cowboy]

Hey Jimmbo, Crimson lake for sure. I bought the boat to rebuild and then use for photography excursions around the local lakes. The hardest part so far is finding out what lakes out here allow power boats. Can't find much info on the government sites.

 

[ColdWater Cowboy]

Obviously most of you folks buy your toys. Not me, I build them. In my stable right now are:
1994 Chev 3/4 t. 4x4, my daily driver
1969 Ford F250 crewcab, stepside 4x4, my summer ride
1970 Ford 7 ton cabover, project truck
1951 Ford Marmon Herrington 4x4, just a really, really cool, rare truck
1976 FJ40 Toyota Landcruiser w/ Corvette L88, my jeep slayer
(2) 1979 Kawi Kz1000's rebuilding one, selling the other
1976 Honda 550K, Excellent original cond. My bike ride til the kawi is finished
1970 Massey Ferguson Garden Tractor

So absolutely nothing any of you have said means squat to me. Obviously I'm in the wrong forum and need to head over the restoration forum. Spending $10,000 getting this boat into decent restored condition is nothing compared to what a new boat costs. And when it's done I've got a really cool old boat that would look killer painted in Chrome Yellow being towed behind my 69 Crew and I'll never see another like it on any lake anywhere. And I guarantee you it will attract crowds at any marina or car show I take it to. So adios folks I'll go find a friendlier crowd to hang out with...

 

[JimS123]

Obviously most of you folks buy your toys. Not me, I build them. In my stable right now are:
1994 Chev 3/4 t. 4x4, my daily driver
1969 Ford F250 crewcab, stepside 4x4, my summer ride
1970 Ford 7 ton cabover, project truck
1951 Ford Marmon Herrington 4x4, just a really, really cool, rare truck
1976 FJ40 Toyota Landcruiser w/ Corvette L88, my jeep slayer
(2) 1979 Kawi Kz1000's rebuilding one, selling the other
1976 Honda 550K, Excellent original cond. My bike ride til the kawi is finished
1970 Massey Ferguson Garden Tractor

So absolutely nothing any of you have said means squat to me. Obviously I'm in the wrong forum and need to head over the restoration forum. Spending $10,000 getting this boat into decent restored condition is nothing compared to what a new boat costs. And when it's done I've got a really cool old boat that would look killer painted in Chrome Yellow being towed behind my 69 Crew and I'll never see another like it on any lake anywhere. And I guarantee you it will attract crowds at any marina or car show I take it to. So adios folks I'll go find a friendlier crowd to hang out with...

Don't be mad at us. All we wanted to do was let you know what you are getting into and trying to save you a lot of heartache.

Like you, I am a home crapsman as well, and love to restore old things. After working on rusty cars, rotten wooden boats and beyond useful life fiberglass boats, I'll take the rust bucket every time and will never tackle another glass boat.

Maybe value isn't important, and in some cases it isn't important to me either. Neverthless, it's disheartening to find out that my classis Lyman that was once appraised at 10 grand fully restored, is now worth maybe half that. The market for old boats is basically gone.

 

[ColdWater Cowboy]

Hey JimS123. Don't worry, I'm not mad, I'm disappointed. All I came to this site for was to see if anybody could i.d. the boat for me. I never asked the critical crowd what they thought of the bought, because I don't care. They are looking at cellphone pics of a boat that just finished a 20 mile drive home on muddy roads. The boat was stored in a sheltered location and the fiberglass seems to be fine, no signs of rot anywhere. But again if I have to drop $10,000 on the boat to get it up and running and restored then I will.

 

[Scott06]

Obviously most of you folks buy your toys. Not me, I build them. In my stable right now are:
1994 Chev 3/4 t. 4x4, my daily driver
1969 Ford F250 crewcab, stepside 4x4, my summer ride
1970 Ford 7 ton cabover, project truck
1951 Ford Marmon Herrington 4x4, just a really, really cool, rare truck
1976 FJ40 Toyota Landcruiser w/ Corvette L88, my jeep slayer
(2) 1979 Kawi Kz1000's rebuilding one, selling the other
1976 Honda 550K, Excellent original cond. My bike ride til the kawi is finished
1970 Massey Ferguson Garden Tractor

So absolutely nothing any of you have said means squat to me. Obviously I'm in the wrong forum and need to head over the restoration forum. Spending $10,000 getting this boat into decent restored condition is nothing compared to what a new boat costs. And when it's done I've got a really cool old boat that would look killer painted in Chrome Yellow being towed behind my 69 Crew and I'll never see another like it on any lake anywhere. And I guarantee you it will attract crowds at any marina or car show I take it to. So adios folks I'll go find a friendlier crowd to hang out with...

If you zip your fly back up and check your ego, you will find folks on this site super helpful. No one is on this site because they go out and buy stuff turnkey …I spent 30 years getting my GTO finally roadworthy doing all the work myself .

 

[JimS123]

Hey JimS123. Don't worry, I'm not mad, I'm disappointed. All I came to this site for was to see if anybody could i.d. the boat for me. I never asked the critical crowd what they thought of the bought, because I don't care. They are looking at cellphone pics of a boat that just finished a 20 mile drive home on muddy roads. The boat was stored in a sheltered location and the fiberglass seems to be fine, no signs of rot anywhere. But again if I have to drop $10,000 on the boat to get it up and running and restored then I will.

It's a limited production boat, that's why nobody could ID it. The fish logo is a giveaway, though. You should do extensive R&D on Fiberglassics.com and when you find it, you'll know. Now, if it was from a regional builder, then you're probably out of luck. We can steer you, but nobody is going to do it for you.

Couldn't even see the mud. It was the corrosion on many of the metal parts, the poor condition of the engine and the completely destroyed upholstery that indicated the lack of care and outdoor exposure.

Good luck. Please come back when it's finished and show us new pics.