Hello iboats I just bought my very own first boat

[Brandon5778]

Hello everyone my name is Brandon. Saturday I went and picked up my very own first boat, it's a 1975 Cobalt with a 302 and a mercruiser setup. Was kept in a barn its whole life until this past year.. I found her on cl and bought it for 900 bucks mainly bc my dad also owns the same boat (a 75) in near mint condition and I love the boat.

So anyway here's some pics. It needs the seats rebuilt because the wood it was attached to has started rotting out (due to being kept outside this past year unfortunately...) It needs a lot of work and a huge cleanup but I'm making improvements already. I sanded down and oiled nearly all the teak wood and she already looks 100x better. Do you guys think I found a decent buy?

Thats after i fixed the teak, next pic the bottom strip is before top is after

Anyway what do you guys think? I'm proud to say this is my first boat at only 18 years old.

 

[jorgeoliva]

wow congratulation very nice boat my advice is don't go crazy re-doing everything take her out put the engine thru the works make sure that this boat is a keeper the reason am saying this is my friend bought a boat last year he redid all the seat had the boat polish install new electronics then by mid year the problem with the engine started to come out the engine when bad then the alpha outdrive gear seal had to be replace. the repair estimate was super high for that boat so he got rid of the boat if he has waited a year like I told him he could have save lots of money

 

[jorgeoliva]

Oh one thing if you can you can tell how the motor is by doing a simple compression check on each cylinder this will indicate the wear and tear of the motor

 

[Brandon5778]

Oh one thing if you can you can tell how the motor is by doing a simple compression check on each cylinder this will indicate the wear and tear of the motor

We only made sure the engine turned over and wasn't hydrolocked, but it was running last year. Right now the original starter needs replaced though. I'm guessing how to do a compression check is explainded somewhere on this forum?

 

[jorgeoliva]

just buy a compression gauge you can get it at any auto parts pull all the plugs out insert into each spark plug hole start the engi ne of course it will not start without the plugs give it about 10 turns and check the reading on the gauge not sure what the proper reading is for you engine but am sure lots of people in this forum can tell you

 

[Brandon5778]

Thanks for the info! I plan on having the boat out on the water as soon as possible. I just need to make some more money first, I'm broke haha. That's why I'm just doing the cosmetics that I can do while I'm not working.

 

[82rude]

Take your time .My friend has the exact same boat but was mint looking.Well to make a long story short he was in a rush and after a night on lake superior the U.S. coast guard found him floating a few hundred yards from whitefish point I believe.He took off from Canada (gros cap)and ended up way way over in America very very cold and scared.Of course this was before cell phones ,if it happened today he would of had 10 different agencies from 2 countries falling all over themselves to rescue him and get in much needed practice.Ifish in those waters and they can be deadly to the unwary.Many of times I'm fishing in Canadian waters and American helos of the army or coast guard zip over to check up on our well being which is comforting as they practice sar all over the area.

 

[Brandon5778]

That's pretty scary man! Got to be careful out there..
My dad also has the exact same boat, but literally mint condition like off the showroom floor in 1975.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Thanks for the info! I plan on having the boat out on the water as soon as possible. I just need to make some more money first, I'm broke haha. That's why I'm just doing the cosmetics that I can do while I'm not working.

I still would to compression test 1st before you due too much cosmetic work. If you don't have one, borrow a buds, or, maybe the parts store will loan one out. When you pull the plugs check each one to make sure they're burning right. Should be tan or caramel color. If you find one that's white, you're probably getting water intrusion in that cylinder.

When you do the test, turn the motor over until the needle stops rising. Document each cylinder. The key is, you want all the cylinders to read as equal as possible. 5 to 10lb difference is fine, but no more than 15. Ideally, you should be in the 150 -160lbs per cylinder range.....

 

[Brandon5778]

Yeahh!! Just got her running finally tonight.. It seemed to be running strong, but compression test coming soon.