Just bought a '76 Aristocraft

[dfalk]

Hello, first post ever here and first time boat owner from MT. I have a few questions and figured this was the best place to start. I just bought a '76 Aristrocraft today for $600 bucks. This is my first boat purchase and I pretty much know absolutely nothing about boats.

Its white with red/white interior. I believe its the 19ft model, the VIN is ACL19V1072M76 if that tells anything. It has the 120HP Mercruiser with Mercruise outdrive. I pretty much bought it right on the spot cause it was only $600 bucks, which could be a good or bad thing. The outside is in great shape, and the interior looks really good except for the seats. The guy turned over the engine and it started up right away and he let it run for about 5-10 seconds and turned it off, didnt have it hooked up to water. The power tilt/trim doesnt seem to work at all, and the power control cable seems to be off.

Anyways first off I want a manual for the engine and drive. Which one would you recommend getting? Are there any particular things with this boat that I should look at/inspect that are known problems? What would be somethings that you would replace right away to tune up this thing?

I guess ill go from there and start reading these forums to get familiar with boating. Thanks in advance for any help. Derek

 

[ziggy]

Re: Just bought a '76 Aristocraft

congrats on your new boat man.

since ya say ya know nothing of boats, hang out here and read, a lot, here on the forum. there's a wealth of info here on iboats. like me, you'll likely hang out on the i/o forum part. many good minds there.
for a service manual. ya for sure want the mercruiser manual, not aftermarket. to to the i/o forum and at the very top, the first thread, it's always there. the diy or adults only thread. there the same, just titled differently. anyways, open that and go to #9, service manuals. read the instructions in the tread and go get #2. same one i use. it has the facts in it and will be your bible for boat repair. it's a must have item. best tool in the tool box.
your vin is questionable. look close, it should be ATL, atlanta boat works. if it's acl, it's likely not an aristocraft. i'd have to research acl, but i'm guessing a miss entry on the keyboard. the last numbers are the year of mfg. so you do have a 1976.

didnt have it hooked up to water.

never start your i/o w/o water running to the outdrive. you'll fry an impeller in short order.. http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/87/87_14.pdf
the impeller in you 1 drive is pretty fragil and most important to proper cooling of your engine. mine gets replaced once a year. since the previous owner started it w/o water, it'd be one of the first things i'd go check. it's a most important item..
back to the adults only sticky. read the winterizing/summerizing thread. do everything it says in there. + read your s/m about winterizing too. a tune up is at least a once a year to do item with a boat. read the summerizing thread and your s/m and do everything by the book. you'll have the best results that way.

only thing i can think of that seems to be inherent in aristocraft is possible water intrusion between the hull and the inner hull liner. we have all foam in that area. if water soaked, it'll add a lot of weight to your boat and performance will likely notify ya that ya should go look to find out if it's happened. other than that, they seem to be most durable boats.

read many of the aristocraft threads too. quite a bit of info on them that folks have ask about too.

check out www.aristocraftboats.com
lots of info there too. + a contact number for contacting the oem. pretty sweet that we can talk to the oem about our 30+ year old boats. not many folks have that opportunity with their old boats.

again, congrats on your new boat. they really are a special boat compared to many imho... keep on posting any questions, here or in the i/o forum, or the boat forum. however it relates to your question. this forum has saved me thousands of dollars + there's some nice, friendly, knowledgeable folks here... a wealth of info...

post up some pics of yer nineteen too. everyone likes pic. www.photobucket.com will host ya so you can get a url for posting up pics.

have a great day...

 

[dfalk]

Re: Just bought a '76 Aristocraft

Ziggy, thanks for all the great advice so quickly. First off thanks for the link to that manual, downloading it right now. Looks like there will be ALOT of info in that, never seen a 1GB sized .pdf.

Second the VIN number, ya it must be a typo. On the temporary vehicle registration paper I got it does list the VIN as ACL but on the make part it says ATL. Is there a tag on the boat that i can double check, and if so wheres it at?

When I need parts and what not, like say the impeller, how do I search for them with this particular engine/drive? Is all that in that manual im downloading with part numbers and what not? Hopefully Ill be bale to do all these repairs myself, but like I said i know pretty much nothing about boats. I do how ever know quite a bit about working on cars. Im sure theres many similarities as well as many differences.

Heres a quick picture of the boat. Im gonna get a lot more before and after pics as I work on it this winter.

Forgot to ask, is $600 a good price for the boat and trailer?

 

[ziggy]

Re: Just bought a '76 Aristocraft

downloading it right now. Looks like there will be ALOT of info in that, never seen a 1GB sized .pdf.

way to go dfalk. it is a large file ain't it. and everything ya need to know is in it. when your servicing whatever, read whatever section very close. mercruiser packs a lot of info into every sentence. for some repairs i read it word for word, very close to be sure that i absorb the info proper. then i read it again....

Is there a tag on the boat that i can double check, and if so wheres it at?

most likely yes. usually it's on the starboard side of the transom. however. mind is molded into the glass right above the drive. like this. i assume yours will be the same as mine...

When I need parts and what not, like say the impeller, how do I search for them with this particular engine/drive?

my personal favorite is to not bother, i just go to my local mercrusier dealer who's a mile away and tell them what i need. they usually ask for s/n. in lieu of that. try http://www.mercruiserparts.com/SelectModelType3.asp?class_id=1
follow it wherever it takes you for your engine/drive package. from the oem. you'd have a mercrusier 1 drive if original. your engine should appear also. mercruiser id's things by serial number, so find yours and be sure your parts you order falls within your s/n range.
there's other places too like......... http://www.dougrussell.com/partscatalog/collections/index.cfm?fuseaction=collectdetails&colid=04
drives are at the bottom of the list. fwiw, the impeller ya want will be marked for a alpha1. it'll fit and be right. model 1, r (revised), mr (major revised) and alpha1 all take the same impeller. ya might also consider replaceing the impeller housing. at least the first time around, be sure ya got a good sound start for your cooling system. you over heat and you'll be replacing lots of rubber items that'll melt during the over heat. i assure ya, do that and it'll be a drag...

Hopefully Ill be bale to do all these repairs myself, but like I said i know pretty much nothing about boats. I do how ever know quite a bit about working on cars. Im sure theres many similarities as well as many differences.

sounds like you should be hip skill wise. just keep in mind that the engine itself and it's internals is about all that's similar to autos. this is marine and it's not the same. don't put auto parts on your boat, use only marine grade parts, even if they're more expensive. there's a reason their more expensive. usually having to do with keeping your boat from exploding, literally. you can also buy aftermarket parts too. iboats is a source. keep in mind that all aftermarket parts are copies of oem parts so may be substandard in quality. it's your choice. just keep that in mind is all when your getting your parts..

yep, ya got a good price if she's operable. i'm almost embarrassed to say that i gave 4300 for mine. but that's the facts. don't hurt that the economy trashed for boat prices. i got mine before it tanked. but i still likly gave about tops for what i got. and i still had items that needed replacement too. like a manifold within the first month. they're about $500. so my price shot right up to $5k instantly. i've done much more than that to keep her up and running to. got more to do too... oh well, it is the nature of the beast... boat. break out another thousand.

one other thing i'll add. since ya say yer not hip to boating. for sure take a boater safety class. us coast guard aux. or us power squadron have very good classes and will teach you everything you need to know about boating and boating safety. and there's much to learn too. i'm still learning. i was in the power sqadron for 4 or 5 years and took many of their classes. it was a lot of fun and i met many friendly folks with a wealth of info to share..

yer boat looks good to me man. from the one pic. don't look like anyone's got a hold of it and modified it. to me that's good. less mods the better imho. i only have a couple on mine and i'm gonna keep it that way. an original nineteen ya know... my mods by the previous owner were, a cb, a crummy stereo, and a horn. all have been replaced to my desire. a vhf marine in lieu of a cb, a cd w/better speakers and a different horn in a different location as my horn didn't work. most likely you'll need some kind of sound producing devise to meet uscg regs. but ya don't have to do a horn, a whistle will qualify too. from talking with scott at aristocraft, horns were not standard installs on nineteens...

have fun, these aristocraft are some good boats.......