Re: Last Century post 11/06 ? Come on, owners!!!
Rooke, do you mean a boat like this? This is my 1985 Century Fiero. My dad bought it in 1988 and I've recently taken over as owner and financeer. My dad made some serious modifications to it in the early ninetees, and I'm going to do some of my own soon. While the boat has some nice lines, it had some design issues.
First the sliding plexiglass bow window turns into a disaster. It wears out, leaks, and rattles around. Not to mention the bow deck is weak and unsupported- you could see it flex when someone climbed out there. We removed that entire assembly, cut the tinted plexy, and glued it into the hole so that it's flush with the bow deck and the center window closes and seals over it. Then we added a bow hatch. We also added stiffeners to the underside of the deck and recarpeted the cabin ceiling. We ripped out the water tank, sink, and toilet. The cabin door does nothing but bang around so that's long gone too. The drop down door in front of what used to be the sink is now permanently fastened because- you guessed it- it bangs around. The boat is also prone to small stress cracks in the gel coat and fiberglass. One other thing you may find important- the fuel tank is fastened to plywood by 12 stainless wood screws. I don't know how they do it in other boats, but all of mine were either snapped or stripped out of their holes. The holes in the aluminum flanges on the screws that held the longest wallowed out to about 5/16". So I drilled new holes and remounted using new screws and I'll check them every season.
My consensus is that this was not a very well-designed boat in the first place, but it would have probably been best-suited to life on an inland lake or river. As it was, it spent its entire life on Lake Michigan where it took a constant pounding. I'm determined to make it last for as long as I can, so I plan to address the aging interior, stress cracks, and rattling windshield in due time. I'd be interested to hear about your boat if you get the chance- I've never talked so anyone else who had one.
Now for the good news......business is picking up and I picked up a 74 Arabian with 350 hp 454 V-drive. It's ugly as hell, has a totally rotten floor and stringers, and has been unfortunately redone before. I've done the floor thing before, but this time I'll be repainting the hull as well. It did come with a very nice trailer (2000 model Shore Land R), and it runs pretty smoothly. Oh yeah, I picked it up for $1,500! Unfortunately the person who redid it before removed all the emblems and did not put them back. I know there are places out there that still have them, but that's a long way off on the priority list. Here's something I could use some help with:
