New (to me) boat owner

[Rangerdrew]

Hi there every one just purchased my first boat a 1961 StarCraft viking with a 1973 Johnson seahorse 65hp everything is running great so far didn't know the maintenance history as the guy I bought it from had it for less than a year and upgraded to quite a big pontoon for his family and dogs. I've done the standard compression, distributor, carb overhaul, and lower unit gear oil change. If there's anything I might be missing I'd love to hear from you all

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Nice looking.
A water pump might be a good idea if you don't know when it was last changed.

 

[Rangerdrew]

Ah thank you knew I was forgetting some things and thank you it's nice for $2,500.00 but might redo the interior

 

[Alumarine]

Welcome, nice looking boat!

 

[SHSU]

Do any water tests? Always good to know how many leaks you might have and if your bilge pump is working.

Also make sure all your Nav lights are working and you have the appropriate emergency equipment on board for signaling and such. You never plan to use it, but always good to have when you do need it.

SHSU

 

[Rasdiir]

That's in beautiful condition, especially for the age! What length is the viking?

 

[Rangerdrew]

She's 16'10" around the gunwale but 15'9" stern to bow point. we have done 2 water test so far and her first big trip is coming up in 2 weeks going to lake Cumberland Kentucky for a houseboat vacation. I'm one of the last in my wife's family to get a boat but the only one with an vintage aluminum hull. All lights work but I wi be upgraded them soon to all led and new lenses this fall and yes all safety is ready even if never needed. Got new rims and tires for the trailer and repacked the grease bearings.

 

[Rangerdrew]

I'm thinking now that I know the HP is rated to 75 I might upgrade at some point to a lil newer 2 stroke that won't cost as much in repairs and would have a power tilt and trim, that 73 Johnson 65 seems be a lil more rare lol

 

[SHSU]

I'm thinking now that I know the HP is rated to 75 I might upgrade at some point to a lil newer 2 stroke that won't cost as much in repairs and would have a power tilt and trim, that 73 Johnson 65 seems be a lil more rare lol

I have a 1974 Evnirude 70. The nice thing is I can do all the repairs on it. The newer ones with computers/fuel injection can't usually be fixed by us garage grease monkeys. That being said, I am with you on wanting an new outboard. Would love to have a 90 hp on the back of mine.

SHSU

 

[Rangerdrew]

Whew, Id love a 90 but worried it might be to much. your right Im 38 but still love me an old no computer carb engine.

 

[Rangerdrew]

Well first big trip went better than expected trailered the boat 5.5 hours to lake Cumberland Kentucky and was on the lake for the whole week and almost no issues. The only real issues is lost top end speed due to what I assume is either carb floats or gummed up needle from some of the old gas that was left in but other than that the first sprint to the cove we wanted I got it up to 30mph according to the GPS after that wouldn't go over 20mph, but I'll have plenty of time to fully tear apart the carbs and clean them up also redoing all the wiring that's in the boat... Wow is all I can say rats nest everywhere

 

[Rangerdrew]

Oh the other small issue I need to redo the seals on the main rivet lines down the keel the caulking is old and has shrunk some so let's in a lil water but nothing to be worried about the bilge pump only ran for maybe 5 sec each morning. I am upgrading that too, to a auto float since right now it's either on or off

 

[classiccat]

welcome! I bet that carp was a battle on the spin-cast setup!

very nice rig!

you may have dropped spark on 1 cylinder; if you can't get it sorted, drop a thread over in the Johnson/Evinrude section.

 

[Watermann]

That bow cleat is super cool!
Yeah loosing that much power can be a couple things, dropping a cylinder or fuel delivery. At least with these carb motors it can only be fuel or fire.

 

[Rangerdrew]

Thanks yeah that's one of the things that drew me to this boat was the old vintage look and parts to it. And it seems that classiccat was right my wire to cylinder 1 is not in good shape in the inside of the wire almost feels like a broken internal like you get with old aluminum wire but I replaced it and put heat shield on all the wires and that sorted it out