The Poor Man?s Ski Boat Project
I have decided to document and share with you all the mechanical and functional restoration of my 1971 Glastron V174 into a Ski/Pleasure boat. I?m not sure if this is the right forum to post this, but it is a restoration of sorts. So far from the testing I have done the stringers, transom and deck on this boat are rock solid so I will not be doing any structural work (I HOPE!).
Background:
I was looking for a lake ready or nearly lake ready vessel for little cash. Every morning, afternoon and evening I would check Craig?s List for the local boat deals and was hoping to get something for around $2000. About 1 month ago on a Sunday I saw a 1971 Glastron V174 pop up and called the guy. 30 minutes later I had the cash in hand and was on my way to go look at this boat. The V174 started right up and appeared to run pretty good. The hull was clean, deck super solid, transom didn?t have any soft spots, and stringers were firm. I offered $1400 and he accepted.
Since I purchased the boat on a Sunday the plan was to take it out for its test run next Friday. Monday after coming home from work I remember the previous owner telling me he though the boat needed an engine/outdrive oil change and then it hit me?I forgot to check the oil before I bought the boat. I pulled the dipstick and was greeted with milky white goodness. Immediately I got out the compression tester and began to check the engine. 1-120, 2-130, 3-90, 4-0, 5-0, 6-30?OH CRAP. 4 and 5 had a blown head gasket between them and 5/6 was close to blown. I began pulling the head having my worst fears confirmed and found a very warped head and VERY blown head gasket.
I replaced the head gasket and had the head surfaced which took .025? off in order to get it flat. When I had everything off for the head gasket I found some cracks in the side of the block. This really concerned me, but I prepared for the worst and JB welded the cracks. The idea is to source an engine in the winter to replace this one. (That was the idea but this engine runs too good and the crack almost seems like a non issue now)
I had the engine back together and compression numbers are now 1-130, 2-135, 3-130, 4-130, 5-90, and 6-110. I think 5 and 6 are so low due to stuck rings. This engine only has 287 hours on it and some of those hours were spent with little to no compression and lots of carbon build up. I am going to put a couple of real hours of use on her and recheck the compression.
So I had a smoother running engine (still needs a carb kit) and so far the outdrive had checked out ok. Two weekends after I bought the boat it finally made its way to the lake and performed nearly flawlessly. I really liked the torque this straight 6 had and the hull was able to plane at a very slow speed of 16-17mph with a 350lb guy, 220lb guy and 175lb guy. A couple of problems were found, though, one of them being a gas tank that leaks when full (vent was clogged, unclogged and I think the sending unit gasket is leaking). I have a blower that works very well, a VERY open engine compartment, marine electronics, and the gas tank is in the front of the boat so I wasn?t THAT worried about the risk of explosion but the gas tank problem does need to be addressed.
After about 1 hour of lake time on the engine I found that it was running a little warmer than I liked so I figured it was time for an impeller and thermostat. This is what I found:
Needless to say the thermostat was probably causing my problems and after replacing it and the impeller the engine runs at a nice regulated temperature. To verify this I installed a second mechanical water temp. gauge which is only visible from the engine compartment.
When reinstalling the lower leg I ran into a problem with shifting into reverse. I ended up having to pull the drive twice before narrowing the problem down to a bent shift coupler. This did give me a chance to inspect the shift/driveshaft bellows and the gimbal bearing. I was very impressed with what I found. Last weekend I had the boat out all day on Saturday without any issues.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=334271
Now I that I can trust this boat mechanically it is time to start with the interior and creature comforts. My plans are redo trailer bunks, strip carpet and paint the floor, new seats, stereo, Bimini top, wakeboard tower (maybe DIY, have to see if I want to mess with welding stainless), swim platform, and a tower stereo system based on live stage speakers (to be used respectfully around others). I probably won?t be able to afford the tower or tower speaker system until next season. I also plan on doing some MAJOR changes to the trailer: painting, shortening wheelbase down to 7' 4" from 8' and adding some front bunks.
This is where I sit with money.
Boat $1400
Tax, title, registration $116
Head mill-work $94
Gasket Set $55
Water pump kit $48
Trim/Tilt Hose $46
Thermostat $17
Head bolts $56
Engine Oil $30
Outdrive Oil $20
Outdrive pump $13
Brass Shift Shoe $48
Shift Shoe bushing $25
Electrical Switches $10
Outdrive Gasket Set $11
Gas tank sending unit gasket $5
Total $1994
Proposed Upgrades
Stereo $80
500 Watt amp $80
Speakers (in boat) $100
Bimini To $300
Tower $500
Tower Speakers $200
Tower speaker's amp $200
Swim Platform $100
Swim Platform hardware $200
I have decided to document and share with you all the mechanical and functional restoration of my 1971 Glastron V174 into a Ski/Pleasure boat. I?m not sure if this is the right forum to post this, but it is a restoration of sorts. So far from the testing I have done the stringers, transom and deck on this boat are rock solid so I will not be doing any structural work (I HOPE!).
Background:
I was looking for a lake ready or nearly lake ready vessel for little cash. Every morning, afternoon and evening I would check Craig?s List for the local boat deals and was hoping to get something for around $2000. About 1 month ago on a Sunday I saw a 1971 Glastron V174 pop up and called the guy. 30 minutes later I had the cash in hand and was on my way to go look at this boat. The V174 started right up and appeared to run pretty good. The hull was clean, deck super solid, transom didn?t have any soft spots, and stringers were firm. I offered $1400 and he accepted.
Since I purchased the boat on a Sunday the plan was to take it out for its test run next Friday. Monday after coming home from work I remember the previous owner telling me he though the boat needed an engine/outdrive oil change and then it hit me?I forgot to check the oil before I bought the boat. I pulled the dipstick and was greeted with milky white goodness. Immediately I got out the compression tester and began to check the engine. 1-120, 2-130, 3-90, 4-0, 5-0, 6-30?OH CRAP. 4 and 5 had a blown head gasket between them and 5/6 was close to blown. I began pulling the head having my worst fears confirmed and found a very warped head and VERY blown head gasket.
I replaced the head gasket and had the head surfaced which took .025? off in order to get it flat. When I had everything off for the head gasket I found some cracks in the side of the block. This really concerned me, but I prepared for the worst and JB welded the cracks. The idea is to source an engine in the winter to replace this one. (That was the idea but this engine runs too good and the crack almost seems like a non issue now)
I had the engine back together and compression numbers are now 1-130, 2-135, 3-130, 4-130, 5-90, and 6-110. I think 5 and 6 are so low due to stuck rings. This engine only has 287 hours on it and some of those hours were spent with little to no compression and lots of carbon build up. I am going to put a couple of real hours of use on her and recheck the compression.
So I had a smoother running engine (still needs a carb kit) and so far the outdrive had checked out ok. Two weekends after I bought the boat it finally made its way to the lake and performed nearly flawlessly. I really liked the torque this straight 6 had and the hull was able to plane at a very slow speed of 16-17mph with a 350lb guy, 220lb guy and 175lb guy. A couple of problems were found, though, one of them being a gas tank that leaks when full (vent was clogged, unclogged and I think the sending unit gasket is leaking). I have a blower that works very well, a VERY open engine compartment, marine electronics, and the gas tank is in the front of the boat so I wasn?t THAT worried about the risk of explosion but the gas tank problem does need to be addressed.
After about 1 hour of lake time on the engine I found that it was running a little warmer than I liked so I figured it was time for an impeller and thermostat. This is what I found:
Needless to say the thermostat was probably causing my problems and after replacing it and the impeller the engine runs at a nice regulated temperature. To verify this I installed a second mechanical water temp. gauge which is only visible from the engine compartment.
When reinstalling the lower leg I ran into a problem with shifting into reverse. I ended up having to pull the drive twice before narrowing the problem down to a bent shift coupler. This did give me a chance to inspect the shift/driveshaft bellows and the gimbal bearing. I was very impressed with what I found. Last weekend I had the boat out all day on Saturday without any issues.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=334271
Now I that I can trust this boat mechanically it is time to start with the interior and creature comforts. My plans are redo trailer bunks, strip carpet and paint the floor, new seats, stereo, Bimini top, wakeboard tower (maybe DIY, have to see if I want to mess with welding stainless), swim platform, and a tower stereo system based on live stage speakers (to be used respectfully around others). I probably won?t be able to afford the tower or tower speaker system until next season. I also plan on doing some MAJOR changes to the trailer: painting, shortening wheelbase down to 7' 4" from 8' and adding some front bunks.
This is where I sit with money.
Boat $1400
Tax, title, registration $116
Head mill-work $94
Gasket Set $55
Water pump kit $48
Trim/Tilt Hose $46
Thermostat $17
Head bolts $56
Engine Oil $30
Outdrive Oil $20
Outdrive pump $13
Brass Shift Shoe $48
Shift Shoe bushing $25
Electrical Switches $10
Outdrive Gasket Set $11
Gas tank sending unit gasket $5
Total $1994
Proposed Upgrades
Stereo $80
500 Watt amp $80
Speakers (in boat) $100
Bimini To $300
Tower $500
Tower Speakers $200
Tower speaker's amp $200
Swim Platform $100
Swim Platform hardware $200
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