Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

[jandd7]

I have fond memories of the 70's when a family friend we all called Poppa Lock purchased an AristoCraft Nineteen with a 165 Mercruiser in it. It was the biggest, coolest boat I had ever seen. We skied many a mile behind that boat on beautiful Lake Martin in Alabama.

As life happened I forgot about that boat until I started looking for a project boat to work on with my boys and I stumbled across a 1971 AristoCraft with a 120 mercruiser in it last weekend. The man who owns it purchased it about 4 years ago as a project and has done most of the heavy lifting on bringing it back to its former glory.

The boat is in remarkable condition to be 41 years old. The hull and interior look great with an occasional scratch and scuff you would expect on a boat this age. The original seats were tossed out due to rot and it has been retrofitted with some aftermarket seats that aren't quite as wide as the seat wells but will be functional for now. Would love to buy the seat skins the AristoCraft guys have for sell if I could find a pattern to build the frames. Also would love to see some pictures of how the ski vault was originally covered. I know the boards covering this one are not original. No carpet in it but that is an easy fix. It has a red top on it and I might consider changing it to the blue that I remember on Poppa Locks boat.

I hope to pick it up this weekend and will post some pictures when I can.

 

[lamphega]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

Congrats! I have a 75 that I picked up last year that I am using now and I love the old girl. Mine has the 165hp and I have done quite a bit of work on her including new gimbal bearing and all that goes with that, new windshield from Aristocraft and the aft curtain. With the top and windows and curtain I can keep it in a slip and she stays nice and dry. My seat covers are still original and I changed my carpet. Top and seats our gold/brown. Oh, and plan some time on the electrical system. My dash wires were a mess. Love to see some pictures. Good luck and have fun!

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

Oh, and plan some time on the electrical system. My dash wires were a mess. Love to see some pictures. Good luck and have fun!

^^^ Yup!

I had a 71 SeaSwirl and the dash/engine wiring was in pretty bad condition, loose crimps connections, corroded wires, dry rotted insulation cracked and falling off. Probably 25% of the wiring was in shabby condition and needing attention. The wiring harness and dash are most likely the same (or very similar) between my ol' SeaSwirl and your Aristocraft...

 

[ziggy]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

imho, and not to be negative. but if ya can do a sea trail, that'd be good. one of my concerns would be is the 120hp gonna fit your needs (water skiing?). i got the 165 like lamphega and i think i could be disappointed with the performance of my boat if it had a 120 in it. just food for thought.

The original seats were tossed out due to rot and it has been retrofitted with some aftermarket seats that aren't quite as wide as the seat wells but will be functional for now.

there was another ninteen owner in my area a few years ago. his seats had been replaced with aftermarket (to small) seats also. he lost the capability to fold the seats out into beds (lounges). i don't know if this matter to your or not, but again, food for thought as to how your gonna use the boat. myself. i use the fold out seats as beds (a super sleeper, ). i like to over night on my nineteen.

Also would love to see some pictures of how the ski vault was originally covered.

best pic i got of the ski locker cover w/o taking a new one. if ya need one i will get ya one. you are right. it is just a board. the bow end has a small board on the under side to catch it on the board in ft. of it. the aft end has a little snap catch, like on a cupboard, that just snaps down the board. it has a hole in the aft end with a trim ring on it to lift the door up and off if ya want off.

in regards to the dash wiring. it'll likely be unique to your boat. my dash wiring has never been majorly messed with. what little was clustered (pun intended) was easy to undo and put back proper. all my connectors are oem. read as proper sealed marine connections.

sounds like ya may have a great find. hope it all works out well for you and like always. look forward to seeing pics. i love pics of others boats. specially when they're Nineteens...

 

[jandd7]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

I picked up the nineteen this afternoon and thought I would add a couple of pictures. It is clean for its age. Cosmetically I would rate it a solid C. It has some areas of fiberglass that will require some attention but nothing major. The normal dings and sctatches you would expect to see on a 41 year old boat. The top has been painted red and appears that it was originally gold looking. I will have to do something to make the aftermarket seats look a little more like they belong The way they are currently rigged there are some major gaps between the seats and the fiberglass wells they are sitting on. They do not have the ability to fold into benches as they are now. I would love to put AristoCraft seats back in it one day but at least they are functional for now. The carpet has been completely removed and the flotation foam is dry. The dash has already been gone thru and rewired so that should not be a problem. I will agree that I would prefer to have the 165 motor but "it is what it is" and the 120 has good compression and appears to be strong but I am not a mechanic so I will take it by the mechanics tomorrow and let him check it out before I invest any more money or time into it. With any luck I might be on the lake Labor Day weekend.

Any input on how to make the aftermarket seats look a little more like they belong is appreciated.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

way to go man. nice looking nineteen. congrats.
ya ought to have a lot of fun with that. looks like a sweet boat.

as for the seats. ya might wanna contact aristocraft. maybe they can provide the dimensions to you. maybe let you know what colors are available. like my lime green isn't. red or gold might be. contact the oem to find out. pretty niffy statement for a 41 year old boat......

 

[lamphega]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

Nice looking boat. I love the looks, so classic. They remind me of an early 60's T-Bird with a Landau roof. Probably too far to go but there is a gold one on e-bay now that would make a good donor but it is in Michigan. But then I drove from NY to Alabama last year for my Acraft. I bought mine last summer but only got in the water this year...things took longer than i thought but worth the wait.

 

[jandd7]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

I was looking thru all of the paperwork that came with my 9-teen and realized it is not a 71 but a 72. The motor has an hour meter on it and is at 452 hours but not sure if the meter was original equipment or not. The original top was a gold color and all of the fiberglass appears to be a cream/beige color or it could just be that the fiberglass has yellowed over the last 40 years. If it was white and just faded over the years it is at least consistent throughout the boat. Does anyone know if there were any color options for the hulls back then? It appears that it will clean up nicely after I get it back from the mechanics. Looking forward to getting on the water asap!!!

 

[georgea722]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

Probably too far to go but there is a gold one on e-bay now that would make a good donor but it is in Michigan. But then I drove from NY to Alabama last year for my Acraft.

Not much info at all on the listing for the donated Clinton, MI Nineteen. What are your thoughts about it? Be interesting to see what it goes for. It's 600 miles from me and right now I'm not sorted enough with all my other vehicles, buuuut still I keep looking at it. Don't appear to be many in the DC-Baltimore-Annapolis area.

George
77 Glastron GT150

 

[jandd7]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

I was hoping to be on the water this weekend but we had to order a new shifter cable and the part won't be in till Tuesday. Did get the motor running with minimal effort. Really anxious to get out on the water for a ride.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

don't know if i'm going out this weekend or not. lots of crazy's out on the holidays weekends ya know.
anyways. glad ya got her running with minimal effort. fwiw. when ya do the new shift cable. but sure and use the mercruiser straight tap when ya run your new screw threads in the aft side of the bell housing. most taps that size are tapered pipe fitting type taps. this is not what ya use when modifying out old bell housings. ya use a straight tap.
the new shift cable screws into the aft side of the bell housing. the original one threaded into the fore side of the bell housing. this part is nla and the new style is used...
hope ya get out soon. plenty of good weather left this season....

 

[Oldrod 47]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

Check Saginaw or Flint CList. there is a guy who has been trying to sell a set of red original a19 seats since last winter for 99$

 

[jandd7]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

Thanks for the lead on the seats. I contacted the guy and he originally said he would ship them but I guess he changed his mind. He won't respond to emails anymore even though he keeps reposting his ad. If I didn't live 800 miles away it would be a great deal. I will likely change my color scheme but the frame, hinges and foam would be a steal at $99.

 

[Oldrod 47]

Re: Purchasing a 1971 AristoCraft Nineteen

Seems like he is some kind of flake. I sent him an email last winter offering to buy the complete boat before he parted it out and never replied. Sorry it did not work out, have you contacted Aristocraft directly to ask about the dimensions? Don't think it would be hard to duplicate. Maybe some one on here could measure up a set of the original seats for you. Aristocraft still sells some colors of the original covers. Take one to a Boat upholstery shop, a good one can help you out. Just takes $$$.


Oldrod