Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.-Now With Pics

[Blackcypress-EB]

I was getting a few views but no advice in the Glastron forum. So I am putting this here. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Free boat; expensive proposition. My parents gave me their Anniversary 5.7L/ Mercruiser Alpha One GS205. They don't want it anymore and I used to have a blast in this boat. I was the last to take her out (Summer 2004), it was winterized and hasn't been touched since. It lived in the barn for a couple of years and then got pulled outside where it lived for the last couple of years with no top. The interior is junk. the deck is rotten. I have to decide what level of fixer up this is going to be. I brought the boat down to my place a couple of weeks ago.

After reading some stuff here, I definitely fear there is going to be more trouble than the deck, carpet, and upholstery. Are the stringers in this boat sealed and wood or synthetic? I know Glastron doesn't carry parts or upholstery for anything older than 2002 model boats. Is there a boat ( like the GX205) that could be used as a possible interior donor with slight to moderate modification? I can take apart and trim the upholstery, but I can't make it bigger. By the looks of it, the rear bench is nearly identical. The front seats would work of course, but not sure about the side panels, engine cover, and bow seats. I am prepared to spend around $2K on the interior in the hopes that will cover it. I am probably delusional. I just don't want to put a cheesy homemade looking interior in a boat with the potential this one has.

A hearty thanks to any contributors. I have had a hard time finding good info on this boat.

A little info on me, I am a former Jarhead going to school at Texas A&M on the GI Bill. My wife and I love the water and just want to have fun in this boat without sinking a fortune in it. I am a skilled do-it-yourselfer but I am ignorant with fiberglass. I am willing to learn and I am thankful for relevant advice. Have a good one.

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Welcome there Blackcypress-EB

Your in the right place now , the glasstrom forum dont get a lot of traffic. I try to get there once a day but not allways !!

Man it sounds like you got a lot of work, if it has soft spots in the deck more then not the stringer and the transom has some rot, you wont know till you get the deck out and take some core samples !!

But frist you have to decide if you want to put in the work to restore her to where she is safe and sea worthey !!

I did a 15.6 glasstron tri-hull and the stringers and the transom and the deck and the foam , was about 650 to do with yours i would add a hundred more to 2 hundred , and i used epoxy you could use polly, but thats later if you decide to do her !!

Yor best bet it to read the completed projects forum !! and also mine right here[ pics of work so far ] then decide , its really not all that hard , and we all are here to help all we can , ohhh also the guys really like it if you could get some pics up , load your pics to photo bucket, or some place like that and post them here , make sure that they arent any bigger then 680 by 420 , !!

Ok there Blackcypress-EB, again welcome !! John

 

[jdp8488]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

As for the interior, in our shop, a boat like that, you would be looking at around $2500-$3000 easy. We are a little on the higher end though. As for all the other stuff, I am not sure about that. Sure someone else will help you out with all that stuff.

 

[Blackcypress-EB]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Hey, thanks for the replies. I will get some pics up tomorrow. I don't have any in its current condition. Would that $2500 to $3000 be for a two color pro looking upholstery? I have limited resources on shops here. Our city is not big. Houston and Austin are 1 1/2 hours away with Dallas being 3. There is a shop that I am going to drag the boat to for an estimate. Are there any things I should make concrete like material or stitching before we get to price. I am definitely making sure monel or SS staples are to be used and marine grade vinyl. I plan on replacing the deck and recarpeting myself. I sure hope the stringers are solid. I am not sure how these bowriders are built. I assume they are a one piece liner and hull and do not separate like bigger boats. I will do some digging in the completed resto section. Thanks again.


BC

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

WO slow down Marine!!!

Welcome to iboats!

Lets take the boat one step at a time. You state it was stored outside in the weather. Okay the interior is a given that it needs work. You need to do some inspecting to make sure the structure is sound and the engine/outdrive are not in need of maintenance.

It's been sitting idle for 4 years and seals dry out and crack (Texas heat will do that)..... when was the impellar last changed etc etc etc.

The good news is we can guide you through the entire project. Take lots of photos (they are the before photos).

What year is the boat?

Once again welcome to iboats and thanks for your service! School is a great idea and a good place to be.

Bob
Retired Active Duty Army

 

[Blackcypress-EB]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Hey Bob, thanks for the welcome and thank you for your service as well.

I was a grunt but I had the pleasure of being in a boat company. I ended up going to OMC tech school for my downtime gig as the Regimental Boathouse Head Mech. I will definitely take the precautions necessary to bring her up to speed slowly, stuck rings, impeller, and all that business. I feel pretty good about wrangling the technical aspects. I am just a dunce with structural/ interior type things. I am still in the grip of occasional freezing so I don't want to dewinterize it just yet. The boat is a 1996. It has relatively low hours but it looks like crap. I'll have the pics up ASAP, Y'all take it easy.


BC

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

viet nam, marine deployed corpsman here. the boat is definitely worth taking a serious look at. the power plant hull combo is fantastic. after the tear out, it gets better.

do some reading in the complete projects forum.

 

[maxum247]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

I agree with TD! That's a keeper! Great lines and a good size too! max!

 

[jpmurphy]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.-Now With Pics

Welcome to the best site on the net !

Every question you have will be answered by the great folks here. I joined a month or so ago and I'm rebuilding a 15' Gregor Alum. This site has been a godsend for me as I know next to nothing about rebuilding or fixing.

Just remember there is no such thing as a stupid question. Only stupid answers, and you won't find any of those here.

Welcome aboard.
Sempre fi

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Wow thats beyond some simple green and armor all! Beautiful boat and tons of potential

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

some one needs a good butt kicking, to let one get like that. still very restorable. new that would be a $30,000 boat.

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

some one needs a good butt kicking, to let one get like that. still very restorable. new that would be a $30,000 boat.

Truer words were never spoke!

 

[willieboy]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.-Now With Pics

HOWDY!! Former Aggie ('96, BS and '04, PhD) here. That boat has a ton of potential. The best boat shop in the area is south of Brenham on Hwy 36. It is called Schmit boat repairs. Great, HONEST shop. There is at least one shop in B/CS will rape you if given the opportunity. No matter what you do, I would get it to Schmit and let them check it out mechanically, before you sink a ton of money into it. (BTW, I have no relation to them, but they saved our July 4th weekend a couple of years ago).

Once you know the mechanics are good, it is just time and patience. Hopefully, you have a good place to work on it.

I will let you know if I find a good upholstery shop in the area, our new to us boat needs a good upholstery overhaul itself, but for this summer, it will work fine since mechanically, it is great.

Look for us on the water this summer if you get a chance. We are headed back to the area, and are on Lake Somerville about every other weekend from May through September.

 

[Blackcypress-EB]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

some one needs a good butt kicking, to let one get like that. still very restorable. new that would be a $30,000 boat.

Although, it is tough to see it like this, in their defense, my folks have had four solid years of tragedies. They passed it on to my wife and me to give it a shot at a new life. I'll try to bring it to its former glory. With this boards kind help of course

viet nam, marine deployed corpsman here. the boat is definitely worth taking a serious look at. the power plant hull combo is fantastic.

Corpsman up! You guys are great. Saved my butt and some of my Marines when they shouldn't have made it. Thanks. My grandpa was a Marine Reg. Corpsman in Korea. I have a lot of respect for you guys.

HOWDY!! Former Aggie ('96, BS and '04, PhD) here.

Howdy, the advice is appreciated. Good luck with your Larson.

Thanks & Gig 'em

 

[BoatingCop]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Deputy Sheriff here. I wasn't in the military, but I do enjoy serving the people of my county. First off, thanks for your service. Nice Glastron! Mine is the same color but fish and ski. From the pics, the exterior looks good still. How's the floor? What about the engine and the outdrive? Keep us posted and good luck!

Eric

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.

i have done several like that. my approach is to clean it out. then inspect the engine. remove plugs, squirt some oil in each cylinder. let it sit. remove the distributor, and primer the oil pump. remove the spark plugs, and with a wrench, turn the engine over by hand. feeling for any bad spots. valve sticking. i say this out of experience, of bending several push rods, turning over the first time with the starter. once you know it is free turning. you can use the starter, check compression, get distributer back in correctly, and test spark. 99% the carb is going to need cleaning and rebuild kit. now you have good spark, compression, and fuel, connect they muffs, and try firing her up. if it runs ok. the outdrive needs to come off, serviced, bellows inspected, and probably replaced. now, get the hull safe, stringers and deck. reinstall outdrive, adjusting alignment of gimbal bearing, etc. you need to get the service manual for the engine and outdrive.

all your engine and outdrive question can be answered here. http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21

lipstick and make up can come later, get the boat safe first.

 

[redfury]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.-Now With Pics

If that is a VEC hull, then he's going to be a happy camper...., but I don't know when Glastron started making those hulls. I do know the newer Glastrons are built with VEC lamination ( purely computerized, should last forever no wood just glass hulls in a vacuum mold ). It should have a circular badge on it that says VEC if it is.

Either way, that is a really nice boat...I'd snatch it up for that price all day long and invest the money into restoring it, especially with that power plant if it is still solid...very nice pleasure craft...something to be jealous of...

<--------

Edit: just checked google, VEC was started in 2001. Still, I'd be all over that boat.

 

[Blackcypress-EB]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.-Now With Pics

Hey, thanks for the positive comments. That is encouraging.

 

[jfachner72]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.-Now With Pics

Hey,

I have the same boat. Although mine is in showroom condition with 118 hours on it.

I contacted Glastron and they sent me some stuff. I will try to upload the pics so you can see....

As far as the Stringers, they are fiberglass and foam so they can never rot!


Feel free to e-mail me if you want any information....

Jason

 

[redfury]

Re: Howdy, Free '96 Glastron GS205 5.7L, You Know What That Means.-Now With Pics

you can officially color me jealous I'm interested in what they did on the transom though...