Re: 76 Glastron v162 (07-26-2006 Update w PICS)
Re: 76 Glastron v162 (07-26-2006 Update w PICS)
nice project.. my neighbor at the lake bought what I think is that model of glastron 2 years ago. Handles very nice, and is quite zippy with a 85 merc. His is original (yes orange inside), but probably needs the same overhaul you're giving yours. I know the floor is bad in his, because I saw the seats get loose and topple over when they were using it one weekend... he had to use a lawn chair as the driver's seat for a while. He didn't redo the floor, just put new screws in to hold the sleeper back in there.
A couple weeks later he had it tied up to the dock for the weekend... they were tubing with it etc, but it seemed kinda sluggish. I figured maybe they'd done something bad to the motor (no oil in gas??). Next day a guest of his goes to switch gas tanks, and says... "Uhhhm there's lots of water in here" when he looks behind the curtain. They eventually figured out that they had launched the boat and used it all weekend without ever putting the plug in it.... It would float just high enough to keep the water under the floor. (hmmmm, wonder why it was going soft??) How many other boats could you leave the plug out, and not sink it?? That's a good boat design!! Of course a few hundred pounds of water under the floor made it bit slow out of the hole.
As you can tell, he's a complete newbie to boats. He lucked into a very nice older boat/motor combo that seemed to be in very good shape... but I doubt it will survive another year or two. I'm surprised he hasn't toasted the motor yet. Against my advice, he's been running it on a bent prop for most of the summer. Oh well...
Also, my dad has a very similar glastron to yours, but older and one size bigger (17'4"?)... it has a 120 hp mercruiser I/O... It handles chop nicely, but I think the outboard version would probably be a better overall boat. His is pretty doggish. Feels heavy and underpowered.
They're very nice hulls. What hp is it rated for? 65 might be border line if you intend to use it for skiing. Would probably be fine for cruising/fishing. My neighbor's 85 seems a good fit.
Anyway, good luck to you...