1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

[Turk Kildare]

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

I have restored several of the FeatherCraft Boats. They work great. Your paint will do just fine as long as you do not leave it in the water for more than 2-3 days at a time.

Make sure your boat is balanced as follows: 40% front / 60% back for weight; including the passengers and motor. You can move the gas tank up front and add flotation boat to assist with these issues.

 

[hondarider188]

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

Thanks for the help I do think it is a touch heavy and it always sits right on the edge of planing out and the prop has a few little bends in all the blades

 

[hondarider188]

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

well finally went and washed my boat. today we took it out and we trolled for about 3 hours and it did great barely took on just a trickle of water and it didnt seem to go any faster but i think that it is the top speed for the boat but a new prop would do some good to. the only problems i had were fuel. i kept running out then had a hard time starting back up as if the pump was going bad or something. but i would squeeze the primer bulb and it would pick up and do better but have the time the bulb would actually suck the fuel back out of the carb. so it sound like i need a new bulb again and a good one not just a cheepo kmart deal but a real one. then i am going to run some seafoam through and i think it will do it a ton of good. and on top of all that the paint didnt even wash away. and not chipped off on the dock or when loading considering i hit on of the tall trailer lights pretty good.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

If you have to manually pump fuel to the motor while it's running, then the pump may be (going) bad. Mine was acting funny b/c it had a slight air leak in it. I sealed it up and it now works great. You can also check the fuel pump by turning the motor off and squeezing the primer bulb. If it gets and stays firm, then the pump is probably ok. I would also try adjusting the height and tilt/trim of the motor to see if it helps you get on plane. While 18 hp is cutting it close, it seems like it should get her on plane with at least one person in the boat. Good call on the Sea Foam. It'll smoke like #%#$, but it makes a world of difference.

 

[hondarider188]

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

Re: 1961 Feathercraft Restoration w/pics.

the reason i think think it may be the bulb is that sometimes when i would sqeeze it would suck the gas backwards and out of the carb then it would get even worse and quit so i think the valves are bad on the bulb. and plus it is just a cheap kmart bulb to so. and tilting the motor just raises the bow up more but i always have a electric trolling motor that clamps on and a deep cycle batterie for it in the bow that just clamps on so maybe that is putting to much weight in the bow