1970 SeaKing

[Drb007]

I think I may have a problem. I bought another boat today. As some may know, my daughter Alaina and I are in the middle of a restoration, and just bought a "practice" boat for her.
Now her friend (also named Alaina!) wants an old boat too!

I found this 1970 SeaKing on CL not far from my house. I was impressed with the ad and the description of how clean it sounded...not a scratch on the hull and all original. I stopped by tonight on my way home, and couldn't believe how nice this thing is! The engine looks new, the boat is so clean. The only thing that could use attention is the vinyl flooring which is coming loose up from where it curves up the sides. The seats look new, and the windshield is spotless.

He was asking $550, and I got it with very little effort for $400. Comes with a pile of life jackets, 3 props, anchors, etc.

I was SO tempted to keep this one...but being a good friend I called Alaina's dad and told him he just bought a boat. I offered a money back guarantee... if he doesn't like it I'll buy it back. At any time.

His daughter doesn't love the color, but it's not as bad in person. I'm hoping it grows on her. If not, I will offer to paint the hull for her.

I will take them out tomorrow night to pick it up.

 

[jbcurt00]

Yeah you got a problem

Its called MBS

Multiple
Boat
Syndrome

Just wait til you start hunting for a specific part for 1 of the boats. You'll run into lots of boats that are great..

 

[Rick Stephens]

What you call a 'fleet manager''

he he. hope you gots a big driveway.

 

[hosteter]

Not just a big driveway also lot of money for repairs and a good wife :-D

 

[Frank Acampora]

What year did the owner say the engine was? It is badged as a Sea King, but after 1964, they were badged as Chrysler. Thus, the engine is 1964 or earlier. This puts doubt in my mind that the hull is actually a 1970.

At any rate, if you do have engine problems you can swap in many Chrysler parts.

Just be careful and do your homework on the engine---some of the Sea Kings were POSITIVE ground

 

[WIMUSKY]

That looks in great shape. Could you break out the buffer and put a nice shine on 'er??

 

[Mikeopsycho]

Nice find! Like I always tell my wife, you can never have too many boats.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Nice find! Like I always tell my wife, you can never have too many boats.

All that gets me is a flat spot on my head.

 

[dwco5051]

Years ago my wife told me that 13 was a constant number. When asked what she meant she said "You have six dogs, six boats and one wife. One more hound or one more boat the total will still be 13."

 

[airshot]

Man....that baby brings back a lot of childhood memories....lots of them around when I was a youngster. NICE !!

 

[S.A. Baker]

Doesn't like the color? It's the same colors as my old Chrysler ! What's not to like! what's that old saying about a gift horse? Great looking old boat!

 

[Drb007]

Well, I spent all last night dreaming about this damned boat. Not kidding. Woke up this morning with regret for not keeping it. But, I figured it was the nice thing to do, and it would be a great boat for my friend and his family. We planned to run down tonight to pick it up. An hour before we were supposed to leave I got a text saying they were out...his wife said no.

Woo Hoo!!!!

I hit the ATM and my daughter and I drove down and picked it up. We might even try dropping it in the lake this weekend as it is supposed to be in the upper 50's.

Couldn't be happier!

I think the color is fine, and I really appreciate the originality of it. I plan to leave it as is, but maybe do the floor covering...
I will have to do some research on the model year. I believe it feels more like early-mid sixties, especially with the shifter and dash, but what do I know.

Either way, it's got some awesome vintage class, and I can't wait to take her out!

 

[Drb007]

Here are some pictures of the motor in case that helps anyone educate me...

 

[Rick Stephens]

Well, I spent all last night dreaming about this damned boat. Not kidding. Woke up this morning with regret for not keeping it. But, I figured it was the nice thing to do, and it would be a great boat for my friend and his family. We planned to run down tonight to pick it up. An hour before we were supposed to leave I got a text saying they were out...his wife said no.

Can I be your friend and his family?

(congrats! that is a sweet ride.)

Rick

 

[Drb007]

Update:
It runs! I ran it a few weeks ago in a barrel, and it fired right up. It idles fine, but seems to have some issues with higher rpm. I did not take it to the lake, but I think it likely will have little power. I need to sort out the running issues, and my wife got me the original manual for Christmas. I will have to wait a few weeks to get at the reading.

I'm taking it down to my parent's farm to tuck it away in the barn for the winter. I did a little buffing, and it shines like a new boat. The clock doesn't run, so I'll have to sort that out, and the compass needs a refill. I will do all of that in Spring, along with new flooring. Can't wait to get it on the water!

I did pop the side name plates off, as the starboard side is cracked/broken. I am wondering what you all have come up with for repair or remaking plastic badges for boats that don't offer new replacements. I wonder if a 3D printer might work easily and affordably for this?

 

[Drb007]

I ordered Smoothon 300 cast/mold starter kit to make a new name badge. I will let you know how it turns out.


For the flooring, any recommendations what adhesive to use to reglue the vinyl? I think I can pull it back carefully and reglue it, but need to know adhesive would work best.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

edit: Canadian funds of course

Mod EDIT: Solicitation not permitted

 

[Quick3201]

Damm nice boat for the price.

 

[JimS123]

What year did the owner say the engine was? It is badged as a Sea King, but after 1964, they were badged as Chrysler. Thus, the engine is 1964 or earlier. This puts doubt in my mind that the hull is actually a 1970.

At any rate, if you do have engine problems you can swap in many Chrysler parts.

Just be careful and do your homework on the engine---some of the Sea Kings were POSITIVE ground

According to my documentation, the last Gale made Sea King was 1963. The serial number of the OP's motor does not fall into that range. Thus, it most likely is a Crysler and it would have been made in 1964 or later.

 

[Drb007]

I worked on the motor last week, playing around a little running it on the hose. It starts right up every time, but I think is intermittently running on one cylinder. I played with the wires a bit, cleaning connections and such, and seafoamed the carb. That seemed to really help.
I could not get the fly wheel off. My puller is not the proper one, so I need to go get one that will work. I spent some time cleaning it up a bit, polishing the trim, etc.

While as 44 years old I am feeling far more mature (slightly wise?) than I was 10-20 years ago, I still make decisions I know aren't the best when it comes to instant gratification

It was so nice out yesterday, and it did run pretty wheel in the barrel...so off to the lake we went. I warned my wife and daughter that it may be the shortest boating trip we could take, making sure it floats, but that it might run poorly, requiring us to drag it right back out.

Alaina is practicing for when her Larson is done, so she drove the whole way and backed the Sea King right down to the launch with no help. She did a great job.

We had no issues launching, we loaded our two dogs and gear in and idled out while Alaina parked the truck. Right away we were getting compliments from other boaters about how cool this old boat looked.

I was pleased that it was running pretty well, maybe a bit more vibration at idle speeds than I liked. But it opened up just fine, planed very quickly, and peaked out I would guess around 25-28 mph. I still need to get a pitot for the speedo...

The chain of lakes we went out on is crystal clear and of the 11 lakes, only 5 are fast. So we had a fair amount of idling, and did ok. Crossing one of the lakes a beautiful Shell Lake caught up to us and chatted for a while. Nice guy.

We made it to the farthest most lake and were running at near wide open throttle when we lost power and slowly the motor died. I think it was flooded out. We sat for about 5 minutes and tried again and it started right up. We made it about half way back and it died again. This time a pontoon with some very nice people offered us a tow, and we took it.

Still got more compliments than I expected, and I will now do a proper job of getting it running tip top before we go out again. I just couldn't wait

Oh, and our dogs loved it. Should be a fun summer!