1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

[GT1000000]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Mornin MP,
Thanks for stooping by my old haunt...
Noticed you mentioned you were looking for the fuel sending units...
Both the lever style and reed type are good indicators, I just like the reed type because under way they tend to bounce a lot less than the lever style...
Was also wondering why you were looking for the "original" ones...?
Unless the bolt pattern is different on your tanks, the replacement ones should bolt right up...
Happy Friday!

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Mornin MP,
Thanks for stooping by my old haunt...
Noticed you mentioned you were looking for the fuel sending units...
Both the lever style and reed type are good indicators, I just like the reed type because under way they tend to bounce a lot less than the lever style...
Was also wondering why you were looking for the "original" ones...?
Unless the bolt pattern is different on your tanks, the replacement ones should bolt right up...
Happy Friday!

Morning! Happiest of Fridays to you GT and all my iboats family!

Tanks are Murax tanks, manufactured in St. Louis Mo and either moved or was bought out and are now located in NM or AZ. I have sent them several emails and they haven't replied to any. Tanks are 7-1/4" <-> 7-3/8" deep if I remember correctly.

Being a Newbie to boats and boating, I was just trying to save some headaches with something I would have to modify or adjust; just wanted "drop in and go".

I found this one a while back.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

I may be wrong, but I agree w/ GT, a universal sending unit should work:

Conveniently sold by our generous host, iboats

Should be a drop in replacement, w/ gauge hookups

 

[gm280]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Mud Puppy, I haven't read all the comments but did read the couple dealing with the aluminum welding and helicoils. Well having worked in a DEPOT repair section of the DOD back in the days, I used lots of helicoils. In fact a lot of government equipment that were built out of aluminum all had helicoil type inserts installed from the manufacture because aluminum threads were prone to pull out. So drill out, tap and insert the helicoil and feel safe doing that. It does hold up. As for the welding of the lower foot section, that is a go as well. I had a professional shop weld a lower foot section for me. They stated that the biggest problem with welding marine lower sections is getting all the oil out of the pores of the aluminum so it would weld correctly. So clean and reclean and do it again. Then weld as usual keeping a watch on heat and warpage. Could even apply some wet soaked rags around the areas to keep heat at bay... Look at it this way, the foot is useless now, so what is there to loose? Just my 2 cents worth!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Yep, majority of replacement sending units use the same 5 bolt pattern...
The reed type are replaced by the depth of the tank as measured from the sending unit mounting bole to the bottom of the tank...they are available in 1/2" increments...If your tank is 7-1/4" to 7-3/8", you can use a 7" unit...
The lever type have some variation in the length of the arm...in which case you would want one that closely imitates the one that is in there now...
Easy peasy...Boat Fuel Sending Units

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

I may be wrong, but I agree w/ GT, a universal sending unit should work:


Conveniently sold by our generous host, iboats

Should be a drop in replacement, w/ gauge hookups

Yep, majority of replacement sending units use the same 5 bolt pattern...
The reed type are replaced by the depth of the tank as measured from the sending unit mounting bole to the bottom of the tank...they are available in 1/2" increments...If your tank is 7-1/4" to 7-3/8", you can use a 7" unit...
The lever type have some variation in the length of the arm...in which case you would want one that closely imitates the one that is in there now...
Easy peasy...Boat Fuel Sending Units

You all should know by now, if I ain't working on it, my mind goes 90 different ways just thinking about her. Hasn't been this bad since I was in HS getting ready for that "Big" first date. Couldn't finish a full day of farming; had to stop go clean up and run my old '68 Chevelle to the car wash and then come home and clean up again.

So what is on there I know is pretty simple in theory, just my luck, I would buy something I would have to mount in the truck and use a 1000' cord to make it work.

I think the tanks are pretty much standard size wise and only one of the sending units is busted:






What busted is the clear cover on one allowing the wire to the unit to hang out and get ripped off at the unit. I thought I would just replace both of them while I was at it.

I know one thing is for sure; the fill hoses are getting replaced. Not only would I not trust them, you can't get within a foot of them without getting carbon black all over you.

The PO had talked about moving them closer to the stern, but I will probably leave them were they were designed to be. I think by moving them abaft by the engine compartment might be a bad idea anyway; 200lbs of fuel, 450lbs of block, and me at the back turning the battery on and she'd go to Davey Jones Locker in a heartbeat, but if I were to do that she might go 0 to full plane in about 0.0009 seconds.

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Mud Puppy, I haven't read all the comments but did read the couple dealing with the aluminum welding and helicoils. Well having worked in a DEPOT repair section of the DOD back in the days, I used lots of helicoils. In fact a lot of government equipment that were built out of aluminum all had helicoil type inserts installed from the manufacture because aluminum threads were prone to pull out. So drill out, tap and insert the helicoil and feel safe doing that. It does hold up. As for the welding of the lower foot section, that is a go as well. I had a professional shop weld a lower foot section for me. They stated that the biggest problem with welding marine lower sections is getting all the oil out of the pores of the aluminum so it would weld correctly. So clean and reclean and do it again. Then weld as usual keeping a watch on heat and warpage. Could even apply some wet soaked rags around the areas to keep heat at bay... Look at it this way, the foot is useless now, so what is there to loose? Just my 2 cents worth!

Hey GM, just wanted to tag back on this (been trying to sneak a comment or two between tasks).

We are a non-military DEPOT and help keep the Tanker Clowns flying (for those outside the AF, no disrespect intended by this at all; have about 17 patches that have different units with Tanker Clowns on them). They serve a very VITAL ROLL in our Nations Defense and mostly go unnoticed!

Hoping I can find something that will work so I don't have to go there (helicoils). I was using a MAP bottle and that just wasn't enough heat. Thinking about a rose bud and not staying in any one place for very long at a time. Best thing I have found on coxing a stuck bolt out is heat enough to draw penetrating fluid in... then walk away until it is cool to the touch. Most of the time the expansion and contraction is enough to do the trick. May be a loosing battle due to dissimilar metals however.

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

High all!

Just a quick update. 70 today, sunny, hardly a breeze. Really wanted to be sanding the hull. 53 now.

Guess what I just seen...

37 tonight, 39 tomorrow...

and you guessed it...

SNOW! :smow:

I'm so Happy!

Haven't seen any in SOOOOO LONG! :clock:

I did get the grandson's PU in the garage and parts bought tonight on the way home from work. Wish me luck! #NOHEATINTHEGARAGE:violin:

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

So it was a pretty nice day and I took the time to work on my grandson's F150. I found what was wrong with it, but not until after I pulled the center console and found a bad switch under his "Slap Shift". Water had gotten into it and corroded the contacts and weakened the springs so the action was real spongy feeling in one of the switches. There are two which set up the shift logic of the truck.


Below is a photo of the switch taken apart:


Below is a photo of it up on stands:




Guess I will replace both of them while I am at it. He's got to have it running in case I need him to run get something for me.

I'll run and try to find a couple tomorrow. Time for milk and butter cookies now.

See the whole thing:
Ryker's F150 Pickup

 

[mr300z87]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Hi MP, Just found your thread and will be following along. I own an Invader V210 Cuddy cabin, although its a LOT newer (1989) than yours i feel it is a well made boat and have totally enjoyed her. We have owned her now for 2 years, this summer will be our 3rd season with it. She was very well cared for and is in excellent condition. Glad to see there some other Invaders out there because as you have found there is very little info on them even though they were around until the mid 90s. We too had some nice weather this past weekend and I was able to work on my project boat (see Signature) we are expecting 60 tomorrow then snow and rain on weds and Thursday . Keep up the good work. Have a great day. Mike

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Welcome Aboard mr300!

Mike, we are 73 right now and 77 for a high tomorrow and then 45 for a high Wednesday. It just keeps flaunting good weather here and then turns off nasty before the weekend then stays that way and I have so much to do like so many of us here on iboats Dry Dock.

Yeah, from what I have learned they were built in several locations across the country and mine was from Giddings, TX. You would think there would be more of them left around. Mine, other than the floor and transom, is a fairly decent boat, just old and uncared for.

I went and checked out your engine swap; nice looking boat. I think you will be back together long before I even get to start on mine.

Glad you found my thread.

Rocko

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

MP, ya had me fooled with the f150 . I really thought you were working on the larger model . :facepalm:
Do you get the parts from the ford dealer ? Cool little truck !
When you said "slap shift " I thought you meant a 3 speed on the column like my old 150 . I loved that truck I wish I had never traded it in . I absolutely could not get that truck stuck in the sand . Bag the tires a bit and and rock it out of everything .
Hope the snow melt away quick for ya !

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

MP, ya had me fooled with the f150 . I really thought you were working on the larger model . :facepalm:
Do you get the parts from the ford dealer ? Cool little truck !
When you said "slap shift " I thought you meant a 3 speed on the column like my old 150 . I loved that truck I wish I had never traded it in . I absolutely could not get that truck stuck in the sand . Bag the tires a bit and and rock it out of everything .
Hope the snow melt away quick for ya !

SP, the truck is my oldest grandson's "4 Wheel Tuck". He came over on Daytona weekend and it "Boke Poppy, fix it!" He kept trying to blame it on his 8 year old cousin, I guess since she usually drives it and since he has hit every spot in the fenced in back yard and then needs help getting off of it; he has yet to figure out where Reverse is at.

I found the switch, through an authorized PW Dealer/Service Center; it's 15 bucks (you would think that it was rated Marine or something). Seems like an awful lot for a $3 switch.

I've owned a couple Fords myself, an F150 and then an F250, both standard, and both 4WD. The only 3-on-the-tree, column shift have both been late '60s C10s. In my '67 SBSS, I once put a Tranny out of a '56 1/2 ton. It was a 3OTT also and it had an overdrive tail-shaft. Once you put it in gear, you never had to clutch it again until you stopped. It used 12VDC to run the solenoid I ran through a switch kinda like what is wrong with his "Tuck", problem was, it also needed a cable ran to the back to lock it in overdrive that I didn't know about...

still got over 3 years out of it before it tore up the gears. Man was it a lot of fun! I once ran it down along a plowed field nearly a half mile and back. It was the only thing that didn't get stuck; all the 4WDs got stuck including mine and 2 others.

It is only a 2WD. I just ran forward until I couldn't move, backed up and took a run at it. Took me a while but I made it. Go figure!

I need to run over to your thread and check it out...

haven't been there in a while. I am still a long way from reading the whole thing.

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Hope everyone is doing well and I know we are all ready for the Hump. I actually was wishing it was TGIF, but that's wishing my life away.

It is 84 right now and just beautiful outside. So I finally had some me time and I thought I would work on the Blazer and put a new belt on it and replace the two missing studs.

Not so.

I picked up a package of multi-flavoered stud bolts ranging from M4 to 5/16"; seems like that is the only way they can be bought these days unless you go to a real parts house.

As I am replacing them, I find one of the four of the old studs is busted off in the water pump. I think to myself " I'll have to take the water pump off to try and work the old one out" and I really didn't want to go to that much trouble, but sometimes, such is life. I get the clutch fan loose and the pulley off, and as I am debating whether to pull the upper shroud off or not, I lean against the pump on one hand and guess what I found?

The pump wasn't even tight, completely loose. In conclusion, not only were the studs missing, loose, or broke, the belt shredded, the pump loose, antifreeze missing, burnt out exhaust gasket, but I'm not getting anything done to the boat.

So does this stuff really only happen to just me and are the opportunities to actually get to work on your boat ever really happen?

I am beginning to think: Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide with no escape from reality!

Body's aching all the time (for REAL)

Hope you all are doing better than I!

Scaramouch (just consider me a a smaller derivative of Il Capitano)

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Hope everyone is doing well and I know we are all ready for the Hump. I actually was wishing it was TGIF, but that's wishing my life away.

It is 84 right now and just beautiful outside. So I finally had some me time and I thought I would work on the Blazer and put a new belt on it and replace the two missing studs.

Not so.

I picked up a package of multi-flavoered stud bolts ranging from M4 to 5/16"; seems like that is the only way they can be bought these days unless you go to a real parts house.

As I am replacing them, I find one of the four of the old studs is busted off in the water pump. I think to myself " I'll have to take the water pump off to try and work the old one out" and I really didn't want to go to that much trouble, but sometimes, such is life. I get the clutch fan loose and the pulley off, and as I am debating whether to pull the upper shroud off or not, I lean against the pump on one hand and guess what I found?

The pump wasn't even tight, completely loose. In conclusion, not only were the studs missing, loose, or broke, the belt shredded, the pump loose, antifreeze missing, burnt out exhaust gasket, but I'm not getting anything done to the boat.

So does this stuff really only happen to just me and are the opportunities to actually get to work on your boat ever really happen?

I am beginning to think: Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide with no escape from reality!

Body's aching all the time (for REAL)

Hope you all are doing better than I!

Scaramouch (just consider me a a smaller derivative of Il Capitano)

Nah! Happens all the time, I just don't pay any attention to it...:wacko:
Happy upcoming Camel Day!

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Yep ! Happens to all of us . Don't sweat it my friend ... It all comes out in the wash ! :joyous:

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Life is always getting in my way!!! Just don't understand it..:facepalm:

 

[mercurymang]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Hope everyone is doing well and I know we are all ready for the Hump. I actually was wishing it was TGIF, but that's wishing my life away.

It is 84 right now and just beautiful outside. So I finally had some me time and I thought I would work on the Blazer and put a new belt on it and replace the two missing studs.

Not so.

I picked up a package of multi-flavoered stud bolts ranging from M4 to 5/16"; seems like that is the only way they can be bought these days unless you go to a real parts house.

As I am replacing them, I find one of the four of the old studs is busted off in the water pump. I think to myself " I'll have to take the water pump off to try and work the old one out" and I really didn't want to go to that much trouble, but sometimes, such is life. I get the clutch fan loose and the pulley off, and as I am debating whether to pull the upper shroud off or not, I lean against the pump on one hand and guess what I found?

The pump wasn't even tight, completely loose. In conclusion, not only were the studs missing, loose, or broke, the belt shredded, the pump loose, antifreeze missing, burnt out exhaust gasket, but I'm not getting anything done to the boat.

So does this stuff really only happen to just me and are the opportunities to actually get to work on your boat ever really happen?

I am beginning to think: Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide with no escape from reality!

Body's aching all the time (for REAL)

Hope you all are doing better than I!

Scaramouch (just consider me a a smaller derivative of Il Capitano)

We have been trying to sell our house for 2 years with no luck. Tear down the boat to the hull... Sold.

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Hope you all had a better Mid-Week Solstice than I did.

Nah! Happens all the time, I just don't pay any attention to it...:wacko:
Happy upcoming Camel Day!

I've tried to pay no mind (or little) to it most of my adult life. Most things I deal with rather maturely, other than the laying in the floor and throwing a fit.

Yep ! Happens to all of us . Don't sweat it my friend ... It all comes out in the wash ! :joyous:

OH DON'T SAY THAT, I'm batching this week and I have to do the laundry tonight. I can just see the Main-Spring or the Second-Hand breaking in the washing machine and having to run down to the creek and beat my clothes against a rock.

Life is always getting in my way!!! Just don't understand it..:facepalm:

That's why they call it Life isn't it my friends! Quote from a billboard in the movie Cuffs "Life happens while you're making other plans".

We have been trying to sell our house for 2 years with no luck. Tear down the boat to the hull... Sold.

We've got one of those too! Been on ours for almost 3 years, what hurts is until we sell, there is no way we can even come close to making a down on another; everything is tied up in it and our rent is twice as high as our mortgage. Guess we should have brought the house with us when we moved.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

The upside is that the boat will always be there. I wasn't expecting to be at mine for all this time. I expected a few weekends. Holy Crap! I just realized it's been almost two years since I bought it. I bought it May 12/2012. I never had it in the water, once. I was thinking it was only 1 year. But I do finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Iiiieeee!!!!