1982 HydroSwift II 21ft

[Flawed]

and so it begins:

I love Boats. Ex-Navy. Been around 'em all my life.
So i'm looking through the local craigslist/boat section. I see this ad.

HYDRO SWIFT BOAT - $300 (E-TOWN)
Date: 2009-11-18, 11:01AM EST
Reply to: sale-b7zch-1471477801@craigslist.org
I HAVE A HYDRO SWIFT BOAT FOR SALE 300.00 DOLLARS NO TITLE COMES WITH TAMDEN TRAILER
* Location: E-TOWN
PostingID: 1471477801

uhhhh-yeah.
emailed the guy, couple of times, chatted on the phone. His name is Bob.
Heres the story:
Bob bought a piece of property. Steve (the guy Bob bought the property from) was storing the boat on the property and agreed to pay Bob storage fees. Bob never got paid. A year goes by, and a tow truck shows up at Bobs property. Bob tells the driver to get the owner on the phone, He'll release the boat when he gets paid. Bob calls the state police, they come out and tell the tow driver he has no rights to the boat. Bob sends a letter demanding payment to Steve. Steve doesn't respond. A year later Bobs mom is sick in Florida and he needs the money. Bob places the ad.

I had come to the conclusion that when it came to boats, Bob had no clue. when i asked if it was an outboard or inboard, Bob replied with "its got a big motor sticking out the back with a prop on it" Great.

Lets go look, at least, its 300.00

Imagine my surprise when I pull around the back of Bobs trailer and see this:

walked around it ten times, then pulled the cover off of it. whew.

Bob says "either yer buyin it, or its going to salvage monday" Bob says he's willing to do what needs to be done to make it mine. Signs a receipt, and a bill of sale. I even got a copy of his drivers license.

I just couldn't leave her to be destroyed. Been looking hard for a boat for 6 years.

Got her hooked up and dragged her home today, so we'll see.

I'm going to the dmv monday wish me luck.

any advice or help is **greatly** appreciated. Hopefully this is my first boat.

 

[Flawed]

Re: 1982 HydroSwift II 21ft

Ideas, Rants and Musings...

heres what i wanna do:
soap/scrub it down - blue scrubbies, hot water, laundry detergent, splash of bleach. bow to stern. everything gets scrubbed. Its got this moldy stuff everywhere. Got a friend who's agreed to buff it out.
reattach seats- the captains and mate chair are unscrewed from the floor.
sew up/repair cover-the cover has some rips in it, nothing I think cant be sewed with some heavy thread. some of the snaps on the hull/cover are missing.
drain/replace all the fluids- its been sitting two years, i'm gonna dump everything and start fresh. dump responsibly.
do the PB treatment- already started browsing, found a thread with some info about PB Breaker treatment. after two years, think i need this.
check/replace plugs/cap/rotor/wires- a motorhead habit. gonna check em first, see if the existing can be used.
add fresh batteries- derrrr....

gotta find a manual somewhere, i can probably just figure it out, but I've always liked reference materials.

aight, its after 3am, I'm out....

 

[Flawed]

Re: 1982 HydroSwift II 21ft

Ha... Hah!! HA!! Hahahaha...

I have been reading the forums, scouring for info on refurb/repairing/restoring the boat. A lot of focus was put on safety first. I am absolutely in agreement.I read thru a couple of floor replacement threads, and decided I had to have a look. I wanted to get rid of the carpet anyway, I'd like to be able to eventually hose her out. I started pulling pieces off the interior today, some of the side boards, the seat base at the bow, they were all rotted. decided to pull it all out, except the controls, dash, and motor. On to the carpet. The very first piece I pulled came up with a 12"x3' peice of Glas..... great. The floor is completely hosed. I can see the water standing under the foam. Wonderful. Glad I found iboats, I'd be in a world of hurt right now. Well, I'm still hurting, but at least there's help. This is gonna be painful.....

So, first things first. gotta get the rest of this floor out. then the foam I reckon. Check the stringers, prolly gonna havta redo those too....

so yeah.... Ha... Hah!! HA!! Hahahaha...

 

[Flawed]

Re: 1982 HydroSwift II 21ft

But hey - the seats cleaned up nice!! Mr Clean Magic eraser.

I cleaned the right half, so we could see the difference.

 

[Flawed]

Re: 1982 HydroSwift II 21ft

whew - what a load of readin! poring over a couple of threads, specifically the oops and lowkee threads. Mad props to those guys, great threads, lotsa pics, way too much explainin stuff fifty times over... Still got lots more learnin to do....

I have a ?? about my console.

that suckers part of the cap, isnt it?? I really dont wanna take the cap off. really. don't. i think im gonna cut it and rebuild it later. maybe a couple of poles fore and aft to support it? I'm already modding the sink area into a communications/entertainment center, so its getting modded.

thought i could save the fore/bow part of the floor, but im betting the stringers are bad and need replacing. I'll have it scrapped out enough tomorrow to inspect the transom/motor mount area. preliminary exploration (sticking it with a screwdriver) says its solid. we'll see. I gotta figure out how to get the motor out, some kind of gantry probably. The local pull a part (auto parts salvage) has a design i like and can replicate.

and oh yeah, that part where everyone says its a labor of love, takes forever, and costs a ton of money..... is dead on... believe it....

I'm about $400.00 in, and getting deeper.....

 

[Flawed]

Re: 1982 HydroSwift II 21ft

pulled some more of the deck up today. started chunking the foam out of one compartment, sameo sameo, water everywhere. scraped it back to the stringer (the red lines in the pic), they were of course rotten, the piece between the stringer (stretcher?) rotted. The engine (box?mount?) (yellow arrows) seem sturdy. i dont think the Glas was compromised. The Transom (green arrow) seems solid too, stuck it with a knife and a screwdriver, tapped it with a hammer. The bottom is where i'm gonna be looking next.

 

[Flawed]

Re: 1982 HydroSwift II 21ft

read read read.... hours spent poring over transom repairs/replacements. went out and drilled some holes today. By the look of the slop on the bit, its rotted thru. Transom, stringers, engine mounts, its all gotta be replaced. I cant thank iboats.com enough for all the info. without iboats, i would have thrown the family into this boat and been in a world of hurt when it fell apart on the water.

Thank you iboats, and all her contributors for keeping my family safe.

I'm a pretty handy guy, and I have tools, but I don't think I want the boat bad enough to do all the repairs. I'm not attached to it, its not my dreamboat. I don't have a garage. 'Glassing would be a new thing for me. I don't know if the motor or outdrive is even operable. OMC doesnt get the best reviews anyhow.

I'm gonna pull the motor, see if its worth selling, i reckon the outdrive can be parted out, the controls can be parted out, marine radio, lowrance depth finder, seats, horns, trailer, its all going up for sale. I guess the hull i'll chop up and burn.

I'm only $400.00 into it, so making that back shouldn't be too hard.

I've loaded up a ton of pics here:
DaBoat

So, where's the best place to sell these parts??

if ya know someone that might need some, send em to the Louisville, Ky Craigslist. I'm loading 'em up tonight.

Thanks again iboats.com, I'll be back.....

 

[RICHARD5]

Re: 1982 HydroSwift II 21ft

And then...?