A brand that should not have died!

[Boomyal]

As far as I am able to determine Gulfstream, of Salt Lake City, never built more than two sizes of boats. They had an 18 ft that started out with a Buick V-6 or a Chevy inline 6 and a 20 footer that had a variety of power plants.

Again, as far as I can tell, they made boats from sometime in the late '60's to the mid/late '80's.

They were high quality hand laid hulls with a minimum of decorative vinyl on the interior. They employed a durable gel coat, colored, textured imprint on all of the interior glass panel areas that other brands covered with vinyl. Mine still looks 90+ percent after 31 years.

During the restoration of my 20 ft model, I was amazed that the stringers were made of mahogany. This, inspite of being soaked, kept them from turning into a pile of mush.

Here is the 4 page brochure for the 1975 Gulfstream. It shows both the 20 and 18 footers.

Here is mine today, 30+ years later. All that you see is original except for the seat covers. Also the trailer has been sandblasted and repainted.

I will add more to this post later. 12/21/06

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

I didn't think anyone knew about gulfstream anymore, I have a 18 1/2 ft open bow, 79' it has the omc 800 and a chevy 305. it is a solid boat. I am probly the third owner, original engine and drive, I had to recarpet and reapholster but otherwise its original. I will post picture soon, I got get a tire fixed so I will be getting it out soon. I love the boat just hate outdrive, thought about conversion, just alot of money

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

is your trailer a "V.M.? it looks like it, they are made in fresno ca, about 60 miles from me, yes they are still in business, a real heavy duty trailer

 

[Boomyal]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

I didn't think anyone knew about gulfstream anymore, I have a 18 1/2 ft open bow, 79' it has the omc 800 and a chevy 305. it is a solid boat. I am probly the third owner, original engine and drive, I had to recarpet and reapholster but otherwise its original. I will post picture soon, I got get a tire fixed so I will be getting it out soon. I love the boat just hate outdrive, thought about conversion, just alot of money

Lot of controversy on the outdrive and no doubt the fact that OMC is out of business complicates things. However, I like them. They are so much less complex than the black anchors and as mine is now 27 years old, they are very durable.

The trailer manufacturer eludes me, but I think it was made in So Cal. I have talked to them before because I need a new serial number plate for it. I'll have to check my records. It is a beefy trailer. I made the side rails out of 4' steel channel.

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

I have mine running pretty good, I had to learn how to work on the outdrive, left me stranded once in 5 yrs. water pump shaft went out, nomal. I just miss the ability to trim, I need to find a select trim unit. the 305 just purrs. I do have the original side curtains, top, walk thru bow canvas but I had to re-upholster the rest. the brochure said the weight was about 1800 lb's but mine seems alot heavier than that. I just saw you resto project, I am afraid to open mine up, my floor seems ok but a hump where the tank is, normal I guess, when I replaced the carpet the peice over the tank looks like it had been off before. I will keep an eye out for gulfstreams and try to get photos or parts

 

[Boomyal]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

I have mine running pretty good, I had to learn how to work on the outdrive, left me stranded once in 5 yrs. water pump shaft went out, nomal. I just miss the ability to trim, I need to find a select trim unit. the 305 just purrs. I do have the original side curtains, top, walk thru bow canvas but I had to re-upholster the rest. the brochure said the weight was about 1800 lb's but mine seems alot heavier than that. I just saw you resto project, I am afraid to open mine up, my floor seems ok but a hump where the tank is, normal I guess, when I replaced the carpet the peice over the tank looks like it had been off before. I will keep an eye out for gulfstreams and try to get photos or parts

Idling is what kills that water pump shaft. It vibrates with no shock absorbtion from the solid steel engine coupler. Although my boat is a '75, I yanked out the electric shift and installed the same unit you have in late '79. I just had my waterpump shaft replaced last summer. It was marginal but still operational.

Ya don't need trim on that boat, all you need is a $150 set of Smart Tabs. After all these years, they made a new boat out of mine.

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

photos of gulfstream 79'

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

guess that didnt work, gotta figure out the photobucket link

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

lets try this

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

if this doenst work this time I need help

how can I get mutliple on at one time??

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

maybe

http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o91/draftman2/

 

[Boomyal]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

Good job aerwin. Glad to have another Gulfstream posted. Now we have an 18 and a 20 footer to start our Historical Archieve with.

I also looked at your photobucket album. Dem's da seats. If you ever run across a salvage job, let me know. I don't care what condition the seats are in, just want them to be complete. Those are the widest seats with the tallest backs that you will find in that style of seat. I want a set for my BeachCraft. The whole seat assy's are shot and I'd love to have some of those fiberglass seat bases in it. They are extra neat, clean and strong. I made base extension for mine to raise then up. I hiked the driver seat up 4" and the passenger seat up 2.5". That gave me much better vision and position on the steering wheel.

Pulling the engine is a piece of cake. Pull out the rear seat panels, remove your risors, unbolt the engine from the intermediate, remove the front engine mount lags, hook you forklift to the engine, lift slightly then use you side shift to slide it out forward.:% I think your back deck is a little deeper than mine but not that much. Here is mine after installing the new engine. I'm out for a test run.

Is that vinyl on your seats or cloth? I've wanted to make a set of terrycloth covers for mine. The brown vinyl gets killer hot and they are too slippery. Yes Gulfstream did use some strange color tones. Especially the yellows and blues. My brown was not too difficult to get a non-clashing vinyl to do my seats.

Although my top does not stow away like yours, I still have it up in the garage attic. I have never had it on even having used the boat extensively on Pine Flat Lake. Always figured those tops were for wusses and old ladies.

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

the seats are vinyl. not marine grade, at the time I was on a small budget and I learned how to do some upholstery myself and got the vinyl at walmart. the back seat bases are the same as mine, I like the extentions on your seats, what did you use, I use the top when its real hot out, over 100 deg. I like to keep my kids from getting too burnt. its nice to have it tucked away though. did you add the closed loop cooling system?

 

[Boomyal]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

If you look close, you can see some seat pads that I had made, on top of the seat backs. I made those for the express purpose of sitting on top of the seats without breaking them down. I actually had those made before I made the seat blocks and added the Smart tabs. I seldom need to use them now but they still come in handy once in a while.

For the seat blocks, I used scrap glue lam beams. I cut them with a bandsaw, soaked them in Rot Doctors CPES, then painted them with 2 part automotive acrylic enamels, mixed to match. (about $10 a pint) I then screwed the seat bases to them, drilled 4 holes thru each pad and used stainless 1/4" lags to screw them to the floor. If I remove the seats, the bases come with them.

Yes, I added the closed cooling system. It is a San Juan Engineering setup out of Seattle. Being an ex-Californian, I had my first winter here sneak up on me and cracked a perfectly good block and two exhaust manis. Plus, with the enclosed system, I can now run a 180 deg thermostat, freshwater or salt. The engine likes the higher temp a lot better.

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

well we had a cold one here this last two weeks, destroyed the citrus. you can see the citrus in the background. the seat risers and cushons are a great idea. what is that bar for, a tarp?, I saw your beachcraft also, I remember seeing one or two around here a few yrs ago. there is a good salvage/ junk yard in rancho cordova, east of sacramento called rancho marine salvage or something like that. I don't think there is any in our area, matbe bakersfield or fresno. but I will keep my eye out for those seats

 

[Boomyal]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

Yeah aerwin, it is Rancho Marine Recyling. They actually listed an 18 ft Parts Boat on their site but when I called them they said it was just out for disposal. They said there were other boats sitting on top of it. It probably still had the seats in it but they weren't interested in checking.

The bar is a piece of heavy wall 3/4' aluminum pipe that I had trussed to hold up the boat cover. For many years it sat outside with it's only protection, the canvas cover. I designed it to keep water from puddling in the cover. Now I have a Costco roof over it.

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

I have seen your fiberglass skills, why don't you make a mold of the bases and make new ones that way. the rest of it is plywood and some metal, no biggie. the design could even be improved over the old ones and be made taller. there might even be a market for them. I could make a cad drawing of mine if you wanted. I am a woodworker but my fiberglass sucks. did your boat come with the ski hook? or did you put on. mine didn't have one, so I use the stern hooks.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

I would have to make some female molds to do it right and I have no experience with those, yet. I'm sure it would be a lot of work for just two seat bases. It would be a lot less hassle to just find some.

I added the tow hook a couple of years ago. Most of the boats ski miles were done off one of the stern eyes. It was always a pain. When all the tubes came along and you wanted to be able to switch ropes, it was time to go for the tow hook.

To install it, I clamped a 2 x 4 across the out side of the transom. I then scribed a line in it, using the curvature of the transom as the pattern. I cut the curve in the 2 x, then epoxy glued it inside the transom, in between the 1" stern eye blocks. I then got some heavy aluminum channel and lagged them across the stern eye blocks to the new cross member. Now when a load is placed on the tow eye, the load is spread evenly across the transom, right on thru to the stern eye reinforcing blocks.

 

[aerwin]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

I need to put one on, I really want a tower for wakeboarding and kneeboarding. man you are catching a little flak with your black anchor arn't you. LOL and there are a few posts on the gulfstream link now isn't there

 

[Boomyal]

Re: A brand that should not have died!

I need to put one on, I really want a tower for wakeboarding and kneeboarding. man you are catching a little flak with your black anchor arn't you. LOL and there are a few posts on the gulfstream link now isn't there

If you want a picture of my transom reinforcement, I'll try to get one for you. I thought I'd already taken some pictures of it but could not find them.

On the Black Anchor, yeah, they always hammer us OMC guys pretty hard. It's only because they are jealous. True, OMC is out of business and that makes it harder to find experts and sometimes parts but they were so much less complex than Mercs. As well, they turned sharper and lifted the drive further out of the water. You could change a prop sitting on your back deck. Try that with a Merc.

Hopefully, I have a friend in LA who will make a seperate post with his 18 foot Gulfstream. Then we will have an archieve of 3. No where else on the net...d