Am I crazy or will this seriously work? Tri Sonic 1970 Remodel

[Arkitorture]

Ok, here is the deal pickel. I was give free of charge a vintage 1970 Tri Sonic boat this weekend. Once it arrived I was soon to discover this boat might have seen better days. The 150 hp Mercrusier Engine was a complete bucket of rust and the underlayment wood have been wet and rotting for some time. So this is what I am thinking of doing. I pretty much spent most of the day ripping up the fiberglass covering on the floor and pulling up a bunch of rotted wood. I also completely took apart the inboard of the engine and most of it is in peices next to the boat. My thoughts were pretty simple. I want to redo the floor with some new plywood and then waterproof the entire things and the put down some lovey turf green carpet. As for the engine, I thought I would re-enforce the back of this boat and cut into the fiber glass at the top and hook up a good old outboard engine and all the goodies? Does anyone thing I am totally going to waste my time on this project? The hull looks to be in good shape and the trailer did transport the boat a good 40 miles? There used to be a 150hp in it when it was an inboard outboard do I need the same hp in a outboard engine? I would like to ski behind it but going 60 isn't a must. 30 35 tops would be great. Anyway, again, I figure I could get most of this completed in a few weekends and then start looking for a motor. Any advice would be much apreciated.

Thanks, Matt

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: Am I crazy or will this seriously work? Tri Sonic 1970 Remodel

do a search for sterndrive to outboard conversions. they have been done, but they arent really a beginner project.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Am I crazy or will this seriously work? Tri Sonic 1970 Remodel

I'd say scrap this boat.

1. You don't have a motor.

2. You want an outboard, or to at least turn this into one.

3. It will need far more work than you think.


Find something that needs less money and time to be usable, you should be able to find something with a running motor and in better condition for not much money.

 

[Lightnig]

Re: Am I crazy or will this seriously work? Tri Sonic 1970 Remodel

I'm with ondarvr on this one, unless you have a reason to keep this particular boat, find a different project...

And don't think that you'll save money fixing up this one over buying something in better shape, trust me - you won't

 

[boatflipper]

Re: Am I crazy or will this seriously work? Tri Sonic 1970 Remodel

I'm with ondarvr on this one, unless you have a reason to keep this particular boat, find a different project...

And don't think that you'll save money fixing up this one over buying something in better shape, trust me - you won't

I agree with the last two posts. If you are looking for something to be working in a month at the most, I would try and find something for a thousand bucks or something (cause that's easily what you will spend on this baby, if not more!) So...you could even push this thing over in the corner and work on it as you get the money.
Good Luck

 

[Mark42]

Re: Am I crazy or will this seriously work? Tri Sonic 1970 Remodel

Yeah, I say scrap it because its a rotten boat of no great value, and the cost to rebuild it and convert to out board will be much more than just buying a running boat that needs minor work.

Think of it this way: Do you want to spend a lot of money and time and just end up sitting in a dry docked boat, or spend the money on another boat and the time out on the water?