boats on a budget

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

I spent the day today getting the boat ready, I cut some temporary floor boards, took the boat and motor over to a friends house, (he knows outboards better then I do) we fired it up in his driveway, and it ran good, about 3 pulls of the starter rope and it started, and then on the first pull there after.

it's now ready to go, so tomorrow is the day.

I'm not real sure about the trailer, with the boat. motor an gear on it, the springs squish out pretty good, so I may have to do something to beef up the trailer, it almost looks like it's overloaded, it's got about 300 pounds sitting on it and my guess was that it should be rated for at least 600 from the way it's built, so I don't know.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

We took the boat out today for a shake down cruise, we ran it loaded with 3 people and picnic gear and it did about 14 MPH and would not come up on plane, I ran it with just me in it, no kids and no picnic stuff and it came right up on plane and would do about 20 MPH, so I'm happy with the outboard, it's a very nice running outboard.

I got some pictures of the kids and I at the island we beached the boat at for the picnic, while not the greatest pictures, it's still something to look at, we also got an added treat when we got to watch an old Stinson Station Wagen take off, what an impressive airplane, all in all, we had a great day on the river, the temptures were in the 60's the water was calm, we ran the boat for a good 7 hours or so, and used 3 gallons of fuel, so it's pretty ecanomical to operate.

I had the boat inspected by the county sherif, he said everything looked good but the title has been flaged, for what reason he didn't know, but told me to call the marine board on monday and get find out why, I haven't changed the title over to my name yet, and am hoping I'm not going to have any issues with it, I guess I'll have to wait til monday to see why the title has been flaged.

Stuart

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: boats on a budget

good pics, bow line looks fine. just watch for chafing.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

I ran the boat again today, didn't have a bit of trouble with it, it seems like a nice combination, I can see a lot of things I'm going to want to do to it.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

here's a couple more pictures of the boat, I called the marine board today, the flag on the title was a flag to show that the boat had been sold and the title hasn't been changed over yet, so all is good with the title. which means I can continue working on it, next step, seal and paint the interior, then I can run the electrical, get better placement for the fuel tank and battery, ect.

it ran so well this weekend, I was impressed, the little Evinrude idled down so low, in gear the boat wouldn't even move, one pull of the rope and it was running, so I think it's a good match.

I'm going to keep my eye out for an old 50-ish Evinrude, or maybe older, I want to get an antique outboard, I think it would be fun to tinker with, plus that boat is a good candidate to run one on.

I had my kids in it on Saturday, Sunday I took another friend out in it, it handled the water really well, it seemed very stable, we got into a channel that was really low, I could clearly see the bottom of the river, so I think it's going to make a nice shallow water boat.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: boats on a budget

this one would be sweet but shipping would kill you

"http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1958-Johnson-10-hp-Beautifully-Restored-Outboard_W0QQitemZ300168841800QQihZ020QQcategoryZ111123QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

this one would be sweet but shipping would kill you

"http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1958-Johnson-10-hp-Beautifully-Restored-Outboard_W0QQitemZ300168841800QQihZ020QQcategoryZ111123QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"

that seller has two of them. the price on the other one is way up there, sweet motors though, that's about what I'd like to find, anything from a 5HP to a 15 or 20HP ...heck, I'm not picky, I'd take anything

Now I want to load my boat up with some camping gear and head out this coming weekend, it's got me fired up now, I was going to work on it some more and start painting the inside, but, uh, well, my truck kind of broke down today, so I need to fix it in the next couple of days, then I'll start back in on the boat.

 

[jspringator]

Re: boats on a budget

My outboard book, "Cheap Outboards", by Max Wawrzyniak, recommends 1955 to 1957 in 10 hp OMC's. There was a recoil starter improvement in 1956. Apparently, in 1958 they switched to a less stout lower unit, which ran until 1964. Then they switched to the low profile units in 1965, which have stout lower units, but are harder to work on because they are low profile.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

My outboard book, "Cheap Outboards", by Max Wawrzyniak, recommends 1955 to 1957 in 10 hp OMC's. There was a recoil starter improvement in 1956. Apparently, in 1958 they switched to a less stout lower unit, which ran until 1964. Then they switched to the low profile units in 1965, which have stout lower units, but are harder to work on because they are low profile.

I was looking for something out of the mid 50's, I like the looks of them, I was just doing an internet search on Evinrude and found some nice stuff going back to 1909, I just have this craving to get an old motor, I think it would be fun to tinker with.

I still have a long ways to go with the boat, but I need to get the inside stripped and painted before I go any further, so I may do that in the next few days. I'm not going to have a whole lot to post here until I get going on the inside.

 

[beerrun]

Re: boats on a budget

The boat and trailer look great. Its been fun following your progress. Looks like the kids had a blast too.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: boats on a budget

55 and newer have a better parts support system.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

55 and newer have a better parts support system.

I want to find something that I can make reliable enough to be able to trust it out on the water for a days outing.

the boats rated for up to 20HP, but with the 10 on it now, it moves along pretty good, I'd almost think that a 20 would be to much for the boat.

I did figure out how I want to do the stick steering, I want to place it in front of the middle seat, at seat center and have it operate like the stick in an airplane, ie: moving the stick left, make the boat go left, and moving it right, will make it go right. I can do it through a cable, and that friend that helped me get the motor going has a lathe, and I can get him to turn me out a pretty nice looking stick.

I need to get my truck fixed first, then I'll go back to work on the boat, I'm waiting for the truck parts to show up now.

as far as the length of the lower unit on the outboard in relation to the length of the transom, this last weekend, when we were out running the boat, when we were on plane, I looked down at the lower unit, and noticed that the cavitation plate was planing on top of the water, the water came to the bottom side of the plate, which I think is where it should be, I've never looked at the starcraft to see where the cavitation plate rides on that motor, but I'd guess it to be the same. I did notice that you can forget about doing any high speed turns with the 12 foot boat, when the boat tips, the motor will lift out of the water and start screaming, so you have to slow down if you want to make a sharp turn, you can't do a sharp turn at high speed when the boat is on plane, it will do the turn, and holds the turn pretty well, but it does lift the motor out of the water.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

The boat and trailer look great. Its been fun following your progress. Looks like the kids had a blast too.

the kids loved it, that's the whole purpose of the boat, we had a blast on the water last weekend, I have no idea why the pictures came out as bad as they did, those were taken with a 3.2 mega-pixel camera, and it normally takes a lot better pictures then that.

 

[kwikk9]

Re: boats on a budget

Fascinating restoration, Mr. Stuart. I "extended" my lunch hour a bit today so I could read the whole thread. Wish I had your patience.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

Fascinating restoration, Mr. Stuart. I "extended" my lunch hour a bit today so I could read the whole thread. Wish I had your patience.

thanks for reading the thread, but who said I was patient? I want this all done yesterday, well, as with any restoration, I think at some point, we all want them to be done and over with, this is a "fix it while using it" type of restoration, I honestly think I'm going to find more uses for this boat then the starcraft, but I don't want to "lay it up" or "disable it" while I work on it, I want to be able to use it, I'm still trying to do it on the cheap, but sometimes you just need to get them out on the water and try them out before you can really decide how you want to go about fixing them up, as for this boat, I think at this point, I'm going to go with my original plan for the outside and shine it up, get a good glossy aluminum finish on it. I did get a couple of "nice looking old boat" comments while I had it out this weekend, that made me feel good like I was doing something right with it.

as for throttle and shifting controls, I'm not sure what I'm going to need when I get to that point, or what will work with this outboard, but when I get to that point, I'm sure you guys will have some good suggestions that will work.

I have access to a sheet metal brake, so as for as a mount for the stick steering, I got that covered, I'll make the mount out of aluminum.

I think that as soon as I get the inside painted up, I'll be able to go to town on the rest of it and get it finished up, I'm kinda stalling on stripping and painting the inside because I'm not quite sure what I'm doing in that department yet, I need to settle on a stripping process, sealer, paint, and color, and go from there.

the interior will have dark wood grained seats and wood work in it, my truck is red, the trailer is red, I had thought about doing the interior of the boat red, but I'm not sure if that would look right or not, so one question I have for everyone one is, given the truck and trailer is red, and I would like something that "sorta" matches, do you people have any color ideas? share them, I'm all ears ..er, or in this case, eyes.

 

[jspringator]

Re: boats on a budget

If your boat is rated for a 20hp, you may consider a 22CU OMC. Their run began as an 18hp in 1957, and was produced in different horsepowers (18, 20, 25) until 1976. The Evinrude varient was known as a Fastwin 18. I think the early 60's Rude Fastwin is particularly attractive. Lightweight, and parts are plentiful.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

If your boat is rated for a 20hp, you may consider a 22CU OMC. Their run began as an 18hp in 1957, and was produced in different horsepowers (18, 20, 25) until 1976. The Evinrude varient was known as a Fastwin 18. I think the early 60's Rude Fastwin is particularly attractive. Lightweight, and parts are plentiful.

I'm kind of scouting around for something from 20HP down, unless it's a smoking deal, I probably won't get one for a while, I still have a lot of stuff to do to the boat before I'm done with it, I was thinking about tearing out the woodwork tomorrow and getting the inside ready to paint, not sure yet how I'm going to get the woodwork out because everything is screwed in and there's layers upon layers of paint over the screws to the point that you can't hardly see the heads of the screws, I'll probably start by grinding them off.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: boats on a budget

I used a drill and drill bit on my Thunder Craft Ski boat to get rid of the old screws. There wasn't a stainless steel or aluminum screw on on that boat. Just imagine the fun I had. And if you have a dremel tool handy this may also help. When you get ready for the motor, try this site "http://www.smalloutboards.com" . Down here in Bama you can only dream of a 20 to 25 hp motor, they are hard to come by, I need one for my 13fter but can't afford one at this time.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: boats on a budget

I used a drill and drill bit on my Thunder Craft Ski boat to get rid of the old screws. There wasn't a stainless steel or aluminum screw on on that boat. Just imagine the fun I had. And if you have a dremel tool handy this may also help. When you get ready for the motor, try this site "http://www.smalloutboards.com" . Down here in Bama you can only dream of a 20 to 25 hp motor, they are hard to come by, I need one for my 13fter but can't afford one at this time.

those motors are showing up on the local craigslist here the portland area quite often, the last one I saw was for something like $125, it was a couple of weeks ago, there's another one in there today.
I don't think shipping that stuff is as expensive as they charge for them through sites like eBay, can't you split one in two, and ship them in a couple of boxes? The head or upper unit in one, and the lower unit in another box? That’s my thinking, if I was going to sell one, (which I'm not) that's how I'd ship it. I do a lot of buying and selling on eBay; I just haven't tried buying or selling an outboard yet

there was one in Minnesota I saw for $35, but the guy didn't want to ship it, it was about a 1955 evinrude with a bad impeller, if I find something like that around here, I'm going to dive on it.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: boats on a budget

I don't think the people or companies would go through the trouble to break the motor down to ship it, most of the time I believe they crate ship the motors in one piece, I could be wrong. I do see allot of 20hp or smaller run through that site that I mentioned. I had a chance at an 18 horse tiller steer evinrude a little while back for $200 OBO I should of took the trip to look at it and offered him $150 to see if he would bite then converted it into a console steer. I wished I could find or afford those deals your talking about, I would buy them all day long. Had a chance at a 40hp McCaula for $200 OBO a few weeks back. I know where there are 2 35hp Evinrudes just across the road my uncle has for a decent price but I'm not ready for that size motor myself. My current project boat has a 85hp evinrude that I basically bought (a different boat) and all for $450 basically for the motor. Don't mean to hog the thread, but good luck on the project, interesting chatting with you.