Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

[mtsumedi]

I got a free boat this weekend. It's a Late 60's (66 or 67) Riviera. I got the boat w/ title and trailer although the title won't be available for a couple of weeks.

The hull is in nice shape as well as the window glass and aluminum framing. The deck needs to be pulled out and redone as well as some transom work on which I am going to tackle on my own. It's not too bad but I am 270lbs and feel some weak areas so out it comes. I am pretty mechanical so I think I should be able to do a sufficient deck rebuild. This will give me the opportunity to put a live well and stationary fuel cell in it as well as getting all of the wiring I would need to do out of the way.

It's rated up to a 70hp outboard and I have my eyes set on an Evinrude 60 that I will be buying from a friend. Apparently that motor is in good running order so that should have me set up.

The HIN on this one is RVR14324M79A and I cannot find any info on this boat at all. NADA doesn't have any record of RVR as an HIN prefix.

The last boat I had was a 1985 Bayliner Capri 1600 with an 85 Force outboard. This older boat was put together much better than that Bayliner.

Tell me what you think.

 

[HyperFox]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

Well she needs some work but free stuff is better then payin for it! Score!

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

He! He! He! Silly naieve boy! There is no such thing as a free boat. If you have not read it in the forum before, BOAT stands for Bust Out Another Thousand. LOL

I've had my share of free boats and always enjoyed fixin' em up. Sounds like you will too. Good luck and have fun.

 

[azlakes]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

... congrats , you'll be an expert once this vessel gets up on a plane! Whats your time frame?

 

[guy74]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

A little info on your free boat.

Free HIN Check Results
HIN: RVR14324M79A
Model Year: 1979
Certification Year: 1979 (August)
Manufacturer: RIVIERA FIBER CORP
Not your manufacturer? Click here.
Manufacturer City/State: RIVIERA BEACH FL
It looks like a good start, wish mine was that good when I got it.
Goodluck,
Brian

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

Looks like it has potential! If you are going to rip the floor out and redo the transom, it would makes sense to do the stringers at the same time.

Have fun with it!

 

[mtsumedi]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

A little info on your free boat.

Free HIN Check Results
HIN: RVR14324M79A
Model Year: 1979
Certification Year: 1979 (August)
Manufacturer: RIVIERA FIBER CORP
Not your manufacturer? Click here.
Manufacturer City/State: RIVIERA BEACH FL
It looks like a good start, wish mine was that good when I got it.
Goodluck,
Brian

Thanks for the info. The guy who gave it to me told me on the phone it was a 66 or 67 model and I haven't actually seen the title yet because when it was given to them the wife had signed it and not had it changed over through the state. They went in yesterday to do that and will let me know when the title arrives.

I was wondering if it was a 1979 because of that 79 at the end of the HIN.

In the end I know it's not free, but it will keep my mind occupied for a while and I will end up learning a bunch from it. So regardless if it ever makes the water under my ownership or not, I will be learning and therefore happy about it.

 

[mtsumedi]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

Looks like it has potential! If you are going to rip the floor out and redo the transom, it would makes sense to do the stringers at the same time.

Have fun with it!

Yeah, I had thought about doing that too. I just bought a book on half.com about runabout renovation. Between that and this site I should be okay.

... congrats , you'll be an expert once this vessel gets up on a plane! Whats your time frame?

I would like it to see water by early Summer but I work 50 hours a week or so so we will see. I am not going to touch it until I get the title in my hand.

 

[guy74]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

It looks like it has alot of potential. What do you plan on doing with it; fishing, water sports, or whatever? How long is it, I have a Glastron V156, which is a 15.5 ft trihull. We had a 60hp motor on it for the first 3 years, it worked great, just lacked a little grunt for skiing big guys on slalom, but other wise it was enough to push it close to 35 mph. I wish my boat had that nice flat transom, would make adding accessories like a boarding ladder alot easier. I hope you have a good time fixing it up and more fun with it once you get it on the water.

 

[mtsumedi]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

It looks like it has alot of potential. What do you plan on doing with it; fishing, water sports, or whatever? How long is it, I have a Glastron V156, which is a 15.5 ft trihull. We had a 60hp motor on it for the first 3 years, it worked great, just lacked a little grunt for skiing big guys on slalom, but other wise it was enough to push it close to 35 mph. I wish my boat had that nice flat transom, would make adding accessories like a boarding ladder alot easier. I hope you have a good time fixing it up and more fun with it once you get it on the water.

It's a 15ft tri hull but my buddy was telling me that the center V was more prominent than a lot of other tri hulls. I think the 60hp will suffice. my Bayliner would only do 30mph so if I can get this thing up to 35 then I will be really hauling. Besides, gas is too expensive right now to be getting something that will burn it up quicker.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

here's a great thread, and good pictures. clik the enter at bottom right

http://70silverline.250free.com/Skankybeast.html

 

[Lakester]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

... congrats , you'll be an expert once this vessel gets up on a plane! Whats your time frame?

and no doubt u will be a high ranking officer here on the iboats forum...

heck to it all...

a free boat is like a free lunch, rare , but sweet!

have fun and keep us posted!!

regards,
lakester

 

[guy74]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

I think the 60hp will suffice. my Bayliner would only do 30mph so if I can get this thing up to 35 then I will be really hauling. Besides, gas is too expensive right now to be getting something that will burn it up quicker.

Yeah, the economy of ours was pretty good with the 60 on it, but the 100hp we put on it gets close to the same at the same speed. Had to run the 60 at WOT to ski the bigger guys, the 100 does it at a little more than half, so they burn about the same doing the same work. When I run it out at WOT now the GPH goes way up compared to the 60, but it runs over 50mph now. We ski with ours over 90% of the time. The 60hp had it's tounge hanging out after three hours of skiing, running 6000 rpms at WOT most of the time. If you don't plan to ski much behind it the 60hp will do you a good job.

 

[pine island fred]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

Congratulations on your new boat. I am certain you will enjoy. Believe it was made in TAMPA. My understanding is that 2 brothers were in the building business and split up divvying up the molds. One brother HANS and his wife still put them together in RIVIERA BEACH FL. Its a 2 person operation as the liability insu. with fiberglass is to expensive for them to hire any help. They build 16-18-20 ft. models.
JENSENS marina on CAPTIVA has about 10 they use for rentals, 18 ft. with 90 4 stroke SUZUKIES. Saw that and I figured if it was a good hull design for rentals it was good enough for me. They put me in touch with HANS and I had him build me one about 3 yrs. ago. I made a good decision as I find it perfect for the shallow waters in PINE ISLAND SOUND. One thing I found out is be sure not to overpower it. Also, just about the same boat as yours comes down the canal at times so they must have been popular back then in the 70s. regards FRED

 

[mtsumedi]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

here's a great thread, and good pictures. clik the enter at bottom right

http://70silverline.250free.com/Skankybeast.html

Wow. I would like to sit and pick his brain for about a year.

 

[Lakester]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

here's a great thread, and good pictures. clik the enter at bottom right

http://70silverline.250free.com/Skankybeast.html

t's daddy,

is that ur boat? projects?

i did enjoy the site. my 2nd visit. now in favorites. the Lakester Special is a gennie 1971 SILVERLINE speedboat, all original in most ways. from the walk-thru skiff windshield to the 3-way recliner seats to include the original aft binnicle curtain. she also has the original metal trim for the control harness thru hull and the thru hull trim for the steering. she still sports the original bow rails and the side horn and white and green/amber night running lights. i am not sure, but i am thinking she is a catalina, maybe a comoro. i will have to take a close look at the build plate located by the hydro controls... i also like its port side glove box. in the brochure pix of the catalina u can see the aft wooden trim interior panels and they are there in great shape on both port and starboard sides. yup!, even has the non-skid seats in the fwd compartment...

the old orginal 71 brochure was loads of fun to take a look at.

thanks again!

regards,
lakester

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

He's sayin' yay now, but wait 3 months til he's pulled the stringers and transom... he'll be cursing the one who gave him this boat.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

Lakester, no that is Jason J 's project boat. he did this project on it, then totally redid it, to better meet his fishing needs. Jason J is a member of the forum. look him up. he did a great job documenting his projects, and it has help many others here on the forum.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

when you start the project post your question here: http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=22

 

[Mark42]

Re: Flyyyyy Hiiiiigh...Freeeee Booooaaat Yeeaah!

Neat little boat. I really like small boats because they are so much fun to drive.

Well the free part is over. Time to start spending the bucks to get it in shape. Its really fantastic that the windshield is glass and all together. That alone is a major $$$ saver.

BTW, Have you thought of tracking your project on shareaproject.com? Check out my MFG on shareaproject in the links in my signature below.

Good luck and keep us posted.