Just got my first boat! Glastron v179 starflite

[its_420]

Hi everyone, Im brand new here and was referred here by a friend. As I said above in the title I just got a boat. Its a 1972 Glastron v 179 starflite (i think might have to double check the model). Its a bit rough but its beautiful to me. I cant wait to get out on the water but I know there are things I must do first such as registering it and getting it checked out by someone. If anyone can recommend someone in southern california (Im in orange county) that would take a look at it and give me a quote that would be awesome.
The guy I traded for it said the only thing it needs is a carb tune up but I have a feeling it will need more than that to be safe for the ocean and lake. If anyone can tell me the steps to follow I would greatly appreciate it. I have never owned a boat before but have always wanted to. If you need any additional info please let me know and I will be happy to answer.
I will add some pics of her below and updating in the morning with more pics when the sun comes out.

additional info - I saw the boat on craigslist for 500 with a trailer. He said he would take trades so I offered him some of the stuff I had for sale on craigslist. At first he wanted my video camera and a cannon t50 with 2 lenses + 200 dollars. I then offered him some stuff I didnt have for sale. He ended up taking the trade for a sony handycam, cannon t50 with 2 lenses, a mountain bike, a cordless dremel tool, a mini fridge and 20 bucks for gas. I was like

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

That's a cool lookin' boat and it'll be real nice after you dump a few thousand dollars into it.

Old fiberglass boats are some of the biggest money pits on the water, but they're real spiffy when you get them all fixed up.

You should start reading in the restoration forum of this board.

http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22

 

[wellsc1]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

Appearances an be deceiving. Before making her beatiful, concentrate on her functionality and reliability first. Do a full tune up, inspect and replace lower unit oil, change water pump impeller, inspect and change engine oil, replace gasoline if it's old or questionable, replace fuel filter, check all wiring on engine and dashboard guages, and most importantly check the bilge pump, bilge fan and all fuel hoses (alcohol resistant) and water hoses (leaks inside the hull). If any hoses are stiff, brittle, dried, or cracking, replace regardless. Get my drift so you won't be adrift. Safety first.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

Welcome to iboats! That's a real classic - I love the old Glastrons. I don't live in your neck of the woods but also agree heading over to checkout the relevant restoration forums is a good idea. Is the boat running and did you take it out to see what's working and what isn't. If the "only thing" a 72 needs is some carb work you got real, real lucky. I'd want to check out the floors and stringers for rot. Transom too. Hopefully parts for the outdrive won't be an issue but I've got very limited experience outside the Mercruiser line.

You will discover this place is a terrific place and someone, somewhere, usually has the answers you are looking for.

Finally - if you are new to boating in general, do yourself and favour and take a boating safety course before you hit the water. Very important!

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

These guys have covered things pretty well ... So, nice lookin' boat. Glastron's are sharp lookers, and there's a lot of support on this forum and others for you. Hope it comes together easy & you enjoy it.

 

[Maclin]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

Looks like Volvo Penta engine and drive, you are at the right place for help with that setup for sure. Nice catch, I have a special affinity for Glastons of that era. I hope you have all good luck with it

 

[The Rooster]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

Congratulations, +1 on the boating safety course, and +1 to the friend that referred you to iboats. If it floats, you'll find answers here. Good luck !!!

 

[its_420]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

Thanks for the advice guys. I will be looking in to all suggestions and doing all boat and safety courses. I hope its not a big money pit but I am kind of expecting it will be.

I posted a heart felt reply before but it got erased when I pushed the backspace key with a lot more info , maybe tomorrow.


For the mean time here are some pics. If I am not allowed to post photobucket pics then please disregard. The forum wont let me post more than 4 or 5ish...

I have a few concerns about the boat -

Im assuming this is where I put the clamp thing with the hose to start it while its not in the water. Any suggestions on this? Is it bad to start a boat with no water running through it? Why? Im assuming water runs through this to cool the motor. Should I just wait until I get it to a professional to mess around with it? Ive seen people cleaning out their motor before like this. I started it for just 2 seconds today to make sure it would fire up and it did on the first turn of the key with no hesitation. Did I do wrong by doing that?

Is there a part missing from what you see in this picture? Should there be two of those metal arms connecting to that part above? Also the propeller spins freely is that good or bad?

This looks like its jerry rigged. My uncle said it looks like there was another piece there that was in the grooves and I agree. There are also no bolts holding it in the holes as you can see in the second picture.

This is where someone bumped in to something. The guys I got it from said it was easily repairable. Is this true or is it going to cost an arm and a leg? There are 2 right next to each other in the front of the boat (first picture is the front most part of the boat where it comes to a point and the second is about a foot to the right of it)

Does everything look complete here to you? My uncle might have said its missing something on the carb (I cant remember the name, Im not a mechanic).

 

[its_420]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

Here are some more pictures of the boat
Its missing the middle window also.

 

[its_420]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

Can someone please take a look at my 2 posts above. I could use some info. I have been reading a lot and have a semi new vocabulary so feel free to talk like I know what Im listening to. Thanks guys. Sorry to insist.

 

[sbbamafan]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

I had the same boat for about 20 years. I'm no expert but knew my way around it pretty well. Your engine looks to be the same as mine - Volvo Penta AQ130C. First - I'll try to answer your picture questions.
The first pic - yes - that is where the muffs go to run the engine out of the water. Without making me resort to a long answer - just DO NOT run your engine without either muffs or being in the water. You probably did no harm but dont push your luck.

2nd pic - no you are not missing a piece there. That is the linkage which determines the rotation of the prop. If you change sides that the rod is mounted on, it reverses the prop rotation. Do you have the cover that goes over this. You have to have this before you use the boat.

3rd pic - That support under the outdrive is not 'jerry rigged'. That is how it is supposed to be. You simply push the two sides together to remove the support when you are ready to launch. This is simply a support for the outdrive while trailering.

4th pic - Hull damage - This is the area I am least knowledgable. Fiberglass work is expensive if you have someone else do it. Not so bad if youdo it yourself - kind of depends on how good you want it to look. You can likely do a structurally good repair but it may not look to good.

5th pic - Those are Carter carbeurators. The AQ 130C had twin downdraft Solex's. Either someone put the Carters on or this might be indicative of one of the 'other' AQ 130's designations...not sure. As for something missing - you MUST have flame arresters (they look like metallic air filters but are MUCH more important. You don't want to go BOOM! I dont know Carter carbs at all but it looks like you might be missing the chokes as well.

You should do thorough tune up including oil, spark plugs, cap, rotor, points, condenser, impeller, outdrive oil, plug wires, etc. Make sure you have a fire extinguisher, and other safety related stuff before maiden voyage. This is by no means a comprehensive list but will get you off to a start. There are many other things to do...

 

[southkogs]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

EDIT: sbbamafan and posted at the same time - some repeats in here. Sorry.

Let me see if I can catch a couple of things to help out here:

First photo - those are your intakes, and yes the muffs go on there. I don't know how hard that is on that drive (looks a bit tricky). You can run your engine for a moment or two without water running through it, and you won't likely hurt it. But get into the habit of tossing the muffs on before you start up, these engines run higher RPMs than they would in a car and need to be kept cooled.

Photo #2: Need a Volvo guy there. Looks like you're missing a cover, but I've got nothing for you on the rest of it. I don't get the clamps and metal bars on the left and right at all.

Photo #3: I've got no clue.

Photos 4 & 5: Ouch. Those particular hits are in the top, and themselves don't compromise the hull. But, being on the point that whack went right down the keel. Have you had a pro take a look at it at all? It might be worth taking it to a local marina and (even if you've got to pay someone $40) have them look at it. It's fixable (plenty of restoration threads here in the forum to help), but it's a lot of work.

Photo #6: You're missing the flame arrestor on the carbs, but I'm not skilled enough to recognize more than that from a photo.

Last set - missing your middle window is not too big a deal. Mine is open most of the time anyway. The windshield supports look okay, and that's what is doing the heavy lifting.

You got it on trade, so you're in good shape so far. Figure out how much you have to put into it before you get started - then you can decide if you want to go for it. Depending on how "pristine" you want it to be you may have upwards of $5K of work to do (even doing it yourself). You may be able to get things very usable and reliable for $1,500 or so. I bought mine CHEAP and had a budget in her first year of about $2K to put things back together. Mine started out in pretty good shape, so it wasn't daunting. Even after getting a replacement stern drive, I'm still under the original budget. I'm in my second year with this boat and we'll start over the $2K mark with some work that I want to do this winter, but I probably won't hit $2,500 this year.

What I'm saying is - plan on a couple thousand dollars to get a reliable boat put together (if not more), but you may be able to do that in stages.

Hope that all helps a little.

 

[its_420]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

I had the same boat for about 20 years. I'm no expert but knew my way around it pretty well. Your engine looks to be the same as mine - Volvo Penta AQ130C. First - I'll try to answer your picture questions.
The first pic - yes - that is where the muffs go to run the engine out of the water. Without making me resort to a long answer - just DO NOT run your engine without either muffs or being in the water. You probably did no harm but dont push your luck.

Thank you very much, I needed to know that! I havnt messed with it at all yet.

2nd pic - no you are not missing a piece there. That is the linkage which determines the rotation of the prop. If you change sides that the rod is mounted on, it reverses the prop rotation. Do you have the cover that goes over this. You have to have this before you use the boat.

No I dont have a cover. Should I search for aq130c parts? Any tips on finding it?

3rd pic - That support under the outdrive is not 'jerry rigged'. That is how it is supposed to be. You simply push the two sides together to remove the support when you are ready to launch. This is simply a support for the outdrive while trailering.


haha Nice okay thanks, I was just making sure.

4th pic - Hull damage - This is the area I am least knowledgable. Fiberglass work is expensive if you have someone else do it. Not so bad if youdo it yourself - kind of depends on how good you want it to look. You can likely do a structurally good repair but it may not look to good.


I have been reading and watching videos on the subject since I joined this forum. It looks a little complicated but maybe not too difficult with a little more knowledge? I will get an estimate first before I set out and potentially ruin my boat.

5th pic - Those are Carter carbeurators. The AQ 130C had twin downdraft Solex's. Either someone put the Carters on or this might be indicative of one of the 'other' AQ 130's designations...not sure. As for something missing - you MUST have flame arresters (they look like metallic air filters but are MUCH more important. You don't want to go BOOM! I dont know Carter carbs at all but it looks like you might be missing the chokes as well.

Is there any place I can get a manual (hopefully free) or schematics to the motor. I am no mechanic but I can use it to see what I need.

You should do thorough tune up including oil, spark plugs, cap, rotor, points, condenser, impeller, outdrive oil, plug wires, etc. Make sure you have a fire extinguisher, and other safety related stuff before maiden voyage. This is by no means a comprehensive list but will get you off to a start. There are many other things to do...

Will do and I know ! It seems daunting while thinking about it all at 1 time but fun too!

EDIT: sbbamafan and posted at the same time - some repeats in here. Sorry.

Let me see if I can catch a couple of things to help out here:

First photo - those are your intakes, and yes the muffs go on there. I don't know how hard that is on that drive (looks a bit tricky). You can run your engine for a moment or two without water running through it, and you won't likely hurt it. But get into the habit of tossing the muffs on before you start up, these engines run higher RPMs than they would in a car and need to be kept cooled.


Nice yea he beat you to it but thanks for the reply.

Photo #2: Need a Volvo guy there. Looks like you're missing a cover, but I've got nothing for you on the rest of it. I don't get the clamps and metal bars on the left and right at all.

Photo #3: I've got no clue.

Photos 4 & 5: Ouch. Those particular hits are in the top, and themselves don't compromise the hull. But, being on the point that whack went right down the keel. Have you had a pro take a look at it at all? It might be worth taking it to a local marina and (even if you've got to pay someone $40) have them look at it. It's fixable (plenty of restoration threads here in the forum to help), but it's a lot of work.


No I will be taking it to the professional though soon. I better do it while I have the money lol

Photo #6: You're missing the flame arrestor on the carbs, but I'm not skilled enough to recognize more than that from a photo.


Any idea where to find them?



Last set - missing your middle window is not too big a deal. Mine is open most of the time anyway. The windshield supports look okay, and that's what is doing the heavy lifting.

You got it on trade, so you're in good shape so far. Figure out how much you have to put into it before you get started - then you can decide if you want to go for it. Depending on how "pristine" you want it to be you may have upwards of $5K of work to do (even doing it yourself). You may be able to get things very usable and reliable for $1,500 or so. I bought mine CHEAP and had a budget in her first year of about $2K to put things back together. Mine started out in pretty good shape, so it wasn't daunting. Even after getting a replacement stern drive, I'm still under the original budget. I'm in my second year with this boat and we'll start over the $2K mark with some work that I want to do this winter, but I probably won't hit $2,500 this year.


Im hoping its not going to be that much, but Im not trying to restore it . I just want to fish while its still hot. I know I will probably have to wait a while until its fixed a bit more though. [/U]




What I'm saying is - plan on a couple thousand dollars to get a reliable boat put together (if not more), but you may be able to do that in stages.

Hope that all helps a little.

 

[pmillar]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

When figuring out a budget, don't make the mistake of telling yourself you can make it back when you sell the boat. (Deferred) maintenance is sunk cost (no pun intended) and comes with the territory when you own a boat. You always hear stories of people getting great deals and making money when they sell it but it's kind of like stocks. Everyone is happy to share the story of their home runs but keeps the more common losing stories quiet. The bottom line is boats cost money. They way to recoup it is to use the boat as much as possible and have lots of fun. At least your season isn't wrapping up the way it is back here in Michigan. Enjoy your weather! (says a former Costa Mesa/Redondo Beach resident)

 

[wa_ssv197]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

Nice Starflite! You should go take a look at:
Classic Glastrons

iBoats is where you want general questions answered and CG is where all your Glastron specific info will come from.

 

[its_420]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

When figuring out a budget, don't make the mistake of telling yourself you can make it back when you sell the boat. (Deferred) maintenance is sunk cost (no pun intended) and comes with the territory when you own a boat. You always hear stories of people getting great deals and making money when they sell it but it's kind of like stocks. Everyone is happy to share the story of their home runs but keeps the more common losing stories quiet. The bottom line is boats cost money. They way to recoup it is to use the boat as much as possible and have lots of fun. At least your season isn't wrapping up the way it is back here in Michigan. Enjoy your weather! (says a former Costa Mesa/Redondo Beach resident)

I plan on fixing it up just enough to see if this is the right boat for me. I have had an offer already from it sitting in my driveway so I hope selling it wont be too hard =) What made you leave california by the way? I love the warm weather out here! Couldnt imagine not fishing for a entire winter!

Nice Starflite! You should go take a look at:
Classic Glastrons

iBoats is where you want general questions answered and CG is where all your Glastron specific info will come from.

Thank you very much for that link. I just signed up and am waiting to be verified so I can start posting! I am having trouble finding a match to my boat on there though. 1972 glastron v179 starflite. Could there be a mistype on my pink and its possibly a 1973? It looks exactly the same on the "brochure"
Thanks again!

 

[its_420]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

So I went to dmv today with a pit in my stomach. I noticed that the cf number didnt match what was on the pink slip. I was worried in my haste to buy it , I overlooked this detal and just concentrated on picking his brain about what needed to be done to it. I saw this last night and a feeling of dread came over me. I didnt even look at the guys ID to make sure it was him. I will always make sure I do this in the future with all purchases.
I got good news from dmv saying I just have to put new numbers matching the pink slip. I registered the boat and trailer for around 70 dollars. Do they send me numbers or should I just go down to west marine and get some new ones?
From what I guess is that the numbers on there now are from the guy who owned it before him and he failed to put new numbers on when he got the paperwork? I dont know. What do you guys think? The lady that did it had to ask her neighbor lady to help about 3 times . I dont think she has many boats going through there so I cant really be sure what to think.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

Just a tip: you are now asking a lot of engine/drive questions. The best answers for these are in the Volvo I/O repair section so I'd recommend posting there. You are also now asking DMV questions with no location specified in your profile. One would have to read the whole thread to see you're from CA.

 

[its_420]

Re: Just got my first boat!

Re: Just got my first boat!

So today I went and got the flame arrestors and a shift linkage cover. FINALLY!! I found a guy 20 min from me with a bot junk yard type place. Its called outboard exchange in costa mesa. They literally have hundreds if not thousands of outdrives and parts for them.
He had a brand new shift linkage cover and a box of flame arrestors (most were too big for my boat). Grand total of $170 for 2 flame arrestors and shift linkage cover!!! Now I just need to find the bolt/screws that hold on the flame arrestors and maybe get a 1/4 in shorter bolt for the linkage cover and Im set.

Oh I also got a bilge pump , cf numbers and new impeller yesterday. Going to try to pressure test the water pump to see if I have any leaks.