my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

[f4milym4n]

ok I got this boat with trailer and registration for a straight trade of my 1000 dollar quad. good trade for me in my opinion.

the boat is in fair condition however I can see that is needs some TLC. the guy said all it needed was a new leaky fuel line which i replaced but I cant start it up till i get to the lake.

My question to you experts is what should I be checking and or replacing motor/mechanical to get this thing tip top. I know that is a long range question. But what should be the first things I check before heading to the water.

Thanks for any help.

 

[zopperman]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

points... carbs... plugs... dist. cap... fuel pump diaphragm

I'd be concerned about the floor, transom and stringers.... how are they?

 

[f4milym4n]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

the wood floor in the center of the boat is old and shot. that is gonna be the first thing to replace. that seems to be the only floor portion and it needs new wood. transom now i dont know how to tell if its bad. if thats the back of the boat where the motor hangs off of, it looks as is if there has been added sheet metal to support the motor. I dont know what stingers are.

 

[zopperman]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

Oh no, bud. Soft spots in the floor are indicative or rotten stringers and a rotten transom and likely waterlogged foam. I'd post up a bunch of pics in the restoration forum. Cadwelder is our resident bass boat guy. He will know MUCH more than me. I know NOTHING about bass boats, but I can tell you what I THINK based on how your rig LOOKS.

Stringers are beams that run stern-bow under the deck and support it and the hull. The transom is the motor mount.

The way to test for rot is to drill core samples out. Drill in with a 1/4" drill bit and check the shavings. dark and wet = rotten and needs to be replaced. Drill into the floor, the transom, everywhere in 5 or 6 spots and check for rot. A sheet of metal to brace the transom is a band aid.

I don't want to scare you, again, I know NOTHING about bass boats... but replacing that floor looks much easier than replacing the floor in my 18' bowrider.. The transom might be difficult, but I would take the core samples BEFORE getting worked up or jumping to conclusions. I'm passing along what I've learned from these forums..

Is there any flex in the transom if you shake the motor?

Rot is the cancer of boats... Post up thread in teh restoration section saying its your first boat and the flor is shot and ETC. Try to get some more pics if you can.

Good luck.

 

[zopperman]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

I would also start reading up on "Rotten transom" and "rotten Stringers" to see what the replacement entails.
AGain, nothing is certain till you take core samples.
http://www.chryslercrew.com/ will give you more info.

Also, the motor with the power trim and the trailer are EASILY worth 1000 dollars...

 

[f4milym4n]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

thanks for the info zopper. where should I exactly be drilling to take the core samples. i went out and moved the engine around to see if the transom flexed and it looked like it didnt move a smidge. but i would like to take some samples.

 

[zopperman]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

Definitely a good choice. If you drill through, probably in 3-4 spots, randomly sample... different heights. Make sure you chekc the bottom. Does the transom have an inner fiberglass skin that you can access from the bilge? Also, I would sample the floor. Can you get a few pics and explain the "old shot" area?

 

[f4milym4n]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

I will definitely get some good pics of the concern areas in the morning. the floor looks to be just old and shot from rain or what not. but i tend to pull the carpet and wood from it soon.

 

[zopperman]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

Is there fiberglass under the carpet? I'll look at your thread tomorrow.. it's approaching my bed time, but I would sincerely suggest contacting a moderator and moving it to the restoration section...

or starting a new one.

either way I'll be following it and helping when I can. I was in your position not too long ago..

 

[f4milym4n]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

ok zopper ill reply here until i get a mod to move the thread. but under the carpet was wood. and under the wood was water>waterlogged foam>wildlife> and i could just tell it was not a pretty site. of course my camera ate the dust so i cant get you a pic yet. but im sure you know what im talking about. should i just ditch the boat, sell the motor and trailer or your opinion?
I can probably restore this from the looks of the help on these forums.

 

[zopperman]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

If I (a 19 year old college student with no prior fiberglass experience) can do it, I think you definitely can restore this boat, ESPECIALLY with the help of the great people here on iboats That sound slike my boat. I had a tree growing in it. Basically, it boils down to, out with the old, in with the new. The waterlogged foam all needs to go and can get replaced with pink or blue closed cell foam from lowes or HD (see my resto thread for info).

It will probably be close to 1500 dollars to do a complete overhaul. So far in my rebuild, I've spend about 500, but I'm NOT doing teh stringers or transom, just the deck and interior.The boat might not be very valuable afterwards, or a showpiece, but it will be something you and your family can have fun on for YEARS AND YEARS to come.

How'd the transom core samples come out? I'm going to PM Cadwelder and see if he might be able to help you some.

Keep the updates coming!

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

Hey, Zoop ask me to chime in here. The main thing I see is the age and style. This is a 33 year old boat...if you have to sink a couple thousand into it...well see where I'm going. Now if you just want a project...then sounds like you have it.

Take the samples as Zoop said and let's see just what we have....keep your fingers crossed.

Also I see possible engine problems...I would let the engine guys get you running good first.

Good luck....we'll help anyway we can...Nothing you'll run into that we can't get you thru.

CW

 

[f4milym4n]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

ok jus got done doing the samples. looks like on the transom we have black wet sample at the bottom. dry half way up and dry at top.. the stringers are def jacked and bad

 

[zopperman]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

Yep.. just as was feared.. Sorry to hear than bud. I would Start thinking about what YOU want. Cadwelder is 100% right, there's nothing you can't do without the help of the forum!!

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

ok jus got done doing the samples. looks like on the transom we have black wet sample at the bottom. dry half way up and dry at top.. the stringers are def jacked and bad

Not good news, but as we suspected that....let us know where we can help.

 

[snwwlkr]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

Your post doesn't say where you live but for many the boating season is not year round. A few may not agree but...I have seen, have had and have done various things to a boat floor so I could use it for the summer and then back it into the garage or whatever and tackle the project during the cold months. i.e. My past boat had a few pieces of sheet metal over the soft spots and I continued to get further use out of it before I pulled the floor later. Transom support of various methods can be used as long as the rot is not very bad. My next project, an old Glastron CVX-16 has a 3/16 piece of sheet metal bent over the transom from previous owner for a little extra help. I can see minor old rot but it feels very solid. A good way to tell is lock your motor in the up position and do some lifting and pushing down to see if you're getting much or any transom flex.. If your floor foam is seriously water logged though that could be a major floor issue in itself and that stuff needs to come out. No matter what try and get everything in the dry and dried out. Again dont push it past the safe point but these things may buy you a little time for now. Make no mistake pulling the floor or transom is going to be a project though not bad is does take a good bit of time which for many gets into months and months......

 

[zopperman]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

Your post doesn't say where you live but for many the boating season is not year round. A few may not agree but...I have seen, have had and have done various things to a boat floor so I could use it for the summer and then back it into the garage or whatever and tackle the project during the cold months. i.e. My past boat had a few pieces of sheet metal over the soft spots and I continued to get further use out of it before I pulled the floor later. Transom support of various methods can be used as long as the rot is not very bad. My next project, an old Glastron CVX-16 has a 3/16 piece of sheet metal bent over the transom from previous owner for a little extra help. I can see minor old rot but it feels very solid. A good way to tell is lock your motor in the up position and do some lifting and pushing down to see if you're getting much or any transom flex.. If your floor foam is seriously water logged though that could be a major floor issue in itself and that stuff needs to come out. No matter what try and get everything in the dry and dried out. Again dont push it past the safe point but these things may buy you a little time for now. Make no mistake pulling the floor or transom is going to be a project though not bad is does take a good bit of time which for many gets into months and months......

You can do this.. it's just not safe and i'd be owrried to run the motor at WOT. The season is almost over any way.. might as well not risk it and just get started

 

[f4milym4n]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

so i pulled the beast into the garage and started to wetvac and rip her up. its a tri hull so the stringers or from mid boat to the back but i think so be the safest and to do it right i should just pull the cap off and re-do the whole bottom along with the transom. It just makes me so angry to see the rigging people do to get buy this crap is unbelievable. anyhow. I rebuilt and customized a vehicle just from a forum and from the looks of it I Will be able to tackle this with no problems----little problems. Hopefully a mod will move this to resto side. I will start posting pics. Today i got the carpet out, motor off, seats, and other junk. thanks for the help so far and I will keep everyone up to date with this. thanks again.

 

[zopperman]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

Great start up... Pulling the cap would be a good idea. wish I had for my current project. Did on the last one, world of difference. be prepared to drop another 200 bucks on a new rub rail.. MAKE SURE you take safety precautions with fiberglass. I'm still peeling resin off my hands from last night. respirator when grinding/mixing ETC. start cutting out the floor and stringers and lets see those pics!

On my old caravelle you really had to pull the cap to access teh transom.. you could cut it, some people do that, btu I had a much easier time pulling the whole thing. I'd post a pic, but it's late.

 

[snwwlkr]

Re: my 1st boat *78 Chrysler Bass Runner

No turning back now .. I do understand and its actually a very cool thing and great sense of accomplishment to bring something back from disrepair, not everyone can do it. Its much easier in this society to just throw it away or buy a new one. Not knowing your boats state of disrepair I was just throwing out a few options before. I guess what I'm saying is a lot of people including myself can totally underestimate the time it takes to tackle such a project so unless you're unemployed or have a lot of time you can devote after work, evenings and weekends it can take quite a while before you're backing it down the boat ramp again.

Sometimes I wonder which one I enjoy more, the refurbing or the actual boating more..? Ha.. Talk about crazy crap people do, my current project (17' deep vee fiberglass ski boat) had thick pile indoor shag carpet on the floor. Good luck and enjoy, sounds like you've got the mind set to handle it for sure..

Looking closer it looked like your boat has a AZ in the reg #.. Are you in Arizona? What size motor is that? Lots of awesome info on this site, its helped me tons.....