My First Boat(1984 Rinker 19') Need Help Getting it started.

[chicubs08]

I just bought my first boat. It's a 1984 Rinker open bow, 19'. It has a Mercruiser 140, 181 cid ,3.0L,4 Cylinder. The guy i bought it from had it running 2 years ago. He told me i needed to rebuild the carb because the float was sticking. The carb is off the boat now. I just bought the rebuild kit and a friend of mine is going to rebuild it. What else should i change on the boat? Can you please give me a list of things i need to replace before taking it on the water for the first time. Also there is a soft spot on the floor by the ski locker. Should i change the plywood with regular plywood or do i need a special plywood. Thanks for your help.

 

[danond]

Re: My First Boat(1984 Rinker 19') Need Help Getting it started.

Yikes. Your todo list is going to be very, very long, I'm afraid.

Soft spots in the floor indicate rot. If you have a rotten floor, there's a good chance you have rotten stringers and transom. You need to determine the condition of all those things. Take core samples with a drill bit, see what the wood looks like inside. Rotten = replace.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: My First Boat(1984 Rinker 19') Need Help Getting it started.

As dan said. And , yes you should use marine grade plywood. But what ever plywood you use, if you coat it in resin, that will keep the water from getting to it. Just be sure to seal any hole that you drill into it.
There should be some posts on here about replacing rotten floors and stringers.

Interestingly, the second boat we owned when I was a kid was a 1983 Renken 19'. But it had a 260hp 350 in it!