OK, so I have been lurking here for a few months; learning all I can. Last Fall, I bought my first Starcraft. I have had a love for the 16ss for a while. In my area, what I really wanted: a Mariner.....is almost unattainable. I live in Oregon's Rogue Valley. Here, alloy center consoles are jet powered river boats. While I would love to....I'm just cheap!
I'm also pretty experienced in running said jet boats. Enough to know I don't really want to feed one (local gas is $4.20 for REGULAR today!. So, a 16ss was just what the doctor ordered...
Problem is, they are still kinda hard to find. The one here is a Central Cal import. I took a chance on it, since it had some new parts I could sell and appeared to be fairly corrosion free (desert boat). It also had a really clean VRO Johnson 30....needless to say the motor was a blind guess.....but I figured, if it worked, it was a bonus. Hadn't been run in at least 10 years. The PO got it from a friend's father's estate that long before, tore out the sun rotted seats, and lost motivation. Gas totally dry, no battery, etc.....Guy wouldn't budge at all on the price. Guess he figured is I drove 300 miles with cash, I was a likely owner! He figured right, but jeez! At least inflate the price a little to make me feel like I'm dealing.....
Of course, I bought it. How could I not?
Bought two new tires to replace the sun-rotted original (bias-plys with tubes!) Tire store let me use a grease gun to blast as much grease in to the petrified bearing buddies as I could. Beat the coupler until it almost fit (PO bent the heck out of it backing in his driveway); then tied a rope to simulate the missing safety chain. (Shoulda thought to bring that kind of stuff! Couldn't get it local....everwhere was closed! Rrrrr.
Made it the 300 miles back home though. Bearings were hot enough when I stopped to check them that I opted to do a little less than the speed limit. Set the cruise slow, and became a road block the whole way. Lucked out too, because only one taillight worked, and I found a broken reflector where I stopped to check bearings--jammed it in the broken lens and almost kinda looked like it worked--in headlights anyway--everyone was coming up from behind and passing anyway!
So, once home, I went tot he local parts place and bought the usual tune up stuff and lubes--plus the absent battery. Back to the boat with my trusty pal to make that 'ol VRO come to life. Crank, crank, crank.....compression looked good cold. Lube was up, fuel was pumping, spark happened; everything sounded good. Then I put in the plugs and cranked in earnest. For about two revolutions. Then it locked so hard I had to use a prybar to turn it backwards. Not good.......guess I know why grandpa's boat had a totally empty VRO tank too! After two more episodes of the same, I had to admit the obvious. Off to the boat shop again.
The owner heard my sad tale; then informed me of the perhaps obvious: rebuilding the powerhead was going to cost me more in parts than my old motor was worth. Sigh......back to craigslist to find a 'glass boat to gut, I supposed. However, as he pointed out that the 30 was probably marginal, I asked just the right question. As it happens, yes, he did have a used version of said higher horsepower motor: a two year newer 70!! Now, my wife was marginally tolerant of the Starcraft to begin with (Not seeing it's obvious attributes...she dubbed it ugly). How was I going to slide the motor too? She just doesn't understand: my kids want to FISH, therefore I will have a boat!
My friend, being a friend of the truest sort, offers a solution. He desired a motorcycle that merely took up space in my garage--space I needed for said Starcraft--we brokered a deal on the spot. He bought the motor! Boat shop guy said he would install it, flush my tank, and have it running in two weeks. Kismet! I LOVE "incestuous trades" like that!
Too perfect to be, however. It took my four months to get the boat back.....the exchange motor had a bad control unit. It was backordered.....etc.....Holidays came......shop closed for vacation. Bottom line, I got the boat back in late January. Thus, I did what any self-respecting new boat owner would do: I took it to the lake with camp chairs, froze my butt off, and ran the heck out of it. VERY VERY HAPPY with that motor!! Much more than I expected. It pops out of the hole, flies to porpoise speeds, and even has TRIM. Sweet! I spend so much time at full throttle in tight circles with the rail corners grazing the hole in the water I was making that I got dizzy. Did I mention I was happy with the motor?
On the downside, the transom was highly suspect; the floors beyond hope; and the wiring was something only the original owner would appreciate. This I already knew. Still, it was a lot of fun to finally play with my (I mean my kids') new toy!
Remember my buddy--that bought that motor? Well he also has a nice big shop, with a propane heater! Since I couldn't get to it any other way, I took the week off. For the weekend, I cleared out cars and bikes to make a space--dump runs ensued. Monday, I finalized the clean and transported the boat. Today was TEAR DOWN!
More pending......
I'm also pretty experienced in running said jet boats. Enough to know I don't really want to feed one (local gas is $4.20 for REGULAR today!. So, a 16ss was just what the doctor ordered...
Problem is, they are still kinda hard to find. The one here is a Central Cal import. I took a chance on it, since it had some new parts I could sell and appeared to be fairly corrosion free (desert boat). It also had a really clean VRO Johnson 30....needless to say the motor was a blind guess.....but I figured, if it worked, it was a bonus. Hadn't been run in at least 10 years. The PO got it from a friend's father's estate that long before, tore out the sun rotted seats, and lost motivation. Gas totally dry, no battery, etc.....Guy wouldn't budge at all on the price. Guess he figured is I drove 300 miles with cash, I was a likely owner! He figured right, but jeez! At least inflate the price a little to make me feel like I'm dealing.....
Of course, I bought it. How could I not?
Bought two new tires to replace the sun-rotted original (bias-plys with tubes!) Tire store let me use a grease gun to blast as much grease in to the petrified bearing buddies as I could. Beat the coupler until it almost fit (PO bent the heck out of it backing in his driveway); then tied a rope to simulate the missing safety chain. (Shoulda thought to bring that kind of stuff! Couldn't get it local....everwhere was closed! Rrrrr.
Made it the 300 miles back home though. Bearings were hot enough when I stopped to check them that I opted to do a little less than the speed limit. Set the cruise slow, and became a road block the whole way. Lucked out too, because only one taillight worked, and I found a broken reflector where I stopped to check bearings--jammed it in the broken lens and almost kinda looked like it worked--in headlights anyway--everyone was coming up from behind and passing anyway!
So, once home, I went tot he local parts place and bought the usual tune up stuff and lubes--plus the absent battery. Back to the boat with my trusty pal to make that 'ol VRO come to life. Crank, crank, crank.....compression looked good cold. Lube was up, fuel was pumping, spark happened; everything sounded good. Then I put in the plugs and cranked in earnest. For about two revolutions. Then it locked so hard I had to use a prybar to turn it backwards. Not good.......guess I know why grandpa's boat had a totally empty VRO tank too! After two more episodes of the same, I had to admit the obvious. Off to the boat shop again.
The owner heard my sad tale; then informed me of the perhaps obvious: rebuilding the powerhead was going to cost me more in parts than my old motor was worth. Sigh......back to craigslist to find a 'glass boat to gut, I supposed. However, as he pointed out that the 30 was probably marginal, I asked just the right question. As it happens, yes, he did have a used version of said higher horsepower motor: a two year newer 70!! Now, my wife was marginally tolerant of the Starcraft to begin with (Not seeing it's obvious attributes...she dubbed it ugly). How was I going to slide the motor too? She just doesn't understand: my kids want to FISH, therefore I will have a boat!
My friend, being a friend of the truest sort, offers a solution. He desired a motorcycle that merely took up space in my garage--space I needed for said Starcraft--we brokered a deal on the spot. He bought the motor! Boat shop guy said he would install it, flush my tank, and have it running in two weeks. Kismet! I LOVE "incestuous trades" like that!
Too perfect to be, however. It took my four months to get the boat back.....the exchange motor had a bad control unit. It was backordered.....etc.....Holidays came......shop closed for vacation. Bottom line, I got the boat back in late January. Thus, I did what any self-respecting new boat owner would do: I took it to the lake with camp chairs, froze my butt off, and ran the heck out of it. VERY VERY HAPPY with that motor!! Much more than I expected. It pops out of the hole, flies to porpoise speeds, and even has TRIM. Sweet! I spend so much time at full throttle in tight circles with the rail corners grazing the hole in the water I was making that I got dizzy. Did I mention I was happy with the motor?
On the downside, the transom was highly suspect; the floors beyond hope; and the wiring was something only the original owner would appreciate. This I already knew. Still, it was a lot of fun to finally play with my (I mean my kids') new toy!
Remember my buddy--that bought that motor? Well he also has a nice big shop, with a propane heater! Since I couldn't get to it any other way, I took the week off. For the weekend, I cleared out cars and bikes to make a space--dump runs ensued. Monday, I finalized the clean and transported the boat. Today was TEAR DOWN!
More pending......
