Noob needin a lil help

[DnA auto]

Hey all, so i recently bought a 1983 thunderbolt with a chrysler charger 100. Id 1008HOA. Its a fixer upper. I know this motor has been swapped. Im trying to get the existing romote control wired to the chrysler motor but ofcourse most wires are not the same color coding since two different manufactures. Im sure that it cant be impossible to wire, just gotta figure out color coding from the controler and go from there....however, i almost feel like im the only person who owns one of these boats, since i cannot find ANY information on the web for it....more specificly wiring diagrams..... so im hoping someone somewhere can help me with this rather small dilema. After i get this issue fixed, more questions are to follow. I am new to the boating scene so i will definatly be asking alot of rookie questions so please have a little patients with me

 

[jbuote]

Hey there! :welcome:

No pro, but I'll take a stab at it until the experts can offer the real advice..

Not sure you're going to be able to "Rig" the remote to the engine...
I'm presuming you have a 1983 Thunderbolt boat, and what appears to be a 1980? Chrysler 100 hp engine...

The controls are usually engine/brand specific.. I'll bet the controls on the boat are for whatever engine was on it...
It's not just wiring you need to worry about.. Controls from one engine brand won't match up to another for throttle and shift linkages either.. (As far as I know anyway... )

I'm going to bet if we can get this post transferred to the Chrysler/Force section, you'll get better results..
Will gamble and flag my post here and maybe a mod can move it?
Worth a try.. (Apologies to mods if this was the wrong use of "Flagging"... )

And to maybe help in wiring diagrams etc...
You aren't going to find any for the boat...
All of this would be covered in the manual for the engine, so if you can, get an engine service manual..
Factory is best, if you can find one...

Hope it helps!!

 

[GA_Boater]

What is a Thunderbolt controller? It's a boat brand, not the brand of control.

The control matched another motor hanging on the back, so what control do you have? A pic of the control may be helpful.

And the chances of making this control work unless it's for a Chrysler is remote.



Moved this into the Control section. That may not even be the right place, but the control need to be ID'ed first. :noidea:

JB - Flagging was made for this. Thanks.

 

[DnA auto]

Thank you for the info. I will take some pictures of the control in the am. If im understanding correctly, control and motor go hand in hand which makes sence. I have no idea what motor came origionaly on that boat. And unfourtunatly i have been unsuccessful in finding litrature on this 1983 thunderbolt. So it seems as though i need to find a contol and wiring harness with cabling for this chrysler motor. Or buy a whole assembly and just start with matched equipment from the start. I will try to post pictures tomorrow so that hopefully one of you veterans can shed a little more light on this project for me

 

[DnA auto]

The control and motor tag

 

[Scott Danforth]

what brand of controls

 

[jbuote]

If you don't know the brand of the controls, maybe a pic of whole remote from the front face of it so we can see what the red arrow below is pointing at... That "might" help in identifying it.. Maybe....

 

[Lightwin 3]

That control box looks to be OMC (Johnson/Evinrude)

 

[DnA auto]

As requested

 

[DnA auto]

[No message]

 

[jbuote]

Yup.....
I'm with Lightwin 3...
Looks like an OMC control for Johnson/Evinrude engines.

Pretty sure your best bet would be to find a set of controls for Chrysler engines...
The pro's here can guide better than I can, and now they have something to work with! lol

Will keep following to see how you make out!

 

[DnA auto]

Thanks everyone. I visited a local outboard shop and he is telling me that im kinda S.O.L. on the chrysler controler. The wiring harness is deaply obsolete and the cambles may not be available either, so im almost left to rplacing the whole damn kt and kabootle with a new"er" motor and controller or get lucky to find an evinrude/johnson 90hp motor to mate up to the control. Also....i was told that the us coast guard plate on the boat indicates the hp motor that boat had origionaly, and considering the motor i have now is a 100 hp, im asking for a ticket if im ever inspected (another fun fact i did not know). Whats your thoughts on that?

 

[jbuote]

What's the capacity plate say the max HP is for that boat?

(Edit: From what I can find, if it's a Thunderbolt Bassmate 15, max is 60hp
If it's a Thunderbolt 155V Bass Chaser, max is 100hp... )

 

[DnA auto]

[No message]

 

[jbuote]

Yeah...
So that's the max your boat is rated for..
I wouldn't put an engine bigger than 90hp on it..

You said it's a project, and you may find you have to do stringers and transom..
But even if replaced and all new, the boat still isn't designed for bigger than 90hp...

Again, still pretty new, but I'd try to find something between 70-90hp..
You could put smaller than 70, but doubt you'd be happy with it..
Usually you want to have about 75% of the max rated horsepower as your min hp choice (which is 67hp in this case).

When looking, try and find one that has the controls already with it..
Don't be afraid of older engines either... As long as compression and spark are good, the rest should be able to be dealt with..

Could probably sell or part out your Chrysler engine to make up some of the cash for the new/used engine if you don't want to keep it too...

Lastly, I think I might go ahead on the rest of the boat and see how good/bad it is..
Determine what needs to be fixed/replaced (stringers, transom, glass repairs etc...)
Once you have a list of what needs to be done, you can better gauge how you want to approach it..

Just my thoughts on it..
Hope others will add to / correct anything I may have missed or gotten wrong.. lol!

Hope it helps!

 

[DnA auto]

Thanks jbuote!! Im on the same thought process, this was a minimal funding purchase, with a minimal funding budget, so older motor is most likly the case for me. There are some small repairs to be nade but nothing to serious. As far as stringers and transom? I am not really too sure how to get to these stringers. The inboard boat was easy, follow the motor mounts lol. This one on the other hand im not sure. The transom im thinking is not too terible on replacement. May have to anyhow since the lower motor braket bolts are not lining up with current motor and bracket, so instead of drilling new holes and weakening the sterm even more, ill most likley just cut it out and stinky glass it back. Just for curiosity sake however, will 10 extra pony power make that big of a difference on that stern? Or is it the overall weight that is the concerning factor?

 

[jbuote]

Well,

Stringers...
Does you bilge area recess a bit in the center? If so, stringers are probably running stern to bow on either side of that recessed bilge...
You should take core samples..
Take a drill with 1/8" - 1/4" drill bit.. Put tape about 1/2 - 3/4" from the tip and when drilling don't go any further into boat than that tape.. Don't want to go all the way through...

From the INSIDE of the boat:
Drill straight down into the stringers that run on either side of bilge (most likely place anyway..) as close to transom as you can get, and then every 6-12" towards bow...

Also, as low as possible on the transom, close to drain plug hole, and along the bottom of transom, from side to side.
Then up and across again. (again 6-12" each time...)..
If shavings come out light and dry, you're good to go... Seal holes with marine epoxy and be done...
If shavings come out dark, wet, and maybe even smelly....
Time to replace both...

No need to drill the whole transom and stringers... You will most likely know pretty quick if it's good or bad with just a couple core sample holes in each..

As for the added HP question...
As I understand it, it's kind of both... Overall weight is of course a big factor.. The bigger HP engines can push/pull on the transom with more torque...
In a general thought, I'd say yeah... I can be that big a difference.. with a caveat...
It depends on the engine providing the extra 10 hp, it's gear ratio, crank or prop rated etc...
Then of course, there is the "Overpowered" boat legality side of things...
Even if boat can handle it, do you want that potential liability?

On both topics, this is about as far as I can go since it is now getting outside my level of knowledge...

What I just stated above is "As I Understand It", and may actually be wrong in spots...
I guess it's a starting point anyway till the other guru's can guide you in those departments... LOL

I'm going to keep following though, and see how you make out!
I'll try and answer some simple stuff if I see any, but most likely I'm turning into a lurker on this one now... HAHA!!

My best to you!!

 

[jbuote]

One more thing...
(Missed the "Edit" time window for above post.. hehe..)

When you do the core samples, if you have questions before starting, I'd suggest starting a new topic about the restoration of a 1983 Thunderbolt boat in the "Boat Restoration, Building, and Hull Repair" section...
In that section and topic, you'll get the best info in taking core samples, testing, repair/replace transom & stringers, estimated costs.. etc... (Anything "Hull&Structure" related... )
MANY successful restorations have happened in there...

As for engines, maybe a new topic in the engine section etc... General engine section for questions when shopping, Brand specific section when you get one or asking questions/opinions on one you might get etc... (Anything "Engine" related... )

Come back to this topic for steering and controls hookup etc if needed.. (You guessed it... You got it... lol)

Just looking to be sure you get the best and most relevant help based on what you're doing at the time, and the mods won't have to move a topic...

You get the idea...
Hope it helps again, and best to you!! (Again! lol)

 

[DnA auto]

Thanks again everyone. I will definatly be posting in other topics. Thank you all, i will be pisting my progress (granted i can get pics under 2mb)