Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

[JeffsAV]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I have another post. Here is a link. It is much the same, but slightly different pictures.
http://bbcboards.zeroforum.com/zeropost?cmd=tshow&id=355015

 

[ksubigbuck]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

Cool, thanks. I appreciate the offer for the denim you used, but my front deck is shaped a bit different than yours. The front livewell is integrated into the front deck.

I was hoping to get 35 mph out of mine, and it looks like you got that with a 70hp. Now I'm hoping I can get 40 with the old 115 Johnny.

Hunter

 

[JeffsAV]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I have taken her on the water a few times, and I remembered to take pictures. Here they are.

Post your Ouachita pictures!

 

[gumbair]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

Jeff I just got a similar boat 16? Ouachita don?t know the year. The floor is rotten I went ahead and cut a piece out and found the foam to be saturated with water. The boat also has a small hole under ninth. I can cut the rotten plywood out but how can I get the foam to dry or dose it need to be replaced.

 

[JeffsAV]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I would take out all the foam that you can. Nasty stuff grows in soaked foam, and it does not dry out very well. Post pictures of your Ouachita! (You may even start your own thread.)

 

[DennisPo]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I purchased a 15' Ouachita last fall and spent the winter refurbishing. It is much more primative than your beauty, on the other hand must less effort in the refurbishing part. I went over the outside 3 times with rubbing compound to get the oxidation off, replaced all the decals except the Ouachita, put a new plywood deck on the bow, and extended it 10" so I could put a shelf under it for storage.

Beyond that it was just cleaning and some wiring to make her ready. Of course, once on the water I discovered she has a leak, so as soon as it warms up here in Michigan, I will be under her with the fixing stuff. It appears she has a couple of dings thru the gel coat which may be allowing the seepage.

I have enjoyed your posts.

 

[JeffsAV]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

Post some pictures of your boat! I would love to see it! Thanks for following my posts, I have enjoyed putting them up.
I have not updated you guys for a while, because I have been out enjoying the boat! I went out on a windy day at a local lake(Clinton). That was a bad idea. That lake gets rough. I took a wave over my bow(40 degree water) and was soaked as though I took a swim. I also banged against the dock and cracked my bow slightly. This prompted me to look at the rubrail, since the boat seemed to have a very loose connection between top cap and hull. As I would be underway, the whole body of the boat would flex, and shudder, especially in the front. I discovered a gap about 1/2" between the hull and top cap at the bow. The rubrail was protruding in spots as though screws were poking them out all around the boat.(This was not caused by the rough day, but the rough life the boat had before me.) I proceeded to remove the rubrail, and found that 90% of the screws were loose, or stripped out. The cap was held on by gravity and not much else....YIKES! I then tightened the ones that would, and pre-drilled and rethreaded the ones that would not. I then added a few extra ones just to make sure. To fix the gap between hull and cap at the bow, I soaked automotive speaker box carpet in poly resin and put it in the gap. I screwed through that "gasket/spacer/filler" to secure the cap to the hull. I then replaced the rubrail, and re-caulked the underside. I cannot tell you how much better my boat handles on the water now. It is amazing! I have a new boat! Waves and chop no longer make loud noises in the structure of the hull, and there is no twisting or shudder at all. I recommend to all of you who have an older boat, check the screws that hold the cap on your boat. I will post pictures in a short while, when I catch my breath.

 

[rayman45]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I am excited, because I just bought a 15 ft ouachita 74 bass boat. I love it, i don't think it needs any work. It has a car stereo with cd player. I can listen to skynrd while towing somebody. Here is a few pics. ttyl

 

[tedmamou]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I just ran into your post tonight. I also have a 1977 spirit. What I like about my boat is the room that is has. I also split my hull years ago and rebuilt it using a lot of fiberglass. I was so anxious to respond that I have not really read everything that you did to your boat. I did rebuild the decks but did not put the door on the deck as you did--interesting. I as does my son, like this boat. It really handles rough water real well. I have been owning this boat for about 25+ years. I have only seen one other boat like this and this was about 5 years ago.

 

[bjcarlson]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I just purchased this same boat. I am trying to find the caps that go on the fuses on the switch panel. did you have to replace any of these? if so, where did you get them?

 

[AFDan52]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

Hello JeffsAV, I had a 1974 Ouachita 16 ft. trihull that looked very similar to yours. it was powered by an Evinrude V-4 85 hp outboard. This was a great boat to fish from in calm water and my son and I fished from this boat for about 5 years. The only reason that we don't own it anymore is we are fishing larger lakes now and I wanted something with more room. I sold this boat to my neighbor just last year, and he is having just as much fun with it as we did. The only thing that I didn't like about this boat was that it was so narrow, other than that we haven't had any major issues with it. We have boated a lot of fish with this baby as you can see in the photo.

 

[DEPTHCHARGE1]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

Hey all. I got a 16 ft ouachita a couple years ago and am now trying to decide if I should pitch it or restore it. I'll post some pics when i can. Mine has a molded console on the forward starboard side. The rest is open. the previous owner put in new seats and paint so I'm not sure how it's supossed to be. It's the typical narrow shape of the era and looks to be a tri-hull.
Sorry to hi-jack the thread, trying to keep Ouchita info together. I'd appreciate any thoughts or help from anyone.

 

[JeffsAV]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

Hey guys! I have not been here for a while. I have been using my boat in some club tournaments, and I have actually WON a couple! The slowest, oldest, ugliest, smallest boat in the club beat up on some $50K+ rigs! Oh, and I had a non-functional fishfinder. Ha! I have really enjoyed my Ouchita Spirit. It is so stable. I have done some improvements, such as a better CD player, Lowrance GPS, and a couple of new batteries. She starts up every time no problem, and gets me into skinny water those big boats can't even think about getting into. Something else that I have an advantage over the other guys is that I can bump into timber, rocks, etc., and not worry about scratching my paint...HAHA!!

 

[cretus]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I have to reply to this one. I have a 72 ouachita trihull. The transoms rotted out and I cut the top out and dug out all the rotten plywood. I plan to fill the transom void up with one of the pourable transom systems(seacast). The floors got some soft spots also. I plan to pull the whole floor up and replace the plywood. Everyones telling me that its foam filled and it cant be fixed. Anyone have any thoughts about the seacast system

I'm glad I ran across your thread. Its given me a little hope in fixing this thing

 

[seamorewaterVIP]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I have to reply to this one. I have a 72 ouachita trihull. The transoms rotted out and I cut the top out and dug out all the rotten plywood. I plan to fill the transom void up with one of the pourable transom systems(seacast). The floors got some soft spots also. I plan to pull the whole floor up and replace the plywood.(and stringers most likley) Everyones telling me that its foam filled and it cant be fixed. Anyone have any thoughts about the seacast system

I'm glad I ran across your thread. Its given me a little hope in fixing this thing

Cretus:

I can be done! take some picks and start a thred and every one here will walk you through it.


Sorry guys but I have to say this. I have never heard of an ouachita. but why in the world would any one name a boat that. All you have to do is change one letter to an s and you will see what I mean. great thread and keep up the good work. Just had a crazy thought and had to share.

 

[JeffsAV]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I have been using my boat for a couple of years now, and have done some improvements along the way. I added a Lowrance 332C with GPS on the console, and moved my Humminbird 565 up to the front deck. I also re-carpeted all the lids to match the front deck. I also repaired and reinforced all the fiberglass on the lids. The trailer has been painted white as well.
As you have read this thread, you know what kind of work has been put into this old boat. I have been using it a LOT. I have been tournament fishing with it, and have even won a few with it. This boat will go into SKINNY water. It does not hang on stumps like typical v-hull bass boats. It is very agile in timber.
I bought the boat for $1500 back in '09. I have spent that much again in materials and electronics since. You know from this thread the quality of the work that has been done to this boat. The reason I mention all of this is to ask...what do you think this boat is worth? I am thinking about selling it to get a bigger, faster boat.

 

[CKOuachita16TriHull]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

JeffsAV- You have transformed that boat into an awesome watercraft! Excellent work! I just received a Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri-Hull (1978?) from a friend of mine. I completely ripped out all of the internals and realized that there was wet plywood surrounding the seat mounting holes... what a nightmare this project seems to be :facepalm: . I will hopefully be able to post pictures of my boat soon in hopes of getting some ideas of what I can possibly do to it. I would much like to get this on the water by next summer (2012).

 

[r2d2sat]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I also have acquired a 1977 Quachita Spirit 90, though mine has a 1977 Johnson Stinger 75 HP outboard on it. I have done a small amount of work on it as my job allows. I am slowly getting it in shape to launch it and see how it does. I started it just afetr I got it and it fired right up, even after sitting for about 5 years. I have all the stuff to replace the water pump assembly and reseal the lower unit prior to hitting the lake. I rewired the instrument panel and have replaced the rotted steering wheel with a newer one, made in Italy. It is much more comfortable on the hands. I am planning to bring the paint back to life, but figured on spending what limited time I have to the mechanicals, such as the axle bearings and such. I can work on the cosmetics later, new carpeting, painting the trailer, etc. I have enclosed a pic.

 

[r2d2sat]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

Try Radio Shack

 

[golucky]

Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull

I just got a 72 Ouachita red one with the floor all rotted out..It was free.. sitting in a field .. I tore out the entire floor and removed 90 percent of the foam.. the seats were rotten. and the paint was oxidized,wires need to be replaced on the trailer and boat.. the vaseline trick did wonders on the paint... .. I fired up the 72 johnston 65 that came with it and it fird right up...
I will do what you did about the water pump assy. and the lower unit seal. however it seems to work well, how do you replace the oil in the lower unit? I will send pics soon..