125 replies to this topic

[CC-John]

WARNING! The following thread is loaded with pictures..

 

Check out my "barn find", it's a 1973 Century Resorter 16 with it's original 225 HP 318 Chrysler..

 

Last week, one of my customers that's a bigger old boat nut than I am told me about this boat and that it was fixing to be put up for sale.. The boat belonged to a long time friend and original owner, his advancing age & health was forcing him to sell the boat as none of his kids wanted anything to do with the "old boat".. I drove up a couple of weeks ago to take a look at it, we pulled it out of the garage and I couldn't believe how clean it was, the boat is a true "survivor".. Hooked up a garden hose and fired up the engine, it popped right off without so much as a hiccup and settled down to a nice smooth idle.. In the last few years it's had the raw water pump rebuilt, carburetor replaced, and electronic ignition installed.. The interior is all original but is starting to show it's age, the removable rear, center floor panel needs to be replaced due to rot, and both of the wood seat bases need to be rebuilt.. But overall it's nothing that prevents the boat from being used as is.. All the original chrome is in excellent condition and just needs a light buffing to restore it's luster.. The old man was asking $6000 for it, but after I went over it with a fine tooth comb and pointed out the rotted floor and seat bases along with a few other missing items that will be pricey to restore, I offered him $4500 and we had a deal..

 

It's currently sitting in the driveway on jack stands getting the trailer's springs replaced and the wheel bearings cleaned & repacked.. I still have to adjust the trailer's bunks to give the propeller & rudder a bit more ground clearance as it's a bit too close to the pavement for my liking..

 

Here's a few pics of her when I brought her home.. I think she'll make a fine stablemate for my classic Chris Craft cruiser..

 

100_2645 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2646 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2647 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2648 by cc_john67, on Flickr

Edited by CC-John, 19 July 2017 - 03:31 AM.

[latte]

One sweet water ride!

[Hot Toddy]

Wow John, she is a beaut! What a treasure to have found. I am sure the seller took comfort in knowing that her new owner will love and care for her as much as he did over the past 44 years! I'll buy the champagne for a proper christening when you get her all prettied up! Congratulations on your new toy!

 

Toddy

[clover]

Nice! 

 

John I think you are happiest when you are "tinkering", "fixing" or working at you job that pays for all of the toys. You need to "chillax"  a bit more.

 

Chrysler engines must be popular in power boats. My dad had an aluminum hulled 32' Marinette with twin Chrysler engines. There where challenges in having the two engines in sync with each other. 

 

My preference is for sailboats but I can appreciate a good vintage ride  it will look good trailing behind the Casita on the way to the lake or the coast.  

Edited by clover, 27 January 2017 - 02:34 PM.

[CalCop]

That's a great boat!

[CC-John]

Thanks for all the compliments folks!!

 

Wow John, she is a beaut! What a treasure to have found. I am sure the seller took comfort in knowing that her new owner will love and care for her as much as he did over the past 44 years! I'll buy the champagne for a proper christening when you get her all prettied up! Congratulations on your new toy!

 

Toddy

 

I've got a couple months worth of weekends to get her back into "Bristol Fashion".. She needs to have all the old original fuel fill, vent, and feed hoses replaced with the newer alcohol resistant hose, this booze laden gas has pretty much wiped out the original hoses,, I've also got to pull the fuel tank and support platform to access the exhaust pipe connections at the transom, one of the old original exhaust hose couplings ruptured a few years ago and the resulting leak has kept her on the trailer ever since.. Once she's back in rare form, she'll be a good companion for my classic Chris Craft cruiser..

 

100_0510 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

 

 

Nice! 

 

John I think you are happiest when you are "tinkering", "fixing" or working at you job that pays for all of the toys. You need to "chillax"  a bit more.

 

Chrysler engines must be popular in power boats. My dad had an aluminum hulled 32' Marinette with twin Chrysler engines. There where challenges in having the two engines in sync with each other. 

 

My preference is for sailboats but I can appreciate a good vintage ride  it will look good trailing behind the Casita on the way to the lake or the coast.  

 

Oh shoot Clover, you've known me long enough to know that these projects ARE how I "chillax"..

 

Chrysler had a lock on a huge share of the marine engine market from the 1930's to the mid 1980's when they were forced to sell off their marine engine division as a requirement of their first Government bailout.. Their marine V-8's have legendary durability because of the high nickle content iron used in the engine blocks.. There are so many still in service that the aftermarket has nearly everything needed to keep them alive for many years to come, and in some cases the parts are less expensive than comparable parts for the more common Chevy based marine engines..

 

There's no challenge to "sync" twin inboards, you use the tachometers as a baseline and do the final syncing by ear.. Most standard issue tachometers in powerboats are not precision instruments and can vary as much as 50 RPM from actual.. When I'm driving a twin engine boat, I'll spool both engines up to cruising speed then lightly "feather" the throttle back & forth on one engine until both are "singin' in harmony".. When twin V-8's are "synced" they have a wonderful melody and "throb" that pulses thru the boat.. Listening to a pair of V-8's singing in harmony at 3500 RPM is an absolutely blissful sound to me, I can listen to it all day and never get tired of hearing it..

 

I doubt I'll be pulling the little Century behind the Casita, these little boats were built like tanks and are no where near as light as more modern boats.. This little rig on the trailer weighs in at just a hair under 3000#.. Century didn't chinch on the laminate schedule when they built these hulls, the bottom averages a little over 1/2" thick solid, hand-laid fiberglass with plenty of roving for strength.. The main engine stringers are 2" x 8" White Oak that run the full length of the boat and are wrapped in a 3/8" layer of fiberglass..

Edited by CC-John, 19 July 2017 - 03:32 AM.

[Jerrybob]

Beautiful boat.......great purchase!!!!!  Love the color.

[Steamboat]

Thanks for sharing that John! That is a really nice boat. Actually, they both are.

[CC-John]

Beautiful boat.......great purchase!!!!!  Love the color.

 

 

Thanks for sharing that John! That is a really nice boat. Actually, they both are.

 

Thanks guys!!

[CC-John]

I finally got to put in a long day on the little Resorter I picked up about a month ago.. The little boat mostly needs a lot of TLC, replace old original rotted hoses, repair some rotted seat bases and give the gelcoat a good buffing..
 

Today all the seats & bases came out along with the gas tank & support platform.. The tank had to be removed to access the bolts for the swim platform brackets and the exhaust connections at the transom.. One of the platform brackets was loose because the plywood backer had rotted out.. I also plan on removing the exhaust fittings from the transom and everything else below waterline in order to replace the old 40+ year old bedding compound..

 

100_2649 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2656 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2650 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2653 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2655 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2654 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2652 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

The boat had a bent rudder from a driveway strike, so after the tank was removed, I dropped the rudder & pulled the rudder port.. The rudder has a pretty healthy bend in the stock right at the blade and the rudder stock had the spigot snapped off.. Tried to straighten the rudder in the press but the stock ended up cracking right where it enters the blade.. Looks like I get to order a new rudder & port from A&A Marine to the tune of $775..  I also pulled the propshaft out so I can replace the original rotted stuffing box hose and cutless bearing.. The prop, shaft, & coupling will be headed to the prop shop to be reconditioned before being reinstalled.. And the trailer will be getting the bunks readjusted to give the boat a bit more ground clearance before the drivetrain is put back..

 

100_2657 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2659 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

Got a couple of small electrical problems fixed too.. The bow light was in really bad shape internally and didn't work, the rear flagpole/sternlight was missing and a cheezy looking LED light had been installed on the transom.. My first of what will probably be many orders from A&A Marine came in last night, I got a new OEM bow light and sternpole, along with the parts to rebuild the sternpole socket.. I got the sternpole socket refurbished and reconnected to the boat's harness, then moved forward to replace the crumbling bow light.. After installing the new bowlight, I plugged the sternpole into it's socket and turned on the navigation lights.. Every thing worked without even the slightest hint of smoke..
 

100_2660 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2661 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2663 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2662 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

All in all a very productive day..

Edited by CC-John, 18 July 2017 - 09:01 AM.

[CC-John]

While tuning the engine in the Century, I noticed that the starboard exhaust manifold was running significantly warmer than the port side.. When I pulled the exhaust system from the boat yesterday I found the reason when I disconnected the exhaust from the manifolds.. So today I got out there and pulled both manifolds to give them a full check out..

The little Mopar doesn't look so huge with the manifolds removed..
 

100_2664 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2665 by cc_john67, on Flickr

Got my exercise for the day heaving a couple hundred pounds of cast iron out of the boat and in to the garage..

 

100_2666 by cc_john67, on Flickr

When I pulled the starboard manifold, I noticed a small amount of water puddled at the back exhaust port near the head.. That was a clue that there was some other problems lurking in this manifold too..

Looking at the "business end" of the starboard manifold it's easy to see why it was running hot.. The water outlet was completely plugged with rust..
 

100_2668 by cc_john67, on Flickr

After removing the elbow from the end of the manifold, the source of the water inside the exhaust port was obvious!! The whole inside wall of the elbow had rusted away..

 

100_2670 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2669 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

Looking over the manifolds, I could gather that the engine had the original manifolds replaced sometime in the mid 90's as both manifolds and the elbow on the port manifold are Barr replacements with 1994 casting dates on them.. The rotted out starboard elbow is the original one Chrysler installed on the engine when it was built in 1972..

After cleaning the manifolds up I think they might still have a few more years left in them.. I'll know more after I pressure test them this week..

Edited by CC-John, 18 July 2017 - 06:13 PM.

[Steamboat]

Very, very interesting John! Thanks for those pics! Ownership is a terrible thing!

[CC-John]

Very, very interesting John! Thanks for those pics! Ownership is a terrible thing!

 

Karl,

 

These manifolds actually look decent compared to some that I've pulled off of other marine engines in the past.. The discharge elbow is usually considered a "consumable" item since it's the point in the exhaust system where the spent cooling water and hot exhaust gases are mixed to be sent overboard thru the exhaust pipe.. Any unburned hydrocarbons and other by-products of combustion when mixed with seawater make a very corrosive cocktail that will rot out the cast iron elbows in 10-12 years..

 

If the manifolds pass a pressure test, all I'll need is a pair of discharge elbows and all the gaskets to reassemble the manifolds.. The old manifold's water jackets cleaned up pretty good after "snaking" them out with an old piece of speedometer cable chucked up in a power drill, a few passes with a large mill file got the end faces smooth and flat to accept the end plates/elbows on each end.. I'll get a few parts rounded up today to assemble my pressure test device so I can start testing the manifolds this evening..

[CC-John]

Things took a turn for the better in the manifold saga, I cut some gaskets last night for the manifold end plates and bolted both of them to the starboard manifold.. I then cobbled up a presure test device to thread into one of the water ports on the manifold and sealed the remaining ports with plugs.. Goosed it up to 25 PSIG and let it sit over night, it was still holding 25 PSI when I checked it this morning before leaving for work, and it was still holding pressure when I got home..

Took a couple of pics this afternoon before I broke it down to transfer everything to the port manifold..

 

100_2672 by cc_john67, on Flickr

 

100_2671 by cc_john67, on Flickr

If the port manifold holds pressure overnight this will save having to spend over $600 for a set of manifolds..

Edited by CC-John, 18 July 2017 - 01:51 PM.

[Jerrybob]

Great project.....looks like it's coming together well.  I don't do boats but love old horse drawn vehicles........it's theapy John........keep up the good work!