Back at it...

I finally got some work in on the boat tonight, and though it wasn't drastic, it sure felt good to make some progress!!! I checked the coolant to find out it has a straight antifreeze mix...which is good considering I never winterized it lol :) It hasn't dropped below 20 derees in the garage all winer and tonight with the furnace running it was a balmy 60.

I managed to pull up the floor carpet, not due to the fact that its ready to be replaced, but I wanted to inspect a soft spot that was in the area between where the old front seats were mounted. My fears were confirmed. Under the fiberglass skin the plywood floor had completely rotted in this area. Good news being, it will be very easy to remove and replace!

I also decided now would be a good time to check the condition of my two starter batteries, marine dual purpose and marine deep cycle I have laying around. My AGM starting battery was still rock solid and the lead acid starting batter wasn't far off. The deep cycle needs a light trickle, but the marine dual purpose was severly drained. Time to start a nice long trickle charge and see if she still has any life left in her.

This boat is going to be a hell of a lot of work but I can't help but imagine how fun it will be to finally be on the river, hitting the beach and having a good time!!!

Spare out drive found

I found a complete OMC stringer sterndrive locally for $180...not a bad deal considering it supposedly has a working tilt. To my surprise the tilt was complete with motor and it has the original trim tab missing from my boat :) I'll have a slew of extra parts incase there is more wrong with my drive than what meets the eye. This is a full mechanical unit that was matched to a 302 Ford. The lower unit and prop have seen some serious rock damage, however.

Tilt and select trim diagnosis...

Discovered the root cause of the tilt mechanism not working...

Someone had the bright idea of putting a sheetmetal screw in the clutch assembly. They removed the bellville tensioning springs, snap rings, etc as well. I'll have to source quite a few parts for the entire tilt system. The hammer blow coupler and/or worm shaft are broken.

After some troubleshooting it appears that the SelectTrim motor is dead.

Looks like I'll have to do some disassembly of each system and go from there.

Engine Mystery

The previous owner told me the F20 had a rebuilt Chevy 350 but ironically the valve cover has an OMC 230hp badge. I reasearched the 1978 OMC 230's and found that they were all based on the Chevy 305. Hmmm which one was correct?

I pulled the casting and stamping numbers off the block today while on lunch and ran them against the info here: SBC Casting Number Decoding

My stamping suffix (TKF) comes back as a 1978 350, 165hp 4bbl, van/bus engine used in c10's and c1500's.

The casting number (3970010) was a very common block designation used from 1969-1979 350's.

So it is a 350 but as for what's inside i have no idea. I called Auto Ron's in Davenport and asked if they could locate the build sheet given I supplied the previous owners name. They searched for a few hours and said they coudln't find aything. I contacted the previous owner and they have promised to find their copy of the build sheet, "whenever it can be found" lol

Update 10/17/2011

Dad came over tonight and we got some work done on the boat. Pulled the front seats out and tossed them aside...we'll keep the stainless hardware for future use. We siphoned 10 gallons of gas from the tank and tested the fuel level sender...she works just fine! I inspected the trim motor wiring, there are 3 splices within 18" of the motor...the solenoids click but motor doesn't work. We're seeing 3.5v at the 1st splice. Hopefully this is just a solenoid/voltage issue. I'm going to relocate the 'noids to a bracket near the transom instead of being mounted under the exhaust manifold.

I aired the tires back up since we had to let most of the air out to get the boat under the garage door.

The trailer looks terrible, wiring is complete crap, but its in great shape overall. The previous owner just installed new LED tail lights which work fine, surprisingly.

Andrew helped vaccume all the carpet and get the leaves out. I vac'ed all the water out of the engine stringers since the bildge pump isn't working. Suspect wiring there too....


Speaking of wiring, I emailed Formula for info on the boat. I received a very polite reply with wiring diagrams. These should help when it comes time to rewire everything!

My new boat...

Saturday Jake and I drove upto Bettendorf and brought home this beauty of a boat for the fine price of $350. She is a 1978 Formula F20. What looks good on the outside isn't always too nice on the inside...

Here's a general rundown and condition of everything:

1. Hull is in decent shape, normal wear marks, a few small bad spots in the top that can easily be repaired. There are a pair of previous repairs that will need cleaning up before she hits the water next summer but all in all, pretty decent. The boat is missing the rub molding all the way around. The stainless railing is in very good condition with only minor bends and dings throughout. The teak will need to be replaced (with aluminum) on the front deck and the yellow doesn't match the imron on the sides.

2. Windows, perfect.

3. Swim ladder needs new wood, no big deal.

4. Seats, engine cover, carpet and rear sundeck need replaced. Padded rails are missing at the top of the bow,

5. Floor is 80% solid, will likely need patched or replaced in a few spots, if not the entire thing.

6. Wiring is a complete mess, needs completely redone.

7. Engine was recently (within the last 2 years) rebuilt by Auto Rons of Davenport, Iowa. Its a Chevy 350 with "marine" cam and the standard POS QuadraJunk. Everything looks to be in great working condition and the boat started before we brought her home. The valve cover says 230hp though OMC 230's were usually a 305, might be interesting to see WTF is going on here.

8. Outdrive is an OMC 800 sterndrive "stringer". After some reading these are harder than hell to find parts for, and those that are available, are expensive as can be. The trim motor will not spin, the tilt motor spins but clutch pack likely needs some work, and its currently "stuck" in reverse. The skeg has been beat to holy hell and back, definitely need to fab up a replacement/protector at some point.

9. Prop, very bad shape!

10. Gas tank doesn't leak and is pretty darn clean for being a 30 year old boat!

It is going to be one hell of a long winter of working on this boat before we can hit the beach next summer!