www.iFourWinns.com

Hello;I am new to both this site and to boating!
My name is Keith and I live in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada.
Late last August I tripped upon a deal to get my new (to my family and I) a 1988 Freedom 160 with a 3.0L with the OMC Cobra out drive.
The previous owner bought it from his boss; he replaced the floor with all new plywood and sealed it with a marine type of epoxy. Then he took it into one of the local marina's there and had them do a once over on the craft fixing what it needed. They started with the Factory FourWinns trailer and put new tires and repacked the wheel bearings, replaced the light wiring along with the tail light assemblies.
Moved on to the boat, They changed the oil, altenator belt, spark plugs wires and cap set along with the fuel filter. They even replaced the starter and did a compression test on it (140psi across the board). That is when they decided to do a running test on it and hoked up the water muffs to the out drive, started it up. They shut down and asked him if he wanted them to replace the motor as the block was cracked. His boss didn't winterize it and the water froze.
This is where I came in, I seen the boat on a classified listing and answered it. He was so ticked at the whole thing that he just wanted to dump it. I picked it up for next to nothing and took it home.
I pulled out the motor replace a frost plug that popped out, found a crack about 4" long under the intake. I figured that I didn't have much to lose so I tried something. I cleaned up the crack and mixed together some two part JB weld epoxy and smeared it into the crack and reinstalled the motor. I thought that since the block is cast iron, it would be rough and give enough surface area to allow the epoxy to hold. Tried the water muffs the next day, IT WORKED to my surprise!! My family went out for seven hours that afternoon without an ounce of problems. That was the last day before the water works people drained the River where we boat. NOW, It is about that time to try again. I hope it works Great. Looking forward to a lot of fun this summer.

Sorry people, I didn't mean to rattle off so much. I was simply telling my story on how I got my 1st boat and expressing how proud I was of my cheap fix for it.
22 views and Not even a simple hello! I must have been mistaken, I thought this was a friendly group!

Hello, and welcome. Most here are friendly, but not real outgoing unless they have the same boat as you, or know about fixing a problem you may have.

Plus, the weather is finally nice and warm for many of us, and I suspect they are out on their boats more than checking the message board.

Chill, and enjoy your boat.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

I'll second the welcome.

The last two days have been real quiet around here so I wouldn't take it personally.

And I did like your post. It is always good to hear the variety of stories on how we all got into boating.

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Terry
Current: 07 Crownline 255 CCR cuddy - 350 Mag MPI/B3 "Casi Cielo"

Previous:97 245 Sundowner 5.7GI/SX

Tow vehicle: 1986 GMC 2500 Camper Special 454/TH400

Welcome to the forum. We are a friendly group but tend to shy away from reading long posts (unless it entails pictures of beautiful women or boats).

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Current Boat: 2000 Four Winns 298 Vista
Previous Boat: 2000 Carver 406MY

Thanks for the welcome!
O.K. I will chill and enjoy both my boat and the forum. I will make an effort not to be long winded in the future.

Keith

Hello and welcome,

Let us know how the repairs are holding up. Sounds like a good deal. Got any pictures to show us?

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-Eddie/2007 H200/5.0 Merc 220hp/2004 GMC Yukon

Yes, I will post them soon.
The hull has its typical faded red on the sides and on the transom. I found that wet sanding it brings out the shine like as if it were new again (of course after a mild polishing with a synthetic polishing compound). I also found that it requires a lot of elbow grease. Thank fully I have three kids that want to help (I think it is called help) they try anyhow.

Keith

This part of the forum can be very slow for new posts in the off-season for us on this side of the world, and we don't always check it everyday...I usually wait a few days and then maybe I'll see something new. Hopefully, with summer here...there'll be more to comment on. If you have any questions about boating, this is a friendly place to get answers. After checking the Previous Models, I jump to Boating Banter - more going on there. Have fun with your new boat! I bought my second boat last year - it's an 88 Liberator 261 (see user name -haha). I'm planning a trip to Lake Havasu the second week of June! I'll try and post some videos if all goes well. Glad to have you on the forum.

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1988 Four Winns 261 Liberator Twin 460s

That sounds like a good way to fix a cracked block. Let us know how it holds up.

welcome

Keith, I'm interested to know how your JB weld fix on the intake manifold held up? I've just recently discovered the same problem with my boat that I just bought... funny, must be a Manitoba thing, JB weld is the first thing I thought of too I live in Oakville.. small world!

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Newbie Boat Owner, Looking to Learn!
1998 Four Winns Horizon RS 180
4.3L OMC/Volvo Penta Outdrive

Welcome Keith!

I'm sure a lot of people are recovering from last night so don't read into it to much. This forum is one the friendliest and unbiased group I've met yet. I learned a lot about Four Winns just by reading this forum for a month or so before buying my first FW H260. I found a lot of good information on here and people were not bashing everyone like they do on other forums. By the way, I'm from Kansas City, MO....there is snow on the ground here and the lakes are starting to freeze over. You'll find a lot of warm climate folks on here that can go boating all year around....I'm very jealous of that group.

Happy New Years!
Matt

P.S. Post pictures, we want to see the new boat.

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Current Boats:
2012 FW H260, 8.2 B3X (DTS) "Ctrl-Alt-Delete"
Previous Boats:
1984 Century 5000, Merc 260 Alpha 1
2012 Yamaha VXR

Kansas City, MO

Hey Purdue, I revived this old thread Hoping the OP was still around. This is from 2010

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Newbie Boat Owner, Looking to Learn!
1998 Four Winns Horizon RS 180
4.3L OMC/Volvo Penta Outdrive

Whoops! I must have been tired, I didn't even check the dates. Thanks!

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Current Boats:
2012 FW H260, 8.2 B3X (DTS) "Ctrl-Alt-Delete"
Previous Boats:
1984 Century 5000, Merc 260 Alpha 1
2012 Yamaha VXR

Kansas City, MO