Thanks everyone for the comments!
230 Mike wrote:
Welcome! Great first post and pics!
We'll all be looking forward to following along with your progress, so please keep us posted with pics whenever possible. Be sure to check for rot in the floor, stringers, and transom, in addition to the easier/more visible places. That's going to be an awesome boat when it's done.
As to manuals - the problem with them is that none of them contain everything they should. Between Clymer and Seloc I recommend Seloc. I've got a set of factory manuals from Volvo and the Seloc, and often refer to both for a more complete picture of what's happening.
I absolutely will keep everyone updated with pics as I do more and more work. Unfortunatly, we had an unreal rainstorm here 2 days in a row, and the boat is now a pool. I need to find it a new home where its bow up, stern down on a hill. The tarp I used didn't quite do its job as well as I had hoped, so I'm going to be looking into either making, or getting some canvas covers made like the stock ones that came on the boat (the snaps are there, but the covers are MIA). Like I said, this winter I'll be getting into the floors/other wooden areas to see the damage. Hopefully it wont be as bad as I expect it to be.. but if it is.. at least I expected it! Luckily, the boat isn't THAT big, and wood is relatively cheap. I want to re-carpet the whole boat, so It'll be a great chance to replace any old and rotted areas (or the whole thing if im feeling ambitious). I'll probably pick up the Seloc outdrive manual, and maybe call them to make sure I get the correct engine shop manual. I'm used to getting the shop manuals for cars, where its for a specific year and model, and that's that. I'm not used to these marine manuals that cover 15000 different manufacturers and engines all in one book. Perhaps I'll call Mercruiser and see if they have any specific shop manuals for sale (i'm sure.)
millhaven_nice_guy wrote:
Brad
The boat will be a real pleasure to drive once you've fixed her all up. I bet a small block Chevy would fit real nice in that hole if you wanted to! Take your time and make sure all that you do to the boat is safe and reliable.
Keep us posted and feel free to ask away with any and all questions.. We have experts here on everything!
Yea, like a nice 350? With thru-hull captains call exhaust

. If only marine engines got the gas mileage that cars did... I'm a huge fan of turbo cars (out of the 20 or so cars i've owned, probably 18 of them have been turbo), it would be super excellent to turbo this sucker. I doubt the alpha 1 could handle it anyway. I need to do more research on power handling capabilities. Either way... for now, i'm just looking to get the 4.3L in and running, and then I'll go from there!
p.s. - Kahlua is an awesome name for a chocolate lab!!!