My first boat! Also my first problems! What do I do next!?

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amateurhour

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Jul 11, 2012
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Location
Nashville, TN
Well, I found a boat. motor, and trailer on craigslist that someone was nice enough to sell to me for the $200 gift card to Bass Pro Shop that I got for Christmas, so I'm now the proud owner of my first boat!

Here we go:

boat1.jpg


boat2.jpg


boat3.jpg


boat4.jpg


It's a mid 70's Sears V Hull and I've got the tags, title, and paperwork for it. The motor is a 5 hp Briggs and Straton that's seized up at the moment because someone tried to put a fuel mixture in it instead of straight gas last summer and it needs to be cleaned out (?) (That's what I was told)

The back right trailer tire was low so the dude filled it up with air before I left. Thankfully they were only 10 miles away from my house. I got about 5 miles to my house and was actually getting off the highway going up the off ramp when THE TIRE FELL OFF THE **** RIM!

I pulled over and promptly freaked out because I was still a good 3 miles from my house (not too far) but it was late last night, and there was no way I could buy a new rim and tire and there was also no way I was paying like $150 or more for a tow truck with a flatbed.

After about half an hour of making calls someone was nice enough to pull off and his advice was "drive on it really, really slow and just make it home" which I ended up doing, the tire actually did come off the wheel with about 1/2 a mile to go so I got a few angry/confused looks as I pulled into my subdivision from the main road but at least I made it home safe. Seriously, first night owning a boat and I realized that the first thing I need to do is buy a spare trailer tire.

So, seeing as how I have no idea what I'm doing, what are the next steps? The hull looks solid but I know I need to test it for leaks properly. What kind of tools do I need for the boat? What should I do about the engine?

Woo!
 
First, update your profile to let people where your from. Next you want to clean up the boat and fill it with water to check for leaks. Once you know what you have to work with you can decide what you want to invest and how you would like to do. Keep us posted, I'm sure you will get a lot of help here. Good luck
 
After checking it out, if you decide it's a keeper, the next thing to do is get the registration/title/paperwork straightened out and the boat registered in your name. If you can't get the trailer tagged and the boat registered then any work or money you put in to the boat will be a waste.
 
Looks like you got yourself a project there! Get rid of the motor, probably not worth putting money into. Clean out the boat and fill it with water, check for major cracks along welds and seems. Minor leaks from rivets aren't that big of deal. If it's not too bad, fix the small leaks, replace the wooden benches, and paint it if you want. The trailer shouldn't be too rough, i think you can get whole axles at northern tool for under $100. Slap a nice TM trolling motor on there for now and keep your eye out for a decent outboard and catch some fish. Good luck in your build.
 
Thanks for the advice so far.

The title/paperwork stuff is already taken care of. I've got the previous registration (TN doesn't really have titles, just reg. cards), previous numbers, and a bill of sale from them to me.

There's no requirement to register or title a trailer in TN either, so that's good as well (I may reg/title it if I start taking it to GA frequently)

I'll definitely check it for leaks but I think it's going to end up being a pretty solid hull. I'm not that concerned there. I know I could end up being very. very wrong, but I'm hopeful.

Why should I get rid of the motor? All I'm wanting is something to ride around on the lake with and do some fishing and camping. Is that motor not worth the time/money to fix up? It's just a 14' foot boat so I figured that engine was perfect.
 
You may find the 5hp motor will not get you up to plane. A 9.9 would be nice and a 15hp even better. Although I have never seen the Briggs and Straton 5hp outboard running, they are like a lawnmower engine (air cooled) compared to most outboards which are water cooled. This means you should be able to run it without it being in the water while most outboards you need to put muffs on or in a barrel. The advantage with the Briggs and Stranton is you can run the outboard in really cold conditions, leave the lake, and not worry about water inside the outboard which can turn to ice.

If you have a buddy who is good at fixing lawnmowers, they probably can help you with the outboard. If not most places that service Briggs and Staton engines can service it. Probably most marinas can not.
 
I just sold a boat with one of the B&S motors on it. My Briggs was on a 1430 flatbottom and I only got it to plane out once. They are slow and noisy. Mine was dead solid reliable though. It would start on the first pull on a cold motor in 30 degree weather. It is air cooled too, so it is nice not having to worry about an impeller. If it runs well, it will be a good motor for someone just starting out. You will want more power soon though.

It looks like you have a nice project. I have a similar build going right now too. This boat has a 10hp outboard and I am betting that I will still be wanting more. :mrgreen:
 
Putting mixed gasoline in a straight gasoline engine will not cause it to seize, doing the opposite will. It will only cause it to smoke like heck and depending on the mix finally shut down.
 
You're $300 ahead of mine when I bought my tin. I actually had to show up with two new tires and rims as it was sitting for about twenty years, uncovered!

First thing I did was start both motors that came with it. They both ran, one really good (4hp) and the other not so good (18 hp) so sold both for $275. After a bad experience with a bad trailer hub (wheel almost fell off) on another boat, I just replaced the axle and hubs with brand new units which only cost about $100.

The cleaning and grinding of the hull was mostly sweat equity but the major expense was the brand new four stroke Honda. I'm on my third year now and it runs with no problems.

Good luck on your project!
 
nccatfisher said:
Putting mixed gasoline in a straight gasoline engine will not cause it to seize, doing the opposite will. It will only cause it to smoke like heck and depending on the mix finally shut down.



X2
 
Captain Ahab said:
nccatfisher said:
Putting mixed gasoline in a straight gasoline engine will not cause it to seize, doing the opposite will. It will only cause it to smoke like heck and depending on the mix finally shut down.



X2


Okay so I'm confused, are you saying it's fixable or it's f'ed? What do I need to do to fix the engine?
 
amateurhour said:
Okay so I'm confused, are you saying it's fixable or it's f'ed? What do I need to do to fix the engine?

They're saying that this.....

The motor is a 5 hp Briggs and Straton that's seized up at the moment because someone tried to put a fuel mixture in it instead of straight gas last summer and it needs to be cleaned out (?) (That's what I was told)

.... is not accurate because using mixed fuel would not have those results. So if the motor is in fact seized, it'd happened for some other reason. And I agree with them. The only way to know what it's going to take to fix the engine is to tear in to it and do a little trouble shooting. If you don't know how to work on them, you might want to take it to a mower repair shop as they would probably have the most experience with a briggs and stratton engine.
 
Gotcha, that makes perfect sense now. Thanks!

I'm going to take the motor off this weekend and get it looked at, and clean out the interior and check for leaks as well.

For now, all I plan to do is replace the wooden seats and fix the motor and re-paint the boat and repair the trailer. I just want something simple to fish and camp with.

However, I had this idea that I'd eventually remove the center and forward seat entirely (the metal underneath doesn't look like it's there for support since there's such a large gap between the metal and the hull of the boat itself) and basically have a back bench with a standing center console and the front area would have one rising seat and basically be casting area/space for the dogs to chill. (I will literally be the only person on this boat besides 1/2 dogs 90% of the time I'm on it)

So I guess my question is this: Is that too crazy? I've been reading threads here for the better part of the past year and I can see what I'll need motor and console wise to make a center standing console, but is it do-able on a 14' even one as wide as this?

Thanks again!
 
Congrats on the boat. It's not actually a Sears, but that's how many of them get labeled. I believe your boat is a Richline. I can tell by the bow and stern caps as well as the drainage hole. The DNR had mine listed as a "sportsman" which was actually the model of the boat - not the manufacturer. Good luck with her!
 
Thanks! I love your build and yeah you're right our boats look pretty identical except for the extra seat mine seems to have.

Is that something I should correct them on when I transfer everything over or is it something I should just leave as-is?
 
amateurhour said:
Thanks! I love your build and yeah you're right our boats look pretty identical except for the extra seat mine seems to have.

Is that something I should correct them on when I transfer everything over or is it something I should just leave as-is?

Totally up to you whether or not you correct it. As long as the tags match up I wouldn't bother. I searched for all the info I could find when I bought my boat so I can pick out a RichLine pretty fast.

Mine is still listed as a "Sportsman" with the DNR, but they gave it a real HIN sticker because all I had was an old serial that didn't match up with anything.

Looking forward to seeing your progress!
 
I want to say the board up front is shorter so I'd go with the Challenger there but I'll have to look at it when I get off work. It's definitely one of those.

I see that the flotation is marked as "foam" so I'm assuming that the seats have foam in there and shouldn't be removed correct?

I plan to keep a detailed picture log of the rebuild starting this weekend with a full set of before shots once I get the old boards off and get it cleaned up a little.
 
The foam would be in the seats (if it's still there). It it isn't I would put some back in (it's the law anyways).
Don't use "Great Stuff" or anything like that. I've seen people use closed cell foams like blue insulation board, and also seen them use pool noodles. Mine still has the original foam and it's in fair shape. I have a few stray white pieces fly out every now and then when I trailer it, but that's all.
 
Cool, well I'll make sure I keep all that as-is then. Thanks for all your help so far man! I'm just excited to finally have my own boat, and a cool older boat at that. This is something I've been wanting since I got out of college almost a decade ago so I was surprised it happened as cheaply as it did.
 

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