Ski Boat with a 302

[ratdude747]

Next weekend, barring any complications, I'm receiving a "free" project... a 1975 Starcraft 18' ski boat with a 302!

It (and it's trailer) are currently owned by my best friend's aunt; she and her late husband are the original owners. Old enough that neither are titled (but the docs are there to fix that, thankfully).

It hasn't run in 10 years, having died on a lake with what was thought to be an ignition issue. Is mostly stock, but has some sort of a holley 4-barrel upgrade from the stock 2-barrel. From what I read, these have a Mercruiser outdrive. Drinks gas, but who cares?

Also needs a seat fixed... wildlife got into the warehouse it's stored in and shredded part of the rear seat. That'll be a pain in the wallet to fix.

Yes I know what BOAT means... but I've kinda had a thing for boats like this. Long term project?

[Gary Lewis]

A hole in the water into which you toss money? Or "The best day in your life" is the day in which you buy/sell a boat. Yes, I know about boats.

If it has been sitting that long then the fuel system is toast. And getting a tank the correct size may not be easy. Best hope it isn't rusted through.

As said in the text, a black outdrive is a Mercruiser, and that's better than white (OMC) or gray (Volvo Penta). But check the outdrive for water in the fluid before attempting to use it. Plus, the water pump impeller on it will be questionable.

And so the others know I warned you, take spare tires and plan to pack the wheel bearings. I'd not start on a 180 mile trip w/o servicing the bearings on something that's set for 10 years.

Oh, and lights. Back then the lights were a major, MAJOR problem. They always got wet and then rusted/corroded and wouldn't work. Plan to fix them for the trip home, and a pair of magnetic LED lights with their own wires would be something I'd consider so you don't have to try to repair the whole system on that trailer.

[ratdude747]

A hole in the water into which you toss money? Or "The best day in your life" is the day in which you buy/sell a boat. Yes, I know about boats.

If it has been sitting that long then the fuel system is toast. And getting a tank the correct size may not be easy. Best hope it isn't rusted through.

As said in the text, a black outdrive is a Mercruiser, and that's better than white (OMC) or gray (Volvo Penta). But check the outdrive for water in the fluid before attempting to use it. Plus, the water pump impeller on it will be questionable.

And so the others know I warned you, take spare tires and plan to pack the wheel bearings. I'd not start on a 180 mile trip w/o servicing the bearings on something that's set for 10 years.

Oh, and lights. Back then the lights were a major, MAJOR problem. They always got wet and then rusted/corroded and wouldn't work. Plan to fix them for the trip home, and a pair of magnetic LED lights with their own wires would be something I'd consider so you don't have to try to repair the whole system on that trailer.

I'll see about the fuel system. My hope is that it'll be salvageable. They were running premium with lead additive in it. Possibly ethanol-free? A carb rebuild will be a must... and making sure it has a flame arrestor (something I saw in the Indiana boating manual that's required for carbed engines). Legally it has to be a USCG approved one... no tossing in hardware cloth and calling it good. Will research. Edit- just a fancy air cleaner. Easy enough problem to solve if what's there isn't legit.

I've seen pictures of other Starcraft Montego's (at least that's the model I think it is) and they all were mercuisers. The only thing not stock is the 4bbl conversion.

I'm told the wheels were serviced not long before it was parked. I'll give it a good checkup. Same thing for the lights; those were working (and a bulb was replaced) on the last outing. Helps that my friend was there for said outing and remembers a lot of it.

If I get it working, I'll want a "powered by ford" decal for it?

[Gary Lewis]

I'll see about the fuel system. My hope is that it'll be salvageable. They were running premium with lead additive in it. Possibly ethanol-free? A carb rebuild will be a must... and making sure it has a flame arrestor (something I saw in the Indiana boating manual that's required for carbed engines). Legally it has to be a USCG approved one... no tossing in hardware cloth and calling it good. Will research. Edit- just a fancy air cleaner. Easy enough problem to solve if what's there isn't legit.

I've seen pictures of other Starcraft Montego's (at least that's the model I think it is) and they all were mercuisers. The only thing not stock is the 4bbl conversion.

I'm told the wheels were serviced not long before it was parked. I'll give it a good checkup. Same thing for the lights; those were working (and a bulb was replaced) on the last outing. Helps that my friend was there for said outing and remembers a lot of it.

If I get it working, I'll want a "powered by ford" decal for it?

How 'bout valve covers instead?

[grumpin]

That looks cool!

Should be a neat project.

[ratdude747]

Picked it up and towed it home yesterday. No issues.

(This was at my inlaws' house down the road)

Boat is actually a 1977 16' Starcraft Montego. The trailer is a 1975 though. The bad rear seat actually isn't original... so I'll just need to eventually have an upholstery shop make a replacement for the existing replacement (the original ended up as someone's hood ornament when they discovered that one should remove it before towing!)

Tires were in great shape, wheels had zerks and plungers on the bearings and they were frequently topped off. I had it as fast as 75mph in a couple spots and the bearings never got even remotely warm.

Trailer wiring is toast. Had to install a ground wire and replace both bulbs to make the lights work (which aren't even marine lights, ugh). Will be redoing all that!

[Gary Lewis]

Picked it up and towed it home yesterday. No issues.

(This was at my inlaws' house down the road)

Boat is actually a 1977 16' Starcraft Montego. The trailer is a 1975 though. The bad rear seat actually isn't original... so I'll just need to eventually have an upholstery shop make a replacement for the existing replacement (the original ended up as someone's hood ornament when they discovered that one should remove it before towing!)

Tires were in great shape, wheels had zerks and plungers on the bearings and they were frequently topped off. I had it as fast as 75mph in a couple spots and the bearings never got even remotely warm.

Trailer wiring is toast. Had to install a ground wire and replace both bulbs to make the lights work (which aren't even marine lights, ugh). Will be redoing all that!

Well done! Glad you got it home safely.

You can buy kits of LED marine lights that make it a lot easier to re-wire. And they aren't expensive.

As for trying to fire it up, you need a pair of "muffs" like these on Amazon. But I might have a pair I'll give you and will check in the shop tomorrow.

[ratdude747]

Well done! Glad you got it home safely.

You can buy kits of LED marine lights that make it a lot easier to re-wire. And they aren't expensive.

As for trying to fire it up, you need a pair of "muffs" like these on Amazon. But I might have a pair I'll give you and will check in the shop tomorrow.

On that note, there are a few Ford parts I'll need to get that I am not purchasing until after the show on the off chance someone swap meets such. Mainly, some sort of electronic ignition upgrade. Supposedly the ballast resistor (or wire?) is bad and per my friend's dad (who is a retired Ford mechanic among other things), that's what the igntion fault is.

Also, as one would expect on a mercruiser, the trim switch and sender is fried (the trim works but I have to use tilt switch to trim up).Wiring hard as a rock and came out in pieces. Since this is an older alpha-style unit, there is a bolt that apparently requires the gear case to be removed that newer models omit (the common screw is also a pain but can be removed in situ with goofy wrenches and shallow 7/16 u-joint sockets). They also make (or at least made) a DIY kit that bypasses the factory routing (use old wiring to keep hole sealed) and instead has one drill two holes in the gimbal frame and run the wires above the waterline through a pair of transom ports. Ugh... I'm all for easy installation but that sounds a bit hack and since this is a classic, I'd kinda prefer not to go there.

Oh yeah, the battery is 10 years old (10/2013 IIRC) but was disconnected. Connected it up, was able to get trim working (see above), the bilge blower working (isn't mounted and needed leaves cleaned out), and discovered that the neutral switch is probably bypassed (was able to bump the starter with the knob in either position). I have some "general" mercruiser schematics in the glove box (I need to scan those with the other manuals I found). Did find some hacked (cut/scotchlocked) wiring under the instrument panel... cut wire may be the tach wire (if it matches the engine wiring- brown with several splices, scotch lock was a ground to some device mounted under the panel (which included a dead ended red power wire going to the battery area, and wiring to a broken switch). Maybe some sort of foot warmer/dryer?

Something else I noticed and was a bit worried about is that the choke is wired open... the original carb had an electric choke. I take it there isn't a good electric choke addon for formerly manual chokes like this? Or would that entail a new carb?

[Gary Lewis]

On that note, there are a few Ford parts I'll need to get that I am not purchasing until after the show on the off chance someone swap meets such. Mainly, some sort of electronic ignition upgrade. Supposedly the ballast resistor (or wire?) is bad and per my friend's dad (who is a retired Ford mechanic among other things), that's what the igntion fault is.

Also, as one would expect on a mercruiser, the trim switch and sender is fried (the trim works but I have to use tilt switch to trim up).Wiring hard as a rock and came out in pieces. Since this is an older alpha-style unit, there is a bolt that apparently requires the gear case to be removed that newer models omit (the common screw is also a pain but can be removed in situ with goofy wrenches and shallow 7/16 u-joint sockets). They also make (or at least made) a DIY kit that bypasses the factory routing (use old wiring to keep hole sealed) and instead has one drill two holes in the gimbal frame and run the wires above the waterline through a pair of transom ports. Ugh... I'm all for easy installation but that sounds a bit hack and since this is a classic, I'd kinda prefer not to go there.

Oh yeah, the battery is 10 years old (10/2013 IIRC) but was disconnected. Connected it up, was able to get trim working (see above), the bilge blower working (isn't mounted and needed leaves cleaned out), and discovered that the neutral switch is probably bypassed (was able to bump the starter with the knob in either position). I have some "general" mercruiser schematics in the glove box (I need to scan those with the other manuals I found). Did find some hacked (cut/scotchlocked) wiring under the instrument panel... cut wire may be the tach wire (if it matches the engine wiring- brown with several splices, scotch lock was a ground to some device mounted under the panel (which included a dead ended red power wire going to the battery area, and wiring to a broken switch). Maybe some sort of foot warmer/dryer?

Something else I noticed and was a bit worried about is that the choke is wired open... the original carb had an electric choke. I take it there isn't a good electric choke addon for formerly manual chokes like this? Or would that entail a new carb?

Don't remember what carb you have, although I do remember seeing a pic of it that I'm not finding now. Anyway, can't speak to the choke right now, but I'd think there's an electric choke available for all carbs.

On the trim/tilt, I think you have a wiring problem if you use the tilt switch to trim. However, IIRC, some of the Merc's used the same switch to both trim and tilt and trimmed to one point and then tilted. Which do you have - one or two switches?

Scotchlocks have no business being in a boat, nor anywhere else for that matter. So if you have them you also have bad wiring. You'll need those schematics.

And what ignition system does it have? DS-II blue grommet?

[Gary Lewis]

Don't remember what carb you have, although I do remember seeing a pic of it that I'm not finding now. Anyway, can't speak to the choke right now, but I'd think there's an electric choke available for all carbs.

On the trim/tilt, I think you have a wiring problem if you use the tilt switch to trim. However, IIRC, some of the Merc's used the same switch to both trim and tilt and trimmed to one point and then tilted. Which do you have - one or two switches?

Scotchlocks have no business being in a boat, nor anywhere else for that matter. So if you have them you also have bad wiring. You'll need those schematics.

And what ignition system does it have? DS-II blue grommet?

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