1977 Vulture Rebuild

[Hippie459MN]

Not yet. Planning on Wednesday to get the motor on it and then if its not to late work on getting most of the wiring all taken care of.

[Hippie459MN]

Worked on it a bit more today. Worked on more wiring. Got it all out of there for the most part. They sure didn't hold back on the electrical tape. Once I get the motor on I am going to be shopping for all new gauges and then rewire this whole thing. Here is a picture I took today. Nothing fancy.



Here is the gas tank and wondering if there is any way to figure out short of dumping something in gallon by gallon to figure out what size tank this is off the measurements.

Also, Anyone know where to get a new sending unit for this? I am thinking of going with AutoMeter gauges. Wonder if they would have one that will work.




That black mark on the one side is a grease mark and its not a crack. Also, The little top section is 7 inches wide. I forgot to mark it in the picture.

[77viper]

Most boat dealers should have a universal sending unit. You will have to bend the float arm to make it read correct.

[Surface Scratcher]

Unusual shape though. Did it fit under the back seat somewhat? Looking at your earlier pics, I can see transom braces that would prevent it from being mounted all the way back to the transom. I would have guessed that the factory would have mounted them way back, but your fill neck position adds another kink to my forensic query. What do you think?

Also, when I had my tank out, I wanted to know whether 1/4 tank on the gauge was 2 gal or 6 gal. So, I did fill it, several gallons at a time, marking it's level on a dip stick. I compared it later to the gauge after I got it wired, months later. If you want, you can gather a bit of info about you tank filling it from empty, that you can't once you put some gas in it. I'll bet your gauge is gonna act somewhat goofy due to tank shape.

I hope that pretty soon your OMC will be on and ready to run. You might come up with a 6 gal portable tank at first...more gradifying than tank reinstallation

[Hippie459MN]

With the tank in the boat the filler neck on the tank is just about right under the filler on the boat.



As for the transom support inside, it does look like someone notched it so the tank would sit back farther.



And now for the bad news of this whole thing but it has not stopped me from finishing this project, Just a little bit of a new direction now.

The neighbor guy came over today to check it out and while he was there we moved the boat around on the trailer so I could get a better look at things and I didnt like what I found.

Now I have not had the boat off the trailer myself so dont get on me to much about this.

First I had been looking at some of this silicone on the bottom of the hull/transom area and decided to peal some off (Alot of it actually) and this is what I found under it.



After finding that is when I decided to enlist the neighbor to help me move this around some and look at this...




I really dont know what to say other than...

I dont think the motor will be going on as soon as planned. And as for my fiberglassing skills, Never done it once in my life. Anyone want to take on a project for/with me? The cheaper you are the better.

[Surface Scratcher]

Wow! Sorry to see that. I cannot offer advice on this but I can feel ya all the way here in Texas.

Something to read anyway...http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151280&highlight=restore+vulture

[Hippie459MN]

I have been keeping track of that thread on there. I am going to run the boat to a local palce here in town tomorrow and see what they can do for doing the hull repairs once I get everything out.

I dont know if anyone has heard of them but this is the place - http://www.shipwreckboats.com/

They are just down the road from me and look to have alot of nice boats going in and out of there all the time. I really want this in the water sometime this year but if not thats ok because it will be worth the wait in the long run.

[ccrick]

Wow, that sucks! That looks like stress from a big motor. Can you see anything from the inside? Is the core intact? Thats going to make a big differance in repair cost. What a bummer I'd help if I were closer. It's a long walk. Even if you have to cut some floor, see if you see anything from the inside. Let us know.

sorry man, Rick

[77viper]

We do some buisness with them. Vic casset works for them and does nice work. I think you might be in for a bit of a shock at the price. As for my viper I have about $1000 in materials and about 70 hours in it so far and I would't say I'm 1/2 done.


Oh ya we must LOVE our hydrostreams!!!

[Hippie459MN]

Yeah, They are only about 2 miles from me. Going to see what kind of quotes they can give me. I will pull all the core and junk out and maybe have them fix the hull wherever it needs to fixed. I don't know what I am going to do just yet. Going to get their opinion on it first but it will be saved no matter what I have to do.