probablyhopeless
New Member
Thanks for the rec on the resizer, once photobucket got to it it wasn't so bad. I'll definitely take all the advice on not spending early on the battery. I'll check the junk yard and get back.
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Not a technical expert, just excerpting since some of the knowledgeable folks might have missed your comment at the bottom.
On this last picture, note that one of the bolts is removed. I accidentally took that out while trying to remove the exhaust manifolds, and water immediately started pouring out. When I squeezed the biggest hose on the front, it would spurt out faster. I am not sure if this is normal, or a certain sign of doom.
All great suggestions from a seasoned restorer of several boats.
NorCal
Could you post some pics of that 1895 Cobalt:grin:
You might consider pulling the motor and using a motor stand this will make the work go a lot quicker. Once you get the motor out of the boat you will be able to see what you got to do with the hull. Get on you tube search frisco jarretts he has done a lot of rehabs . And before you ask no you should not use any auto parts for your rehab.
Well....the good news is it's not the worst boat I've seen but it's pretty rough. Another bit of good news is it's a somewhat unique boat. You don't see many of those and it could be fun to restore and at the same time modernize. Plan on buying a lot of marine plywood and Formica as that is what Sea Ray used for the interior bulkheads.
To do this right you really need a documented plan. You need to decide what you want to do. Do you just want to give it a quick douche, get it running and go fishing? Do you want to do a full restoration and make it something to be really proud of or are you looking at something in between. The amount of money you have to spend will be the limiting factor but once you decide what you want to do write out a plan on how you think you would go about it. The Cobalt I am restoring started as just a re-fresh but as I got more into it I found more stuff wrong. I have had to make all new bulkheads as I found ones that were soaked. The carpet is trash, the upholstery needs to be re-done the engine has problems and I need to go through the whole outdrive. But I have a list and an order to do everything. But as in your case, this is a unique boat and worthy of restoration.
As you start taking things apart be sure and label everything and take pictures. You may think you will know where that funny looking part goes but 3-6 months down the road it will look like something from Mars.
Good luck
Shawn
Well....the good news is it's not the worst boat I've seen but it's pretty rough. Another bit of good news is it's a somewhat unique boat. You don't see many of those and it could be fun to restore and at the same time modernize. Plan on buying a lot of marine plywood and Formica as that is what Sea Ray used for the interior bulkheads.
To do this right you really need a documented plan. You need to decide what you want to do. Do you just want to give it a quick douche, get it running and go fishing? Do you want to do a full restoration and make it something to be really proud of or are you looking at something in between. The amount of money you have to spend will be the limiting factor but once you decide what you want to do write out a plan on how you think you would go about it. The Cobalt I am restoring started as just a re-fresh but as I got more into it I found more stuff wrong. I have had to make all new bulkheads as I found ones that were soaked. The carpet is trash, the upholstery needs to be re-done the engine has problems and I need to go through the whole outdrive. But I have a list and an order to do everything. But as in your case, this is a unique boat and worthy of restoration.
As you start taking things apart be sure and label everything and take pictures. You may think you will know where that funny looking part goes but 3-6 months down the road it will look like something from Mars.
Good luck
Shawn
You might consider pulling the motor and using a motor stand this will make the work go a lot quicker. Once you get the motor out of the boat you will be able to see what you got to do with the hull. Get on you tube search frisco jarretts he has done a lot of rehabs . And before you ask no you should not use any auto parts for your rehab.
Walmart has cheap batteries and so does costco.
You removed one of your head bolts that exposed a water jacket. those bols are torqued down.
on the sides of the block there should be two drains plugs i would open them and get all that old water and rust and whatever drains out of it.
not sure if your aware you need a specail pump to rempove the oil. dont just open the plug and let it dump in the bilge
Looks like a GM 350 engine and Alpha out drive. Check out the pics of Oldskool in my profile. There are a few 76'ers here. Mine's a SRV200 with a Ford 302. Great project boat and if the haul is in good shape she'll make a good looking hard top.
If you want to peak at your 76 via Sea Ray check the link out.
http://www.searay.com/boat_graphics/electronic_brochure/company1729/1C1_27_74DERNIRI222.pdf
As for the motor, hmmmm, I know that you want to keep costs down, get a quick turn around but need it to be reliable for offshore use. I'm not sure all three of those conditions go together.
That combined with all those hours of salt water in the block convinced me to just purchase a new marine crate motor and drop it in. Well, that & my mechanic telling me rehabbing the old one was a total waste of money. Only you know what you can afford etc.
Todd