Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Can we talk about boats at the Campfire?

I understand that.


My point is, none of us really know how bad it is .......or how good.
Hoses, belts, impellers, etc are not expensive or hard to replace. They are generally a given when redoing any boat.
So, if a guy gets a boat on a trailer for free and can have a nice dependable boat for some sweat equity and $2-3,000.00 it certainly sounds worthwhile to me.
Unless, I missed something none of us has even seen a picture of the boat.
I did mention the interior in my post. I'm currently in the process of restoring a 1973 Rayson Craft and the interior is going to be almost 3 grand alone to replace. Most everything else we can do ourselves. Even the belts and hoses!

I've also seen boats 4-5 years old even I wouldn't take for free!

Yup...my current boat is three years old with around 700 saltwater fishing trips under her belt. I have no choice but to maintain it in the current market, but I sure wouldn't buy it.

I don't know if you can see them but here are links to a couple of pictures of the bolt in question.

Thanks

I have fixed minor things on a boat before...

Leonard's Ketch

Thanks for the pics... assuming you can get the inside that should be a super easy fix.

Yes, getting to the inside is the rub. From what I read you have to remove the motor and the exhaust pipe that cover the head of that bolt.

I crewed and worked on OH-58 helicopters and we swore that Bell had an engineering department whose primary function was making things that required maintenance hard to get to. Sea Ray may give Bell a run..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2817510716...9eclnfptw_WpqlTi5Oj2cTq_t6xoC5NAQAvD_BwE


Are you sure the head of the lower bolts on an Alpha 1 gen 1 doesn’t need a wrench backup from the inside? Looks to me you should be able to just tighten the anode nut if it’s anything like the gen 2.

Correction - see reply below.


Have you done the slight hammer tap I recommended earlier to verify if the transom is solid? Otherwise tightening won’t do anything but make things worse.

Don’t blame Sea Ray for something Mercruiser.

Copy that.

Seems odd that an exhaust manifold or exhaust pipe would be that close to a gelcoat/figerglass/wood transom.

Anyway... if you can get the bolt out (assuming it is not tied to the block and only a thru bolt holding the outdrive to the transom)... lube up the hole inside heavy with 3M 5200 (after checking for rot in the hole with a dental pick or whatever)... lube up new bolts heavy also (do one side at a time)... let it ooze out as you tighten the nuts down. Clean up the ooze with denatured alcohol and LOTS of fresh paper towels. 5200 is indifferent to water... epoxy or poly resin hate water/moisture.

Admittedly I know almost nothing about inboard/outdrives... so this advice could be crapola. But I do know boats and hull/transom repairs some.

Good luck.

Anodes... damn... I thought they were BS acorn nuts. That will teach me to keep my yap shut of chit I know nothing about.

Tapping ("sounding") the transom... +1 advice.

Actually after watching a video on YouTube, looks like the gen 1 and early gen 2 bolts with the anode have a nut on the lower 2 bolts - on the inside against the gimbal bracket. The OP is correct in that they are likely inaccessible with the engine installed. The anodes just screw on the stub out thread and the square part sits into the outer gimbal.

I still stand by my rotten transom theory, as that explains why the bolts are loose.