Advice for reviving a '87 SN 2001 after 10yrs

Good day everyone, brand new member here from central Indiana needing some advice from the experts. This season I've worked out a deal to use my cousin's '87 SN 2001. In consideration for taking care of the general maintenance, repair and upkeep of the boat, if the boat fits my needs, I'll to buy it from him in the fall. If I don't buy it, I just incur the expense to get it in usable shape for him to sell outright. So I'm pretty excited over this prospect, the SN 2001's have always been a favorite of mine, they are exceptionally flexible watercraft that can easily go from tubing to skiing to wake boarding.

So here's what little I do know mechanically about the boat:
It has been stored (covered) in his attached garage for 10+yrs
The boat was properly winterized by a CC dealer before storage
The boat was maliciously maintained before storage
It has a PCM 351
It probably needs a new water pump (don't know if that means internal or impeller)
It probably need the stuffing box re-adjusted or re-packed
It is on the original CC trailer


What I'd like to know is, what are the specific very first steps (beyond visual) that I should take to diagnose the condition of the engine and transmission once I get it here to my garage? Another cousin told me he had a 70's Mustang in a similar state once. He knew the condition of this boat before being stored and he believes that, like his Mustang, the 2001 would probably need little more than a new battery, some cleaning up and new fluids before starting. Can that be right?

I'm fairly mechanically inclined, but in-boards are new to me and any advise that I can get, no matter how basic, would be extremely appreciated.

Thanks!    

Hi Peter,
Many thanks for the welcome and insight on the oil and battery. I guess my first step, aside from getting the boat here, is going to be fabricating an adapter for my hose to use for cooling in preparation for starting her up.

If there is\was a little condensation in the oil, do you suppose it would still be ok to briefly use the old oil just to get the engine and trans warmed up? That would make it a lot easier to vampire out the old and replace it.

I'm picking up the boat in a couple of weeks so I'll take plenty of pics of everything I do. I'm a huge fan to putting together pictorial DIY's so that others who want to perform their own maintenance have something to reference - been there\done that with my old BMW E46 coupe. Believe me, it helps.

BTW, the Dunphy and Atom are both beautiful boats. The Dunphy almost reminds me of our old '68 Chris~Craft Grand Prix. Ah, the memories...

Yup, I agree -tubing just mucks everything up for those who actually want to demonstrate a little coordination and not just suck lake water.   

Gary S wrote: It's called the Timmy T. Here is the inventor on the left and his marketing team at work.

Hope I don't scare off the new people---

Gary,
What's all the white stuff on your engine? Looks like you had to unload a fire extinguisher!

8122pbrainard wrote: Rob, Getting the engine hot for a fluid change is fine with the existing oil. Regarding the hose connection, most here keep it simple and it works fine. We call it the "Tim's flush connection". It simply consists of a T with barbed fittings to cut into the suction hose to the RWP before the trans cooler and then a valve and GHT adapter for the hose. Don't worry about a valve or check valve back to the through hull pick up. The RWP will suck plenty and the excess will come out of the bottom of the boat. It's also a great hook up since you will not get any false idea of the condition of the RWP from the garden hose pressure. Do check the condition of the RWP rubber impeller. It would be best to install a new one.

You guys know that Timmy's boat came to him with the Timmy T on it right? Is it still rightfully the Timmy T?

TRBenj wrote: Similar concept but I junked that thing right quick Joel. I didn't invent the concept, just perfected it. ;)

Yup, you did perfect the idea so we can still credit you. That's for reminding Joel!

Back to the boat, I would take the spark plugs out, put some oil in each cyl (just an oz) & roll it over until oil pressure gage starts to wake up.   Put the plugs back in, check that that choke is working, & she should fire up with a couple pumps of throttle.

SNobsessed wrote: Back to the boat, I would take the spark plugs out, put some oil in each cyl (just an oz) & roll it over until oil pressure gage starts to wake up.   Put the plugs back in, check that that choke is working, & she should fire up with a couple pumps of throttle.

Had similar situation that my boat sat for 10 years. Did the same as above but manually turned over the engine with a breaker bar and then fired her up. Started right up

SNobsessed wrote: Back to the boat, I would take the spark plugs out, put some oil in each cyl (just an oz) & roll it over until oil pressure gage starts to wake up.   Put the plugs back in, check that that choke is working, & she should fire up with a couple pumps of throttle.

Are there any thoughts on Marvel's vs Sea Foam to break up any contaminants\chunky oil pieces? I'd like to get all the old oil changed out and reduce condensation as much as possible before putting in new fluids - I'm just a little concerned that just siphoning the engine\trans oil will leave too much Sea Foam or Marvel in the oil pan and contaminate the new oil.     

xarmypilot wrote: Are there any thoughts on Marvel's vs Sea Foam to break up any contaminants\chunky oil pieces?

I'm a firm believer in Marvel. It's basically a detergent similar to the detergent additives in oils and ATF. I've used it the oil as well as in the fuel. After I rebuilt the Hercules for my Atom, it sat for about ten years before the boat was ready. Cranked up the engine and found that I had a couple valves stuck open. Even with fogging for layup, this is common with a flat head since the oil runs down off the valve stem. I squirted Marvel down the cylinders and added it to the gas tank and in the fuel pump sediment bowl. I had a running engine in several minutes. I also use a mix of 50/50 Marvel and motor oil for fogging. That habit came from one of the old time mechanics when I worked at Watercraft sales back in the late 60's and early 70's.

BTW, the best penetrating oil is a homemade mix of acetone and ATF or Marvel.

Rough week at work, missed a ton of new posts... Welcome to CCFan, can't wait to see pictures of your "new" boat. What did you fly in the army? There are a few pilots here, and at least one gunship pilot too. Anyway - can't wait to see the pics!

Excellent! That is some very diverse flying! Have a safe trip picking up the boat this weekend.

BTW, Joel posted a great link about picking up a new (used) trailer, you can find it here:
New Boat/Trailer Pickup Checklist

Is it an original trailer? If so, here are the bearings you need... Just in case they're toast. I always travel with a spare set, that seems to be a good luck charm (never had a bearing failure).

LM67048
25580
10-10 seal (this may be an Etrailer part number), it's the standard 2.25" seal for a 5200lb (6x5.5") hub.

It doesn't take very long to pull a hub off, but you could just pull the dust cap & cotter pin off to get to the outer bearing without removing wheel (use jack stand of course).

If the outer bearing & race are in good shape, chances are the inner is too.

Not sure if '87 axles are thru-lube; if they are you can easily grease both inner & outer without removing hub.

SNobsessed wrote: It doesn't take very long to pull a hub off, but you could just pull the dust cap & cotter pin off to get to the outer bearing without removing wheel (use jack stand of course). If the outer bearing & race are in good shape, chances are the inner is too. Not sure if '87 axles are thru-lube; if they are you can easily grease both inner & outer without removing hub.

I agree 100%, after thinking on it I just couldn't rationalize dragging that joker 120-miles on a wing and a prayer.

20-30 minutes in the driveway is a cheap and easy investment compared to littering up the highway and making a spectacle for the evening news.