reelfishin
Captain
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2007
- Messages
- 3,050
Picked up another one today. A 1965? Sport-Craft Ski-King 16' runabout.
Anyone have any experience with this brand?
It appears to be rock solid, the transom is dry and solid, the floor is solid and it even has what looks to be an original top and enclosure.
My question is what type of construction did they use?
I tossed the seats and floor covering. The floor was covered in Nautilex, and it appeared to be stuck right to the floors gel coat or it had some really good glue, the backing looks to be embedded into the gel coat. I plan to sand it a bit and epoxy coat the floor real heavy for easy cleanup.
Two things I find odd, first is the fact that the deck to lower hull area is only about 3/4" thick, there is no bilge area, the drain plug is at the bottom of the boat at the rear with only a 3/4" depression or well at the back. The floor runs flat up to the front just under the dash where it curves upward forming a partial wall or footrest. The outer hull is a V hull which flattens toward the rear. It looks as if the deck is pretty much the bottom of the boat with maybe a small air space or maybe wood core? There are plywood ribs showing ahead of the floor but I don't see where there's any room for stringers of any real size. The hull has no flotation at all, no foam anywhere. The gunwales are bare fiberglass, with glued on vinyl, the bow plate or forward deck is single layer glass which is contoured with a raised center for strength, and the dash has only a single wood strip at the lower edge.
The boat seems heavy, I haven't weighed it but compared to my 1962 Glasspar, which I'd guess weighs in at about 400lbs minus the motor and trailer, (two guys can lift it on and off the trailer), the Sports-craft is too heavy to lift even the bow or stern off the trailer with two guys.
I did the obvious tests for water or water logged foam, but its all dry. I can see under the forward floor where it curves upward and all is dry there and I did a drill test towards the rear and it come up dry too. The floor is about 1/2" thick, and theres about a 1/4" gap between the bottom of the deck and the hull. I've left it set bow up in the air and no water draining anywhere.
The sides of this boat are about 1/2" thick with the vinyl padding, I can't imagine that the glass is that heavily laid?
The motor that was on it was a mid 60's Mercury straight 6, 85hp, it seemed a bit excessive to me and has a bad bearing in the lower unit. I'll most likely run something newer. I was thinking of hanging a 40 or 50 hp until I realized how heavy this thing is. The hull is super clean, just lots of barn dirt, it was stored since 1980 in a barn with the full enclosure up and was tarped as well. A good wash and polishing job and it should make it look almost new.
Size wise, it's about identical to my Glasspar Tacoma. The Glasspar is super light, even lighter than many aluminum boats but this Sport-Craft is super heavy for it's size. I'd guess the bare hull to be in the 1000lb range, while the Glasspar is at best 400 lbs.
Anyone have any info or experience with older Sport-Craft boats?
The oldest info I can find is 1969, this is older than that. The fact that it's built with no flotation, no hull number, no sign of a coast guard certification plate, and the general style make me think it's even earlier than the title states. The title was issued in 1965, but it's a state issued hull number. There are no numbers on the hull at all and the dash looks like a 50's car in style.
The colors are aqua blue with cream white trim and every thing is overbuilt. The rub rail looks like it belongs on a commercial boat, the gunwales are mostly unsupported but do not flex even with my 300lbs on them, the splashwell is the same way, no wood support, all glass and it does not flex in anyway. The transom is 20' tall, and appears to be blown in glass covered in the inside. There is no access to the wood core at all.
It also has two brackets on the transom that I don't know what they are for?
there's one on each side and they bolt through the transom with 3 5/16" bolts with 1/4" stainless steel plate on the back side. Maybe some sort of ski tower attachment? (The boat model is a Ski-King?)
Here's a pic of the brackets I am talking about:
http://i34.tinypic.com/s2bi4k.jpg
Anyone have any experience with this brand?
It appears to be rock solid, the transom is dry and solid, the floor is solid and it even has what looks to be an original top and enclosure.
My question is what type of construction did they use?
I tossed the seats and floor covering. The floor was covered in Nautilex, and it appeared to be stuck right to the floors gel coat or it had some really good glue, the backing looks to be embedded into the gel coat. I plan to sand it a bit and epoxy coat the floor real heavy for easy cleanup.
Two things I find odd, first is the fact that the deck to lower hull area is only about 3/4" thick, there is no bilge area, the drain plug is at the bottom of the boat at the rear with only a 3/4" depression or well at the back. The floor runs flat up to the front just under the dash where it curves upward forming a partial wall or footrest. The outer hull is a V hull which flattens toward the rear. It looks as if the deck is pretty much the bottom of the boat with maybe a small air space or maybe wood core? There are plywood ribs showing ahead of the floor but I don't see where there's any room for stringers of any real size. The hull has no flotation at all, no foam anywhere. The gunwales are bare fiberglass, with glued on vinyl, the bow plate or forward deck is single layer glass which is contoured with a raised center for strength, and the dash has only a single wood strip at the lower edge.
The boat seems heavy, I haven't weighed it but compared to my 1962 Glasspar, which I'd guess weighs in at about 400lbs minus the motor and trailer, (two guys can lift it on and off the trailer), the Sports-craft is too heavy to lift even the bow or stern off the trailer with two guys.
I did the obvious tests for water or water logged foam, but its all dry. I can see under the forward floor where it curves upward and all is dry there and I did a drill test towards the rear and it come up dry too. The floor is about 1/2" thick, and theres about a 1/4" gap between the bottom of the deck and the hull. I've left it set bow up in the air and no water draining anywhere.
The sides of this boat are about 1/2" thick with the vinyl padding, I can't imagine that the glass is that heavily laid?
The motor that was on it was a mid 60's Mercury straight 6, 85hp, it seemed a bit excessive to me and has a bad bearing in the lower unit. I'll most likely run something newer. I was thinking of hanging a 40 or 50 hp until I realized how heavy this thing is. The hull is super clean, just lots of barn dirt, it was stored since 1980 in a barn with the full enclosure up and was tarped as well. A good wash and polishing job and it should make it look almost new.
Size wise, it's about identical to my Glasspar Tacoma. The Glasspar is super light, even lighter than many aluminum boats but this Sport-Craft is super heavy for it's size. I'd guess the bare hull to be in the 1000lb range, while the Glasspar is at best 400 lbs.
Anyone have any info or experience with older Sport-Craft boats?
The oldest info I can find is 1969, this is older than that. The fact that it's built with no flotation, no hull number, no sign of a coast guard certification plate, and the general style make me think it's even earlier than the title states. The title was issued in 1965, but it's a state issued hull number. There are no numbers on the hull at all and the dash looks like a 50's car in style.
The colors are aqua blue with cream white trim and every thing is overbuilt. The rub rail looks like it belongs on a commercial boat, the gunwales are mostly unsupported but do not flex even with my 300lbs on them, the splashwell is the same way, no wood support, all glass and it does not flex in anyway. The transom is 20' tall, and appears to be blown in glass covered in the inside. There is no access to the wood core at all.
It also has two brackets on the transom that I don't know what they are for?
there's one on each side and they bolt through the transom with 3 5/16" bolts with 1/4" stainless steel plate on the back side. Maybe some sort of ski tower attachment? (The boat model is a Ski-King?)
Here's a pic of the brackets I am talking about:
http://i34.tinypic.com/s2bi4k.jpg
