$500 1 Owner '78 Glastron Rebuild

[Onetype]

Picked this gem up for $500. It's the first boat I've personally owned. Original owners said they were in it one day and it cut out on them, so they drove it back to their slip and parked it.

Found another boat with trailer for $600, offered $300 for the trailer, he gave me the boat. Traded/robbed some parts off of the junk boat then scrapped it.

So I'm about ~$900 in the boat and trailer at the moment. We're extending the trailer tongue so we can make this 19ft Glastron fit a little better on the trailer. It's almost perfect, just needs another foot or so forward. That's going to be a fun project in itself. Have a 5-6ft 3x3x.25 wall stick and a new tongue to weld on the trailer.

Anyway, I was hoping it was a carb problem. Was hoping to have it out on the lake this weekend to test it, but....

Motor was stuck
Starter was stuck
Motor had around 2 gallons of water in it (I saw this when I went to look at it)


Pulled the starter and noticed the ring gear had removed itself from the flywheel (I honestly think my buddy did this when he broke the motor loose), so it looks like I'm pulling the motor out. I was hoping just to get it running enough for this season and rebuild it over the winter (not much of one here in Austin, TX), but it looks like it's going to happen now. Hopefully going to start on it this weekend. I've been building Chevy motors for years, so the engine part of it will be cake.

It will get headgasket, main bearings (maybe), probably a hone and re ringed depending on how bad the cylinders are. Ideally shooting for a few week time frame on having it back in.

Then I plan on buffing it and seeing if I can get all the beautiful flake to come back out.

 

[sphelps]

I love all the old Glastrons ! Shame about the motor but it sounds like you can work all that out ..
Having the motor out will be the time to check out all the under structure .. Chances are there may be some rot unless your real lucky .. Good luck and welcome aboard !!!

 

[pekstrom]

Ah, that's a really nice looking boat! I'm tagging along for the ride if you don't mind.

 

[Onetype]

Fortunately, there is no rot. Floor is sold, stringers are solid. Transom is solid. I am a little bummed out about the motor as I'm pretty sure my buddy did it when he was unsticking the motor. However, with the motor mount completely covering the crank pulley/bolt I would have unstuck it the same way not knowing these are 2 piece flywheels. It will however give me a chance to do a couple other things once It's out.

 

[mickyryan]

cant wait to see if the shine comes back , great boats i grew up on a glastron for water sports when the big boats were fishin and crabbin

 

[archbuilder]

Nice looking Glastron, looking forward to seeing how your rebuild goes!

 

[MTboatguy]

I will look forward to seeing how your restore goes, I have almost the exact same boat that I am stripping right now and will be getting rid of the hull as I will be using the trailer for my Starcraft, but these are good looking boats. I just didn't have it in me to do another restore at this time..

Again, looking forward to see your work in the future.

 

[Woodonglass]

When you state that there's no rot but...what have to done that makes you say this? Have your core sampled the transom, motor mounts and stringers. Unless the boat was meticulously cared for or stored inside it's entire life boats of this vintage rarely are rot free.

 

[Onetype]

Got it out in about an hour today. I'm going to pull it apart this weekend and hopefully it will be ready to go back in next week.

 

[chevymaher]

I wanna tree like that.

 

[Buckischloo]

Looks like you got that gantry at Arbor Freight.

 

[Onetype]

Yeah, it's the most perfect engine pulling tree I've ever seen. So much so, it was easier than using the tractor. I hoisted it up, and he just drove the boat forward lol. Yeah, chain hoist is an HF special. It's at least 15 years oId.

So far a few things I know right off the bat that will need to be replaced:
-Exhaust bellow between transom and gimbal
-Outdrive u joints (I haven't measured yet, but does anyone know what size off hand?) My buddy has the spanner tool to remove the lock ring.


Going to grab another engine stand tomorrow from HF (all mine have motors on them lol) then I can tear into the motor and assess the damage (if any).

I keep getting told to check the intake manifold for cracks? There was 2 gallons of water in the motor and so far I'm not sure how it got in there. I'm thinking Headgasket or some other way other than a cracked manifold (but who knows).

 

[Onetype]

When you state that there's no rot but...what have to done that makes you say this? Have your core sampled the transom, motor mounts and stringers. Unless the boat was meticulously cared for or stored inside it's entire life boats of this vintage rarely are rot free.

What? lol. It's been visually inspected thoroughly by myself and a buddy. I'm a helicopter mechanic by trade, so I know a little bit. I'll be around ~$1500 in the boat when it's lake ready, and IF it ever has some transom issues down the road I'll pull the drivetrain out, throw the boat away and not give any f*cks. Until then, i'll enjoy my cheap investment in fun.

 

[briangcc]

What WoG is attempting to put delicately is that you have an old boat. Old boats over time and neglect absorb water which rots out the wood substructure. So unless you're drilled core samples down low in the transom and stringers they are suspect. So you *may* have a good drivetrain with a lousy substructure which is a disaster waiting to happen. So you may be well advised to drill a couple test holes low in the transom (don't go through the outer skin) and the stringers along with motor mounts to confirm the substructure is sound. The holes can be sealed up with 3M 5200 IF the shavings come back clean and dry. Otherwise...you may want to look through the restore threads here to see what is involved in restoring a boat with a compromised substructure.

Looks like a nice boat and worthy of a restore should one be required.

 

[Onetype]

Front motor mount is literally just a piece of 2x6 that's glassed. Rear mounts are tied into the transom itself. It was solid, not going anywhere.

Floor is solid as well, not even a hint of any softness, so I'm going to full send it until something happens (probably YEARS from now), then at that point I'll pull the drivetrain and throw the boat away and will have had an immense amount of fun for ~$1500.

 

[MTboatguy]

The 81 SSV-176 That I am tearing apart right now is just about the same boat and I am surprised, the deeper I get into it, you would think most of it is new, no soft spots at all, transom is great, the floor is solid, these boats were put together better than most I have torn into over the years.

 

[Onetype]

Motor looks brand new inside, even after draining 2 gallons of water. Going to put a gasket kit on it, have the head machined and send it!

 

[Woodonglass]

I sincerely hope the substructure is good. Just make sure to always wear PFD's.

 

[Onetype]

Dropped off the head at the machine shop. Did a quick hone with the pistons still in. Motor feels great turning it by hand.

Head definitely has some valve issues, found at least one intake valve stuck open just visually. Hopefully the head will be done in a few days and I'll get it put back together.

 

[infrared]

40 year Glastron that's solid and no rot? I highly doubt that. Those stringers and transom are cooked.