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  1. Lou C

    Say goodbye to Glastron as you know it

    My boat brand Four Winns went from affordable (40s) to just absurdly expensive for a 20’ boat. The unintended consequences of this is it makes it easier to justify continuing to fix your old boat!
  2. Lou C

    Bought my first boat to cut, gut and rebuild from bow to stern, including engine. Killed my back and suffered the wrath of the fiberglass demons

    Yep I agree with all the responses about the likelihood of rot due to it being left open. I’d also question the seriousness of the seller about fixing it; anyone who knows wood/composite boats knows leaving them open to the weather is a death sentence. Be prepared for a complete gut & rebuild.
  3. Lou C

    Water keeps filling boat cover, please help!

    Mine just follows the angle of the windshield frame and for the 15 years I've been using it, has held up to even 5-10" of snow at one time. Probably because it has a front and rear ridge beam, with numerous cross braces to keep it from collapsing. I made wood side panels that attach to the...
  4. Lou C

    Volvo Penta ecms

    What next then? Can you convert to a 4 bbl carb?
  5. Lou C

    Volvo Penta ecms

    “Fixed” A non functioning iPhone (got wet from sweat in my pocket doing a brake job when it was 100* out) by leaving it in my home A/C vent to dry it out. Worked fine & still does!
  6. Lou C

    1998 Crownline 202br engine compartment access

    As much as I like the Chevy small block family of engines, at my age (68) there is no way I'd buy another I/O boat. I'm not against repowering the old one but if I had to sell this one, and was buying another, I just don't want to have all that work to do, every season. In salt water you're in...
  7. Lou C

    1998 Crownline 202br engine compartment access

    I bought 2 37” Wise pontoon boat seats that fit in front of the hinged bulkhead. I notched the wood under the coaming panel & it’s a perfect fit.
  8. Lou C

    1998 Crownline 202br engine compartment access

    Here’s how I did it….the 2 pontoon benches drop in in front of the bulkhead. Usually when I winterize I only have to pull one seat out. When I replace the engine and add closed cooling & remote oil filter I won’t even have to do that either. Only if I have to change a starter or similar repair.
  9. Lou C

    1998 Crownline 202br engine compartment access

  10. Lou C

    1998 Crownline 202br engine compartment access

    Later I’ll post up pix of how I did mine. Two must halves for long term I/O ownership: Closed cooling (longer engine life better resale & MUCH easier winterizing) Remote oil filter mount. When I repower this boat for sure it WILL have both!
  11. Lou C

    1998 Crownline 202br engine compartment access

    True the dog house & jump seats make it easy as long as they don’t have molded in fiberglass to mount the seats next to the engine box. I’ve posted a couple times how I modified mine. It has 2 36” pontoon benches that can be removed individually or both for bigger jobs. The wood bulkhead I cut...
  12. Lou C

    Need to add trailer brakes

    eventually got one of these the cars I used it on were: 1972 Chevrolet Impala 350 2bbl 1970 Ford Torino 302 2bbl 1975 Olds 350 4bbl Quadrajet and various cars owned by by uncle 1970 Mercury with a 429 4bbl Autolite 1965 Plymouth Belvedere 318 2bbl
  13. Lou C

    Need to add trailer brakes

    Here's a comparison of 10" vs 12" drum brakes and the ones I used on the last upgrade of the old trailer (6000 lb axle).
  14. Lou C

    1998 Crownline 202br engine compartment access

    My boat was like that and after a couple of years I modified the seat & wood supports to make it easier to get at. Does the engine have a remote oil filter mount? If not I’d add one. The worst points are getting at the block drains, starter & (God forbid you have to reach it) steering actuator...
  15. Lou C

    Need to add trailer brakes

    Yep as a teenager I recall the confusion in doing my first brake job on an all drum 1956 VW…would up calling my friend whose dad was the head tech at the local Ford store….after that I learned to get pix out of a shop manual (we were broke kids then would go to the library & copy pages we needed...
  16. Lou C

    Need to add trailer brakes

    Most drum brakes have the star wheel adjusters just like cars had years ago. Some of our US built cars had self adjusting drums but over time this feature seemed to stop working. I like manually adjusted brakes because I can set them the way I want….
  17. Lou C

    Need to add trailer brakes

    When I did mine back in ‘04 the main pain was snaking the stainless brake lines thru the frame. Other than that it was easy. Still using the same Tie Down model 66 actuator. I think bleeding the brakes & flushing the fluid every 5-6 years probably helped it last that long….
  18. Lou C

    Need to add trailer brakes

    Judging by the painted trailer I'm guessing you're in fresh water, it looks like you have a five bolt flange which means you can use 12" brakes that will give you good stopping power with a 19' boat. If your tow vehicle has a brake controller electric brakes might be an option but they are...
  19. Lou C

    Water keeps filling boat cover, please help!

    for the mooring covers I have simple adjustable poles for bow and cockpit that work fine and I put the gull sweeps on them to keep the dang birds off... for the winter cover that has to hold up to snow I built a frame, it takes about 40 min to put together but holds up to whatever snow we have...
  20. Lou C

    looks like a new crop of freeze busted I/Os being grown

    Here I’m not sure what the code is but our coldest temp is like about zero however that’s rare because our proximity to Long Island Sound moderates the temps. Did have a freeze up once in an upstairs bedroom but I fixed that myself by correcting poorly done insulation. Sadly a lot of people will...
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