1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

K

kbish

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Apr 17, 2011
Messages
29
just brought this home last weekend. it's pretty bad, it's just been sitting in the water for the last 5 years with little use. has a 1979 Johnson 70HP outboard that looks quite ugly but for $400 i couldn't pass this up. i also have a 1978 Playcraft pontoon that i was going to redo/restore but i think instead i'm going to leave the Playcraft as is and still use it this summer then sell it next spring as i hope to have the Riviera Cruiser done by then.

this is going to be a really slow restore so if i go a long while without posting progress then fear not . . . i haven't given up, just got busy. we've got 4 boys all playing soccer this spring and dunno what's in store for later this year so i'll play it by ear. in the meantime here are the pics.

note: i do have the soft top for the boat, i just removed it before trailering the boat home and just didn't put it back on for the pics


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so the plans for the boat is basically everything new. taking it down to the toons and rails then doing new flooring, new carpet, new seating and helm. i'm most likely going to leave the current top on the boat for a short while till i put a bimini top on it, just depends on how out of control the wife lets my spending get. i'm also debating on trying to paint the ugly orange aluminum panels or just replacing them. probably going to be painting the motor gloss black (yes it does run, much to my surprise it fired right up). the wife is wanting to stick with blue like our other boat so the colors will be blue and gray.

my hardest part right now has been figuring out how i want to setup the furniture. too many options though i think i have it narrowed down to 3 or 4 possibilities, just need to get out and do some measuring
 
K

kbish

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Apr 17, 2011
Messages
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Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

a somewhat but crooked close up of the motor in need of some tlc

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E

EGlideRider

Lieutenant Junior Grade
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Dec 14, 2008
Messages
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Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

Fabulous deal!!!! We are looking forward to pics.

IMHO, I would paint the panels. That would be cheaper than replacing them plus you could get really creative with furniture/carpet/rail color schemes.
 
T

Todd28

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Apr 7, 2011
Messages
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Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

Looks like you got a great deal! My pontoon is very similar and im in the middle of doing the same to it as what you are doing ( talked with you on my thread ). Keep me updated and ill do the same, maybe save each other some headaches. Btw, as you probably know but your old furniture is worth something to somebody. I looked for a long time before i found some used furniture for my boat. I would put that old furniture on craigslist and get some $ back if I were you. Lots of people would rather get used and have it re-upolstered than spend the big money on new furniture. Especially guys like me that are trying to have a nice boat for as little investment as possible. Good luck and have fun!
 
ezmobee

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

Nice deal. I love those biga(s)s old toons!
 
5150abf

5150abf

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Aug 12, 2007
Messages
5,808
Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

Man you stole that thing, great deal.

Should be a nice boat when you are done with it, looks like tha basic platform is still in great shape.

As Eglide said it woudl be alot better to paint the panels,normaly those are put in a lip and presses so they are very hard to ge tout without destroyin gthe rail and with that extrusion being that old I really don't think you could get it, extrusion hardens over time and becomes pretty brittle.

That is a great engine too, the 80 OMC are bullit proof.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing your progress once the kids are done with their stuff, I have 3 girls so I know what you mean.
 
K

kbish

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Apr 17, 2011
Messages
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Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

thanks for the encouragement and input everyone. i'll most likely end up trying to paint the panels first, if it turns out looking like junk then i'll replace them. might . put an ad up on craigslist and give those seats one week to get gone other wise they're being trashed next weekend. i hoestly could careless if i actually sold them as the bases are wood and starting to rot, the vinyl is starting to crack, one of the backseats has a massive hole in it. somebody could take them off my hands for free.

gonna stop by a marina today and see what they have in stock to clean my pontoons with otherwise i'm going to order some of JJV's Best cleaner for it
 
E

EGlideRider

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Dec 14, 2008
Messages
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Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

From your statement that your painting may turn out like junk, I now recommend that you hire a professional with some artistic talents to paint the panels. That will still be cheaper and a lots less work than replacing them. And as you probably know, if the aluminum panels are not prepped correctly the paint will start peeling almost immediately.
 
K

kbish

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Apr 17, 2011
Messages
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Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

EGlideRider said:
From your statement that your painting may turn out like junk, I now recommend that you hire a professional with some artistic talents to paint the panels. That will still be cheaper and a lots less work than replacing them. And as you probably know, if the aluminum panels are not prepped correctly the paint will start peeling almost immediately.
Click to expand...

that was the plan. i don't have the best garage/basement to try and keep a good dust free environment for painting the panels. i already have a people in mind that have done some other work for me before
 
K

kbish

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Apr 17, 2011
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Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

forgot to mention earlier, i stopped by a local marina today and they only had a product called "Zing" to use on the pontoons. so now i'm between sharkhide or jjvs best. i like the jjvs is boasted as being an environmentally friendly non-acid
 
5150abf

5150abf

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Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

I could be wrong but Shark Hide is a protectant not a cleaner, you woudl use the Shark Hide after you got the tubes clean, they may make a cleaner too though.

The Shark is a really good product by the way.
 
V

vergil

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Sep 18, 2010
Messages
250
Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

i just got done redoing a 1965 riveria cruiser, what a fun project,
we predetemined what we were gonna spend on the boat before we redid it and went from there, as far as the panels we had to repaint ours. got the paint from sherwin williams its holding up great, (i have before and after pics on are toon here on the forum if interested in seeing them) for 400 you stole that old boat. you talked about getting rid of the seats, what about that nice looking captains chair? that looks worth restoring. and that ol johnson is very close to what ours has on it as well, (were running a johnson 75 hp stinger of the same year)
 
K

kbish

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Apr 17, 2011
Messages
29
Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

got the seats and helm all "off" the boat. they're sitting in a pile on the front of the boat waiting for me to throw them away saturday morning. they're all in such bad condition with the bases all rotting out and such that i don't feel that they're even worth trying to second hand salvage. doubt i'll get anything else done to it this weekend other than pitching the seats as the kids have 5 soccer games this weekend and my sister and brother-in-law will be coming home from the hospital with our new nephew

really can't wait to get that floor up. no pics of the progress from tonight though as it was too dark out when i finished up. had to keep moving back under the motion light to kick it back on just to pick up my tools
 
K

kbish

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Joined
Apr 17, 2011
Messages
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Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

minor update, got all those seats completely gone. lucky me, i found the original owners manual for the 1979 Johnson 70HP motor buried inside the helm. hope to start removing the railing and decking in the next few weeks. i finally tested the compression on the motor tonight and was very pleased with the results on this old motor. 135-125-130 so the tune up will be fairly cheap i think. worst part will just be changing out the impeller and cleaning out the carb
 
M

mpilot

Seaman
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Feb 1, 2010
Messages
65
Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

I had a similar motor and rebuilt the water pump. If I had it to do over again I would make sure to soak all the bolts the best I could with penetrating oil for a few days...guy that had the motor before me apparently thought that zinc bolts from lowes would work well on a lower unit...ended up having to get a machine shop to extract a few bolts for me. Also i learned if the bolts are really hard working that I should turn it one turn or so and let it cool down/rest, turn again and cool and repeat. Other than the bolts shearing off it was a super easy rebuild other than fishing the electronic shift wire back into the motor, but yours is mechanical shift I believe so it should be pretty easy as long as it comes off okay. Also I think in that model year it was like mine and there was an improved water pump unit that they came out with after the fact, and if there is I would think about doing that conversion while in there. I was lucky someone had already done that so all I really needed were the seals and impeller.
 
K

kbish

Cadet
Joined
Apr 17, 2011
Messages
29
Re: 1978 Riviera Cruiser C-20 restore

mpilot said:
I had a similar motor and rebuilt the water pump. If I had it to do over again I would make sure to soak all the bolts the best I could with penetrating oil for a few days...guy that had the motor before me apparently thought that zinc bolts from lowes would work well on a lower unit...ended up having to get a machine shop to extract a few bolts for me. Also i learned if the bolts are really hard working that I should turn it one turn or so and let it cool down/rest, turn again and cool and repeat. Other than the bolts shearing off it was a super easy rebuild other than fishing the electronic shift wire back into the motor, but yours is mechanical shift I believe so it should be pretty easy as long as it comes off okay. Also I think in that model year it was like mine and there was an improved water pump unit that they came out with after the fact, and if there is I would think about doing that conversion while in there. I was lucky someone had already done that so all I really needed were the seals and impeller.
Click to expand...

i'll have to look into the improved water pump. i've already accepted the fact that it will take massive amounts of penetrating oil to loosen these bolts on the lower unit due to how long it had been sitting under water (in case the pic of the motor didn't make that painfully obvious).
 
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