I posted before but thought I?d post this after reading the thread on the tri-hulls. I picked up a 1970 Thunderbird 18? tri hull 6 months ago, I posted to see what you all thought about the tri hull design and decided to go ahead with purchase.
It actually worked better than I thought. A friend wanted $1k for the boat and trailer. The trailer was in great shape with all new axels, hubs, bearings, tires and wiring. it was in very good overall condition. The boat/hull was in very good condition as well with only three owners, the second in 1984 and my friend in 1997. Within the last 2 years the boat has had a complete rebuild of the motor (Merc I/O straight 6) and the out drive (MC1) and the entire boat had been rewired, everything worked, except?
When I picked up the boat we discovered the tilt rams were stolen while in storage so I couldn?t use the boat right away. After getting educated and searching around I found a pr of rebuilt rams (orig Merc units for $350.00) and installed them, that weekend I took the boat out and discovered a few other things needed attention.
After launching for the first time (have the read the posts on this too?) the motor started up on the first crank, this after sitting for 6 months. I was impressed and couldn?t wait to hit the open water. Getting behind the wheel I noticed the control wouldn?t engage forward or reverse and after struggling with it for 15 minutes I decided to pull it out of the water. I spent the next hour pulling the control out and taking it apart (in the parking lot!!!), I got lucky and found a cotter pin had worked loose and was jammed, ? hr later I was in the water. I noticed the steering was heavy as we were pulling out but didn?t think much about it, as we headed into the delta the steering felt really heavy, had hard spots and was real heavy, like a power steering system that lost pressure, I didn?t care and went out anyway and had a blast! After replacing the control, the steering cable and adjusting the shift/throttle cables its all dialed in.
Here is how I feel about the boat today;
I?ve always felt boats needed to look like boats, meaning the sleek V hull look of the older products from the 60?s to the 80?s. Although this is my first boat I?ve been in and driven many over the years. Tri-Hulls never really appealed to me but after owning one I feel a little differently.
Since I started this I looked at and read many articles on Tri Hull designs and like some of you here I now understand that it?s all about the manufacturer. Not all Tri Hulls are created equally, some are V hulls in disguise. Some are suited only for calm, lake like conditions ? I feel I got lucky with this Thunderbird hull design, it has a very deep V hull that runs down the length of the boat, meaning it doesn?t have a flat bottom at the transom. I have had it in the SF bay with 3? swells and it?s really not a problem, getting the out drive trimmed correctly and moderate throttle makes for a fun ride that?s not harsh at all. I feel like I got the best of both worlds, the ride of a deep V and the stability of the Tri Hull.
As it turned out I got the boat for free, when my buddy found out I spent close to $700.00 getting it running he gave me the pink slip. Totally happy with the boat!
It actually worked better than I thought. A friend wanted $1k for the boat and trailer. The trailer was in great shape with all new axels, hubs, bearings, tires and wiring. it was in very good overall condition. The boat/hull was in very good condition as well with only three owners, the second in 1984 and my friend in 1997. Within the last 2 years the boat has had a complete rebuild of the motor (Merc I/O straight 6) and the out drive (MC1) and the entire boat had been rewired, everything worked, except?
When I picked up the boat we discovered the tilt rams were stolen while in storage so I couldn?t use the boat right away. After getting educated and searching around I found a pr of rebuilt rams (orig Merc units for $350.00) and installed them, that weekend I took the boat out and discovered a few other things needed attention.
After launching for the first time (have the read the posts on this too?) the motor started up on the first crank, this after sitting for 6 months. I was impressed and couldn?t wait to hit the open water. Getting behind the wheel I noticed the control wouldn?t engage forward or reverse and after struggling with it for 15 minutes I decided to pull it out of the water. I spent the next hour pulling the control out and taking it apart (in the parking lot!!!), I got lucky and found a cotter pin had worked loose and was jammed, ? hr later I was in the water. I noticed the steering was heavy as we were pulling out but didn?t think much about it, as we headed into the delta the steering felt really heavy, had hard spots and was real heavy, like a power steering system that lost pressure, I didn?t care and went out anyway and had a blast! After replacing the control, the steering cable and adjusting the shift/throttle cables its all dialed in.
Here is how I feel about the boat today;
I?ve always felt boats needed to look like boats, meaning the sleek V hull look of the older products from the 60?s to the 80?s. Although this is my first boat I?ve been in and driven many over the years. Tri-Hulls never really appealed to me but after owning one I feel a little differently.
Since I started this I looked at and read many articles on Tri Hull designs and like some of you here I now understand that it?s all about the manufacturer. Not all Tri Hulls are created equally, some are V hulls in disguise. Some are suited only for calm, lake like conditions ? I feel I got lucky with this Thunderbird hull design, it has a very deep V hull that runs down the length of the boat, meaning it doesn?t have a flat bottom at the transom. I have had it in the SF bay with 3? swells and it?s really not a problem, getting the out drive trimmed correctly and moderate throttle makes for a fun ride that?s not harsh at all. I feel like I got the best of both worlds, the ride of a deep V and the stability of the Tri Hull.
As it turned out I got the boat for free, when my buddy found out I spent close to $700.00 getting it running he gave me the pink slip. Totally happy with the boat!
