Okay, here is what it took to get the boat running. I put a new marine starer in it and a new battery, and checked to make sure the engine wasn't locked up. I disconnected the fuel line going to the fuel tank. I stuck the fuel line in a 5 gallon plastic portable fuel tank. I disconnected the fuel line at the carburetor, hit the key, and the fuel pump worked and shot out fuel out the other end. So I got fuel. I took the carburetor off and took it home to rebuild it. I was expecting a gummed up carburetor with a bunch of varnish in it, but when I took that little Holley 2 barrel apart, it was clean as a whistle on the inside. So I went ahead and cleaned all the ports with carburetor cleaner and put it back together. I went back out to the boat with a new distributor cap, rotor, and spark plugs. Installed the carb, cap, rotor and spark plugs. I lowered the boat from the rafters and put it in the water. I checked for leaks and the bilge was bone dry. I had the starter solenoid wired backwards, so I reversed the two wires going to the solenoid. I left the throttle linkage disconnected from the carb so I could give it throttle while by buddy operated the key. Time for the smoke test. I primed the carb by opening and closing the throttle. My friend hit the key and the engine fired right up and idled perfectly! We couldn't believe it! It ran perfectly without skipping a beat. I checked the voltage at the battery and the alternator was working. The engine reach operating temperature and stayed there. So we backed it out of the boat dock, and went for a quick spin. The boat ran perfectly! I could believe my luck. We only had 5 gallons of gas, so we turned around and put it back on the boat dock.
Now about the free boat. I wasn't looking for a boat when I found this one, it was just pure luck that I got this one. Most free boats are junk, and need tons of work. This was the exception. It is basically a brand new 16 year old boat, that was stored in a covered boat dock, out of the water, and out of the sun, unused for 16 years. It just had a ton of dirt on it, and it didn't start. The lady bought a boat, and just never used it. She got tired of looking at a dirty boat behind her house, and gave it away. There are probably a few woman out there in the same situation. Either they got divorced, or their husband died, and they got a bunch of his toys, collecting dust. If you look around, you can probably find a deal like I got. Eventually, people get tired of paying fees to store stuff, and just give it away.
Now back to the boat. The trim motor needs to be replaced, it is also rusted. The blower motor that gets the fumes out of the engine bay needs to be replaced. The electric arm that opens up the engine bay needs to be replaced. The tach doesn't work, and the volt meter gauge doesn't work. I'm guessing they have bad grounds. The boat needs all the normal maintenance items replaced like the impeller, bellows, and stuff like that. The gas stank needs to be cleaned out, but the boat looks, runs and drives like new. It just needs a few minor problems fixed on it. Right now I got about 400 bucks in it, plus my labor. Yeah I know, I got lucky!
