Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

[jacko137]

Boat is 1977 Aristocraft Nineteen--I just purchased it from ebay and though I'm not mechanically inclined at all, I really fell in love with the great character and the price ($800 with trailer)!

Mercruiser mcm 120 with merc outdrive. Seller claims decent compression 125/140/135/135, runs cool, water circulates, shifts; only weak spark and rough idle. I thought I'd be up to the task of new plugs, wires and maybe even coil with help from a mechanic pal.

Here's the issue---after spending some time looking her over I found what appears to be a crack that has been covered with JB weld??? It is probably 10" long and under the right hand side of the engine.

Here's a bigger issue--I don't know what the hell I'm looking at Probably a sign that I shouldn't have gotten myself into this, but I'm trying to remain optomstic. Any help identifying what I'm looking at here would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Bondo]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

Ayuh,.......

That's old Freeze Damage that was given a repair,....
It probably wouldn't hurt to resand the area,+ reapply somemore Epoxy to it,.... Just to stop the water that's weeping out,+ causing the rust stains.....

As long as it's Not allowing water into the Oil,..... Enjoy it.......

 

[ziggy]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

I really fell in love with the great character

i can understand how that occurs......

bondo know engines way better than me. so i'd sure have to agree with him. he sure has helped me a lot... sounds like ya might be lucky if ya aint got water in the oil, no internal crack...... a while ago, i talked to a welder that said he could weld them up too as long as it was cracked outside only. of corse the other option is a rebuilt engine from someone.... i think i'd try and run what ya got an do the epoxy thing if it dribbles......
get a tune up on that baby and see where ya stand.... congrats......

what color did you get?

 

[starsnstripers]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

I second them ^^^ for the price you paid it's not so bad. Tune her up, grind,sand,clean up the crack and re JB weld it. First do an oil change and see what the oil looks like then go from there. You'll get alot of help here on Iboats while you own and try to maintain your new boat. The guys on here are super helpful. So It's all good, just "GIT R DONE" Let us know about the oil findings, good luck.

 

[jacko137]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

Hey, I'm already feeling better. The oil looks good (at least what's on the stick). I figure I have nothing to loose here, right?

While I'm at it, any "firsts" suggestions as I move forward? I plan to do the following (as it apparently idles rough and weak spark):

Change oil/filter
replace plugs and wires
replace coil

Any other suggestions before I launch her and find out what I've got?

Thanks guys for all the help!

 

[jacko137]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

Hey Ziggy--

She's white with the Aristo blue interior. I'm thinking I'll swap the blue to red and maybe even paint a red racing stripe on her nose ala Bonzi. I don't know--I'm torn about keeping her authentic Aristocraft as I'm not a huge fan of the faux wood paneling.

Here she is in her current frozen state (with about 4 inches of ice in the hull!)

 

[Maclin]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

Why is there ice in the hull? Not much you can do about it now I guess unless you can get it inside a heated garage and drain it. If that much water got in beneath the floor I would be worried about it having expanded and breaking structures underneath the floor or pushing the floor up off the structure underneath.

 

[jacko137]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

It was parked outside with no cover on this past winter--in upstate Wisconsin of all things.

I don't have a heated garage and I'm in Michigan, so I'm afraid I have to wait for nature to thaw her. I am a bit concerned, but I don't know that there is anything I can do. Again, I'm open to suggestions. Thx!

 

[ziggy]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

if things are ideal. ya will not have water get under yer deck. aristocrafts have a inner hull and outer hull with foam inbetween. no wood deck, no wood stringers, no stringers at all the way i understand it. if water is on the deck, and the bow is high, it will run out the drain hole. if water gets into the ski, fish locker, it will drain out the hole in the back of the ski locker going between the two hulls, exiting in the small bilge area in front of the drain. if water gets into yer cooler between the seats, there are drain holes in both ends. one leads to the ski locker, which leads to the drain hole. the only draw back is if the tube leading from one area to the other has disintigrated over time. then it leads into the foam inbetween the hulls.... i think that would be real bad. there are also two holes in the deck inbetween the back, fore faceing and rear faceing seats. these holes are supposed to be glassed over. if those break thru. that would be another way for water to get inbetween the hulls...... keep the drain holes free and keep the bow up is gonna be the best ya can do till it's dry. then cover it up after that....

"http://www.aristocraftboats.com/fiberglassbrochures/Incomparable19page4.pdf"

i like the blue..... probably would have been my choice if i'd have been buyin a new aristocraft... i hear ya on the faux wood panaling.... faux wood? i thought it was contact paper......

 

[jacko137]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

Ziggy--damn, I was just begining to feel better about this purchase. How does one know if the foam got wet? I'll put her nose a bit higher and keep my fingers crossed. I checked the drain plug and it is full of ice. I drilled a little bit of the ice free just to make sure there wasn't anything else plugging.

Crap, I hope this water drains!!!

 

[Maclin]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

I just have some concerns why the water accumulated then froze. If the bow was up and the bilge drain hole open then there should not be that much accumulation of rain water that could freeze. It should have drained before it froze. Snow would accumulate but again if the bow was high enough with bilge drain open it should have drained before it morphed back to water then froze. There could have been leaves or something blocking the bilge drain hole on the inside. I hope all is well. Watch out, it will be extra heavy with all that water in it now.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

How does one know if the foam got wet?

i don't really know. one way could be to weight it.... ya'd have to fig. in the weight of the trailer though... http://www.iboats.com/Aristo_Craft/bp/20br1021
or maybe just try it out in the water and see how it perfroms.... if it's real soggy, i'd think ya could tell by performance too...... when i first got my 19. a fella here on iboats told a story of his waterlogged 19.... said he ended up drillin holes in the bottom of the boat to let it out.... i don't think he was successful. suppose ya could drill from the top, down too. see if ya pull out wet foam. it sure seems like it'd be difficult to do w/o damage to the boat being that the foam between the hulls is pretty much totally concealed from the outside.
sorry if i'm givin ya the willies about yer boat. that wasn't my intention. just wanting to let ya in on what i've found out in the year+ i've had one.... i hope all is ok...

be a shade careful with the drill bit thru the drain hole. the inner hull liner slopes up not to far from where the drain hole is..... guessin 6'' in from the outside......

 

[jacko137]

Re: Ultra newbie question 1977 MCM 120

be a shade careful with the drill bit thru the drain hole. the inner hull liner slopes up not to far from where the drain hole is..... guessin 6'' in from the outside......

I hear ya--my neighbor came out of his house and thought I'd lost my mind.

No, your not scaring me off at all. I appreciate the insight. To think I found someone with an Aristocraft 19 that I can chat with...this site couldn't be cooler!