TOPIC: 1963 Aristocraft Funliner

I received my Funliner about a week ago from Idaho. Having bought it sight unseen, I did find the hazards of that decision, like a missing skeg. But, after my initial shock and some great one on one support from Eduardo and James, I put a project list together and am just starting to tackle them one by one.

This week is all about roadworthy and registration.

1. Added lights by making a couple of brackets which allow the lights to be visible when driving.
2. Replaced the shock absorbers and will be replacing tires and hubs before weeks end.
3. Cut off about 40" of tongue and installed Fulton Fold-Away Hinge. I haven't done anything like this before, but it is coming out pretty well. I have half of it done which is the hardest half. I should be able to finish it tomorrow night.

The rest of the week will consist of wiring the lights, changing the hubs and putting on new tires and then the dreaded visit to DMVs.

Thanks for everyone's continued suport both here and in the weekly chat.

Congrats on the boat !!! Always something to do. Slow a steady !! madbohunk safe boating !!!

Making that list is the best way to go. Things get so confusing otherwise and besides it gives you a sense of accomplishment when you can check things off.
Great start. Skegs are an easy repair if you have a prop shop in your area or someone who does aluminum welding. Easy to make one up or...
Check this link. www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=14623

If memory serves me, not very often anymore, there are also some type of bolt on skegs.

Glad I could help, David. I think you will get a lot of enjoyment out of this old boat

Here are close-up images of the motor. It is a 1966 Johnson 100 Hp golden Meteor.

Here are close-up images of the motor. It is a 1966 Johnson 100 Hp golden Meteor.

Well it was a two steps forward 1 step back kind of weekend. We figured out how to fix the tilt lock and also figured out how it originally broke because we broke the replacement piece. Thank God for Ebay. Also, got the lights and horn working. That is going to need some rewiring later and a replacement socket on the bow light. BUT a small win is the hubcaps. They were really grimy, but I got them clean and shiny! And no rust or pitting on them.

Lookin good ,David. Those caps look new. I think the wheels look better with the smaller tires. My tilt release was broke like that when I got my boat from my Dad. Did your top turn out to be the original or a bimini?

It's the original. But the frames are a mess. I can't figure out how they go together. I think the joints may be mangled, etc... So, I have just put it away for a rainy day sometime AFTER I get the boat working.

BTW, how did you get your aluminum trim so bright!

Elbow grease and lots of it .No I used a 3" buffing pad with rouge to get it to shine and then used Busch aluminum polish to finish it off. I also put 3m masking tape over the gelcoat up to the edge of the trim to keep from burning it.

Here's some softtop pics to give you some insight as to how it's supposed to go.

That top looks pretty straightforward. . anyone ever made one from scratch? Might look good on my open top boat.

The top was designed to slide forward on the tracks,fold up and lay on the dash. I've never did my top like that and now it's so old and has shrank some over the years, I think it would tear it up if I tried.

Very nice. . I didn't realize that. I was just thinking removable hardtop like a old t-bird, just w vinyl and a frame instead

With really good pics and some measurements a Bimini top shop should be able to duplicate that top without a problem. It really does look cool and would be a very unique addition to your already neat ride. Your progressing nicely do you think it will be on the water for the New Years Run to the Yacht Club?

Jack

Looking forward to seeing progress on this

I doubt it Jack. I need to replace the steering on the boat. Plus, I think that I need to find someone local that can look at the motor. Today, I disassembled the control box because the idle lever was broken. I got it all back together and the idle lever moves much better, but now the throttle gear is making a ratcheting noise. I just don't recall that before I "worked" on it.

The trailer is now ready with the exception of the bunks. I need to drive to DMV to have them certify it so that I can get my permanent license plate. The boat got registered. Now I need to order the CF numbers. Although, I don't really want to apply them yet because there is a weird paint where they belong that the last person must have used to paint over the original letters.

My friend is going to come over tomorrow and do some more work with me. So, I'll see what progress I make tomorrow.

Thanks,
David

Sounds like a lot of progress ,David. Don't worry about the shifter. That's prolly the friction knob on the bottom of the box needing adjusting. If the knob is still there(they're bad to get broken off), just screw it out a little. The purpose of it is to keep the throttle from backing off on it's own. I knew you would be havin fun ....

Your making great progress Dave! Yep that racheting is normal on the throttle. Like Jim said just back the knob out a little if it isn't broken off.

Bob

Thanks Bob and Jim. I will try that again tomorrow. The knob is still on there, but when I adjusted it today, it didn't make a difference.

In other news, because I am over 100 miles away from 2 stroke friendly fresh water, I had to come up with an option for flushing. And having a 55 gallon bucket isn't really going to cut it in our severe drought conditions. So, I Magyver'd a solution today.

I think this should actually work better than the original tempo because the water will be going into where the water pump is as opposed to shooting up into it.

Tomorrow I may attempt to change the impeller and gear oil. I would think between 1 of the 4 factory and aftermarket manuals I have for this engine, I should be able to figure it out.

The only thing that really concerns me is the shift wires. I don't know if they are truly special, but online they are $200 to replace. So, breaking them would be badddddd.

Looks like it should work I would just caution you not to use too much water pressure.
Jack

Yeah Dave the shift wires aren't cheap. If you go back to my 80hp thread you'll see what I used to replace mine without having to pay that crazy price.

Bob

Thought I would give a quick update on the project. I don't know how all you guys do it. Mine is not even a big project, but the time I have to work on it is so limited. I have enjoyed learning about the motor though and understand a LOT more about how it works. Troubleshooting will at least be a little easier.

So, my buddy and I got the lower unit all back together. Built a new water pump, replaced seals, gaskets and cleaned up some things in the process. met a few challenges along the way, but I was excited to always have the part I needed, so at least my obsessive planning and shopping paid off. And you can see the skeg got welded back on in the picture attached.

I'm finishing up the clean-up of the metal gas tank this week. Fortunately, it was in pretty good although dented shape. Once I replace the top gasket, that will be ready to go.

So, if all goes well, next weekend I will be able to fire it up on the hose and hear it roar back to life. Okay, I know I shouldn't expect that, but, I'm trying this positive thinking for 2016!

The big mistakes I made this past two weeks was with trying to remove the old out of state numbering. I tried soaps, and heat, etc.. After reading 20 or so sites, I tried Easy Off. It did an amazing job at taking off the decals and the previous to previous owners original painted registration numbers. However, it turned the color of the hull a little yellow. I think my next step with the hull is to have an expert look at it to see what they can do to clean it up and make sure it is water ready. The keel seems to be a little worn.

Anyway, thank you to everyone for your continued support.

PS. Now that the engine is back together, I think I can pull it to DMV to get the trailer passed. Hopefully that goes without a hitch.

NO! NO! NO!!! You need a hitch to pull it to the DMV.

Just kidding!

Good luck with the start up. Gene

Dave, great catch-up post. Make sure that pesky distributor drive belt is in good condition. You don't want it to fail on the water like mine did.
And yes, you do need a hitch, preferably one with a ball.

Thanks for the suggestion.


Is there an obvious way to tell if the drive belt is good or not? Mine seems to be in good shape, I don't see cracking.

Thanks,
David

The ebay item id given is invalid, no result has been sentDavid, Mine had a few nicks in it and I thought it was ok till the motor shut down on the bay and the belt came apart. Age takes it's toll I guess. IMHO as long as you're beached for awhile I would change it out just to be on the safe side. I found one on ebay cheaper than marineengine.com but they are available. The part number is stamped right on the belt itself, probably white lettering. This should be it.

This is a used one but search the bay and there is NOS available.



www.marineengine.com/newparts/part_details.php?pnum=OMC0305446

"damartinca",
Be very careful marking both the magneto pulley position as well as the flywheel position when removing the drive belt so you won't have a belt timing issue when reassembling.
If you take the belt off, be sure and rotate the magneto pulley manually to feel whether or not the bearings in the magneto drive and magneto itself are okay, or if they need replacing.
Bad bearings cause a lot of the belt failures.
doc Frankenmerc

David, this is just my 2 cents, but I would not fool with the "timing belt" until you get the motor running. That way you do not have to worry about the timing as one of the issues if it does not run. If it fires no problem, then tackle the belt replacement as a maintenance job

Thank you for all the advice. I think I will be better able to make a plan for what to do next once I get it started. Hopefully, I can get it going this upcoming weekend.

Dave, I'd bet the belt is just fine on it. Since they stay covered up they generally don't go bad unless they get damaged. That's my experience anyway. Jim

So, I finally got the motor started this past weekend. I still have to adjust the idle speed on the auxiliary lever and I will change the spark plugs. Since this hadn't been started in over 5 years, I went with a 25:1 mixture for the first 3 gallons. I also have sea foam in the tank and Stabil.
Let me know what you think about how it sounds and if you think I might need to do any other adjustments.
The RPMS were not above 1,000 and when I stopped using the auxiliary lever and put it slightly in gear I was at about 500 to 600 RPMS. It didn't sound like it was missing. The thermostat also seems to be working as water did come out of the P hole at the top.
Thanks again for everyone's help.

1966 100 HP Johnson Video

Terrific! Looks and sounds just like mine when I first started it. Congrats.

Sounds reall strong,Dave. I believe you have a great engine there. Jim

Thank you all.

Suggestions??? I am trying to use the bow stop that is original to the trailer. Unfortunately, I am not finding the rubber anywhere. Can anyone think of a good alternative? I was thinking I could shape out of wood and then put a rubber edging on it....Open to all ideas. Also, does anyone know where you can get rollers in bulk?

Thank you all.

Suggestions??? I am trying to use the bow stop that is original to the trailer. Unfortunately, I am not finding the rubber anywhere. Can anyone think of a good alternative? I was thinking I could shape out of wood and then put a rubber edging on it....Open to all ideas. Also, does anyone know where you can get rollers in bulk?

Sounds great Dave. Never seen those kind of bow pads before. Have you done a thorough google search yet? Someone on here has to have seen them before.

Bob

Dave, I've had that problem with that design. Great minds are running together again. The two pieces pivot on their bolts so they sorta self fit the bow. I did make two pieces out of wood and covered them with thin carpet.

Yeah, I think it was installed at the wrong angle originally which is why there is so much "rash". I think if I have it pointed up from a lower angle it will be able to "catch" the bow rather than stop it.

And I thought I did an exhaustive google search, but you never know. I have been searching for it pretty much since I got the boat. I have even been looking for bulk rubber that could be shaped.

Thanks again for input.

Sincerely,
David