TOPIC: Really Cool Story !!! Chrysler Carvel III

Well here is the story. My childhood and love for boats began in 1987 when my dad brought home a beautiful 1976 Chrysler Carvel III Cuddy Cabin. It had the Volvo AQ170 inline 6 and we never had much at all growing up so this was like a luxury yacht to me.




We had lots of fun at the lake. Heck it was the first boat I got to drive. I was 9 or 10

He sold it a few years later but I loved that boat. The design and the look it had.

My parents health went south back in 2007 ish and in 2008 it came up on Craigslist for sale

I didn't have the knowledge, courage guts or money so I passed.

And my parents passed away a few years later. But this boat just has always been a part of my childhood. Hard to explain I guess.

So I went on a search to find her again. Literally posted a craigslist ad in all the states around me starting about 6 months ago. I've been looking for about 1 year now. Even called all the DNR's but no one ever registered it into their name.


About 2 weeks ago I get an email from a guy near St Louis MO. He found my boat. numbers matched and all. I got ahold of the owner made an offer and used Uship.com which I have used in the past and brought her back home.

Wow..........ROUGH ROUGH ROUGH ROUGH ROUGH REALLY BAD SHAPE!!!!

I am trying to put some pictures up from 1987 then in 2008 and what she is now.

Someone at one time removed the hard top. And Back in 2008 the floor was complete gone and crap all over the boat.

Someone then put a deck ??? instead of laying a sheet of plywood they layed down deck boards ??

The good news if any ? I think she is salvageable. But it will take tons of time. I got the engine cranked today. It only has 477 hours on it and the inside of the valve cover looks brand new and from what she ran she was quiet as a mouse.

So I need people who have or do own one of these boats. I need interior and cockpit pictures. I already have the google pics and brochure pics but this needs serious help.

Here is all the other pictures from 2008 and two from today.

Notice the deck board around the engine

chadc880,

WELCOME ABOARD.

Sounds like quite a project, but finding your first boat is a blessing, imVho, regardless.
(Truthfully, fixing up a badly deteriorated boat is not much more trouble than restoring a "remuddled" boat, as you have less to UN-do, presuming that all the pieces are there. And the price is virtually always a LOT less.)

BEST WISHES on your restoration.

yours, satx

You're one determined person and on a mission !

Good luck !!!

Nice to find the first boat congrats, Here are a couple of pics I snagged off an ad on KIJIJI as I need seats for my cruiser just like these but the boat is identical to yours.

Here is Part 1 video of the restoration. Its a good video and you will enjoy it if you like to see boats brought back to life.

It is also 15 minutes long. Sorry for the length of it but check it out.

Curiously, I would've thought that Chrysler I/O's would have Chrysler engines... I don't recognize that straight six, (definitely not a slant six or a flathead). Is it Chrysler Nissan Marine, or maybe Chevy or Ford...???

Chrysler's boats for whatever reason used volvo penta I/O engines and drives
That's the AQ170C

Here is part 2



The guy before me literally just laid deck boards over the water soak foam rotted wood floor.

What a mess.

Good news,

The engine sounds awesome.