1973 Tsunami 23' - New Buy - Work Started
 

Hi Guys,
New owner's of first Seacraft a 1973 Tsunami - 23' WA. The boat has been out of the water for close to 20 years. We plan on re-powering her and updating and adding several additions with the plan on splashing her next Spring.
Any help, suggestions and past experiences is much appreciated. We will post up as many photos and updates throughout the process.
Original OMC Motor and Drive to be replaced, Going thru the options currently. Any past experiences or thoughts on best power for her? We want to keep the power a I/O as first choice.

1st question for you guys?
Tried to pull the Fuel Tank today and she seems to be epoxied to the stringers and we cannot get her to budge, she is snug in her spot and there is no way to get underneath her without cutting the deck or Ply fore and aft.
Any ideas or past experiences on pulling a tank?

Photos
 

More Photos from first few days with her

I recognize that boat....keep us posted on your progress.

As for the tank, it's probably foamed in (mine was). Cut the foam with a hand saw (not power) and lift it out. We put straps under my tank and used a track hoe to lift mine out, but that was a little over kill.

Jim

Glad somebody got that boat.

My tank was foamed in too. I put some straps on the back tabs with a 2x4 through it at about shoulder level, two guys it popped right out. Or you can put a 4x4 across the gunnel and use a comealong.

5.7 mpi is a great motor for it. Good luck, take lots of pictures.

Looking forward to the progress on this build.

That pic with the kids is priceless!!!

I have the same boat.My tank(original)wasn't foamed in,but it was stuck on the bottom by their generous,(and sloppy) use of some putty that was used on the bulkhead behind the tank.
We ended up using a chain fall attached to the hold down brackets on the tank,to pop it loose.

My Tsunami is also an I/O and had a ford 302 with a early Alpha Mercruiser drive.I ended up buying an older Chris Craft Scorpion that had a nice low hour 5.7 350 Gm Mercruiser engine and a mid nineties Alpha drive, in very nice shape,for 1500.00.
I pulled the engine and drive,and gave the boat away.

Keep us posted with pictures,it reminds me of all that nasty,dirty,dusty,itchy,work that I and many others had to do to bring these beauties back to their glory.

*****PULLING THE TANK********

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/easy2/IMG_0935.jpg

you can get that tank out...you just have to try real hard ;)

strick

Floor Jack
 

1) set a piece of plywood on the deck
2) place floorjack on plywood
3) use 2x4 across tank "on ends" (one side of 2x4 on jack other on another piece of ply) "Caution"Go slow and listen to see if your deck talks to you!
4) use small cables and clevis's attatched to mounting brackets of fuel cell building an even lifting strap.
5) use hand saw around perimeter of tank to break foam free from sides

Piece of cake!

"I'm only one man" Good Luck!
Wild Bill

Welcome to CSC johnnywalker!

Great advise above......keep your refurb pics a comming :eek:

How close to Braintree is she now?

Great Info Guys
 

Thanks much for the info and suggestions,

Here's what we have so far:

There is no foam on the sides, we can get all the way down the sides to feel no foam, very tight but enough room to know there is nothing holding the tank in on the 4 sides. There is something holding the tank down from the bottom, feels like it is some epoxy, glue or foam coming from the front or back o
f the tank or put there in purpose to hold down the tank.
I have a block and tackle coming next week I had on order for Tuna and the boat has a pretty solid hardtop that we may be able to use to hoist up the tank. The tank is currently 1/2 full of fuel that has been there for many years.

The boat is in Weymouth

leaning towards the 5.7 unless I can be convinced off a better way to go

What about the duo prop option with Merc or Volvo's? Anyone go this route or have an opinion?

Few more pics

pics
 

She's cleaning up pretty well

I am glad that boat went to a good home, I have been driving by it for years ( I also live in Weymouth). I replaced my tank 7 years ago and I used a chain fall to pull it, Go to harbor freight in Braintree and buy a cheap wire chain fall it will pop right out Check the floor under the tank mine was rotted.

Luthers in Bristel R.I builds a great tank .Get it epoxy coated

I went with a 5.7 260hp with an Alpha drive in my Tsunami.I bought another boat for the engine and drive,because it saved me a lot of money.
Having said that,if money was no object,then I would go with a 300 hp engine and a Mercruiser Bravo III , or Volvo Duo prop.
Maybe it's the extra weight on mine from the downriggers and kicker motor,but I top out at about 36 mph at wide open throttle spinning a 15-1/2x17 Mirage plus ss prop.My cruise speed is around 25 mph at 3500 rpms
The extra horsepower won't hurt and these Tsunami/Sceptre models squat a bit in the stern.and the dual props will get you a better top speed and much easier slow speed control,especially when docking or in backing into a slip.

Lived in the area forever...never saw that boat sitting there before...got the heads up on the advert.....drove by and it was already gone!!!!!!!

Strong opinion on the duoprop option, Do It! I have the volvo version. The low end torque is amazing, allows you to slow way down in a nasty sea and gives a very fast hole shot if that interests you. I've had two of them, peripherals like tilt mechanisms or hydraulic rams can give trouble, but the basic drive is pretty much bullet proof.

The 5.7 is a good engine for that boat. That old car engine is good about warning you before something goes wrong that might keep you from getting home.

Connor

Keep it simple and enjoy!!!
-Fred

Drain the tank first. Be careful using the hard top.

strick

Gas Tank Hose?
 

Great intel and feedback guys, it's been very helpful; thanks
I grabbed a Chain Fall at HF and also cut the sides with a handsaw, there was some foam and/or material on the sides down near the bottom of the tank that was holding the tank in.
Cranked her up slowly and one side popped free; this tilted the tank up and allowed me to drain almost all the remaining fuel, bonus deal.
The other side popped free and she is ready to come out; JUST ONE MORE ITEM????
The fuel hose is snug as bug in a rug on the intake and also fitted up to the fuel Cap. It is pretty much impossible to pry off as there is no room for the hose to pull out and I am concerned if I cut her off it will be hell trying to feed a new hose through. There is a good 2 feet of space that is inaccessible to reach right at the bend. I want to replace all the hoses also so I am expecting to remove her, so cutting it off should not matter
Anyone has history dealing with this and how did you get it done?

Removed the Bolsters today - Rotted, sponged and soaked - White or original Red will be the next decision on those.

Nice having a hardtop and new enclosure to get some work done in this weather without getting soaked

Looks like you are getting in some good demo.

Definately replace those fuel lines. Both fuel fill and the vent line. I did, it was a little tricky due to the vertical chase but i made it work. I pushed my fill hose up a little thru the top of the gunnel, then used gray duct tape to connect the two and then carefully pushed (and lightly pulled) the new line down. I was a little tough at the 90 degree bend at the bottom, but it will go, albeit slowly.

Jim

Great suggestion. Several years ago I helped my father replace the lines in his Sceptre and it was a bit of a PITA, but certainly worth the effort. Seeing as this boat has sat for so long, it's quite possible those lines would get destroyed by ethanol anyway.

Fuel Tank Out
 

77SceptreOB - Jim

Special thanks to Jim for taking the time to give me the exact details on removing the tank and a plan for replacing the hoses.
I used my reel safety lines to pull tank, they clipped into the screw holes on the tabs perfectly.
Tank is out and the well is punky, rotted and soft in one corner, looks like cutting out the bottom base is the next step.
Found a ton of sawdust like material under the tank and also in the engine bilge coming out when blasting water thru the forward boxes back aft.

Any ideas where this came from? Anyone see this before?

I had the same thing when I pulled my tank.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/d...acraft/001.jpg


I had chipmunks chew the foam under the tank up. Plugged the pumps up all the time.

Correct that is from rodents chewing on your foam. We have that as well on our 23 Tsunami. Send your dog after them :) Congrats on the tank removal.

strick