Vintage Potter Built 23' Straight Inboard Diesel
 

Original owner of 1975 PotterBuilt 23' Center/Console , straight inboard Diesel under large console, in process of total rebuild.

I believe this was the FIRST AND ONLY straight inboard diesel Potter did. Was laid out (1974) by Bill Potter and Chrysler Engineer's with a 200hp Turbo import since replaced with a low hour 6BT5-9 Cummins Diesel. Input requested. Attempting to determine possible sale value? Replacment value today?

Vessel has won Florida Triple Crown Championship, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano Bch. Billfish Tournaments six times for owner and has earned 1st Place Vessel in all. Please give input for a junior.

Sounds awesome but, as the saying goes, this post is worthless without pics :)

We really like pictures......sounds like the ultimate to me

Vintage SeaCraft Pictures
 

Thank you for your reply. The reason for non pics is that She's in the works.
Soon come. Was hoping for input on fact that She is first and only straight inboard diesel Potter did. I bought in '76 from Bill himself at the Lauderdale Boat Show. There are a lot of conversions, gas to diesel about, but this is the only "real" Potter, I think. I'll take a couple of pics. Don

Great story. Problem is an old Rybo doesn`t command the same premium as an old v12 Packard. What kind of #s do you see with that sweet 6b?

Welcome,
GFS

there is one for sale on the outer banks of North Carolina for 39k it has been for sale for 3-4yrs, it has a a full tower on it, straight inboard and seems to have been restored to original.

Hi. Runs 30k with full load and NEVER a puff of smoke.... like to give the competition a little head start. Thanks for the reply. Don

Thank you for the input. Don

I`m a sucker for inboards. The clean full transom, the sound, the smell, oh I better get a tissue. Is it me or did we lose the production numbers with the server switch? I thought about 70 were made over the years.

Hi again. I have seen a few gas inboards converted to diesel. I do believe that mine was the only one Bill Potter did. It was not the fast boat that won the Miami Bahamas races for seven years and Bill was into fast back then 1973-4). At the same time Blackfin and Shamrock were putting in small diesels. Blackfin had a 24 they called the "blackcat" w/, guess, Cat engine. Mine hull is a '75.

My hull was the first diesel (straight) and was a demo by Boat Center Ft. Lauderdale, Chick Gagan. I bought it out the back door through Bill but had to piece off Chick as the "dealer'. Later Chick was quoted as saying, "That Boat has sold more SeaCrafts for me ...". The Zara Spook went on to win the South Fla. Triple Crown six times through the late 70's and 80's. This is Her third rebuild. Don

[QUOTE=Don Ferguson;209174]. . . It was not the fast boat that won the Miami Bahamas races for seven years and Bill was into fast back then 1973-4) . . . /QUOTE]

Hi Don,

I've never heard of either Potter or the 23's being involved in any racing, but it would be interesting to hear more about that if it's true! Before Potter took over the company, Carl Moesly ran his old stock outboard-powered SeaCraft 21's in many Bahamas races during the early-mid 60's, dominating the outboard class and beating many larger inboard boats in the process. The rules changed later to allow 3 outboards, so he built some longer custom racing boats for those classes that also did very well. Also never heard of any SeaCraft inboards being raced, although most of the 21's I've seen were originally I/O's, so maybe some race versions of those were also built. Denny

Awesome history Don. I had a 79 23 with an original diesel jack shafted to an out drive. It came with a Volvo motor in the big console. I don't doubt that at the time your boat was built it was the only one. I agree with Sandy that the Volvo motor was the factory diesel used as an inboard and over 50 were built, and yours was the 1st. They all seem to be mostly up north.

Mabe he means only factory built boat without a prop pocket?

Makes sense

I was thinking total IB numbers. Gas as well. Pocket drive on yours?

Yes. Mine has the pocket drive and allows you to literally go where no one's gone before. In many areas I can put the bow on the beach and not touck bottow at the stern

Thanks again for input. Yes, I've seen the jackshafts. Mine is straight drive w/ pocket. Don

No, straight inboard with prop pocket... Don

Thanks for that bit of History I was not aware of. Perhaps I was told wrong. I was told the SeaCraft won the race seven years, before the longer boats (cigarrettes) maybe it was the pre-Potters? Bill is doing survey work here in Broward. Maybe I can get a note to him. Don

The engine in mine, the first, was a 170 Misubishi import by Chrysler. It was after cooled/inter cooled to 200HP. Not near as powerful as the 6bt5 Cummins We put the cummins in when parts for the Jap engine became a nightmare due to age. Don

I really love these old inboards, we need pics!

Sorry about the pictures. She's just painted, wiring hanging about, new fuel lines/filters going in, etc. I'll get some pics as soon as we clean up a little. Don

Agreed. I bet if you took a census of where the 23 IB's are, you'd find the majority of them in the northeast. More particularly New England, and even more so in Mass. Pinpoint it even more and you'd see the mid and lower Cape seems to be a hotbed of IB activity. ;)

Several years ago I met a broker at the Boston boat show that used to be an SC dealer back in the '70s and early '80s here on the south shore. He claimed the 23 IB was created because of him convincing Bill Potter that there was a market for them. I suppose his story could be legit seeing the number of them in this area.

Hi Boatboy. I just attempted to load a couple of pics. Can you see them? Don

Thanks again Sandman, can you see the pics I posted today? Don

no pics
 

Don no pics posted yet. Looking forward to seeing the inboard diesel. I just converted my i/o to a vw v6 tdi diesel. I only had it out for a couple break in runs, very quiet and practically no smoke. I need to get it propped right, and the static waterline checked,its a good fit for the 23. I will post some pics.

Maybe its just the brand of color machines I've had, but I much prefer a good paper machine for finding small bottom. The color machines are great at seeing fish, but the scrolling rate is so fast that a 1 ft ledge just looks like a roll off. Till I figured that out, I could not even find some of my old spots.

Not seeing any pics yet, how are you trying to upload them?

I'm doing something wrong with my pics. They show as in may album & Pics but not otherwise?? Suggestions?

Sounds like a machine you got there. Look forward to hearing your numbers. What's the engine weight with gear? I don't know why my pics aren't coming up. I'll try again. Don

When I go to user CP the pictures show up in my pic & Albums, did I miss a move?

I just copied the picture link and used the "Insert Image" button to post these.

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...&pictureid=316

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...&pictureid=315

Well, you ol' goat you! Ha. Thanks. Don

You are Welcome.

Charles

Hey Don, fwiw, the va beach pd actually purchased 3 brand new diesel inboards in the mid -70's including mine which were eventually converted back to gasoline for reasons unknown to me. Y'all stay warm!

Thats interesting. Thanks for the feed back. For police work the diesel may have been bit slow. Mine is no race boat but runs well through 3'5' seas at 30 mph and doesn't mind 4-6' either.

I took one in on trade for a 36' steel hull boat. It had a volvo diesel with a jackshaft to a volvo stern drive. I removed the stern drive and made it straight inboard since I leave my boats in the water. I believe the boat was a 1978 model. I eventually removed the volvo and put in a 454 Crusader. With the diesel it may have made 15-17knts. but the noise was deafening. After 6-8 hours of running the noise would get to you. I guess she'll make close to 30 now

I believe the noise was the reason the po-po went to the marine power 350's in our boats, especially if they were that loud!

Hi dsharp. Thats quite a coversion. Another member offered that there were a few jackshaft diesel made but no straight inboards after mine. She's coming along real good on a bottom up rebuild. New shaft/strut/wiring/tranny. Does yours have the tunnel drive? I would think that big engine would be a charger.

Hey Don, not to hijack your thread but did you put a new rudder in as well? Thinking about replacing mine this spring but not sure about a source, size to order etc. thanx, love this thread!

Hi Miles: Yes, a new rudder too. When I went to drop the shaft found rudder bent too. Had to drop rudder as well. Frank & Jimmie's Prop Shop in Lauderdale (recommend) did a new rudder post, shaft and coupling package of 22 Aquamet SS...so all will be new from the rudder up. They also did the prop + spare for Bahamas travel.
They'll work with you.