sprink56
Cadet
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2011
- Messages
- 11
I have followed this thread for a while and find it facinating that we all have this love affair with boating and our boats. Frisco Jarrets is a real trooper and must have the energy level of the energizer bunny!!...but he knows what he's doing and I for one appreciate the things that he shares.
Anyway...my latest project is a '79 Formula 255 Liberator...my 4th Thunderbird Formula.
I picked this one up here in South Florida this past December and have been bringing it back to sea-worthy over the past 7 months. The boat has only been in Florida for a year or two...having spent most of it's life in Michigan. I bought the boat from a guy in Ft. Lauderdale that has a summer home in Traverse City, MC and winters here. He brought the Formula down 2 years ago but lost interest in it after getting involved in Sea-Doos and larger Bertrams...so it just sat in a lot in Miami ...uncovered,,,exposed to the elements.
It came from the Decatur,IN factory and was built in March of '79. It came with twin 260Mercruisers, a pump out head, shore power and a pressurerized water system. It was originally 2: tone yellow and white and within the last 7~8 years was professionaly painted with white Imron...the finish is excelent...in fact it looks almost new in that regard. It was also fitted recently (5 years?) with a very well made Sunbrella Bimini top complete with a Sunbrella drop to the transom with zippered Eisenglass all around. Also included is a Sunbrella cockpit cover for long distance towing. The interior was reworked about 10~12 years ago with the original cockpit seating being replaced with bolsters and a relocated rear bench and larger engine cover. This was all built from plywood or scraps of pallets or what ever could be found on the side of the road and was put together with standard drywall screws (no...I'm not kiddig). As you might expect...most of this is rotten and all I have is just enough structure to re-use it as a pattern if I stay with the current layout. The cabin was re-done as well with the original cushions being re-covered in a high quality blue marine grade tweed material. The interior cabin panels were replaced with construction grade/interior finish "bead board" and painted with white enamel.
The engines were replaced in 2006 with Mercruiser long blocks. The port drive was in great shape. The starboard drive had been run for a while with a split U-Joint bellows so the gimball bearing was almost locked up with corrosion and the transom housing was corroded to the poit that it had to be replaced. I found a good number one Merc "fresh water" transom assembly and gimbal housing along with new trim rams. Changing all of that ofcourse require pulling the starboard engine and gave me a chance to clean the bilge up a bit. I also installed new gimbal bearing, U-Joint and Exhaust Bellows and shift cable on that side. Un-believably...no water entered the case on the starboard drive and it held pressure and shifts fine...so I re-used it. The manifolds and risers were good on both engines and I have replaced the distributors as well as re-built both Q-Jet carbs.
I had to replace the power steering pump and hoses as well as the starboard side alternator.
I finaly got it in the water in March and was suprised how well it runs. I'm still tuning and playing around with larger trim tabs but so far my best "top end" has been 68 MPH GPS!! Not bad for a 32 year old boat.
I replaced the bolsters with some original Formula bucket seats I got from a fellow on the Formula Boat Forum and am now going through the process of re-designing a replacing rotten plywood. Amazingly, the stucture of this old bird is rock solid...no stringer or transon rot...not even any soft spots in the floor. This is a testament to Formula build quality.
Here are some pics so far.
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I'll post some more over the next few days.
I'm starting to have fun now but it's been a long road.
Anyway...my latest project is a '79 Formula 255 Liberator...my 4th Thunderbird Formula.
I picked this one up here in South Florida this past December and have been bringing it back to sea-worthy over the past 7 months. The boat has only been in Florida for a year or two...having spent most of it's life in Michigan. I bought the boat from a guy in Ft. Lauderdale that has a summer home in Traverse City, MC and winters here. He brought the Formula down 2 years ago but lost interest in it after getting involved in Sea-Doos and larger Bertrams...so it just sat in a lot in Miami ...uncovered,,,exposed to the elements.
It came from the Decatur,IN factory and was built in March of '79. It came with twin 260Mercruisers, a pump out head, shore power and a pressurerized water system. It was originally 2: tone yellow and white and within the last 7~8 years was professionaly painted with white Imron...the finish is excelent...in fact it looks almost new in that regard. It was also fitted recently (5 years?) with a very well made Sunbrella Bimini top complete with a Sunbrella drop to the transom with zippered Eisenglass all around. Also included is a Sunbrella cockpit cover for long distance towing. The interior was reworked about 10~12 years ago with the original cockpit seating being replaced with bolsters and a relocated rear bench and larger engine cover. This was all built from plywood or scraps of pallets or what ever could be found on the side of the road and was put together with standard drywall screws (no...I'm not kiddig). As you might expect...most of this is rotten and all I have is just enough structure to re-use it as a pattern if I stay with the current layout. The cabin was re-done as well with the original cushions being re-covered in a high quality blue marine grade tweed material. The interior cabin panels were replaced with construction grade/interior finish "bead board" and painted with white enamel.
The engines were replaced in 2006 with Mercruiser long blocks. The port drive was in great shape. The starboard drive had been run for a while with a split U-Joint bellows so the gimball bearing was almost locked up with corrosion and the transom housing was corroded to the poit that it had to be replaced. I found a good number one Merc "fresh water" transom assembly and gimbal housing along with new trim rams. Changing all of that ofcourse require pulling the starboard engine and gave me a chance to clean the bilge up a bit. I also installed new gimbal bearing, U-Joint and Exhaust Bellows and shift cable on that side. Un-believably...no water entered the case on the starboard drive and it held pressure and shifts fine...so I re-used it. The manifolds and risers were good on both engines and I have replaced the distributors as well as re-built both Q-Jet carbs.
I had to replace the power steering pump and hoses as well as the starboard side alternator.
I finaly got it in the water in March and was suprised how well it runs. I'm still tuning and playing around with larger trim tabs but so far my best "top end" has been 68 MPH GPS!! Not bad for a 32 year old boat.
I replaced the bolsters with some original Formula bucket seats I got from a fellow on the Formula Boat Forum and am now going through the process of re-designing a replacing rotten plywood. Amazingly, the stucture of this old bird is rock solid...no stringer or transon rot...not even any soft spots in the floor. This is a testament to Formula build quality.
Here are some pics so far.
I'll post some more over the next few days.
I'm starting to have fun now but it's been a long road.
