Looking to join the club!!
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Looking to join the club!!

  1. #1
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    Default Looking to join the club!!

    hello to all i just discovered the fourm and have been reading for two days non stop.
    Im going to go look at a 1972 apollo StarFire today orginal condition with 455 olds and berkley pump.
    what do you guys think of this boat if anything. not looking for a drag boat but a little hot rod for me and my little girl would be nice ( i guess the old lady can come too) hard to find information about these boats any help would be nice. thanks

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    Senior Member brgrcru's Avatar
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    Don't know the price your paying. But I would definitely look at something with a 454 Chevy or 460 ford and a berkely or dominator jet before you pull the trigger on the 455 olds. Lots of nice used jets, for cheap $ on this site.

  4. #3
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    [ATTACH=CONFIG]163311[/ATTACH

    Around 3k is what he is asking
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  5. #4
    Senior Member wolfie's Avatar
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    Like brgrcru said, there's a lot of really nice jets with a 454 or 460 for sale. You be much happier. Unless you're willing to do a lot of machine work to the 455, you're going to outgrow the 455. You can pick up some really nice boats for just a little bit more. In the long run, you'll save yourself some money.

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    Senior Member bwurst1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie54 View Post
    hello to all i just discovered the fourm and have been reading for two days non stop.
    Im going to go look at a 1972 apollo StarFire today orginal condition with 455 olds and berkley pump.
    what do you guys think of this boat if anything. not looking for a drag boat but a little hot rod for me and my little girl would be nice ( i guess the old lady can come too) hard to find information about these boats any help would be nice. thanks
    That boat is not what you said you were looking for. Prob. a good cruiser but will never be that "little hot rod". There is tuns of boats out there for sale within this price range (give or take). As said before look for BBC and Berkeley. Lots of parts floating around for that combo. Good luck with whatever you decide.

  7. #6
    Senior Member bp298's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie54 View Post

    Around 3k is what he is asking
    back in the day, apollo made good quality boats. just from the pic, it looks nice. this is like a runabout, where you can take the fam to the water, cruise around, maybe tow tubes or a skier, enjoy the water. it might top out at 50 or 60, but you won't want to run it like that. this thing would work well for a small family that just wants to cruise around and have fun. having an engine cover makes it that much more user friendly for what it was built for.

    you did not take a pic of the transom. i'm just guessing that something like this, from that time period, will have an e pump. that makes it a bit more work for servicing, but not impossible. e pumps can work just fine for runabouts.

    but. this is a 40 year old boat. while it -looks- as though it was taken care of, there are some things you need to verify. the steering wheel should turn the nozzle from one side to the other, freely. not hard to turn. the shifter should easily and smoothly move the bucket fully open and closed. lift the hatch, check stringers for any rot; make sure all wood is still solid. pull seat cushions, check condition of the wood used for the seats to see that it's in good shape, not rotted or falling apart. with a closed hatch, there has to be a vapor extractor under the hatch - make sure it's functioning well. not just making noise, but actually moving air out of the engine compartment (hold your hand over the outlet vent while it's running). crawl under the boat with a flashlight, look up the pump intake and make sure the impeller leading edges aren't all dinged up, scarred, or eroded. they should be straight and relatively sharp, not rounded over in any way.

    if you understand what this boat is for, and it's still something you really want, have the owner take you for a test ride. it's not important you drive it, but it is important that you know it runs, runs reasonably well, and that everything in the boat works as intended, such as gauges, steering, shifting, throttle movement. after it's been running for awhile, open the hatch and look for any leaks from anything that could leak. once the boat's back on the trailer after running on a lake/river, check the oil. look very closely for any water/moisture on the dipstick.

    if you find any wood rot, walk away. if you find any water/moisture in the oil after it has been run ON THE WATER for awhile, walk away. with these types of issues, you can spend well more than what the guy's asking just to fix things, or you could end up parked. if anything around the engine compartment leaks, you'll need to evaluate what it is and what it will take to fix it (parts or cost). if the impeller is all chewed up, that's added cost. if steering/shift/throttle cables are difficult to operate, replacement is added cost (and they will need to be replaced). it's all part of it.

    like wolfie said, bbc's or bbf's are preferable to an olds. but for what this boat is, and what it's intended use is, an olds can be just fine. as long as it's in good condition and well maintained, it can last for a long time within these parameters. if you start thinking that you want to make this boat go 70, 80, or 90, you shouldn't consider this thing in the first place.

    good luck with it...

  8. #7
    Senior Member NiceGuyEddie's Avatar
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    $3k is way too much to pay for that boat anyway you look at it. Unless your dying to own an Apollo Starfire.

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    I guess hot rod was the wrong term to use. Yes i am looking for a more of a cruiser than anything. I am comming from a bayliner capri with a 3.ol that topped at about 38 so im not looking to set any records. just a fun runabout that my 3yr old can enjoy and i have alittle fun with. bbc in my book is always the better choice for anything on land or water. so maybe i should keep looking. could i get some options for something of that type. I looked at alot of boats but most that i do like seem to be above my price range at least the local ones anyway. Idk maybe im just to much of a noob. and also the apollo was built and owned an hour from my house back in the day so the history is cool but maybe not the boat? I will go check it out any way just because its close to my house. BP298 thanks for the detailed post. it helps clarify alot.

  10. #9
    Senior Member GRoper's Avatar
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    Is 3k your max?

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    Quote Originally Posted by GRoper View Post
    Is 3k your max?
    porbly 5k max. oh and e jet? is that a bad thing
    Last edited by zombie54; 06-06-2012 at 12:27 PM.

  12. #11
    Senior Member Mojave85's Avatar
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    You can find a way nicer performance boat for 5 grand. Where are you located?

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    Northern idaho

  14. #13
    Senior Member bp298's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie54 View Post
    porbly 5k max. oh and e jet? is that a bad thing
    in a berk e, the suction piece and intake are one piece. the bowl bolts to the suction piece outside the transom, and the suction piece is bolted/epoxied to the hull. if the shaft has to be removed to replace the thrust bearing. so to service the entire pump, the engine has to be removed to remove the shaft and replace that bearing. it's not a terribly big deal. a berk jc or jg has an intake that's bolted/epoxied to the hull, and the suction piece bolts to the intake flange, just above the hull. looking down "under" the driveshaft/hbar, you'd see what looks like 2 flanges bolted together. with an e, you'll see no flange an inch or so above the boat bottom. with a jc or jg, the entire pump is removed from the boat if complete service is needed.

    whatever you decide to do, do your due diligence inspecting whatever it might be. a $3k boat can turn into a $13k or $15k boat overnight. a $5k boat can turn into the same thing or more. worn out junk that might "look" cool is still worn out junk. it is a buyer be aware kind of thing.

  15. #14
    Senior Member wolfie's Avatar
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    There's a ton of really nice boats out there for that money. I spent a couple months trying to find my wife a boat. They're out there. You can find a bunch on here in the spam section for that. Look on Craigslist. If you don't mind driving a little, you'll find a bunch in California and Arizona's C/L.

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