Thread:

Finally letum drop and bought a Sanger Flat Bottom!

I am formerly known as "540Cobrajet" (Squirt Gun boat)but since I manned up and got my first Sanger Flat Bottom I needed a name change to go with it. I found a virgin 73 Sanger 3/4 Runner bottom that is pretty much unmolested. Power is a pretty healthy, fresh 468 BBC with less than 2 hours documented engine blueprinting specs recorded (brg clearences, lobe center cam installed to, etc), studded lower end & heads, polished tunnel & 2 - 4's, 10° Casale v-drive that is supposed to have 21% over gears, a 11 ½ x 17 prop, clean current registration, a Custom VM trailer and all the usual goodies including water/fuel separator, electric and mechanical fuel pumps, all braided steel lines, Mooneyes guages, custom battery tray, bildge pump, new steering cable, lots of polished aluminum including 2 - 12 gallon polished gas tanks, no extra holes in the stringers or plates, New shortie Bassetts with mufflers, a pro style fiberglass scoop, MSD box with soft touch rev limiter running a Mallory Unilite (junk) chrome driveshaft cover..... and believe it or not there wasn't a single drop of oil in the bottom of the boat. I have had it 5 days and still can't believe I found a boat like this that hasn't been hacked on and butchered with 17 different motors, seats etc. The only thing that was funky was the matt black paint stripes that looked "ratrod" with gravel in it for the non-skid effect...lol

So... here we go a week later and I started needing to make it "mine", boat is now all apart for a quickie custom paint job, a good general cleaning and repolishing gas tanks, all hardware, realign and polish cavatation plates and hardware, replace Mallory with a MSD Billet dist, new Valve covers with breathers into a tank, mini starter, different carbs, seat covers, torquing of all mounting plates, steering, replace slightly bent rudder, and will probably clear trailer with pearl to match the boat. This will all be done by next weekend as I haven't had it out yet due to the sucky California weather we have been having this year. Everything that has been done on this boat was done right, and as I am anal when it comes to being a perfectionist my inspection could find nothing wrong anywhere... all the wiring is nice, supported, wrapped and secured, hoses all secured & sanitary etc. The only reason I am doing the things I am doing is because of being a perfectionist and wanting a clean, shiny, sanitary boat and the need to inject my personality into it before I'm seen in it, and preference of ign systems, carbs and reassembly in show condition. I know it won't be the nicest or fastest flatty out there, but nobody will look at it and ask "why didja doo that" or it looks good except for??

I rationalized buying it to my wife (because I have 2 boats already) as needing the Adrenaline rush nothing gives me any more , and I know as sure as I am typing this that I will probably sh!t myself the first few times the hammer goes down, and a flat is always an e-ticket ride used to it or not. So I am on cloud 9 working like a cat trying to cover up turds on cement. My goal is to get it done and acclimate myself to it by mid summer so I can go to CFW with all the other nut cases (I mean normal guys...lol) The other good thing is I am 10 minutes from Orwoods Resort and there is a 20 plus mile long slough with high levees on both sides to wind proof it for some trial pilot taining as it's been 35 years since I drove a flat bottom. Wish me luck and I hope to see some of you out there this summer.

*Note*
I started typing this last night while taking a break, went back out and went one step further and pulled the motor out so I can clean inside, and repolish the gas tanks and aluminum without having the motor in the way. It only took half an hour to yank it out and now I can do a better job inside (the perfectionist thing again). Now my wife thinks I am goofy, but she will be able to see why I gutted my new toy before it ever hit the water. I will update my progress as I go, but this thing will be done before next weekend... I still can't believe I finally got a Sanger Flat Bottom *wink* My wife is probably right... goofy but happy!

I fired it up and did a warm it up check, but it hasn't been in the water yet as the weather is to nasty. This boat is so clean and virgin I'm not worried about it working on the water as I am going to have to set it up for me anyway. I realize it's not a good idea to tear it up before testing it on the water, but it won't be a problem. I'm telling you, except for the funky paint and some needed cleaning this boat looks like it just came from Sanger. It doesn't have any leaks because I just filled it up with water to clean the inside and not a drop came out. I am sure there will be no problems, I have checked everything very closely that could be an issue, and 2 buddies have also given it a clean bill of health. If there is any problems I will letcha know as I am not afraid to admit it when I fu@k up... god knows it wouldn't be the 1st time! Larry

Nice!!! In 1974 one of those hulls went 123 with a single 4 bbl.

Cool boat...I love the Sanger runner bottoms.
Your gonna want to change that prop and gears though.
Continue with the updates...........

Nice to see someone else in the area with a runnerbottom, I was out of Orwood a couple of weeks ago. When you get it cleaned up and back together let me know, we could hook up for a run over to Union Point.

My first boat was a 1977 Sanger 5/8" runner, and damn it was fun. I wish I knew where it was today, I would sure like to have it back. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Lock

Nice boat & find.

Keep us updated on the progress.

Just thinking about Orwood makes me wish I had my Hondo back. We used to launch there & ski & cruize all day.

Originally Posted by fdlock890

My first boat was a 1977 Sanger 5/8" runner, and damn it was fun. I wish I knew where it was today, I would sure like to have it back. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Lock

Man, I sold my yellow Hondo almost 10 years ago & from what I know it has seen the water only a couple of times. I should buy it back & sell the ski boat.

Originally Posted by Morg

Man, I sold my yellow Hondo almost 10 years ago & from what I know it has seen the water only a couple of times. I should buy it back & sell the ski boat.

Hey Morg, I actually found the bill of sale a little while back and I posted on here but no feedback. I hope that maybe it will pop up for sale here. It is no longer registered in CA either. Oh well.

Lock

Originally Posted by Quickjet

Cool boat...I love the Sanger runner bottoms.
Your gonna want to change that prop and gears though.
Continue with the updates...........

X2


Geoff

Nice boat, but all that by next weekend??? You must be a magician! I went a different route with my Hondo-I just addressed the mechanical issues and cleaned everything up so it would look decent. I am still getting used to pulling up to the dock with no reverse-If I had painted it it would already need a re-do!

Well has this been a learning experience I tell ya...
After taking a turn key boat and wanting to "make it mine" I went against everybody and decided to pull the motor out so I could clean the inside on the boat to make it look presentable.

Then I took the boat off the trailer and put it on a roll around cart for ease of moving it and not having to lean over the trailer, and that turned out to be one of my good moves.

Am I ever glad I didn't try to do it with the engine in... even with the motor out it's been a pain in the a$$. After 2 days polishing the tanks without removing them, and cleaning and prepping the floor inside the boat to re-clear it, now I wish I would have yanked the v drive and supports with the driveshaft and the hardware on the stringers...

I think I would have saved time in the long run. Everything is in the way, my fingers are bleeding and I feel like I've been jerking off chickens with needle nose pliers.



I thought I was cool and hung all the crap I didn't remove (wiring, a few hoses, d-shaft etc.) from PVC pipes across the top of the boat. Only problem is all that crap gets in the way making a nice clean complete pass with the paint gun impossible and the results sucked as there was no way to keep a wet coat flowing. So now I spent another day color sanding the clear I just sprayed, moving the crap out of the way so I can paint without obsticles, and honestly it will provide a much better job because of being able to remove some of the dry and rough spots, and now I will be clearing a floor that was completely block sanded with 1000 grit and will be the quality I was looking for. I will post another update tonight with pics. Needless to say my goal of being done this weekend is toast... but some of my parts didn't show up and I should still be done by next weekend. I knew better than to take it apart in the 1st place, but for the purpose of doing quality work now I wish I had taken a few more things out of the way. I did remove the throttle pedal, the pedals for the plate and the rod back to it out and it will be much easier now. Also every orifice in the boat was loose (through hull hardware) and would have leaked if given a chance, so now I will also have a boat that is sealed up as tight as a frogs a$$. It's been a long month this week and it ain't over yet...