Cruise Craft Reef Raider with origianl 87 6 cylinder 115 Mariner? Thoughts/input??

[malby]

Hi Greg it would be good to chat with you further about things as you are local and I'd appreciate some tips on pimping her. I have not done the PM thing or know much of how to do that. What is the best way to get in contact with you as I'd like to chat some more about the boat. Hopefully (all things being positive with the water test etc) I will pick her up this Saturday. Mal

[oldie]

So did you buy the boat or still procrastinating? just remember its not a new boat mate 12k for a boat of that size and condition is fair price, so much rubbish out there for the same money, why not keep motor for while then sell and update the donk, the boat will last a long time if looked after and hold its value for sure.

I searched the net and found the boat online, so anyone out there looking for a quality cruise craft is now on the trail

[Y-Not]

I am the proud and very happy owner of one of these beauties and have never regretting buying it. I have had it since 2002and repowered it in 2005 with a 90hp 3cyl merc. That is the one bad choice I made. I should have stuck with 115hp on the re-power despite what the mechanic told me.

The hulls are heavy but in sloppy seas that is a help in a boat of this size 12K...maybe a little high but still a damn good boat and if you can get a couple of years before re-powering with something new/newer than probable not to bad.

Hope this helps

[malby]

My plan is to have the engine stripped down and fully checked over and go from there as to what to do with it. I have had a quinny fishabout 16 footer with a 50 blue stripe merc 80 model that still go's gr8 so based on that I may get more than a couple of years but not counting my chickens just yet. Will see how I go. Have you taken yours out to Moreton Island, Temepest/deep Tempest etc? If so how does she handle and how about in a serious Sea? Also petrol consumption?? What sort of fuel would I use (leaving Scarby) out to Moreton, fishing around for a bit and back to Scarborough?

[malby]

So where are you based again Oldie? And what sort of boat have you got again? I remember you commenting on my bar boat quiz. Hopefully this boat should do the job through a bar ok? Re the purchase I am making steady progress with compression test and water test just around the corner. Re competition for purchase I reckon there's some pretty good deals out there at present and with all of the 'overpriced comments' I got on this thread I should not imagine I would get too much hurry up from others just yet.

[malby]

Also meant to ask...how are they in a following Sea? Do they broach going down a swell or are they ok?

[oldie]

the Cruise Craft will be fine for the bar due to the cuddy style and should be good vision too. Following sea trimmed right will be fine, much better than the fishabout as the flare seems to broach pretty heavily even going thru boat wakes. Though such a great old boat aren't they, i had a 13ft tiller steer fishabout when i was a young fella i fished the crap out of that boat!!

[deckie]

Would be a terrific choice Malby...looks in great nick credit to the owner. Always been one of the best all round fishing rigs ever made here...not much it cant do. The fwd hatch is bigger than most and they made a reasonable attempt at helping with anchoring on cuddy's but the point in the floor makes it hard to get your feet fwd. Better than most though. Some foam cushioning on the anchor locker bulkhead helps. At least that hatch is a fair size and goes way fwd. Was a regular one at my local ramp for yrs i used to admire with the way he'd set it up...really versatile and practical with a capital C. He had a 9hp aux clamped next to a 115 evinrude from memory. Might be an option to go the old school aux option and just keep that donk going. Every chance its been perfectly maintained and last well, going by the look of the rig and trailer.
Someone will buy it. If its overpriced its not by much coz smart buyers pay a little premium for condition and history. Classic fishin boat in great nick at maybe 1/4 of new replacement value and does exactly the same thing ? Good find i reckon.

[sleepygreg]

Mal they are fine in a following sea. Learn to trim correctly and have the weight distributed right and they can handle almost anything....in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing. I wouldnt go the auxiliary motor on the back though.....they are already arse heavy....anyway....would love to have a chat with you about the boat. If you can't figure out the pm thingy....give me a ring ......my phone number is 0407 010957. Not concerned about keeping it hidden - there are more than enough people on here who know who I am - I dont hide behind a fancy nic playing keyboard warrior.

Cheers
Greg

[sleepygreg]

hmmmmmmmm - double post - well I'll be buggered!

[Y-Not]

My experience is that they are fine in a following sea. Get the weight distributed nicely and they WILL handle anything the bay will throw at it (if you drive to match the conditions). As for an auxiliary motor FORGET IT NOW!! They are very tail heavy. A trip to Moreton and back heading out from Scarbough with a trip to shallow tempest and hutchies will normally work through the best part of 80 litres for me up to about 110 if I head to Deep tempest for the day. this is based on avg sort of conditions. If you get one of those rare glassed out trips all ofa sudden the fuel usage issues settle right down. I use about 13 to 15 litres an hour when cruising at 20-22 knots but mine is only 90HP. My boat is set up with 2 tanks 80 litre underfloor and an extra 60 litre under the outboard well. makes trimia bit tricky but run the 60 litre tank first and it improves as the tank empties out.

[sleepygreg]

Sorry Mal, got your phone message but was tied up with a bit of crap happening. Will give you a ring Sunday some time....probably in the afternoon.

Greg

[finga]

Is it in the shed?
You won't be sorry buying it and no matter what the price was it it is a good choice.
I have to admit that particular boat seems to be in amasing condition and is well worth a premium price.
Hopefully you'll get a clean bill of health for the motor and it'll be all systems go.
Did you have a water test?
Those old inline 6's have an amasing amount of torque. It's great if you want to pull kids around on a biscuit or cross bars.

I have found with ours that if we sit on about 3300 revs or so the motor just sings along.
We get about 35-40km's of ocean going for 25litres of premix fuel but if we use the throttle and load her up (like pulling skiers) and open the throttle we can hear the fuel go down the 3 carbi's.

Experiment with oil brands and try and steer away from the old school oils like Valvolene from Super Cheep. They smoke terribly and the stink first thing of a morning can nearly turn your wheetbix into burley.

[Y-Not]

Its the OIL!!!!! and here I was thinking I had drunk to much the night before. I use Shell nautilus oil. I buy it in 20 litre? (need to check when I go to the shed next) drums from a distributor at Springwood. and your right I don't feel as sick in the belly from the fumes.

[malby]

Just lost a massive post so will try again....Doh!

Yes I bought it and so now the proud owner of a CCraft Reef Raider 166 1985 model with 115 Mariner tower of power also 1985 model with internal tilt and trim!!!

So here's the run down on the engine which is the only real issue I can see tus far.

The PSI readings were: about 135 for the bottom 4 cylinders and 125 for the top 2. Hopefully within the ok range??
This was 'after' running it for about 5 mins which we did to just check out the tell tale again and put her in forward and reverse gear etc as could not do a water test due to ill health of the owner. Not sure if having run her for 5 mins would have made a difference to the PSI on the top 2???

It did have rust on the outside of the bottom plug but the inside was 'sweet as' with no little beads of water etc. My mate who was a mechanic for many years said the bottom 4 plugs looked the best when we removed them. ie clean etc.

There was also rust on some of the bolts at the bottom of the (I guess) head. If you stand at the back of the motor and look at the boat they were on the left side closest to the back and closest to the bottom and were more rusty as you went down. Only 4 of them were rusty (progressively worse as you went down the line) and I cleaned them up today and it was all surface rust though I could not really get to the bottom one properly.

I checked the gear oil and it was as black as the ace of spades so no milky substance indicating water etc. Also no iron filings like in mine whenever I open her up on my blue stripe 50.

I have removed the outer shell that sits on top of the motor and runs down the back of her protecting the plugs etc to get to these bolts and clean them up which I did with Inox and a tooth brush and they all look pretty good now. I have also Inoxed all bolts in prep for the big seals and gaskets job I am anticipating??

Are any outboard mechanics on here? If so should I try to remove the head bolts myself (photo's would be good here?? in the lead up to having them strip it down) and if so where are they? Also, what prep should I do more than spraying them with Inox?? I have already sprayed all the bolts I could see. The shell bolts were all pretty dam tight I'll tell you.

The old guy started the engine at nearly full revs and with the choke on full and then pulls it off and down asap.

The trailer is a Dunbier full roller trailer and is worth $4000 replacement and it looks like new! Only some surface rust on the wheel nuts. Amazing as its an 04 model. They must have hot dipped it??

The hull is also perfect! We swung on the motor with it in the horizontal position and the transom did not budge one mil! You can jump about on the floor and its solid as a rock!!

Just the Bimini needs a re-stich, the windscreen needs renewing (got a quote for $320 to do this) and may need a new sounder etc as the old one is a Koeden colour TV screen type version??!!

Only the engine to do and I'm thinking I'll get it fully specked up by a mechanic inc removing the power head and doing the gaskets, inner deflector and seals etc. Any thoughts from mechanics, ideas etc all welcome.

A very happy boat owner who finally took the plunge after years of looking/procrastinating etc

Anyone out there wanting a one off 16 foot Quinny Fishabout (only 100 made with wide coamings etc) with a Merc 50 Blue stripe that has 140 PSI reading right down all 4 cylinders...$4000 asking price with sounder, radio, ariel, spare wheel, good trailer, new bimini etc. ph. 54985075