My Floating Muscle Car

[CC-John]

Back in 2017 I picked up a clean, one owner 1973 Century Resorter 16 that had spent over 25 years parked in the back of a garage in Spring, Texas. It still had its original Chrysler Marine LM318 inboard with only 715 hours.

Here's a few pics taken right after I found a good roadworthy trailer to load it on and bring it home.

100_2645 by cc_john67, on Flickr

100_2646 by cc_john67, on Flickr

100_2647 by cc_john67, on Flickr

Typical of most of these old boats, the carpet covered plywood floor was rotten in several places, along with the wooden seat bases being rotted out. While the engine ran perfectly after getting it fired up, it sweated oil from every seal and gasket in it. So out came the engine and the old floor, and over the next five years all the issues were addressed. I installed a new epoxy encapsulated plywood floor, covered with marine vinyl flooring. The engine was torn down, hot tanked, tolerances checked and reassembled with new piston rings, bearings, gaskets and seals. The transmission received the same treatment. Once assembled, it was repainted in the proper Chrysler blue and a set of reproduction decals were installed. The engine was also converted to a period correct original Chrysler closed cooling system to protect the engine's water jackets from brackish or salt water. While the engine was apart, I worked the heads over with a die grinder, cleaning up all the ports just below the seats and cleaning up the transition around the valve guides, along with gasket matching the manifolds to the heads. Then they were sent to the machine shop for a set of hardened exhaust valve seats and a set of new stainless exhaust valves.

Here's a few pics of the engine patiently waiting in its cradle while I finish replacing the floor in the boat, and rebuilding its engine beds.

100_3126 by cc_john67, on Flickr

100_3124 by cc_john67, on Flickr

100_3129 by cc_john67, on Flickr

More to come....