Picked up an 87 supra comp for free....kinda

[Southerngrounds]

I had a friend of mine give me his 87 comp a few days ago...kinda. He bought the boat last year only to have it break down on him on the lake. His first trip to the lake he thought the starter went out so he put a new one on it. The boat started so he took it to the lake. However, he ended up being towed back again. He took it home replaced the batteries and it started. Back to the lake only to be towed back again. He took it to a boat mechanic who discovered the heads were cracked. He tells the "mechanic" to rebuild the motor. Within a day or two the motor is torn down. Four months later the motor is still apart and after hearing every excuse in the book he calls me. We ended up rebuilding the motor. This is where it gets fun. We had the motor up on a fork lift ready to install it. Someone hits the wrong lever and the motor ends up on the ground with a busted oil pan and water pump. This is when my friend said he was done with the boat. His plan was to burn it down. However, after about an hour I talked some sense into him and we when back to work on it. We were working on the boat in my grandfather's garage but decided to tow it to my shop. During the trip the wheel bearing locked up. This was his last straw. He said either he was giving me the boat or leaving it on the side of the road. He unhooked his truck and said if I wanted it I could tow it back or leave it for someone else to get. After fixing the wheel bearing i got about two miles down the road before the other wheel bearing locked up. I finished installing the motor last weekend and got it started. Hopefully I will hhave chance to water test it this week.

[Moor]

Sounds like a sweet deal, or a money pit, or both lol. But hey you can't complain about a free boat. One of the best boats I ever owned was free. I pulled it out of a field. Good luck on the water test, let us know how it goes. Post some pics. I'm jealous. I wish I had friends like yours...

[Moor]

Yes, this boat sounds cursed, get rid of the demons, treat her right and have fun with it. And remember to grease the wheel bearings on the trailer. There's nothing worse than sitting on the side on I90 with you barefoot nautique on a one wheeled trailer because you forgot to grease the wheel bearings.... Except
sinking because your bilge pump doesn't work.

[Southerngrounds]

Everything seems to work including the bilge pump. It starts on the first try and idles smooth. I'm currently rebuilding the driver seat then I will put her on the water

[DAFF]

Boat reminds me of the car "Christine" ... I too second the exorcism. Enjoy the boat and welcome to the forum.

[haugy]

Talk nice to her. Yeah I talk to my boats.....you don't? Love'em and they'll love ya back. Curse them, and they will curse you, and win.

Let's see some pics of the new demon boat.

[SquamInboards]

Sounds like a series of bad luck compounded by neglect by the prior owner (prior to your friend). I'm sure you'll have little issues to deal with but as you touch each thing, you'll know now that it's one less thing to worry about. Like the trailer bearings, haha.

[Moor]

I talk to mine almost daily. Haugy is right, you have to treat em nice and love em. WHERE'S THE PICS???

[Jetlink]

Boat reminds me of the car "Christine" ... I too second the exorcism. Enjoy the boat and welcome to the forum.

I just shuddered when I read this... We have a "Christine" airplane at work...hate seeing that tail number on my pairings... It's always a matter of what is wrong and what is going to act up!

As for the OP, my boat was also in serious disrepair when I purchased it. I blew out a tire on the side of the road towing it home after purchasing it. Of course the boat did not have a spare so that was a great way to start off. But, I have slowly addressed almost all the issues now like, rewiring the entire boat from bow to stern, full tune up on the engine, new upholstery, new springs and tires on the trailer, new lights (all LEDs), new bunks, new switch breakers...the list goes on from there. End of the day, I now have a reliable boat that purrs and when I throw the hammer down, it will get up and go like none other and turn heads doing it.

[haugy]

and when I throw the hammer down, it will get up and go

Well no wonder your throttle is messed up, quit hitting it with a hammer. Jeez, what did it ever do to you?

[Jetlink]

Well no wonder your throttle is messed up, quit hitting it with a hammer. Jeez, what did it ever do to you?

Ugh...there you go again being "that" guy. :rolleyes:

I echo the talking nice to your boat. My wife has yet to truly embrace this philosophy though and it is funny because they boat will sometimes misbehave but only for her.

[ccrowd]

I can attest to the fact that this boat was cursed... I believe the demons are beginning to slowly leave her.

[Moor]

Rarely do all the demons leave at once, sometimes it takes months, even years to break the curse. Looks like your on the right track though.... WHERES THE PICS???

[Southerngrounds]

12811. I need to take some better picture but here is one the day I brought it home and started cleaning her out. My friend wet sanded the gel coat so last weekend I started buffing it out. I spent all day Sunday cleaning her.

[Southerngrounds]

Here is my wife helping clean the boat12812

[comp92]

a little TLC and she will be back to business!
all boats have demons. mine sure does, but once you get to know them they are not so bad.
good luck!

[Moor]

if you ever decide to get rid of the boat, ill buy it for what you paid for it lol. Seriously though, i've paid $$$$ for boats in A LOT worse shape. Good score! enjoy!

[Southerngrounds]

Took her out for a test run today and ended up being towed back. When I launched it today I noticed it was a little slow to turn over. I got it started and she ran great. However, when I turned her off and tried to restart her she was extremely slow to turn over. Luckily I got it started. I ran her for a little while longer then turned her off. This time she was slow to turn over and I couldn't get her to start. I put a new battery in her last week and I charged it before we went today. This is the same symtoms my friend had each time he took the boat out. I did notice when the boat was in neutral it slightly pulled. After I got the boat out of the water it started. I got the boat home and disconnected the tranny cable. When I put the tranny lever into the neutral position the prop still spins.

[Southerngrounds]

The starter is new. That's what my friend thought is was originally so he replaced it. I'm thinking the problem has been the tranny the whole time.

[Supra_Comp]

I would try new battery cables and clean the ground connection. I ended up putting 0 Ga. Cables on mine, made a huge difference.

Next step, check voltage while running. Maybe alternator has taken a dive.

[villain]

+1 on the cables and grounds. The fords don't like week grounds or power supply lines. Mine did the same thing until I fixed them.

[Southerngrounds]

When the boat is in neutral the prop still spins. Is this normal? I'm thinking the tranny is messed up causing the starter to have to turn the prop while trying to start.

[DAFF]

More than likely the cables are junk and corroded under the floor. They sit in the water of the bilge causing fatigue and lack of continuity. Try putting the trans in neutral manually with the cable removed and watch the prop for rotation. It could be as simples as a cable adjustment.

[Supra_Comp]

When the boat is in neutral the prop still spins. Is this normal? I'm thinking the tranny is messed up causing the starter to have to turn the prop while trying to start.

Is the boat on the trailer? Without any resistance, it's not uncommon to see the prop spin slowly...damper plate on the flywheel is working against nothing so it can spin. You may need a slight adjustment on the transmission linkage, may be slightly out of the detent.

But switch the battery cables no matter what. Cheap insurance for the future.

[92SupraComp]

How bad is it if my prop spins in Reverse at idle and then as I speed up it stops and then starts going Forwards when on the trailer?

[SquamInboards]

I would definitely verify voltage while running, but since it turned over slowly on your FIRST try, bad cables/connections could cause pretty much all the symptoms you're having, including not charging well.

You might have a draw somewhere, too. Do you get a little tiny spark when you touch the positive cable to the battery at first (with ground already hooked up)? Or even better, put a test light between the positive cable and the terminal with the cable disconnected and if it lights up, you have a draw.

In any case, clean, good connections with known good cables are the place to start.

[Moor]

How bad is it if my prop spins in Reverse at idle and then as I speed up it stops and then starts going Forwards when on the trailer?

I would definately check into a transmission cable adjustment. Sounds like its out of adjustment to me if it spins backwards when in neutral, Then stops and turns forward as you throttle up. I would also DEFINATELY replace the battery cables, they are more than likely the culprit for the slow starting....at the very least clean all the contacts.