New Member, Long Time Aquasport Owner

[Tripower455]

Hi guys!

I am about to start refurbishing my '86 20' Osprey that I've owned since January 1991. It was fished heavily from the time I got it for about 4 years, and it's been sitting, I'm embarrassed to say, for about 16 years!

I got it through a used boat dealer friend when i lived in CT. He got a deal on these from a Club Nautico that went belly up. After sitting for a year or 2 in litigation, they were released for sale. There were 20 200 Ospreys, a few of the dual console 22 footers and a number of 24 walk arounds to choose from. The engines were supposed to be bad, but many of them had intact engines. The 20 ospreys had Johnson 100 Commercial V4 on them. I can't remember what the 22's had (150's I think) but the 24s had 185 Commercials, none of them intact. I drove from Old Lyme Ct. to Ft Lauderdale and back to pick mine up. There were still a bunch of them to choose from, so I chose the one with the least amount of damage (these WERE rental boats!) with the engine that felt the best (gear shift worked, not seized), even though I fully expected to change the engine out. I loaded her up, jumped in my F250 and proceeded north.

While driving through VA in the wee hours, Operation Desert Storm began. It was weird being at war for the first time since Vietnam.......

Once home, it was too cold to do much, so it sat on the trailer until March, when it finally warmed up enough to play with it. The first thing I did was hook up a battery, cooling muffs and a 6 gallon tank to it, and fired it up. She, lit right off, and ran rough, belching smoke for about 15 minutes, which was a great sign. The engine had been fogged prior to storage! After running it for a while, I pulled the plugs and checked compression, which was great all the way around. I pulled the carbs and cleaned the gunk out of them, replacing the gaskets and the engine ran great after that. I also did the usual water pump, fuel pump and plugs. She was no speed demon, but the 100 ran well and idled like a sewing machine for all the years I ran the boat. The only non routine thing I ever replaced was one of the power packs (the commercial V4s had 2)..

We moved to Naples Fl in the summer of '91, and the boat saw a lot of use, mostly fishing, until I got burned out from trailer sailing, in late '94. I grew up on the water on the south shore of LI, and always had the boats either on davits or moored, so I was spoiled to begin with. The growth of the boating population in Naples far outpaced the number of ramps and parking, and it got to be more and more of a hassle to use the boat. Plus, my friend got his Capt license AND a boat at around the same time, so I mothballed mine.

Until now......

The trailer needs some TLC. The engine was fogged when I first stored it, and it still turns easily by hand. I can also tilt it with the hydraulics bypassed. The steering cable is shot, but the throttle/shift cables work perfectly. The lower unit oil is clean, no water intrusion. Once I get the boat extricated from it's location in the back 40, I'm gonna pull the engine off and try to get it going. Ideally, I'd like to put something along the lines of an OMC loop charged 120-140 on this thing, but I am also considering a 150 V6.

There are the usual stress cracks all over the place, but the floors and transom seem solid. I've toyed with the idea of repainting it, and still might do it. I'm not sure yet.

Pics to follow!

Glenn

[seabob4]

Glenn,
Welcome aboard Sir!   That was a great post and a good bit of history to soak in...enjoyed it.  Interestingly enough, at the time the Gulf War started, I was working for Martin-Marietta (now Lockheed-Martin) building Patriot missiles, did a couple months TDY out at White Sands upgrading the warheads to PAC 2 status to shoot down Scuds...

You will find this forum probably the absolute best on the internet (far better than THT, although a lot of us do some posting over there... ), the membership is awesome and will always help you.  Rick K, the admin, is an excellent guy, runs a tight, but loose ship, and I'm sure you will find this place addictive.

We'd love to see the pics!

Because Glenn, as you may know,

Bob C

[Tripower455]

Thanks Bob!

As promised, here are a few pics......

I've pressure washed the thing, otherwise, it's not been touched in about 16 years! The black marks are from paintballs. They should come out during wet sanding.





I replaced the faded gray instrument panels with black plexiglass. I think I still have the old gray ones in the attic. The original windshield was damaged when I got it, so I made this one. I'll have to redo it, as it's crazed all over the place.





Homemade radio box. While I was making the windshield and other parts, I experimented and made this box out of plexiglass. It's almost 20 years old and still solid!





I also made some built in tackle boxes. I used ready made hardware drawers from Home Depot. The plexiglass doors are long gone, but it was a nice, convenient way to store lures and rigging supplies. I hope I can find replacement plastic boxes that fit!



Crazed windshield. You can also see where I enlarged the bow locker access and made a replacement door for it.



More to come.....

[Tripower455]

Engine..... It's mostly all there. IIRC, I removed the flywheel to troubleshoot an electrical problem, but don't recall if I actually did or not....... I left the nut off to remind me of what I did or didn't do, but still forgot! The steering arm has seen better days. I am gonna rip into the engine, but I am probably just gonna get something else. I'd prefer something larger, although, it was nice not to take on water through the scuppers every time someone stood in the stern.











Transom. I had a 9.9 evinrude kicker on there.



Port side. Both gunwales have a ton of stress cracks all over. I'm not sure if it's worth fixing them or just live with them.



Starboard side...... There are lots of nicks in the gelcoat, but otherwise, it's not in bad shape. Hey, it WAS a rental boat......

[GoneFission]

Welcome to the site Tri455!  Looks like you are going to bring her out of retirement!  Looks like a pretty do-able recovery job - nothing there that should scare you much.  Good luck and keep us informed - ask any questions you run into - someone here can probably answer them.

[seabob4]

Glenn,
I think you're onto something here.  Those transom tie-down rub strakes are a must have...

Just giving you some ...

[Tripower455]

Glenn,
I think you're onto something here.  Those transom tie-down rub strakes are a must have...

Just giving you some ...

LOL... I was wondering how long it was gonna be before someone mentioned those! They are VERY solidly mounted to the transom, otherwise, theyd've been gone 20 years ago..... There is enough 5200 behind those things that you could remove the screws and lift up the boat by the plates, like the old crazy glue commercial with the construction worker hanging from the girder!

They've done their job though. That's about the only area on the boat that's not scratched, nicked or gouged!

[bumpster]

Great looking project boat. Looks more cosmetic unless you have soft deck issues.I have a 94 of that same boat that is ripped apart as far as wiring goes but it does have one thing your boat needs, A 150

[bumpster]

Is that a prebred Goldie I see in the picture? They are the coolest dogs except for the hair

[RickK]

Not too shabby - looks like it'll be a little work but will be worth it.
I would get it working first, engine-wise and then enjoy it until winter - then tackle it.

[Tripower455]

Is that a prebred Goldie I see in the picture? They are the coolest dogs except for the hair

Yeah.... We have 2, (Chloe 9, who's in both pics, and Cody 4) and one of them always finds a way into the picture! I agree, they're great dogs. Angels on earth! We rescued Cody last year from Golden Retriever Rescue of SW FL.

[Tripower455]

Great looking project boat. Looks more cosmetic unless you have soft deck issues.I have a 94 of that same boat that is ripped apart as far as wiring goes but it does have one thing your boat needs, A 150

The decks are solid. The only flex is in the fuel tank cover behind the console. I am gonna get a look at it while I have the tank out, and maybe redo the wood underneath.

I agree about the 150! That thing must fly! My friend had an '88 osprey exactly like mine, with a later model 140 looper, and it was a good 10 knots faster than mine.

My only worry is weight with the 20" transom.

I'm gonna move it out of it's crypt in a few minutes. I need to do some trailer tire swaps to make it roll!

[Aswaff400]

for your scuppers, just throw some of them ping-pong ball scuppers on, i threw some on mine even though my scuppers are an inch above the water but when i put the 200 on they'll be almost even with the water line... i'd def go with a 150...

ive seen 43 mph with my 112hp johnnyrude

[Tripower455]

for your scuppers, just throw some of them ping-pong ball scuppers on, i threw some on mine even though my scuppers are an inch above the water but when i put the 200 on they'll be almost even with the water line... i'd def go with a 150...

ive seen 43 mph with my 112hp johnnyrude

The best I was ever able to get with the 100 was about 35, according to my LORAN (am I showing my age?), and that was by myself.

The Commercial motors, AFAIK, were somewhat detuned compared with their non commercial brethren (lower compression, less timing) to run on lousy third world country gas and survive with less than stellar maintenance. It also had a lower gear ratio (2:1 IIRC) so it swung huge props. I ran a 14.5"x19" off my dad's 200 that had been ground down to about 14" diameter, and still got 5300 rpm out of it at WOT.

The 112 is a crossflow bubbleback, like the old 140s, right? That'd be the perfect engine for this hull, IMHO.

[Capt. Bob]

Ah yes, the 20 footer I couldn't afford in 86. (the 17' did just fine though).

Gonna be a nice boat when your done.