Uh oh #5. 1959 Skagit 20 Express I/O

[Kelly]

This showed up at my boat yard today.
More info later but she's cleaning up nicely!
Thinking diesel IF I keep her.

[Kelly]

She'll need the usual wood replacement therapy, but definitely has that 50's look with the original gelcoat. All of the original jewelry is on her too.
Decisions decisions.

[Helmar]

She'll need the usual wood replacement therapy, but definitely has that 50's look with the original gelcoat. All of the original jewelry is on her too.
Decisions decisions.

What engine is in her ?.
If its the Volvo B-18 or B-20, its going to be hard to beat.
Quick story about the B-18 with dual Solex carbs. Two saddle tanks, right at 40 gallons total, left Mystery Bay, Port Townsend, up around Whidbey island though Deception Pass against the tide, into LaConnor. Putting around LaConnor at the Skagit's 50th Anniversary, then down to Oak Harbor for the night. Oak Harbor down around the point and back up to Port Townsend, left into Mystery Bay.

I ran Hard the first day, stuck the tanks with the measuring stick at Oak Harbor, over half full. The rest of the trip, no more than 3000 RPM's down around the point and back up to Mystery Bay.
I did have a extra 5 gallon tank stashed just in case.
At Mystery Bay, I stuck the tanks, there was still 9" of fuel in the bottom of the tanks. The Do get more narrow at the bottom but I figured I had more than 5 gallons of fuel left over.
Top speed was right at 28mph according to the GPS.

Later on, I had over heated the engine so, I pulled it out and replaced it with another pull out motor, fresh head and valve job, then decided to replace the Solex carbs with Webers. I was Really surprised as you could really feel the difference in power and getting up on plane.

Another event, went from Quilcene's marina down to Hoodsport and back with John Nelson for a test run. Ran hard down, coming back, only 15mph. I had disabled the saddle tanks due to the crap gas turning the fiberglass tanks in to snot and plugging up the Solex carbs so she had a 15 gallon belly tank in her for that test.

When I got back to Quilcene, I stuck the tank and it still had fuel in it, in fact, 2" on the damn stick so I still had fuel left over.

Try that with your outboards. You would never get that kind of fuel economy with them or at least the older ones.

Marty Loken had one of Bill Roberts big 90 hp Merc's on the back of his boat and had to fill up at Oak Harbor as he only had about a 1/4 of his fuel left.

One more story. I grew up working in my Dads wrecking yard in Gresham Oregon. We had a Engine Shed and there were just about Every Volvo engine we pulled was stored in there. No one Ever bought a engine, just wanted the carbs off it. Later on in years, they just sat in the engine shed. No one ever needed one.

My water pump quit and my temp gauge was not working properly and I had that boat so hot and it was trying to melt the plastic coated rubber fuel line into. I mean, it was Scary how close I came to being a big fireball out in the bay !!!!.
I ran a compression test as it did blow the head gasket but was blown away as I thought it had been so hot it should have melted the piston rings but as I am living and breathing, two cylinders were the head gasket was not blown, still very much up to standard compression.
About the only thing you would ever have to do with these engines is maybe a valve job and that's it.

I went up to Friday Harbor when Tim Jones was still working on the Saratogan as he had some old Q100 early outdrives laying around. They never go bad. Tim Jones know Volvo and went to school on them back in the day.

Those swedes built one hell of a motor !!.

So, if you ask me what is the best combination for one of these 20 foot boats, I would have to say the Volvo B-18 is hard to beat. Those engines just Sip fuel. Just like the Bearcat motors,
The engine with the dual carbs in my Skagit 20 offshore is rated at 102hp.

[Kelly]

There's no engine in it. It was pulled years ago by the p/o. In fact, it was last licensed in '94 so who knows how long the engine has been gone. No out drive either.
So when I get around to this one it'll be unchartered territory for me.
I like the idea of a diesel though but am not stuck to it. I think John put the idea in my head a while ago.

[Helmar]

There's no engine in it. It was pulled years ago by the p/o. In fact, it was last licensed in '94 so who knows how long the engine has been gone. No out drive either.
So when I get around to this one it'll be unchartered territory for me.
I like the idea of a diesel though but am not stuck to it. I think John put the idea in my head a while ago.

This is a Perfect reason to look for a Donor boat. Some 80s trihull ugly looking piece of crap, upholstery is shot, But its setting on a OK trailer....Down here, I did a doner boat just to get the trailer and rub rail off of it. It cost me $82 bucks to haul it to the transfer station. Down here, they don't even care of you bring the title or not.. Actually I advertised it as a Raised Bed Garden boat and found someone interested. I cut the top off with the sawzall and that cost me $20 bucks to dump. Now I have my rub rail and a trailer to sell local down here.

If you do that, you would have some extra goodies to use, maybe steering, motor controls and so on to peddle or use.

Normally how I run into stuff like this is the upholstery is shot, the floor is shot and the good wife just says, Get ride of it not caring that you just went though the engine and/or outdrive a few years back. Some times, its a Heres the title, take it. Look for those.

Oh, if your going to cut the boat up, get a cheap Harbor Freight tarp, back the boat trailer onto the tarp and then do your cutting. Its easy to get all the fiberglass dust picked up that way

Anyway, this is just a idea..

Did you know that my Volvo B-18 has no motor mounts ? Its all supported by the transom. I would feel better with front mounts.

[Kelly]

There are mounts in the front, I'll snap a pic next time I'm at the shop.
I did casually look for a cheap boat with the parts I would need and you're right, there's plenty out there.
There's a 19' bayliner with a 4cyl Volvo all complete, with trailer for under $800 and it runs.
I have to stay focused though, on the 58 Hardtop.

[Helmar]

There are mounts in the front, I'll snap a pic next time I'm at the shop.
I did casually look for a cheap boat with the parts I would need and you're right, there's plenty out there.
There's a 19' bayliner with a 4cyl Volvo all complete, with trailer for under $800 and it runs.
I have to stay focused though, on the 58 Hardtop.

Good call. I have too many projects going on here too.
That looks a whole lot different than my B-18.

[Gwilliamson]

In the bigger boat/cannery world i have seen plenty of those isuzu 4 cyl diesels and i dare to say they are the quietest damn diesel i have seen. pretty reliable and easy to get parts for when need be.. In my experiece they are common in genset applications.

this is the newer version of what i'm used to seeing, and check that out its a 3 cylinder now....Isuzu 3CE1

https://merequipment.com/product/iro...ine-generator/

[pats]

I have a 3 cyl. Mitsubishi diesel engine in a skid loader,......... good, strong, quite. I like the engine, it burns very little fuel and is strong enough to get the job done.

[Kelly]

I have heard good things about the isuzu diesels. I have a free Mercedes diesel 3 cylinder from a reefer trailer. May go that route if it's possible. More research needed.

[Kelly]

I just looked at the title for the trailer. Is an original 1959 TeeNee trailer, probably came with the boat from the dealer. Too bad it's wasted but I might try to save some bits from it.

[John Nelson]

You need about 100hp to push that boat along. This is what someone else did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaZN2nHcMaE&t=2s

[Kelly]

You need about 100hp to push that boat along. This is what someone else did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaZN2nHcMaE&t=2s

That.is.awesome.
and that's what I want to do now...thanks John!