Questions about an old boat

My grandfather passed away in 2003 and I ended up with his 14-foot Bomber with 35 horse Force motor. I am working on restoring it and fishing out of it before spring is out.

1.) I am sure the Carburetor will need to be taken off and cleaned and possibly rebuilt. Also, I am guessing that the water pump will need to be replaced as well. Are there any other things that definitely need to be done before I try and start it?

2.) I had no keys to it, so I took out the key ignition and took it to a locksmith to have keys made. I wrote down the diagram of the way it was wired, but lost the paper.....do I need to purchase a manual to get the wiring diagram on the ignition switch or can I find it somewhere online?

3.) will I have trouble finding parts for the boat/motor. This is an original Force made by U.S. Marine, I have been told that Mercury now owns Force and was wondering if they still make parts for the motors this old?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

How old is the motor? I know that from my past experiences getting parts for motors more than twenty years old is a nightmare........

My suggestion would be to fully analyze what you have before sinking a bunch of money into it......I would want to be 100% sure that the hull was in good shape before even touching the motor. Things to check are the transom, the stability of the floor, are there any weak spots in the hull that could break from a wave impact, and things of that nature. If there are some major hull issues, the cost of repairs could be outrageous! It would be bad to sink money into your motor and then later find out you have an unsafe hull........

Check out [url]www.bassboatcentral.com[/url] the boys over there have a pretty good knowledge about boats .

the us marine motor parts are almost non existent, a guy i work with has been looking for parts and said all the dealers won't even look at it and he should invest in another engine.food for thought.

[QUOTE=Tim_T;288427]My grandfather passed away in 2003 and I ended up with his 14-foot Bomber with 35 horse Force motor. I am working on restoring it and fishing out of it before spring is out.

1.) I am sure the Carburetor will need to be taken off and cleaned and possibly rebuilt. Also, I am guessing that the water pump will need to be replaced as well. Are there any other things that definitely need to be done before I try and start it?

2.) I had no keys to it, so I took out the key ignition and took it to a locksmith to have keys made. I wrote down the diagram of the way it was wired, but lost the paper.....do I need to purchase a manual to get the wiring diagram on the ignition switch or can I find it somewhere online?

3.) will I have trouble finding parts for the boat/motor. This is an original Force made by U.S. Marine, I have been told that Mercury now owns Force and was wondering if they still make parts for the motors this old?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE]

Hey Tom, if your close to shepherdsville I be glad to help ya look it over. We could run a compression test, clean the carbs, check th elower unit, change the grease. Just do a nice cleaning,,,all it`ll cost ya is a couple4 of beers and nice chat.

Doug
meyer`s boat restoration

Doug - That's a price that can't be beat!

[QUOTE=onemorecast56;288525]Hey Tom, if your close to shepherdsville I be glad to help ya look it over. We could run a compression test, clean the carbs, check th elower unit, change the grease. Just do a nice cleaning,,,all it`ll cost ya is a couple4 of beers and nice chat.

Doug
meyer`s boat restoration[/QUOTE]

Doug, that sounds great. I like beer and live close to Shepherdsville. As a matter of fact, I grew up there and will be moving back there as soon as the airport buys my house.

you can e-mail me at [email protected]

Doug, now that is one sure fine deal if I ever saw one...Nobidy in their right mind would pass on a deal like that.... Hope everything works out for the guy....

Tim, I don't know if this will be of any help but there is a guy in Scottsville Ky that can sometimes find old motor parts. I think his last name is Whitehouse or maybe Whiteside. He's located right off 31E not far from Barren River Lake. If I'm not mistaken he also used to work at 31E marine for Rufus maybe he can give you his name & number. He used to be in Warren Co. and has done work on an old motor I had at one time. It seems like someone in his family has a boat motor junk yard in IN. somewhere and he gets parts from there. I wish I had his ph number but I don't.