Hard-To-Find
Engine Parts for Antique and Classic Boats
Jim Holler, Vice President of BoatUS Marine Insurance, is an antique
boat enthusiast. During the week, he's in charge of planning and analysis
for the Marine Insurance division, but once he's home, he brings old
boats back to life. Jim fell in love with old boats 20 years ago at
an antique boat show in Buffalo, N.Y. "The beauty of the wood, the workmanship,
and craftsmanship that goes into these boats is what I love. It's a
very relaxing hobby, and it's really very satisfying to see the rebuilding
of a boat."
"My
first boat was a 1947 Ventnor Class E racing runabout named Hurry Home.
I bought it in the winter of 1983 and it has gone through a couple of
restorations since then." Hurry Home got its name during World War II,
when coming home was all soldiers and their families could think about.
"Hurry
Home is a one-of-a-kind boat. We've not found another one like it. It
has a single seat, while most Class E racing runabouts have a driver
and a throttle person. We ran it for a few years without doing much
to it, but in 1989 we turned the boat over, took the engine out and
fixed it up."
Finding engine parts for the 165 horsepower, six-cylinder Gray Fire-ball
proved to be a real challenge. The water pump, impellers, oil cooler
and its cover, two of the three carburetors, and the crank shaft needed
to be replaced. "We had to write letters to people in the antique boat
society and others to try and track down these parts. Sometimes we had
to go to two or three sources just to find parts. We ended up buying
a rebuilt engine just to get the oil cooler cover."
It takes time to rebuild an engine and the task is even more difficult
when the parts are hard to find. In part, because of antique boat enthusiasts
like Jim, BoatUS decided to open a Parts Center dedicated to finding
those engine parts needed to maintain and restore older model boats.
Jim enjoys turning heads with Hurry Home. It's not only colorful, it's
loud too, with two dry stacks, like in old cars. "We take the boat out
to antique boat shows two and three times a year from Ottawa, Canada,
to Florida, and the West Coast."
His latest project is a 36' 1962 Richardson cruiser with twin Gray Marine
engines that has fallen into disrepair. "We have removed both engines
from the boat and have disassembled the engines to check out all the
internal parts. To date, we have not found any major problems with the
engines."
"We
are now in the process of searching out some ancillary parts, such as
fuel pumps. The problem is that the motors had electric fuel pumps and
we're trying to get back to the original fuel pumps. We are using the
services of the BoatUS Parts Centers to find those parts."
While Jim works on the final repairs to the Richardson and looks forward
to completing the project, the BoatUS staff of engine parts specialists
is scouring the country in search of his fuel pumps.
Let us do the work for you! Instead of scouring through engine shops
looking for hard-to-find parts for older model engines, turn to BoatUS!
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