1980 16ft CVX

[Adventuredude]

I just bought a 1980 16ft cvx from the original owner. The boat was moored with a mooring cover in Mass. Then garage kept except for those 3 months a year for 40 yrs. It has not been taken out in 11 yrs. What are the chances of the stringers and transome being solid still. I plan to turn my teen boys loose in the river on this boat once I know it's safe. It is all original , the evinrude 115 with good shape original aluminum prop , which stainless should I put on the pull people up.I read the boating magazine article about the 78 cvx 16 restoration , the boat is running good on an external 6 gal tank , pump the bow tank out and try it or replace?

[Adventuredude]

One more question after scouring threads about cvx 16s I now know my greenish blue is actually blue that faded greenish , though the metalic isn't dead it still looks pretty good.How do I bring it up to look it's best?

[Oldfishguy]

First off, Welcome!

Good questions, it is something most on this forum have gone through . . . buying a boat and trying to figure out what you have. 

First, engine and tank.  Is the tank clean on the inside?  And I mean really clean.  If not, buy a new one or clean it with a bunch of available cleaning agents (Metal Rescue for one).  Does the engine run?  Is it spitting good water out from the impeller pump?  The impeller should definitely be replaced anyway at that age form just sitting so long. And just a simple reminder that is a two stroke motor that will need oil in the gas.  One six gallon gas tank will not be enough for a day on the water, those motors suck gas like CRAZY; find a second tank to have in the boat.

Second, floor and transom condition.  Almost every floor and transom from back then has to be replaced at this point.  Water under the floor and in the transom has caused them all to have week spots.  The floor you can feel it by walking on it and the transom is typically diagnosed with a screwdriver poking around from the inside.  Not that it has to be done immediately in most cases, but if you want to keep the boat for a while it should be done.  It doesn't cost a lot, just time.  A lot of rebuild threads here to help you out. Here is my floor rebuild thread from a few years back now:

   http://forum.cgoamn.com/index.php?topic=5298.0


Third, the gel color fading.  Again, many threads on this forum on wet sanding to get the color back.  Not a lot of money involved, just time.

I would suggest getting the machine in the water and running it for a summer.  That will make the rebuid/restoration a lot more fun.

Best of luck.

[Adventuredude]

The  motor was running on the muffs in his driveway with a solid pee stream how will I know how bad the tank is , I guess when I pump it out maybe cheap siphon at harbor freight I walked on the floor I'm 200 lbs no weak spots that I've found . I generally stand on the cavitation plate of an outboard and bounce to see if transome moves but didnt do that .What a great forumn of dedicated boaters , thanks for your help

[Adventuredude]

The po bought the external tank and mixed penns oil for my 2 stroke dirtbikes I use pure synthetic I'm going to buy another external tank like you
u said

What is the best oil for a 1980 evinrude , I've always been a merc guy

[Hyperacme]

Welcome to the forum Adventuredude !
Can you post a few pictures ?
Depending how bad flake is, wet sanding / compound / FI2 / wax could bring back the shine.

Replace impeller, change gear grease in LU, grease all zerk fittings, old fuel lines were not designed for new ethanol fuels and swell on inside, I would replace all fuel lines & filters just to be safe. Tilt motor up, remove plugs and squirt Seafoam deep creep in to cylinders. Let sit for a few hours, then do next cylinder. Fill each cylinder four or five times. Keep piston near TDC when squirting in to cylinder. It will loosen carbon deposits around rings & ring lands. Start motor after a few days of doing it, you will get huge clouds of white smoke so do it outside.
Carb's can get gunked up from sitting with old fuel / oil mix and lean out jetting, maybe pull float bowl and inspect for goo and scale.

I use "Mercury Premium Plus" or "Quicksilver Premium Plus"  ..
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Quicksilver-2-Stroke-Advanced-Premium-Plus-Synthetic-Marine-Engine-Oil/110206153?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&&adid=22222222227074369787&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=186701341894&wl4=pla-292014524858&wl5=9019555&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=110206153&veh=sem&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0Mb3BRCaARIsAPSNGpV9MeTCmI0LIZijDMZ_LaY1rSodNF37xGVwZoh35WK5R3iWUJDD64MaAkIoEALw_wcB

I don't think brand is that important as most are about the same.
More important is a clean fuel system that's in good shape.

I think CVX16 weak spot was floor under rear seat.
For transom .. you can try the hang off motor and try to rip it off transom, or tap with a rubber face hammer, or poke around with sharp object, or drill small holes and inspect wood shavings.
But the only real way is to rip it out and see how bad it is .. LOL
Some were built better then others .. But it's still 40 year old wood that might or might not have been well sealed.
 

[Hyperacme]

Original fuel tank ..
One guy on FB, loaded it with a few hand full's of nuts, bolts & washer, with kerosene and drove it around in back of his truck for a week.
If it has pin holes and is leaking, might just be easier to get new plastic tank.

[Adventuredude]

Luckily the po had done alot of the things mentioned when he pulled it out of the garage after 11 yrs . I took the boat out and it's amazing,  runs great and smooth even in chop for a 16. The 2017 boating magazine article mentions replacing the steering with the more modern 151/152 Seastar  for safety reasons  it's only 199 on Ebay , but the steering is tight and works fine. Should I upgrade for safety. The visible fuel line and ball are shot to the old tank , that's easy to replace , the fuel line the goes from the back of the boat to the tank , I have no clue. I took pics and will try to post, the metalflake still shines but it's a greenish blue that someone on this site says the blue fades to and actually the older blue flake they said held up better .

[Plugcheck]

Metal fuel tanks can be renewed, but you need to know first how bad it is.  Several places make restore kits for tanks, Eastwood is one for example.   IMHO, I'd pull the tank, inspect it thoroughly, then decide the next step.  If it's really corroded, I'd opt for a replacement poly tank.  Another option would be a camera inspection before you tear it out.  I bought a camera from China several years ago with 25' cord/USB for sewer inspections and now I seem to use it more for other things.  Point is, that camera was like $20-25, video displays on my laptop.   I couldn't rent one for that price.  I don't know of any resto kits that work in place, you have to be able to move it around to clean and coat the inside.   

[Adventuredude]

Great idea never thought of that my buddy has one of those. That is how we saw the collapsed lifter on my 08 Silverado .Unfortunately it seems Chevy caved to the treehuggers and took the awesome 6 bolt main ls motor and ruined it by making it switch from 8 to 4 cylinders while driving .

[Adventuredude]

Safety first I guess since my sons will be taking it out.Should I upgrade the steering even though the original works perfectly. I'm 200 lbs and floor is solid, everywhere I step but sounds like under rear seat gets weak first , which makes sense . Maybe I should pull the backseat out and see if it is bad under there, wierd thing for me is no bilge pump in the boat , no water came out of the drain plug hole after running it though.

[Adventuredude]

Checked a couple known for soft spots under the seat , seems solid. After 11 yrs of not being in the water on a 40 yr old boat I expected some things to fail. The backs of both front seats broke , I'd like to restore them later at some point but for now what buckets can I order to keep boating that will mount to the platform , looking for easy solution for now.

[Hyperacme]

From pictures on the "CVX Button Seats" thread, it looks like any seat with a flat bottom should work.
Your local Craigslist should have something that would fit, for cheap .. Maybe ..

CVX Button Seats ..
http://forum.cgoamn.com/index.php?topic=7003.0

I got a Baystar steering system for my boat. Not cheap but worth every penny.
http://www.seastarsolutions.com/products/hydraulic-new/outboard-new/baystar/