Boat # 3 = 1982 Regal Regency
          
           Bought & Repaired
                   Repair Status = Complete
                   Owned by  OHF MEMBER 
                             KaGee
          
               OHF Forum Moderator
                         OHF VIP Member
                         Joined OHF: 02 Jun 2006
                         Location: Toledo                     

1982 Regal Regency  21FF  3.8L  V6 OMC STRINGER
                   Pictures are from the E-Bay ad. Just how she looked the day I picked her up one
                  late August afternoon in 2003. In outside storage for nearly two years. The
                  story: Previous owner turned sick and passed away leaving the boat to members of
                  his family. They knew nothing about boats. Engine was seemingly seized.

                 My dad was terminally ill and living with us. I needed something to help as a
                 diversion so I bought it as a project. I already had an 18ft Steury Tri-Hull
                 with a 115 Johnson. Two boats in the backyard did not make the wife happy. Oh
                 well!

                 Dad’s condition worsened. Time was in short supply. Here’s the condensed
                 version. I pulled the drive to confirm it was the engine that seized. Engine was
                 seized, freed it up, pulled the heads and stuffed oil soaked rags into each
                 cylinder. Dad needed me, and bad weather moved in. I brought the drive into the
                 basement and buttoned down everything for the winter.
                         Fast forward to 2004.
                
                       Over the winter I re-sealed and installed new ball gears in the drive and
                 intermediate units. When the weather turned favorable, I put everything back
                 together and the engine fired to life. Hooray! Not for long. :( Inspection
                 found water in the oil and in the cylinders. A pressure check of the block found
                 previously undiscovered cracks in the block. Oh man, worse case scenario. New
                 block needed. Now I needed to save enough money for another motor. This is what
                 a FREEZE CRACK looks like.
                 
                        ALWAYS winterize your engines gentleman.
                  New ball gears installed over the winter.
                   
                                            Fast Forward to late July.
                  Built an A-Frame (no garage, everything done out in the open in my back yard)
                   and started the job of removal. Boat Project

         

                        Sitting pretty!
          
         Finished! Or so I thought. After a lot of fumbling around, I finally got 
         her fired up. She ran @1200RPM for about 5 minutes before it started spitting.
         Further testing found water droplets on the plugs of 1, 3 and 5.
          Frustrating! 
         Here’s the rig I made to check the manifold.
         Poured some mineral spirits in the water jacket and pumped up the pressure to about
         15lbs.
         
         The manifold pressure checked ok, but after re-install I still had 
         water in the cylinders. $#@%!!!
         Buttoned everything up for the winter. Out of patience and out of $$.
         
         It’s now mid-July 2005! The OMC manifold was no longer available. 
         OSCO was the only company who made a retrofit. Only took 8 weeks to get because
         of backorder! **$#%%@!!! There goes the season.
          
          I added a remote oil filter kit. 
          Sure does save the knuckles!
          Installation complete!
          
          At last! The shakedown!
         
         The shake down went as most due. A few little bugs to work out. One unexpected
         setback was a pin-hole oil leak in the lower unit.
          
         I made a patch from sheet aluminum and used JB WELD to adhere it. 
         Good old JB! What would we do with out it? Some sanding, bondo and paint 
         and we were good to go. The lower unit held pressure and vacuum with no leaks.
         
         For the remainder of the 2005 season and into 2006 I kept my ventures limited to the 
         Maumee River. I needed to put some hours on the engine for proper break-in.
         
         Out on the big for the first time!
         New gauges coming in 2007.
         Gotta love EBay!
 
          

         My youngest son,Chris = What it’s all about! 
         
         What it’s all about!
         
          Every boat needs a name.