1987 Prostar 190 project boat

[mckyle]

Alright, so I recently got a '87 PS 190 in just alright condition. Besides the carpet/upholstery, the big $ items are fine I believe. Here are pics, and a barrage of questions! Disclaimer #1: I know the boat trailer looks like trash, but for the price I got the boat/trailer for, I don't care! It's functional for the moment. :-) Disclaimer #2: I know the interior also looks like trash... and I will be taking care of the upholstery shortly! I've got a local guy who does excellent jobs at very reasonable prices to do it here in about a month or so, including new wooden sideboard frames. Also, the funky stufff on the boat's top edges is the adhesive left over from where a previous owner stuck some type of grip material. It was ugly, and now unfortunately has left dark marks on the white gelcoat.

1. Has anyone seen a garden hose connection to the raw water intake like the one pictured? I have seen people rigging their own to run in their driveway with a bucket, but haven't seen one like this where it looks pre-made. Safe to use to run in the driveway, or should I still run a hose to a bucket full of water, and keep the bucket full?
2. In the same picture as the garden hose connection, I'm sure you can see a different hose is broken. I believe it is the blower hose. Can someone confirm? I've got this on order http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o03_s00_i00
3. Any special issues to watch out for installing just a regular marine radio in the dash and four speakers in the sideboards? I've got everything ordered, including 50' of this 14AWG marine tinned speaker wire: http://www.wholesalemarine.com/p/ANC...th+Shield.html two sets of these speakers http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o00_s00_i00 and this receiver http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o01_s00_i00
4. I know it's a small thing, but almost all of the cup holders are gone! I've got one left, and it has a crack in the bottom of it. I'd like to get all new ones. Any idea where to get them? They're just plastic inserts that sit down into the hole it appears.
5. As you can see there is a chip in the blue gelcoat on the stern, starboard side. It's not high priority right now or me to fix, but if anyone has good sources for a kit to match the gelcoat well, please let me know.
6. Regarding the oxidation on the stern, does it look bad enough to merit wet sanding? As you can see the original decals were replaced, and I'm afraid I won't be able to get rid of the fading unless I wetsand. Any suggestions? If I do wetsand, my only confusion is whether to do it by hand or not. I cannot find any hook and loop wet sandpaper though, so I'm assuming it's done by hand. This also applies to the dark spots where the adhesive was on the top edge of the boat on the white gelcoat.

I apologize for my ignorance on these things, but this is one of the reasons why I joined this forum. TIA to whomever has some advice!

[d2jp]

Don't have time to address the specific issues, but I will say as the owner of an '89 PS...if it runs and floats and you got it for the right price - congrats! They are bombproof boats, easy and fairly inexpensive to repair/maintain.
Others will be along with more specific answers!

[mayo93prostar]

the water hose hook up is a perko flush kit and it works fine. however, some people on hear advocate the bucket method over this kit. I have used this kit on my boats for many years with no problems.

you can determine if you need to wet sand or not by trying rubbing compound first and see if gets the oxidation off enough. ifnot, go with light wet sanding, 3M heavy duty rubbing compound, 3M finesse polish, and then a good wax.

yes that is the blower hose broken. replace it all the way back to the rear. may need to remove fuel tank to route it back there.

you can buy stainless cup holders on line. good places for stuff include skidim.com, rambo marine, jim@baws on this forum, your local dealer, etc.

[mikeg205]

All in all not too bad...the only real problem I see is the shaft coupler being rusted together...but easily replaced as well. Will be well worth the time, money and energy to bring her back. The trailer will be easy...sand blast and powder coat... are you going to redo the interior yourself?

Please keep us posted with photos of the resto.

[jakethebt]

I second what Mayo93prostar said...

The flush pro kit is fine. The only issue some people have on here is that if you use short pc of hose in the fall to suck antifreeze out of a bucket, sometimes the water pump cannot get enough suction and you need to tape over the water inlet. Not a problem unless you forget and leave the tape on.

As for cup holders, last time I looked www.skidim.com has SS one for the cheapest price around. They are great to work with for anything you need inside the engine compartment.

Yes, the hose with a hole is for the bilge blower. You can fix it with duct tape for the time being, but you want to replace it as it is a safety item.

As for stickers, Jim @ BAWS is the place to go. He can hook you up with replacements. I am sure he will be along soon too...

Congrats on the boat. You will find on here real quick that the price of advice on here is pictures of the progress...

[rholmes]

You can also buy replacement black plastic cup holders from overtons, west marine, etc for a little cheaper than the SS ones...

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Congrats on purchasing a great boat. Your text made it sound like much more of a project than it is. Seems like most of your questions have been answered. Never seems to be a shortage of answers and opinions here. Keep us posted and ask away whenever needed.

[mckyle]

Thank you all.

mayo93prostar - thanks for all the tips. I'll try what you mentioned first on the gelcoat. I'm hoping the fading under the decals & discoloration from the adhesive come out that way. One thing though - I'm a newbie to gelcoat care, and am still unsure whether to wetsand by hand or with a hoook & loop buffer/sander if it needs it. Like I said, I've had trouble finding ANY wet sand paper that are hook and loop. They're all just sheets (mainly 3M brand), so I'm assuming it is all done by hand, until I get to the 3M compound?

mgorczak1 - thanks for pointing out the drive shaft coupler. I've been searching for a replacement high and low, and only can find this: http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=WS-2000 Like I said, I'm a newbie, and am unsure if I can just replace the coupler itself somehow? If so, any idea where to get it possibly online? As to the interior, there is someone local that is very good (used him before), and VERY reasonable. He'll be doing everything from upholstery to new wood sideboards and new carpet. She'll look very different afterwards!

jakethebt - thank you for showing me skidim.com - I found the cup holders on there and they look nice. I'll make sure to note what you said about the perko flush kit when winterizing. Also, I got 50' of the blower hose so I plan on replacing it all.

rholmes - I'll look there as well. Thanks!

thatsmrmastercraft - well, I'll admit I definitely don't think it's as much of a project as some of the boats I've seen restored on here, BUT for me it's definitely a project.

Thanks again everyone and I'll definitely be posing pics as I go along.

[mckyle]

ok, back for an update. So up until now I've just been tuning up the motor, had to get a new fuel pump, new water/fuel separator, redo some wiring (had fun with a bad ground) and such. Now I'm looking closer into this rusted shaft coupler. Skidim can probably get me one, but I need to separate the shaft side from the transmission side and take a look to see if it is double tapered or not. So far after looking through as many threads on here as I can find the only way I've seen people separating them is soaking in penetrating oil then giving the end of the shaft by the prop a good whack with a rubber mallet or something similar. So far, that hasn't worked picture shows the coupler with the four bolts removed. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[gweaver]

If you're trying to separate the two halves of the coupler, what about using a cold chisel and mallet right along the two mated surfaces? If you're going to replace the coupler anyway, I don't think it would be too big a deal if it was slightly gouged. Also, since the only thing holding the two halves together is rust, have you tried tapping straight down on the shaft side of the coupler? Shouldn't need too much force to break that apart. Tap, rotate, tap, rotate until free.
G