Rescue and Restoration of a 1989 IMP 220 Sportsman

After successfully (and amazingly) jockey this boat into my garage - and still leaving room for Mama's car - I pretty much let it sit with very little activity for about two months.

I did mess around a bit with some of the electrical and managed to get the stern light working and the bilge blower working but never went any further. I suspect that the existing bilge pump may be burned out and/or the remote float switch is bad, but didn't pursue this any further for now.

I did get the energy to remove the old NJ registration numbers from the bow and the boat name from the stern, but installing the new MC numbers will have to wait until I wheel out those areas of the hull to remove the gel coat changes caused by years of "shading".

Now, in mid-February with a warm spurt that lasted for a few days, I decided to look into getting it running a bit further. Even if I hadn't run into a snag, I wasn't about to put the muffs on her and hear her run due to paranoia about a cold snap and block-cracking results.

Of course, I'm probably safe on that count since it seems to be about 15-20 degrees warmer (for the most part) on the inside of the garage. To make sure I was going to be safe, I bought a cheap indoor/outdoor digital thermometer with remote sensor.

As I write this on February 21st, it is 45F outside and 44F inside. I noticed that, even when it went down to 7F outside, it was still 29F inside. A few more weeks and I should be safe to fire her up!

And, I should be able to now that I have disproved my temporary conclusion that the engine was either seized or simply stuck from sitting. This looked pretty promising (threatening) when I went through the preliminary steps and pulled three of the four plugs to pour in 30cc of Marvel Mystery oil in each cylinder. The fourth cylinder (all the way toward the flywheel) presented no way to get a socket on the plug due to rust surrounding it. I scraped and used Liquid Wrench soakings to get it ready, but that one will be a bit of a challenge to get it removed.

There is a huge forward engine mount in the way of the lower pulley (harmonic dampener) on this engine - which doesn't matter much since there is no central nut that could be turned to turn the engine anyway.

I tried turning the water pump and then the alternator, but the amount of torque simply caused the belt to slip on the pulleys. In desperation, I removed the water pump pulley to get a bit more purchase on the lower pulley and tried to beat on it with a huge screwdriver and punch, but nothing would move.

Hoping the get a different result at the flywheel end, I managed to remove the 3 bolts holding the starter into position. This was not particularly easy since I had to remove the B-nut on the line going up to the carb and the two bolts that held the fuel pump in place to get to the forward bracket attachment.

Locating the two in line bolts by feel and laying on the deck alongside the engine compartment, I managed to get those two bolts out and with a bit of wiggling, pulled to the starter up and out.

Before I looked at doing any electrical testing, I tried to (after removing the solenoid can) move the pinion gear in and out with the aid of a screwdriver and get it to turn. It took a few tries and a bit of penetrating oil, but I got it freed up. The way this works is that the solenoid moves the pinion into position and, when the piston in the solenoid moves far enough, it makes contact and sends a high current 12V to the starter motor.

But, this was stuck and, along with blowing the fuse and preventing the starter from energizing, would effectively lock the engine in place.

So, with tenacity and optimism, I reached back there with a huge screwdriver, got a good bite on one of the ring gear teeth and started to pry. It moved almost immediately! Excitedly, I repeated the process a few more times to convince myself that the engine was not stuck.

Now, after I disassemble the starter, clean and lubricate, and check it out electrically, it will be time to reinstall. put on some muffs and crank it over! I'll probably wait a week or so before that step but I am filled with optimism!

As you can quickly see, the boat looked pretty forlorn after sitting exposed to the weather for many years. Before I fired up the pressure washer, I had no idea of how much of this mold and discoloration might come off, but previous experience didn't make me very optimistic

The open bilge area shows major rot and a new bulkhead to support the sole is definitely in order. But, this was not marine plywood as one might expect but typical OSB (Oriented Strand Board). So, it might not be as bad as it looks. This stuff has no place on a boat and I'll be happy to get rid of it to be replaced by epoxy-coated marine ply. If possible, I might even use some marine ply with a glass skin the was taken out of the aft deck area of my sailboat in preparation for hatch installation.