One step closer to getting my dream boat - an 18' twin rig! I recently picked up this 1974 18 Hydrodyne with a '74 merc 1500. Lots of work ahead (with lots of questions)! Kevin
Re: 1974 Hydrodyne "Why do you just rig this one with twin 150's and have your dream boat?" Hi Bob, Ahhh,,, if life were that easy. Like most 35 year old boats,, this boat has issues. First the transon is tired. The transom may still have life in it, but drilling 8 new holes next to the existing 6 and placing the added weight on the back would require a whole new transom, IMHO. Second issue would be finding a good '74 Merc 1500 to match the one I have (assuming that the one I have now still runs). Third issue would be having to always park the boat parallel to the shoreline so my wife doesn't notice the second motor!!,, cause if she finds out that I bought my third motor in less than 1 year, I'll be sleeping in this Dyne!! Cheers, Kevin
Re: 1974 Hydrodyne Kevin, I get the picture...... You'd be suprised how many of the older motors that are complete, or used parts to repair them can be found on "E" Bay. When I recently purchased the '69 twin rig, one of the engines had no reverse. It is actually easier to find a complete used lower unit than the parts to rebuild it. I found one that's in excellent condition for $75.00. I couldn't buy the parts for that. Bob
Re: 1974 Hydrodyne Heck The friend I mentioned in an earlier post to you has a complete running 1974 1500 Merc in his garage. Even if you find one that is blown you can get a rebuilt power head w/warranty for $900.00 US (Roughly the same as the CD now ) inlines are getting easier to find as more areas outlaw 2-Stokes like #&*? California :evil: . Daniel
Re: 1974 Hydrodyne Thanks Guys,, I'll keep you posted. I'm still in the early stages of doing my homework here and learning more about the Merc 1500's. Last week was spent just preping the boat for my Merc dealer. That meant cleaning the boat, checking the boat and figuring out what work I need him to do. For starters, the boat needs a new steering wheel and system, but what kind will depend on whether I keep the 1500 or not. Kevin
Re: 1974 Hydrodyne Hello, its anthony, great looking Dyne! I dont know if it is for sale or not, but there is a blue glastron with a 1500 on it at metigoshe,if you are at larson marine docks facing the front of the store,takea right and go up the hill just when you start to level off at top of hill look to your right it should be parked on a cement foundation. let me know if you find anything out about this. good luck! Anthony
Well,, with the help of members here on Hydrodyners.com, I finally got the old girl running. (This was a fix-up and clean-up, not a restoration.) It remains my intend to keep this Dyne as original to it's time as possible. The seats are new but are similar to the front-to-back style that were put in some of these boats back in the 70's. The steering system came out of DyneBob's 18'er and is original as far as we know. We were able to save the old 150 Merc and it seems to be running fairly well, but I forgot how thirsty those old carb motors are! These old Dynes are a blast to drive and nothing handles like the original 18'er. I would argue that the original 18' Hydrodyne was the best Dyne ever built for skiing (excluding 20+ showskier acts). I hope to have more pics as the summer goes along. Kevin
Kevin, Your 18 came out great!!! Was your engine guy able to salvage the 150 or is that the one you saw on " E" Bay ??? Bob
Hi Bob. Funny you should ask. The motor was seized and hadn't run in 5 years. My Merc guy tried to get it lose with some de/un-seizing fluid but had no luck. We were just about ready to take it off the boat and start parting it out when we decided to give one last try,, and whadda ya know, she came lose (most likely because the fluid sat in it for almost 2 months). Boy we drank a lot of beer that day. Anyways,, after turning it by hand for what seemed like a thousand times, we fired it up. All cylinders are firing but I'm afraid this old Merc has lost some compression in 1 or 2 cylinders. I've treated it to some carb cleaner and a can of Sea-Foam. Overall it seems to be running OK and better after each passing day. With a 19"p prop I'm getting 36 mph at 4300 rpm top end. Who knows, the motor might run for another 10 days or another 10 years? Believe it or not, all the gauges work including the old Airguide. The old metal fuel tank is shot and will need to removed and either opened up and sand-blasted or just simply replaced with a new plastic one (but won't be orignal). Kevin
