My 1978 Lancer Please enjoy these images of this classic boat, which is the last of its
line and the last of the Chris Craft third generation of the Chris Craft
boats.
This page will be updated as the restoration of this boat takes place...
This is how she was found in 2008, by the previous owner, in Norwalk
Connecticut.
She had been sitting like this since, at least, 2005 that he was told, and maybe
longer.
This is the picture that was posted on Facebook Market Place in October 2019,
which I answered.
After looking the boat over with the former owner, I was told everything he was
told including that the motor had a weak cylinder and a few other problems with
the fuel and broken windshield.
But, I decided for the $300 price tag, how wrong could I go.
So, with a new set of trailer tires, it was onto the back of the Jeep she went... and heading
home to Norwich...
Once I got the boat pressure washed and cleaned up from at least 12 years of
sitting in a barn, I gave the interior a good cleaning, I was pleasently
surprised at how well it came out...
Next, the hull needed a little sprucing up...
The "Stinger" came standard with the 305 GLV V8 matched up to a Marine
Power (Volvo Penta) 280 Trans Drive.
Everything is still original to the boat.
(Marine Power 305GLV Motor as it looked at purchase.)
Information from the Chris Craft Archives at the Mariner's Museum shows only 20 of these 17’ Lancer Stingers were made. Also, one went to Puerto Rico and another one went to Hong Kong.
171-8009 was sold to Rex Marina in Norwalk CT on 10/17/1977 - indicating that
this boat is a 1977 (but the HID says 1978). My boat is number 9.
PROGRESS!!!
Here is a video, of the motor, when I started it for the first time after it
had sat for more than seventeen years. I should note: Before I started it, I did a lot of prep to make sure I didn't
do any more damage to anything that time itself already started, if it did start up.
To begin with; I changed out the old oil, even though it looked and smelled clear and free of gasoline.
I took out the spark plugs and put a few squirts of oil in each cylinder
and turned the motor over a few times to coat the cylinder walls. I
removed the distributor and used a distributor shaft (with no timing gear) to
engage the oil pump and primed
the lubrication system with the fresh oil. (Turning the oil pump without the motor running pushes oil into all the
lubricating points and surfaces, without moving them without protection, which
can cause more damage than having bad oil.)
Then I re-gapped the dual point ignition system, gapped and inserted fresh spark
plugs, cleaned and connected all the plug wires... Added fresh gas, sprayed a
tiny amount of starting fluid in the carburetor and hit the start button...!
You can see, and hear the result! (That ticking noise you hear is the number 5
cylinder that had low compression... (the one that the last owner told me
about...)
After starting and evaluating the motor I gave it a treatment of Sea Foam...
I put 1 ounce per gallon of gas in the fuel tank... 1 ounce per quart of oil in
the motor and then I used a spray bottle to spray the Sea Foam in the carb while
revving the motor... (near the end, I poured enough Sea Foam in the carb to
stall the motor!
After letting the engine sit for an hour with all that Sea Foam soaking into the
old carbon and other deposits on the pistons, valves and inside the fuel
delivery system, I started the motor back up and WOW! What a cloud of smoke!
I ran the motor at a fast RPM (about 2500) until there was no more smoke and all
of a sudden, the motor got as quiet as a brand new factory motor! All I could
hear, was the exhaust and the parts that were spinning... Give a listen!
This treatment, using Sea Foam solution, makes motors that sound terrible, like mine did, (but really, are just poorly maintained...)
run a lot better.
It cleans out all the old carbon and gunk that makes an old motor act... well, old...
I would like to thank Craig Judge, whom I bought the boat from, the folks at the Chris-Craft Archive section of Mariner's Museum for providing a lot of valuable research information regarding this Lancer
and the folks at Chris-Craft.org for their helpful advice and suggestions....
