Got a 'new' 1986 Invader 17' I/O- The Journey to Refresh

So a few updates in the last week...

I got a crew of 5 people out for a day on the lake. Tubed and wakeboarded. None of us had ever wake boarded and by the end of the day we all got up and successfully boarded. The boat still isn't getting enough fuel on the holeshot. Not sure of it's the too big prop or not... But it made wakeboarding very hard to start. I figured out if I pump the throttle 3x and mash it it'll holeshot just fine and we could all start off good.

I replaced the 33 year old wood on the lounge seat, I just need to get the hinges on and it'll be good to go.

Annnnddddd I blew a trailer tire and it took out the new lights and wiring.... So I redid that and got new tires/wheels since it trashed the wheel too. Went ahead and replaced both...

 

Looks like you had fun
Fixed a few more things

 

Out here in the lake this morning, brought my drill and finished the seat up and tweaked a few other things. Waiting for the rest of the crew to show up so we can wake board.

Tweaked the idle air screw a tad, I only have to pump once now to get the holeshot.

 

Blower switch quit working. But now I don't have to pump for the holeshot.

#winning.

Happy 4th y'all!

 

Two steps forward
One step back


It's called owning a boat.

 

Yup.

The bolts for the winch on the trailer also worked loose. Glad the boat stayed on haha

 

This is what I'd have done, and pronto.

I tried reading the whole thread, but it hurt too much. I started reading when I saw it mentioned "Invader", because I once owned one; mine was a 19 footer bowrider, much like yours, I had a 4.3 GM Vortec V6 in mine. Good motor and I love the Alpha One drive, but not so much the boat. To me, it was cheaply made, worse than an old Bayliner. The hull was paper thin, I suppose to cut weight so it would perform better, but it would beat you to death in the least bit of chop, and stuff started working loose after the first season (bought it new). I bought it manly as a price point, but wish like hell I'd ponied up another grand and bought the completely basic foot-shorter Checkmate that was parked next to it in the lot.

As for your performance issue, sounds like you have an air leak somewhere, like the intake to carb mount it leans whenever you try to add throttle. However, it could be just too much load due to the oversize prop. I don't remember the diameter prop I had (it's only been 30 years ago) on mine, but I do remember it was a 17 pitch; with the V6 it would do okay on the holeshot to pull a skier up as long as there were only two in the boat. Any more weight than that, it would bog a bit and drown the skier before he managed to get his head back out of the water. With your 4 cyl, I'd guess no more than a 13 or 14 pitch will give you any pulling power, and that will limit your top speed quite a bit. Can't have both at the same time with less than a V8 and 4 bbl.

My Invader was my second hole in the water; I bought it to move up from the go-cart 14 foot Dixie that was my first boat. It was small, but I was wishing I had it back after the first half-summer with the Invader. The Dixie was a refurb project, it was a solid hull, good motor (65 hp Evinrude outboard) and trailer, but the gelcoat was faded and all the wood seat frames were rotted and the upholstery was rotted and torn. But it weighed next to nothing and towed easily, and did a remarkable job pulling a skier. Topped out at about 35 mph, but felt like 100, because it sat so low in the water; you could hang a hand over the gunwale from the driver seat at trolling speed and drag it in the water. It looked like new after I re covered the new seat frames and brought back the shine in the gelcoat. Sold it for more than I paid for the boat and all the refurb. Dixie boats are popular in my hometown, as that is where they were made for many years (Newton, NC)

I finally traded the Invader. I saw a boat with a cuddy cabin sitting in a gas station lot, stopped to look at it. Gas station guy had taken it in trade for a car and nobody seemed to want a 22 foot boat with a cuddy cabin. He took the Invader and some cash for it and I was the proud owner of my third (and last) hole in the water, a 22 foot Stingray with a nice galvanized tandem trailer and a 305 V8 with 4bbl and Alpha One drive. God's truth, I put a 4 blade 21 pitch stainless prop on it and it would do 65 mph. Awesome boat to ski behind, had plenty power, and the wake wasn't very big for the size of the boat. Having kids ended the boat ownership thing for me. Baby hated the motion and you had to haul too much crap along and it quit being fun. Had three good years with that boat, though, wife and I would go up to Kerr Lake (NC/VA state line) and not touch the shore for two days at a time. Lake Norman and July 4th week was a blast, and Lake Keowee and Lake Jocassee in SC were fun, too. We even took the boat from the marina to our wedding reception on our wedding day after the ceremony was over. You should have seen the looks of the other boaters when I in my tux, and wife in her gown, veil and train walked down the dock and got in the boat and headed up the lake. Picture below is getting out at the reception.

Good luck in your boat ownership, hope you get it all worked out.

 

Everything is working it's way out. I knew a 33 year old boat wouldn't be perfect. But it's bringing a lot of joy to myself and my friends right now. I'm thinking I'll "upgrade" in the next years or so but for 2k I couldn't pass up the opportunity for my first boat. It'll run 30+ with 5 people, 2 coolers etc in it. And with 4 and a wake boarder it still does ok. I do wish it had a V6 but it's very nice being out on the water for 9 hours and only using 12 gallons of fuel.

I didn't know about the hull, mine feels solid, but if it's just me in the boat it does get tossed around a lot in the waves.

Who knows. I love the looks of it, but I'm not opposed to getting something newer. I just can't go much bigger with my Tacoma, it struggles as is to tug it up the ramps, even with the 93 OVT.

 

Surely the boat doesn't weigh as much as mine did, and for damn sure not as much as my 22 footer did. I towed both with a '91 Ford Exploder, manual tranny and 4 liter V6 and had no problems, even on a slick ramp. Worst issue I had was a trailer tire blowout that looked a lot like yours, and no spare. Had to leave the boat (the 22 foot Stingray) sitting on the side of I-85 in July 4 week traffic while I drove to three different exits looking for some place that could sell and install a tire on Sunday afternoon. The one I finally found was two sizes smaller than the rest, and the load range wouldn't have supported the empty trailer. Luck it was a tandem axle, and at least the tire was round and held air. Is your Taco a Pre-Runner or 4WD? If the 2WD version, just have all your pals climb in the bed and jump up and down as you pull the boat up the ramp. I've seen 1st -gen front wheel drive Plymouth Voyager vans pull boats bigger than yours up wet steep ramps.....of course, there were half a dozen people hanging onto the open front doors and standing on the front bumper holding onto the wipers and radio antenna, but they got the boat out of the water.

There were many fine days of boat ownership and I've got some fantastic memories and funny stories, but they are fragile beasts whose greatest enemies are the very environment they live in: water and sun. Sometimes I think about maybe getting another one, but I mention it to my wife and she immediately slaps me back into reality.

 

My truck is 4x4. It's not a grip struggle. I don't spin. It's a power issue. If not in 4low it literally cannot lug the boat up the ramp or over the hill to the main road. What I would normally do is yank it out, pull over on the side, pull the plug, strap it, etc. But the hill is too steep and the truck is unable to make it up. I have to allow for a ridiculous amount of clutch slip to get it up the hill.

There is NO low end what so ever.

And I'm even tuned.

 

And the search for a solenoid or starter/solenoid combo starts.

 

Ouch

 

Still broke.

 

Any updates

 

I've been at field training basically non stop since July 15th and am deploying VERY soon. I haven't even seen my boat since I left for training unfortunately. I don't think I'll get a chance to fix it or take it out one last time.

 

I told you to bring it to me and I will watch it for you.



Seriously, stay safe.

 

I managed to get my hands on a new solenoid. Got everything wired back up, but now I think sitting since July has made it angry... It's not running very smooth, and its a bitch to start... It used to fire right up no issues. I'm wondering if the fuel went bad or something?

 

Maybe junk in tank getting in th o fuel filter?

If not, easy to try fresh gas.

 

not a fuel problem...

Found a more concerning problem. The purple resistance wire that runs along side the engine to the choke is getting very hot. It burned my hand and melted the wire loom...

it never did this before. So I am not sure what changed, and I don't have a clue where to go from here. But I suspect that is causing my issues.

 

quick and dirty search seems to be a coil issue? I know I'm getting SOME spark because it's smoking and I can smell exhaust, it'll try to run, but as soon as I let up on the key it stumbles.