$500 BIG BLOCK Boat Revival!! Will it Run After YEARS?? 

The expression of sheer terror on Angus' face when y'all started to take on water was worth watching the entire video. Well done.

Nice! I'm a boat guy first, and a car guy second. I own and have rebuilt/restored several boats from the '50s-'70s, including a 1968 Chris Craft express cruiser with twin Paragons. It was fun watching you, as a non-boat guy but a gearhead, figure out the various systems including the neutral safety switch. Couple of extra pointers. First, most inboard marine engines have two water pumps--the recirculating pump, which resembles any automotive water pump, and also a raw water pump. The raw water pump has a rubber impeller that (a) wears out over time, generally every 2-3 years, and (b) burns up very quickly if the motor is run dry. As a rule, never run the boat without water running through it, either from the hose or in the lake, even momentarily. When the impeller goes bad, it'll stop pumping or worse, shred itself and send rubber pieces through the cooling system and plug it up somewhere hard to access. Second, agree with what you've found about the Paragon transmission. They're great, reliable old units. Just know that the parts supply for those has dried up, so finding rebuild kits is getting hard. They are indeed hydraulic and do indeed use regular ATF (Dexron III). They whine in reverse--that's normal. The uneven whining is from the motor idling choppy--as you say, that cop motor needs a tune up. The V-drive adds another set of gears and more noise. By the way, check your fluid level immediately after running it and shutting down--like automotive automatics, the fluid will drain a bit after sitting, so you need to check while it's still circulated. Don't do it running in neutral like a car, though, because it splashes against the dipstick and gives false readings. Next, as you guys found, just like a driveshaft, propshafts need to be very straight so as not to vibrate. If the prop has old damage, it probably needs to be balanced too. You may be hard pressed to find prop shops in Iowa, but here in the Great Lakes region there are several. Propscan is one such shop. Next, straight inboard boats are sweet--but stern drives became dominant for a few reasons, particularly slow speed maneuvering. Straight inboard boats do not turn worth a damn in reverse. And in forward, they only turn if water is flowing past the rudder (ie., the boat is moving). It's an art form to master slow speed maneuvering on a straight inboard! As for trailering, always tow the boat with ratchet straps at the stern--from the boat's eyelets to the trailer. And it wasn't visible in the video, but backing down the ramp, always leave the bow strap attached until the boat's partially floating--I can't tell you how many people have had their boat slide off the trailer and onto the concrete. Last but not least, yup, Century Arabians were good, high end boats and they have a cult following.

I'm a Coast Guard veteran, and God bless you guys for keeping my service in business. 😁😁

Until we see Kevin up on water skis behind this boat, this story-arch cannot be over. The content will be pure gold. Looking forward to Part 2!

I wanna see Mook on a tube flyin' across the lake behind that 440 powered water craft!

I'm not a boat guy but, this was a fun episode. Would definitely watch a part two if you guys decide to do it 👍🇺🇸⚜️🔥

Any episode that brings Kevin and Angus together is worthy of watching. Doesn't matter if that means a boat in Minnesota or a crazy car in Iowa... heck even a bike in Florida would work.

You need more cow bell! PLEASE do a follow up episode with this boat fully functional and interior restored, it can be a beautiful craft again and you are the guys to do it. It was so satisfying to see it fully opened up and throwing wake for the few minutes you had it on the water. Your channel is very entertaining and informative, keep on with it.

Boats.. big giant engines, awesome fast hulls.. gallons and gallons of fuel.. and thousands of dollars in maintenance.. boats.. great fun as long as your friend is the one that owns it.

Dude, giving up your dif to help Finnigan with Blasphemi is huge. Major respect!👍

Glad you made it safely back to the dock. Be sure to replace the water pump impeller before you go back out on the water. It’s a B to repack that shaft seal. Also get a NEW shaft and have the prop professionally balanced. It’ll be the Best fun ever after you guys have it sorted out.

im a boat guy, it seems to have good bones an a solid hull, replace that stuffing box/ wax seal an have fun, also might wanna make sure that shaft is straight, itll shake itself apart.

That's actually a valuable boat, if the stringers (the wood frame that the motor sits on) are in good condition, that boat with the hull cleaned up and new interior can bring a lot of money. That and it's sister model the Resorter are really sought after, especially with a big block. Keep in mind you took something that hasn't run in years that you know very little about, and put very little mechanical work and ran it full throttle almost immediately. That's like taking one of your rescues down a drag strip on its first run. If the motor isn't damaged, those velvet drives aren't super expensive and that boat will absolutely return your investment if you get it running well. I could tell the throttle cable needs adjusting, you have almost no throw in it until you move it 3/4 of the way. Little stuff like that will make a big difference.

Boats have some of the best exhaust sound. Especially when they're in the water and burbling. This is probably best I've heard, love it!

This was fun. Just got home at 1am after a late shift. Going to bed a happy man. Great to see an old boat breath/gasp again. Best wishes from South Wales, UK. 👍🏻👊🏻

I love Angus' shirt. That, and his look of fear when the water started coming in. It's fun watching you do things outside your comfort zone.

Let’s get it to run well and go really boating at least once. That’s my vote.

Definitely needs to be a video on fully fixing the boat

So happy to see someone else with a Century Arabian, my dad picked one up a couple years back and its an awesome boat when it works right. These marine 440s are killer motors. also being a fellow Iowan, Y'all gotta check out Rathbun lake.

I work on these for a living and the number one rule when running a boat out of the water is ALWAYS have it hooked to water and have it flowing before cranking it. It only takes a few seconds to burn up the rubber impeller in the cooling water pump when running dry

would love to see the boat again she was a beautiful boat

More boat! New prop shaft, new packing and get that running smooth, I reckon that would be a great old boat!

This is probably one of my favorite videos. That was fun especially watching from my warm dry home. Please show more on this boat. Thank you.

Good job on risk taking, more people need to do what you guys do. Love your enthusiasm on fixing up the old boat. The engine is the most important part in a restoration of a boat.

On the trailer, the boat engine ALWAYS needs to run on a hose. The packing gland SHOULD drip once every 3 to 5 seconds, overtightening will burn the packing and groove the shaft. Prop shaft coupler to transmission coupler alignment is extremely important, clearance is usually 3 thousands, bent shaft will never get aligned. Reverse whine is normal Nice boat, the arabian and resorters are tru classics

I'm absolutely loving the vintage boat content and would love to see this one again. My family is always has had Lake homes with a really cheap/crappy old boats and because of that I've grown up knowing boating is 90% nothing happens & 10% absolute terror on the water.

No engine ever made sounds the same as a Mopar 440 starting up, but it definitely is sounding good! Love being able to catch up on the shenanigans and rewatching faves! Amazing stuff!

Great video Kevin! I am confident in saying the audience would LOVE a “fleet” update on your vehicles along with Mook, Jesse, angus and your dad’s vehicles!

That exhaust sounds unbelievably good

She jumped up on plane pretty well, Clark. Maybe do a collab with Keith Fenner @ Turnwright Machine Works to get the shaft straight (marine shafting is one of his specialities). He'll point you in the right direction for a proper cutlass bearing and new shaft packing as well.

Just in case no one else mentioned it typically these boats have two water pumps the engine water pump and the sea water or raw water pump that pulls in the fresh water and feeds the engine water pump. When you run them dry even for just a minute it ruins the impeller. But they need to be replaced every couple of seasons any way especially if they have sat for years, easy fix. just have to get a new impeller and replace. The pumps are serviceable. When running a boat with this typ of pump out of the water you should take the belt off that drives the pump. Or pull the hose off the through hull pick up and use that as your water hook up to a hose. The engine water pump probably needs to be replaced as well as the impeller rust out from the raw water. Guarantee you you were more than likely starting to over heat. That’s what some of the noises sounded like to me. Enjoyed the video I think you should keep going on this boat.

Why this family isn’t up to over a million subscribers at this point is beyond me. I love tuning in to watch y’all mess around with all these old hardware projects!

I wouldn't mind seeing more of this boat, probable a good idea to replace the rest of the rubber water hoses too. also next time if you take her or any other boat out, if you can pick up a little electric trolling motor and a spare battery if something happens to the main engine you will have a back up to get back to shore.

plz make a part 2 of this, it looks like a solid one.

The Arabian was advertised to weigh 2850 lbs but I’m pretty sure they were actually heavier. Even though Century weren’t known for being one of the more robust hulls, fiberglass back then was considerably thicker and heavier than what we see in modern production these days. And that big block with the water cooled exhaust system, V-Drive trans, prop shaft, and prop likely weigh something near 750 pounds or more.

Same I'm not a boat guy but that was cool, bring back the boat!

I’d love to see more of the boat or a boat? Keep up the good work!!

It's worth the effort, this could once again be a great ski boat. Don't worry about reverse, that's actually a pretty normal sound. Love your stuff, keep on keeping on.

Please make part 2. I am hooked. Century Boats were built in Manistee Michigan for a century. Fine boats. This Arabian is worth some money.

Hydraulic steering, the only way to go. I never realized that until I had it. Then never want to go back to teleflex cables or the worst, cables and pulleys. I learned a long time ago, 2 cycle outboards are the only way to go. No winterization required, no oil supply, other than the oil in the fuel. Pull it out of the water, the water jackets drain and that's all that's needed.

Definitely think you can make that into a runner! Reliable runner I should say haha

Finnegan from Roadkill used that same type of boat drive to power Stubby Bob.

About 0.5 seconds into seeing the thumbnail I already knew what the boat was, the windshield popped out at me. We had a 1986 Century Arabian when I was younger and that thing was amazing. Later on in life it is described as a muscle car on the water. Ours had a Chevy 350 in it with a four barrel carb and of course at only 19 feet they are small powerful boats.

That is a REALLY sweet old boat!! Those old 440 Century’s had a great interior and as I remember were very solid runners. I would love to see this thing redone all the way!! 👍🏻😎👍🏻

Not a boat man by any means, but I'd like to see a Part 2!! Love the content both you and Angus bring!!

That is a pretty sweet boat! I'd love to see it fixed up and back in the water

Boat repair shop owner here. Get some of the graphite or teflon packing, tighten the nut to 1 drip every 5-10 seconds while in forward at idle (and for the love of God be careful, that shaft is like a machine or something, you can't stop it with your hands), then snug the 2 nuts together to a reasonable torque. I believe gland nut wrenches are the massive adjustable wrenches I have that work great for adjusting packing nuts. Reverse gears are noisy on any vee drive, zt hurth sent out a tsb sometime in 2017 I believe that they recommended switching from atf to rotella 15w40 in their drives to quiet them down. Not sure what it does for the lifespan of clutches or anything, but there was a statement made to dealers to use rotella, especially if a customer complained about a noisy drive. You need a new water impeller. That thing has got to be burnt to a crisp from running dry so much. I'd be vaguely interested in the boat depending on the price, but I don't really want the engine... I have a project that I would want Just the hull, and vee drive stuff to place my own engine into... I would prefer a mid engine, like a 90s era Malibu echelon, but everyone wants stupid money for them, because they have kept them immaculate, so I can't find one with a blown engine, or that's been under a tree for 20 years or anything...

The "leak" on the shaft, we call it a stuffing box on our mudboats, we aim for a "drip" for lubrication, we dont want it dry, idk if the same applies to your boat.

would be cool to see what it does with fresh packing and straight prop shaft

Mook is better at dad jokes than any dad I know 😂

I love boats, and this was awesome! Too often out on the river you see the same ole same ole. That thing is impressive! A little work and that would flip into a great weekender for someone. Well done everyone!

Bring the boat back ,it would be fun watching you guys finishing the boat so it is nice and clean and runs like a race car with no issues. It's a nice change from cars, so my vote is onward bond ye maties.

Keep working on it. I belive you guys are close to getting it lake worthy that thing could be a lot of fun

Good deal u got there even if the boat was on bad shape the 440 dodge would have been worth the $500

Two thumbs up, you killed it on the boat. Keep it you know how to research info and repair so gives the gang something else to do when summer comes back around. 🎉🎉

Well worth restoring. Early Centuries were decent ski boats. You can tell by the windshield that it is an upgraded model. I've had 3 of the 440's one set counter-rotating in a 28' original Performer built by Don Aronow's Donzi crew and a single in a 32 Luhrs sport fisherman. All three had Velvet drives and straight-through hull shafts. Great engines, when fuel was 50 cents a gallon. They are thirsty beasts. But the thrill when they wind up is worth whatever. I replaced the coil ignitions with Allison Electronics and they got even stronger as well as more dependable first crank starts.

Yes yes yes, more boat!! Awesome little thing! I can see Kevin skiing behind!!!

You guys had me in stitches, Say Hi to Mook for the best all of us

I'm currently working on my friend's 98' Nautique that got run aground at some point and then got run over by a smallish yacht. The prop shaft was bent but we got it straightened for $150. Now we're just waiting to hear back from a shop whether the prop can be repaired for a reasonable cost. It still needs glasswork in the lightly crushed bow, a windshield, a dash, and a few gauges. But for a free boat I think it'll be worthwhile. Thankfully my years of watching JYD helped me figure out a few odd issues to get the motor running. It's got the 310 hp GT40 that seems healthy, so I'm excited to get it back on the water.

That's one hell of a deal. Not a bad boat at all . Definitely not your average inboard outboard setup. Definitely a boat worth saving.

You're not going to find another boat that cheap more worthy of beingjng back to life. It doesn't look like it will take much more to get it to be a reliable weekend toy. And as others noted... the burble of that big block exhaust is just awesome. Grew up on the lake and heads aleays turned when a V8 inboard cruised by, just waiting for them to get on it when they got out of the no wake zone.

More boat stuff! That motor sounds awesome, I need to see/hear another episode with that 440 at full blast. Love it!

A man's best two days! The day he buys a boat. The other is when you unload it on someone else!

need a part 2! Love this new adventure you guys are in

The gas looked really clean - maybe it was dyed gas for marine? Also, when the shaft comes off, a new packing seal is pretty much worth it for the few bucks it costs, sorta like changing the rear main seal when replacing a clutch. Over-tighten the packing seal nut and you will burn it out in no time. Most are designed to drip just a little bit. You got a really sweet boat there for 500 bucks!

Shaft packing I believe is supposed to have controlled leakage for cooling otherwise you blow out the packing. At least that's how our shaft seals worked on the US Army watercraft (LCM-8607, Chief Engineer, USAV LCU-2027 Mechanicsville, Engineer) I served on worked. Thanks for your service. Great sounding motor. Reminds me of the water-cooled exhaust on the 12V71 Detroit Diesels we had for main engines, though they were much loader. Love your videos.

Yessss. Do a boat day where you and angus take your boats out and pull Mook and/or your brother around on a tube. Have them rate it and whomever loses has to take a knee and shotgun a beer.

Save Das Bööt!! The fear and panic in both your faces and eyes was pure RU-vid Gold! We want more!

It runs, send it! Can't kill a big block Mopar! Your trans is likely a Velvet Drive trans, commonly used in v-drive setups.

I say keep the boat and improve it...plus this was a great episode also I love that you went outside your comfort zone on a project, keep it up!

Nice work getting the boat running and floating. However. Safety Tip: We love your channel so much, we can't let you go down with the ship. Life jackets, please? P.S. I may now have an idea of how all those boats and bodies ended up on the bottom of Lake Mead? D'oh! Perhaps it isn't some Great Conspiracy? Just some very adventurous boat rescue/restorers?

Let a native born coastal boy school you for a minute Kevin. This boat is a true “inboard” motor configuration. The one you were describing at first is what is called an inboard-outboard, where the engine is inside and the drive ends in a foot outside of the boat that steers like a typical outboard motor. This boat has a rudder rather than a steerable drive. So, an outboard motor needs no explanation, but your inboard-outboard is a combo of internal engine and external steering drive and this boat is a true inboard. Quite often you will see boats like this as Ski boats since the prop can’t get tangled in the ropes. One of the best examples is the Ski Nautique brand of boat. And as you discovered… those above waterline exhausts sounds AHHHMAYZING

Make it a runner. I'd watch that video(s). Finish that polishing job too, it was really coming back. I bet you could make a profit on it when you're done.

Keen to see the boat round 2. Couple simple fixes and away you go.

That Century Boat is worthy of a Full Restoration. Rare as Rocking Horse Poop. Fantastic Boats.

I love watching content from ADDvanced about boats and I like boats. Do more with this boat. It looks like it's got great "bones" and would be a killer boat when restored a bit more.

Digs looks like the archatypical Sea Captain on vacation. Angus makes the perfect first mate. I was thinking, "at least they have their swim trunks on". Not exactly power Power Tour & smoking tires, but a great & entertaining episode. Thanks!

love the revivals and I hope u never stop doing them

That's pretty cool. Fyi, just to share a bit of knowledge since we do a lot of drives/dragboats, you don't want the prop shaft to spin when it's not in the water because it will overheat the hell out of the little bushings in the strut (right in front of the prop). They're just a sort of compressed fabric material but heat from friction will really kill it. I would think for that type of boat you could probably just put a little sprinkler under it or just have someone squirt it with a hose if you aren't able to actually stop it from spinning. Just thought I'd share that since a lot of folks aren't really aware of it unless they have done a lot of vdrive stuff. Really cool video though. That's a pretty slick boat, and you got a great deal on it. Always love to see people save this kinda stuff instead of it just rotting away and ending up in a landfill. Anyhow, have a blessed day sir! Love your videos

Well, now you need a new impeller. You can't run a boat without water flowing through it without ruining your impeller.

definitely want to see the boat back, awesome episode, crazy value for the money

First boat revival? What about the one from a few weeks ago with Angus?

Waiting for some Angus merch, I’d love a shirt or sticker that says “Hated that”

I'd like to see more of this boat. Another episode would be great.

Loved the look of panic on both of your faces. Need more boat vids!

To keep adding to the list you'll have to revive a train!

Having hit debris in the water that damaged the prop to the point the severe vibration risked seriously damage to the drive line, after being towed in I ALWAYS carried 2-extra props and 4 -sets of counting hardware, and a dozen or more pins for the prop for the inboard drive, on the inboard/outboard Mercruiser stern drive boat I did similar, extra props, nuts, tab washers etc. Also a good plan is to have 'bearing buddies' on the trailer hubs, I always greased mine before heading to the water, AND after pulling the boat from the water. I've NEVER lost a bearing on a boat trailer and had to leave it by the side of a road or highway to go get parts, but seen hundreds that failed to pay attention to details like that while going to/from the water.😎

It's a V drive. Finnigan and friberger put one in stubby Bob. There's an idea for the future??

Bring it back man sweet boat just needs a bit more love

Just stumbled across your channel. GREAT STUFF!! This boat episode is awesome. That 8-track in the dash was definitely a PLUS 1 bonus. Not much of a prop guy as I run jetboats(berkeley pumps and 460's) but that thing has a great sound. Not a real fan of the V-drive setups for various reasons, primarily draft and poor steering, but that is a very nice boat overall. Well done! And I am with the rest of crowd. A follow up is ABSOSOLUTLEY NECESSARY!!

Absolutely love all the stuff yous do makes me want to get back into it myself, cant pick up some gems without going through a few lumps of coal keep up the good stuff 👍

As a muscle boat owner...I very much approve of this video. PLEASE DON'T SCRAP IT!

Not even 5 mins in and Mook got me chuckling....gonna be a riot

Would love to see part2, and learn more about the issues of this thing. It sure has style.

Yes the boat needs to return! Loving it

I have worked on several old boats before and they all have that certain smell. I think it’s called black mold.

The old fuel was probably red from the previous owner putting sta-bil in there.

That was one hell of a ski boat in its day. Worth saving as long as the hull is in good shape.

Bring it back! Definitely a sweet boat for it’s time. Straighten the prop shaft properly and replace the raw water pump impeller and have fun!

It’s Mook. I’m so glad to see the real boss. You guys rock.