Two Questions

[Commander460]

First, do boats have to be rebuilt every so often. Another words, do we need to gut them and have new stringers put in with new glass. Are they more brittle as they age??? I have a 87 commander with a 460, and I'm just wondering if the 460 will rip the stringers out eventually, or are they pretty durable???
Second- How much weight could I expect to save if I switched to aluminum heads and intake.?? Maybe a couple hundred pounds??
I'm looking to raise the ass end of the boat about 1-2 inches when its in the water.
Thanks

[BrendellaJet]

Boats last a very long time when taken care of. If your stringers are sound(no rot, bolt holes not elongated or rounded out, no cracks wher ethe meet the hull) you are fine. My boat is a 78 and the stringers are near perfect with the exception of some seat bracket mounting attempts by the previous owner.
Just make sure the motor mounts are tight and you will be good to go, but a periodic once over is not a bad idea.
As far as weight goes, Switchinf to aluminum heads will save some weight, but not really enough to make a big difference while floating, maybe a half inch at most...? If you want to raise it up that much, you will need to pull that big block and put a trolling motor on it.

[Commander460]

Ha Ha Ha... No way am I pulling the bigblock.

[quiet riot]

Or you could do like the airplane industry did 80 years ago and quit using the heavy old wood and glass and go to lighter, stornger hull materials like aluminum.:wink:
jd

[shaun]

A Rebuild manual i'm reading right now says that the heads weight about 70lbs each.