Northstar Ignition Upgrade
 

Guys and gals, I'm looking at a 1990 Chris Craft 245ltd. Bone stock. Nice boat. I found another out east that has added Northstar Ignition. Is this a common upgrade? Difficulty? More horsepower? Better fuel economy? Please advise.

I dont know about the Northstar upgrade (may not even be an upgrade...lol). I own an 89 245 Limited...and LOVE it !!. Got any pics of the one your interested in ? Any info on it ? Price ? Just comparing it to mine.

I've got a few images of it. will send them out soon. in the midst of striking a deal with the owner. will keep you advised.

sweet...you can email me at tinman467 @ aol . com

I have owned a 1988 Chriscraft 245 LTD for about twelve years now. This boat has been an excellent weekend getaway stress relief. You will find that these boats will handle rough water very well. I use to boat along north shore of Lake Erie in Canada with mine. The Cuddy Cabin is great for overnight use too, so that is a positive.
The other thing is that the boat is easy to trailer, launch & recover at the ramp, than larger boats.
My boat has the OMC 460Ford King Cobra sterndrive, I would
recommend that you stick with Mercuiser/Chev combination, as parts are harder to find with OMC.
I have been fortunate in not having mechanical problems that I have heard others have had with OMC.
Does your boat have tru transom exhaust?
Good Luck

Thanks for the great note on your 245! To answer your question, the boat I am considering does not have through hull exhaust. But the current owner does have a Corsa Thru-hull kit that he's never installed. Said he'd give me a good deal on it. As we use our current boat's swim platform I would likely install a side exhaust or the kids would be sick of the exhaust fumes, or I'd be hitting the captain's call switch quite a bit.

I often wondered whether the Thru Transom exhaust was a factory installed option, or was done by the previous owner. I would assume it was done after purchase. The exhaust flapper outlets are below the swim deck on my boat. I don't have any young children so never had concerns regarding exhaust fumes.
I have never heard of Northstar Ignition System. I had to purchase an Accel Marine distributor for the 460Ford as previous owner had installed automotive unit complete with vacuum advance. Not a good move as distributor was full of rust. I would suggest you get a spare distributor and rotor for your boat. I always carry a spare in small tool box on boat for emergency purposes. Better to be prepared than standed on large Lake.
I would also suggest doing an engine compression test before you make this purchase, or get a mechanic to do it. Might be worth some piece of mind before finalizing a deal.

Dan, all sound advice. Thank you.

I believe the Corsa unit he has is for thru hull below swim platform. Far as the ignition system, I spelled it wrong; it should be Norstar. I found a guy in Grand Island New York that has one on his 245. Said it came that way from the factory.

You never mentioned if this boat had the 460Ford King Cobra or the Mercruiser /Chev sterndrive. I have the Chriscraft Sales brochure for 1988. Very interesting reading shows all the model boats for that year. The 245 Limited was available with Small Block 350 or Big Block 454 engines.
Does this boat your considering, have Trim Tabs mounted on the hull? Mine has them installed, but of course may have been added by previous owner or a factory added option.
The only items I have replaced were the Distributor as I stated before, and I replaced the Exhaust Manifolds. I had one cracked manifold when I purchased the boat, probably caused by not winterizing it correctly. I installed Cast Aluminum Kodiak Manifolds as a replacement. I know previous owner installed Edelbrock Torquer Intake Manifold and roller rocker arms. Must have been trying to up the performance.
I am Diesel Engine Tech/Mechanic, so only do preventative maintenance. Don't want to spend time playing with engines, since I do that for living. If it isn't broken don't touch it is my motto!!

I used to have a 88 245, I loved it also, but I am Erie and do alot of overnighting so I needed something that would do 3-5 footers easily without going 10 mph, although a great rough water boat, I had mine in 5-6 footers a few times, I had the 350 small block but built it to run 53 on gps, stock with small block runs about 43-44, I would go for a Merc BBC one.

Here are a couple pics of mine, I kinda miss it, had a TON of fun with it!!

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...g/100B0922.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...g/116_2698.jpg