Where is this 38' Top Gun?
 

Hi , There was a Top Gun for sale in the classifieds for the longest time. It's not listed anymore I'm assuming it's sold. But incase it's still available I'd like to find it. I don't have much information but I now it was located in Nevada it was very clean, had an aluminum trailer. It may have been a 93 or 94 I think it had Bravo 1 drive. It was white with two kind of swirlly stripes that ran the whole lengh I think they were purple and a dark pinkish color. I think the boat was priced at $64,000 which seamed resonable for the condition it was in. I know my description is vague but I have sold my other boat and would like to find this boat if it's still available.

Thanks, Kirk

You're talking about Grimy's (Roberts) boat. Yes, very clean and a great price. Turn key boat.

PM me and I'll give you his cell.

Was it the one with a pic of it in front of a tile roofed house?

That's the one I'm thinking of.

I think it sold, some where in Ohio. That's what I was told

Yep, went to Ohio. My cousin bought it. And it was NOT a turn-key boat, but it is now :drink: We got it running solid, only took a month to do.


Its not for sale but if you've got a good offer I can pass it his way :D

What was wrong with it? I saw it last when the new motors were put in and it was really nice and running strong.

Giving bad info? Shame, shame.

Sorry Tank, didn't mean to jump on you.

It was alot of little things and several major ones that kept popping up. I'll list the majors.

First time out:
1) Couldn't run it because stbd engine wouldn't pump water, couldn't get it to prime at the ramp, pulled it out, changed impeller that night, tested, pumped water, all good.
Second time out (next day):
1) Could barely keep it under control, top speed was 50 mph because the steering was so bad and the drives were flip-flopping and causing the boat to dart all over the place.
2) Stbd motor oil temp running extremely hot, good thing the steering was so bad that we couldn't run it much more than 3000 rpm or the oil temp went through the roof.
3) Stbd drive/gear oil puking all over the place in the bilge.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, my cuz bought it w/o a sea trial (he loves to do that, I don't know why). So we expected a few gremlins. And I also think that the seller was pretty up front with how he felt the condition of the boat was and what issues he was aware of. I just can't believe anybody was able to drive it, with the condition of the steering alone.

So he ordered a full hydro kit and in the meantime we started going through things, drained both drives, gear oil black. Changed motor oil, both motors were black and the STBD motor seemed to have a little 'shimmer' to it. Got to looking at the oil hose routing, STBD motor has the lines swapped at the remote filter (see my thread about this), so for however long this motor has been installed since it was rebuilt (which has gone from 5 hrs to 10 hrs to 20 hrs :rolleyes:), it hasn't been running any oil through the filter/cooler, hence the high oil temps.

Various other little things here and there that needed to be fixed, but we finally got the hydro steering on, the oil lines routed correctly, the bilge cleaned up, replaced both key switches and a few sensors/sending units and about a month later we were finally ready to test it again (granted we could only work on it on the wknds). NOW this boat is running strong, both motors ran good, the hydro worked awesome, took it out and ran it about 80-90 miles total that day, from AP to Toledo to PIB to Kelleys and back. Motors turned 5300 rpm and the boat ran a little over 70 and cruised right around 60 @ a little over 4000 rpm filled to the gills with fuel, already been talking to BBlades about some bigger props. Boat ran great and we were all smiles (finally) and looking for bigger water!

There was still a little bit of drive lube that showed up in the bilge but I think that came out of the gimble cutout since it was still the black oil and we put green in. But given what we found we are going to pull both motors this winter and have them gone through. With the oil hose routing on the STBD and the PORT which has a slight valve-train tick (which was pointed out by the seller beforehand so we knew about that), they are going to get yanked and have a look-see.

So that was the bad, now the good, the boat is in great shape, obviously has been well taken care of. Not a hint of moisture in the transom when we were cutting the holes for the hydro. The sunpad embroidery is faded and the engine hatch is cracked in a few spots but we are going to build a race hatch for it over the winter anyhow. Other than that the interior is in great shape, we already installed new gauges to update the originals. For the price paid we expected a few things and even tho it is a Cig, its still 15 years old and gonna have a few issues. There were a few times my cuz threw up his hands and left, I had to talk him down from the ledge a time or two but I think it will be a great boat. Then once we get it dialed in it will be time to get rid of the Pink! :eek: And then maybe the purple...

Sounds like you were just what she needed. A little trouble shooting and some mechanical know how.

I spoke with Robert a while back about that boat. He scared me away with his honesty on the motors. He was also asking alot more the previous year when we were talking. I'm glad you have it worked out.

You have to appreciate an honest seller. Full disclosure is the key. I think your cuz got a screaming deal on a clean Gun.

Is this the one you are talking about???

No, thats a different TG. The TG people are talking about in this thread was a west coast boat, cali or arizona if i recall. I do remember it being for sale for a good while. Its sad that when engines get refreshed or new motors installed, they can get rigged up wrong. It is nice to hear about an up front seller. I might have saved some pictures, i will check when i get on my home computer tomorrow.

JT

Great boat. It was in my family before going to Nevada.

Both he and I agree, we looked at quite a few (he was the money man, I just did the legwork), and decided that even if both motors were pooched, the boat was worth the asking price. We feel Robert was pretty straight up about things, all things considered. My cuz is just used to getting in something and going, but is starting to accept that sometimes boats need a little work. It will all get squared away and be a great Lake Erie boat. It was awesome how that thing ate up the lake when she ran good. It was a calm day, 2 footers at the most but it screamed across that lake and it seemed like everybody we passed waved and took pictures and he finally understood what all the fuss was about. It made all those weekends twisted around that bilge instead of out on my Baja worthwhile.

Here is a pic of the boat, him at that helm and my fat ass on the bow. This was the first day out and we were not happy campers:

Excalibur - Were you the ones that had it on GLOC or Texoma? Yes it is a great boat, still a very cherry ride and old school cool!

Texoma.

C, I didn't take it that way at all. I know Robert is a straight shooter and the boat should've been "failrly" turn key. Those motors were good when he put them in (and it looks like they still are). I just knew Robert would disclose any issues to a potential buyer with no suprises.

On a side note. I think I know the deal with your drive oil in the bildge. My TG was doing the same thing. As with our 3A's the TRS's have the "puke bottle" on the transom right? Just above the gimble? Mine had a leaky propr shaft seal that would let water in when sitting for a while. The added water would push the oil level up and make it puke out the bottle breather when running hard. This would over fill into the gimble cut out (tiller arm cutout...or whatever it's called). I fixed the seal, flushed with oil a few times and have not had the problem since.

Easy way to tell if it's this is pull the lower drain plug off the drive. Water comes out, this is the problem.

As ExcaliburHawk said, it was in Texoma for a while. I remeber when it was for sale out there before we bought ours and I looked at it then to buy.

And the swim step on that boat used to be on my boat! The small dent on the port side (if it's still there) was from when I shipped our boat out from Phils and some guy with a 5th wheel clipped it. Insurance bought me a new one!:drink:

Show us some pics of the updated dash.

Even with all those issues, I'd still say it's turn key for the price:party-smiley-004::drink::drink:

Last time I saw it, he had just re-done some interior, slapped the new motors in and put a new swim step on. boat looked and ran great!:drink:

Tank, I was in your neck of the woods the other day. Might be back in January. Do any boating in January? Ill buy the gas.

Hells yea! Call me up. You buy I'll fly!:drink::drink:

All things considered I think he got a pretty good deal on it.

There wasn't any water that came out when I changed the drive lube. And when we took it out the last time, I changed out the breather on the top of the inside gimble resevoir tank with a nipple and put a temp puke tank on top of that connected with a clear tube. The first time out it seemed like it was pushing lube out through the breather, then it was running down the front/back of the gimble and laying on the notch. Second time out, I figured we would have a bunch of gear lube in the temp tank, but there was nothing, didn't even push any into the tube to the temp tank. And like I said the oil that did show up was the black oil from before. So I don't know if it was just overfilled from the get go or what, I didn't really have a chance to go over things before we took it out the first time, as soon as it showed up my cousin just wanted to hook it up and go run it while I wanted spend the weekend going through things. His boat, so he got what he wanted. I noticed the tubes that run from the drive to the outside gimble and then the one that runs from the inside gimble to the holding tank are hard as rocks, can't pinch them at all. So I was wondering if the lube was getting pushed up to the resevoir when it heated up, but then it couldn't get back down because the hoses were swollen shut. I just haven't had a chance yet to pull the drives off and change the tubes out. Thanks for the advice tho, I'll keep that in mind.

I'll have to look at the platform again, but I think there is a spot on the port side that doesn't look quite right. I noticed it when we pulled the platform off to put the steering on. It looks like it may have been filled but it still needs to grinding to blend it in.

I'll have to get some pics of the dash, I had a local guy laser cut a new upper panel, and I was only able to get half the gauges changed out so once I get the other ones done I'll snap a few. Right now I'm trying to decide whether to get rid of the compass and use that space to flush mount a gps or not.

Thats the one, I was looking for, thanks for the replies.

Kirk

All things considered. A great deal on a TG.

When I rerigged my boat I junked those clamp on hoses for compressed hydraulic fittings. That seamed like a goofy set up. Just gives me a bit more comfort.

Got any pics of it? Of the hoses/fittings that is?

It may have just been over filled when you bought it causing it to leak through the breathers.(??)..... Like I said, on the 3a's there's an overflow bottle just for that.


In regards to the swim step...Just think, when you're stadning on it you can think of me!:drink:

My boat is down at Paul Pfaffs getting whipples, so I cant take any soon. :)

Any hydraulic hose shop should be able to make them. Get either stainless or brass fittings. Make sure they don't use the long high pressure fittings. It shounds like a good idea until you try to make them bend into place. Don't ask me how I know that.

I looked at it when we were putting it back on and said 'we should leave this thing off so I can clean that up and have it re-coated' my cousin said 'you don't need anymore phucking projects!'. Now we find out it has character so it will stay :drink:

OOOOOOOh...Pfaff's and Whipples :Homer making that sound and drooling on himself because its so awesome: :p:cool-smiley-027::ernaehrung004:

Now there are 3 on Erie with similer paint...You, Me and jim Dubert....Look forward to seeing you guys at the Islands