Formula 255 Liberator
 

starting a thread for my 1979 255 project. post pics and info if any one else has one that needs reference. all the other threads seem to be getting old.

well damnit can't post any pics with the freebie membership. wait till tomorrow to upgrade

About this whole Formula Liberator thing.... did Fromula sell the rights to the Liberator name to Four Winns? Did Formula sell the molds to Four Winns?

Maybe there's no connection but I've always wondered.

Fixx
 

I had one sitting in my shop for the last 10 yrs,just about everything on it is new or rebuilt..Now if i can collect some of the storage and labor owed ill finish it and post pic's...If he dont pay up then im taking a chainsaw to it......

I don't think there is any connection. There used to be few liberators (four winns) on our lake. The four winn factory is about 40 minutes away. To me they were just a four winns sundowner models with a set back windshield, a rear bench seat and thru hull exhaust- nothing special.

I wouldn't call a 4W Lib, "nothing special." They are great riding, well built sport boats, even by today's standards. Just like a Formula, I'd take an older, well maintained Liberator over a lot of the newer stuff out there today costing way more. A Sea Ray Pachanga is another one I'd add to that list.

OK, back on topic........LOL.

I don't think a four winns liberator is even close to the standards of a formula. Winns used an all plywood floor that rots out, i've seen cracked hulls, ect. There are lots of 4 wins around here. lol, I stand by nothing special. Pachanga's had a bad problem with the gel coat peeling off the hull (delaminating).

Never did I say a Lib is a Formula. However, I've always liked the Libs I've come across. All good, man.

here is some pics for now. hopefully kaamaman and i will start next weekend putting the core back in the transom.



http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/a...rator/scan.jpg

http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/a...a002Medium.jpg

http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/a...05boat0004.jpg

no pics yet. haven't had too much time with it. tore down the outdrives to replace the impellors and a oil seal.take a little time to paint them up with something shiny. my dad has been doing alot of work on grinding the old wood off the transom. still have lots more to tackle

find this little guy while sanding the outdrives for paint. using tri-lux 2 on them. see how it holds up.

not sure as of yet what to do about this.

http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/a...0406101559.jpg

can't find my damn camera cord to hook up to the computer. transom core is going back in this weekend. refinish alot of the sundeck teak, someone glued carpet to it a decade ago. and managed to replace both bellows kits and gimbal bearing and trim limit switches on the gimbal housings. found that mercruiser tool isn't that great. stripped one out right away when trying to undo the hinge pins. ended up buying a 26 dollar impact ready hex set from harbor freight that was able to stand up to the torque of pulling them out. hah. my one friend told me to make a budget for this boat project. i told her no way. and so far i would have blown it outta the water. fix it right now before it floats

Formula 255 Liberator
 

Here's mine....

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...r/DSC04967.jpg

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...r/DSC04972.jpg

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...formula001.jpg

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...formula003.jpg

It's a '79 with 260 Mercs on No 1 drives. Motors were fresh with new Edelbrock Performer intakes in 2006...drives were gone through at that time.

I plan to re-work the interior and install current instrumentation and electronics. This "bird" is rock solid due in no small part to being a fresh water boat from Michigan...only been in salt water twice!!

Very sharp and classic lines...still turns heads after 31 years.

Haha sprink I figured I track down your liberator. Very nice bird. Man she's an inspiration for my little one! The lines are so similar to mine. Can I use a street style intake on my block? And how about relacing/rebuiling the carb?

Thanks for the good words...same family...can't miss the resemblance ;).

Yes you can use a street intake. Your carb is probably a Q-Jet which is fairly easy to re-build. The MerCruiser re-build kit runs about $40.

If you change intakes and plan on a future power upgrade (which I am sure you are), consider the Edelbrock Performer ESP that is a square bore dual plane that is strong up through 5000 RPM. An excellent Carb that my brother is running on his 355 SB Chevy in a '83 Formula F3 is the Holley 600 CFM mechanical secondary 4150 (aka "double pumper") The marine version is around $475 but makes a big difference in the way the boat handles and drives. YOU are in complete control as to when the secondaries tip in. You can always transfer this set up to a new long block in the future so its not a waste.

Yup rochester carb. I just so happen to have an sbc edlebrock rpm intake lying around that looks so pretty and a real nice carb spacer :drink: so I'm thinking that'll be the plan! I just so happen to have a holley 600cfm lying around as well. Just not the marine edition???

If the carb is not a double pumper you are just as well off with the Q-Jet unless it is totally shot. As far as the carb not being a marine version...very risk because of the fire potential. If you have a bowl flood and overflow all over the engine your sitting on a bomb...don't risk it.

Or you could buy the j-tubes to put in the main body from jegs forr 23.00 a pop, I have two extra laying around if your interested, never been used!!

86242ls, what are j-tubes? And spink thanks for the info that's kind of an important little detail to know... the whole bomb thing. Unfortunately it IS a double pumper

Here is the link to Jegs web site, http://www.jegs.com/i/Holley/510/14R1256/10002/-1

so basically they take my street carb and make it marine worthy?

So...heads up...since it is a double pumper...get the J tubes and go for it. Word to the wise: double check the front bowl clearence with the OMC T-Stat housing. It's very close with the MerCruiser but works...I'm not sure about the OMC set up. A MerCruiser housing may work...this is worth doing some pre-planning before you get to the WTF stage.:eek:

Here's what it looks like on a Merc 5.7...this is a pic of a 355 in my brother's '83 Formula F3.

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...r/HolleyDP.jpg

Notice the "J Tube" bowl vents....also how close the front bowl is to the T-Stat housing....double check this.

If you can make it work with out too many gymnastics this is for sure the best way to go.

WOW :eek: talk about close clearence!!! Thanks a ton for the pic, that makes a world of difference and now that J-tube makes sense. I think I intend to clean the motor and see if she runs like the seller and claimed and as soon as I establish that I have a solid motor on my hands, we'll start the modding process. Next question... Hull thru pipes? Is there a way to route them straight out the back using my existing manifolds?? Should I post up pics for reference?

Hull thru pipes?

Don't do it...it's not worth the trouble and the noise will drive you nuts. With a stock motor you might even loose power.

You got to trust me on this one. There are a lot of things you can do to make your boat run better...thats not one of them.

sprink, I suddenly feel like a little boy trying to rationalize a BB gun... They sound amazing and your probably right, the massive drop in back pressure isn't going to be nice to my power which is already lacking with an OMC 260. Really?? No Hull Thru Pipes??? PLEASE!!! :drink:

I'll tell you this for true...If I had the choice to buy a 233 or 242 Formula with Thru Hull or thru the drive...I would go with the thru drive every time. All you are doing is creating a new "rot spot" in the transom.

sprink you've successfully rained on my parade :mad: and my sincerest apologies to whoever's thread we have completely and utter high jacked. New kid with a bird here and I'm excited

I'm going to have to disagree on the through hull exhaust! If your running a stock engine up to maybe 330 hp then you most likely won't notice much. Beyond that it's almost manditory. I've got a 242 with the silent thunder platform with a 525 hp 440 bbc. I gained about 1-2 mph by drilling the bottom of my platform with 2 4" holes on bottom of each side. This reduced the back pressure and didn't allow the platform to fill with water, so it would be lighter. The exhaust hole on the through hub exhaust is small and restrictive. Dennis Miller goes into some detail on this and in smaller engines the venturi effect from the prop can actually help on smaller engines but on more powerful engines thru hub is going to be an hp killer.

As far as rot caused be the exhaust ports, I would disagree there as well.. These are above the water and if sealed right they are not going to leak. And last, the noise isn't bad at all, it all depends on what you like.

No problem...it was my thread to begin with. Besides all that...my thoughts on the thru hull deal is my opinion...right or wrong. Having said that...when I build a pair of Badd Ass 383's for my boat that will be spinning upwards of 6000 RPM I might even do it my self.

I kind of look at STRAIGHT thru hull on a stock 260 HP engine
like headers on a stock smog engine in a car...not worth the effort.

You should see all of the gymnastics the thru hull go fast guys here in Florida are going thru just to comply with the USCG/FMC noise rules.

I'm just sayin...:drink:

Sprink, I'm not gonna disagree with the Noise rule issues, a good friend of mine has a 2900 Endeavor with twin worked 454's (535hp and 538hp) that has captains choice due to some of there sheriffs around here. Plus Thru Hull is a big expense I likely don't need on a stock 260OMC. With that said, a 383 would definitely get the treatment. I'm pretty sure the noise won't ever bother me... My cars and bikes are pretty load and I like it!!! This year is all about getting the boat in the water and enjoying it. She'll see more wax then performance parts

i have thru hull now on my liberator. so far they sound pretty *****in' can't wait to open it up this summer on the Niagara. Drilling the holes is how my father found the transom rot. that wasn't fun replacing it all. but now its done and is the better for it.

bowlner, def would like to to see/hear the new pipes!!! Anyone have advice on a 23ft webbcraft enterprise? 454/thru hull/bravo 1 and the boat actually is water worthy with a decent hull and interior... $1500 opinons guys??

there are my new exhaust, the tips come out pretty much where the swim deck sat. so had to raise that. everything is above the waterline and sealed with 4200. so no rot. plus its a new transom!hah

Dude sweetness! Thats good lookin and somethin to dream about!

Here is my update for Feb 27, 2011.

I had a hell of a time removing the outer bell housing or "skull" on the starboard drive. I was never able to remove the port side pivot pin bolt and ended up cutting it out with a sawzall....easier said than done!!! Once I got it apart I found that the mounting flange for the u-joint bellows on the transom assembly was completely corroded away at the bottom. There is a kit made by Sierra that includes a special PVC ring on a bellows along with epoxy sealer that can solve this problem but based on the way I plan to use the boat I decided to not cut any corners and go ahead and replace the transom assembly.

Replacing the transom assembly requires removing the engine to get to the inside of the transom assembly. I could use an Alpha I assembly but then I would need to replace the steering connection as well as the Y-Pipe. I hunted down and found a fresh water clean No. 1 transom assembly complete with trim rams, skull,gimbal ring,etc. The gimbal ring is tight so as to maintain steering control at spec. This is a perfect match for my original and will bolt up perfectly. This assembly is set up with the later model rams that allow 3 deg more of trim than the older models so I am good to go.

We are pulling the starboard engine this week, swapping transom assemblies as well as installing new u-joint and shift bellows along with new gimbal bearing, water pump,etc.

All of this is a bit of a pain in the a$$ but is the kind of crap one encounters in restoring a 32 year old boat.

Stay tuned...

Geez sprink, how the hell did you find another transom assembly??? I can't imagine trying to track down a 32 yr old transom ha. It'll be so cool to have the boat done right! I'm seriously thinking about grabbing the webbcraft enterprise and swapping in the 454/bravo next winter. Thoughts?

If you're talking about $1500 with the 454/Bravo? If so and you can spare the $$$ do it...you will never touch that price for even the Bravo drive & gimbal/transom assembly. The 454 Bravo will be SWEEEET in your Formula. You would be lucky to find that engine/drive package for 3x that price!!!

If you don't buy it...let me know & I'll put it in my brother's F3!!!

Crazy thing is thats its a 454/bravo... AND a whole boat lol. She's even got the trailer under her and its a nice HD with surge brakes fresh tires etc... Guess its time to go get her. I'll let ya know when I do!

Things are moving along...got a little cleaning to do but not bad for 32 years.

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...Starboard6.jpg

Serial numbers make this a non-vortec 2006 Merc crate engine


http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...Starboard4.jpg

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...Starboard3.jpg

...it used to be yellow...transom is rock solid.

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...Starboard7.jpg

...stay tuned.