I'm buying a used vehicle, and it is Mopar...

...but it's not a car or truck.

It's a boat!

1976 Chrysler Conqueror 21 foot boat, with 318 engine.

Pics look pretty good, picking it up on Saturday. Will post pics once I take some myself.

Anyone know about these boats? Looks very clean and well taken care of, and great shape, turn-key, ready to drop in the lake and go!

My wife is very excited, been wanting a boat for awhile, and I love the fact that we found a Chrysler boat that works.

Anyone know much about these, or where to go to find any info? Repair manuals available? Repo'ed or original owner's manuals available? Just looking for the proper info to keep this boat properly maintained.

Thank you!

JS

I worked on an outboard speedboat once that was powered by a 318 & it was reverse rotation! iirc the firing order was 2-1-8-4-3-6-5-7. starter bolted in the bell from the front. EDIT I read something once about there are precautions needed if its in salt water (cuz it cools with that/salt corrosive). if it runs good (do std eng/drivetrain checks & the wife is happy I'd say you are set. I would continue to search for some boaters who can better advise you on the ins and outs

iboats.com has a good forum and sells a lot of parts. Some VERY experienced boaters on there. I'm happy you bought one in good shape, as boat projects will sink you financially more often than not.

In general i/o boats need a little more special attention than outboards. You have a big hole in the transom where the drive goes through, so take a look closely for leaks when it's in the water. Often on older boats you see the transom rotting out when water penetrates and soaks the wood. When you torque down on the bolts you can see the transom squeeze like if you sat on a sandwich. The exhaust hose has a tendency to want to leak with age too, which can also let water in.

Change the oil in the lower drive unit. Check for oil. Those seals are prone to leaking with age and they let water in. Also pull it and change the water pump in the lower drive unit. They should be changed every couple years.

Yes, Chrysler made some way cool boats in late 60's/early 70's . . . here are a couple of websites you need to go to :

www.chryslercrew.com (tons of information on your boat there, I am sure)

www.hurrikain.com (they work on, have parts for, and own Chrysler boats)


Good luck - post some pics when you can !

Cheers,

Mark

Have the outdrive serviced by a good boat mechanic.. Could be low on oil or water in it.. Expensive repair....

Thanks for all the replies. Still looking for a factory service manual for this model (21' Conqueror inboard 318 V8). I'd like to find something on the out-drive so that I could service it myself...

JS

Is that a Volvo outdrive on there? If so, Seloc brand manuals are quite commons for them.

Yes, it is a Volvo-Penta drive and I did find some manuals for that online.

Also, in checking over the engine, discovered it is a 360 and not a 318 as advertised.



JS

Bonus! Usually goes the other way on the small blocks.