TOPIC: New member with new to me G3

Hello everyone

Just got my approval email so I had to post!

I recently acquired what I'm pretty sure is a G3, some of the guys at screamandfly.com confirmed it and suggested I come here. Is there a way to find out what year this boat is?I couldn't find any markings or serial numbers, but I also haven't had much time to look yet and it needs to be pressure washed before I get up close and personal lol.

Let me know what you guys think.

Mod EDIT:
g3bill wrote:

LogoFreak wrote:

Hello everyone

Just got my approval email so I had to post!

I recently acquired what I'm pretty sure is a G3, some of the guys at screamandfly.com confirmed it and suggested I come here. Is there a way to find out what year this boat is?I couldn't find any markings or serial numbers, but I also haven't had much time to look yet and it needs to be pressure washed before I get up close and personal lol.

Let me know what you guys think.

I think you should sign your name, who are you? I'm Bill

Welcome though I'm not on this site much as no time to work on my 3 g3's but there great little boats. If you really want good answers I would post low res pics and detailed pics of a detailed problem if it comes up. Ser No. could be in several places depending on year and where built but usually on the left inside of gunwale(sp), if motor remote is on port side it might be covering the plate. If you cant find a Ser No plate, then is it a CD (center deck) front seat back rest and fiberglass across back of seat. Or an OD (open deck) the later model with the walk through front seats. More later i'm sure. Bill..

PS. if you havent, read this page a few times; archives.fiberglassics.com/g3/glassparg3.html

Moved from Logos dup thread. It didnt have pix.

Welcome Logo,
Yes you have an 'open cockpit' G3 probably made in '62 or '63 (the twin cockpit, or 'centre-deck' was made only from '59 to '61).
They originally came with a flip-back passenger seat (to observe a water skier) and it appears that your seats have been replaced at some stage.
No G3s were made in '64.
From '65 to '67 they came with back-to-back seats accommodating 4 people. It is possible yours is from this period, again with the seats replaced. The hulls were identical.

They are a fabulous boat and I am sure you will love it.
It is my observation that most owners keep and use their G3 for a long time – there has to be a reason for that!

This is a great site, much information available and many fine people here willing to assist if needed. It is worth the time to familiarise yourself with all the information and resources here.
Have fun.

Thank you for the welcome
I just got the boat home, pressure whashed it a bit before bringing it over, there's at least 2 layers of paint that began peeling so it's been repainted. I believe the gelcoat is red on the deck with a white hull. The seats have definitely been replaced and will leave them on for the short term, I do however have a pair of back to back seats that I'm thinking of installing. Will have to shorten the boxes as they would too high as is.

Anyway, I'll post more pics over the weekend. Oh and I'm mounting a 1955 Johnson 25hp outboard on it for now, will find something with a bit more power later but I got this engine not long ago and have been bringing it back to life with the plans to do a full restore of it over next winter.

Welcome, and a very cool find!
You will have lots to do to bring her back to life, but IMHO well worth the effort.
There is all the needed info on this sight to bring your open cockpit G-3 back to her original glory.
If you are doing the restore for investment - forget it, but for your own personal enjoyment - you will be very pleased.
Originally the G-3 had a 15" transom, which requires a currently limited choice of motors.
Some G-3 rebuilders bump the transom up to 20" to accommodate the easier purchased outboards available today.
Being a die-hard Mercury fan, I left my "open cockpit G-3" the original 15" transom.
I installed a 1500xs on my '66 G-3, and installed an 850xs on my wife's '66 G-3.
Although my '66 GPS'd 72 MPH one time and ran consistent 66 MPH runs, momma's G-3 runs consistent low 50 MPH runs, which is perfect for the 'open cockpit' G-3. (earlier G-3s had a duel cockpit design that is the most desired, but I'm too tall to fit comfortably in a dual cockpit.
doc F

Thank you for joining in on the conversation, your alias gets mentioned quite a lot on here and screamandfly.com

As I was saying earlier I won't be starting on the restoration till the end of the season, for the time being its solid enough to use as is and my old 25hp Johnson won't be stressing out the transom too much anyway. I haven't had a Mercury yet, mostly omc motors and Yamahas but from what I can gather the Mercs are very reliable outboards. I know your 1500xs is a short shaft, did mercury offer all the other outboards in a short shaft configuration as well? Did a search to see how available the 1500xs is and nothing came up so I take it they are quite hard to come by, what are my other options if I wanted to keep it an15" transom?

Is there a trick to posting pictures from an iPhone? I can't seem to be able to attach pics.

Logo, glad ya finally in! Doc, we sent him here from S+F as there G3 wizards here. I believe he needs a pad on it as needed a IL6 and you can help with that down the line. And Logo if you need a IL6, Doc sure has MANY! Thom (Doc) I gotta stop and seya soon as been awhile!

Can't help on pix off a phone, but easy off puter.

Are those 850xs and 1500xs motors rare to find (limited production) or are they common?

After spending a couple of hours cleaning it today

She cleaned up real good, nice find.
Welcome, Gene

Not bad for a hundred bucks

LogoFreak wrote:

Thank you for joining in on the conversation, your alias gets mentioned quite a lot on here and screamandfly.com

As I was saying earlier I won't be starting on the restoration till the end of the season, for the time being its solid enough to use as is and my old 25hp Johnson won't be stressing out the transom too much anyway. I haven't had a Mercury yet, mostly omc motors and Yamahas but from what I can gather the Mercs are very reliable outboards. I know your 1500xs is a short shaft, did mercury offer all the other outboards in a short shaft configuration as well? Did a search to see how available the 1500xs is and nothing came up so I take it they are quite hard to come by, what are my other options if I wanted to keep it an15" transom?

Is there a trick to posting pictures from an iPhone? I can't seem to be able to attach pics.

Why would you waste time putting a 25hp on the g3, fishing? Wont even get a g3 on plane. A 35 hp its self is pretty bad. The guy I bought my first g3 from had a 35 from new and upgraded to 65 which was perfect for me. just saying?

Because that's what I have in my garage right now, and it will have no problem getting the G3 up on plane. It got my friends 16ft boat up on plane It is also no big deal to put it on as it's just a clamp bracket so won't need to drill holes for bolts. I am looking for a Mercury 850xs or like Doc's 1500xs, however the transom in its current state won't survive with either of those motors.

These are my other boats, one is undergoing a restoration at the moment and the other is good to go anytime.

I'm restoring a 1956 (I believe) 12.5ft Hourston Glasscraft (built in North Vancouver), the 1955 Johnson 25hp will go on this boat after being restored as well.

The other boat is a 1970's 14ft K&C Thermoglass with a 1994 Yamaha 70hp.

Your G3 looks a lot better than what I started with , never found any identification on my hull but I am sure we have the same year . Did you find any numbers now that you have it cleaned up? I think that &0 Yamaha would go a lot nicer than the 35 , but what ever gets it in the water the quickest .
Good luck Hodgify

No I haven't found any numbers yet, but I haven't crawled under the deck yet either. The yamaha is staying on the yellow boat at the moment, I really don't want to be putting anything large on the transom of the G3 in its current state. I just bought new wire for the steering so will be installing that today and hanging the 25hp Johnson on the back, might have time to go out on the water later today.

Don't even think you will find a stack of either 1500XS's or 850XS's F/S as rare as hens teeth and expensive if ya can find any willing to sell. But plenty 4 and 6 Inline Mercs out there.

Bummer What motor should I be looking for? Found a 650 for a couple hundred bucks that will need some work, and an 850 in about the same condition. Should I be looking in the 1250~1500 range? Oh and did those come in short shaft or long shaft only?

Bummer , yes but we knew you were whistlen in the wind. Do some homework cause from year to year pretty much there were changes you might want or not. Would be helpful to know the years of motors your interested in or find for sale. Think late 60's got electric ignition and not sure but 15" transom heights went to 20 in 90's perhaps, others will be more precise. You have a newer style g3 so might like the 70's era style motors? merc made a 1000 from '62. 1100 for '66 & '67, '68&69 they had a 1250. Thing is many of the older motors didnt havr tilt/trim. My 650 is a hard pull tilting by hand from the deck, but like it anyway.

A 650 will get a skier up well and hit 43mph, I usually went wot and pulled back to about 32mph for best economy. Also 4 cyl and 2 carbs are easier to live with than 6 & 3 imo

If Nut were here he'd be pushing a Johnson Stinger I'm sure.

Would be helpful to know the years of motors your interested in or find for sale

It doesn't sink and I got it up to 20mph with the old Johnson 25. Get's up on plane without any issues with 2 people on board.

I think I'd like a 70'a IL6 motor, although I'm not against al IL4. Looking at this, any opinions? vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/bpo/5500279639.html

That motor will need a lot of work. Look, you are just over the boarder WA right? The "Doc" here in Shelton, WA near me in Olympia, either has or will build ya anything ya want. You can come down here and pick it up. Trust me, he sure has MANY motors and parts. But be up to you two to figure it out. You are in no rush, so if he don't chime in here soon, I'll ring his bell. And it will be ready to bolt up and go as he don't sell junk. Not cheap, but you would be putting money in any like that one posted anyway. Gonna do it, do it right. It will be worth it! Some Doc's "junk"..( and he built my motor for my Flatty..last pix)

That's awesome and I will certainly keep him in mind for parts, however I like to build my own motors. I enjoy rebuilding stuff and it's all part of the hobby for me. It's great that he's so close to me though! I'm sure I'll be in touch for parts or knowledge lol

Well I see the spoonsoon drain plugs are installed in the back !! Can you see under the sump opening if you have wood or fiberglass stringers ?? Mine is a 1965 it has the fiberglass stringers !!!

And be careful when you install seats there's not much room for long screws , on the side You can go thru the floor right thru the bottom of the boat !

There is no sump opening in my boat and the splash well isn't removable, it's part of the deck. I'm not tearing into it for a few months so I won't know about the stringers for a while.

The splash well is supposed to have all the metal trim and brackets that hold it up ! I have all the pieces but I gotta sand down and paint it before I put it back in ! But Some of the guys leave it out ,you get more leg room in the back seats

It's not removable on my boat, it's molded right into the deck, no metal trim.

I'm not sure but that 650 U'r looking at might be a 3 cylinder? IMO best to find a boat with motor so U can run it and get the controls, price usually same or cheaper. In the 80's Merc made a inline 850-4cyl that looked like the 650. I was thinking to get one new in the 80's but was low on funds. Think it came with T&T.

LogoF,
It looks like someone must have already done some work on the G3 since the splash-well is glassed into place.
Not suggesting your transom & stringers, etc aren't due for a full make-over, just pointing that bit of trivia out about the splash-well.
I did the same thing to Wild Thanggg to give more strength to the way the transom is secured to the hull.

The 650 3 cyl you posted isn't a very good choice IMHO, but the shorty driveshaft housing (DSH) and lower unit can be used under a late '70s-early '80s 70 3 cyl provided you keep the 70 HP exhaust extension plate with the powerhead.
This 70-3 should no be mistaken for the '88-'92 loop-charged 75-3, which is a totally different animal that won't swap out with any of the aforementioned little beasties.
Another cool application that can be married to this shorty DSH is the '70s-'80s 3 & 4 cyl 500, or '89ish 40 hp 4 cyl. Not 'go fast' power plants, but food for thought. You would need to have all the relative cowlings that match the powerhead for these swaps, and although the gear ratio in that 650-3 lower unit might not be OEM correct for the other horse powers suggested, it will work just fine.
A lower shift shaft shuffle might come into play too.

I've already trolled past you with a few go fast shorty Mercs, and I hope you are still staying awake at night considering them, but I don't think I mentioned a freshly rebuilt & re-machined 1350 6 cyl shorty I also have to offer up.
Tease - tease - tease!!!
doc F

Haha! So many options lol :-p