TOPIC: what brand of boat is this?

I just picked up this beauty and was wondering the make the registration says 1972 cutlass but when i try to look it up on the net i find nothing any info will help

J: Right at 1972 the industry went to the H-ull I.dentification C.ode , just like a car V.I.N. ... The long letters, ##'s are recessed on upper outside right rear corner of the transom... POst the first THREE LETTERs, & we have a mfg code assigned to the company.. Also the LAST tWO digits are the YEAR made.. If no code recess at all , older than 1971. . Maybe Cutlass is the model , not the brand.? ... Someone mentioned before, in the middle of the code are the two numbers when the model was certified by the Coast guard,for 1st year build. (?)

the hic # is a state issued number by the az game and fish on this boat.I am told it is a 72 and was thinking the same thing as the "cutlass" name being the model and not the maker just cant find out who made a cutlass that looks like this in 1972.

jims72 wrote:

the hic # is a state issued number by the az game and fish on this boat.

You are referring to the registration numbers. Split was referring to the Hull I.D. numbers, like a car's VIN tag on the dashboard. These hull numbers are STAMPED into the hull, usually on the starboard side of the transom, just under the rubrail. Not always easy to see, but tell a lot.

need better angle to see but raised front deck looks like a sidewinder or baja sidewinder knockoff

What's that red truck in the carport? I have a 1949 Ford F-1 currently at the paint shop.

the hin is a state issued hin the original went missing before hand so this is why i am having a hard time identifying the hull.I am thinking it may be a j craft and the year is wrong on the registration because i can only find j craft back to 79 and not 72 but hey it may be a 72 as the utah reg i got with the boat says 72 as well and is the only thing stating it to be a cutlass .The az registration says unknown under the make.I will have to look at the sidewinder pics on the net and compare.

here is a link to the closet thing i have found to it. www.boatdealers.ca/usedboats/powerboats/skiandwakeboard/jcraft/skiboat/18370/jcraft-skiboat-used-boat-for-sale.aspx

here is the best side view of my boat i have.As for the red truck it is not mine these are pics from craigslist i copied because i dont have a working camera right now

What year is the trailer and motor?

Kinda resembles an Avenger. Cee Bee Mfg.

Cutlass was a brand name out here in so cal back in the day. This model was a splash of a 'Weiman' boat. Ray Weiman had his shop in Bellflower ca. His son Roger Weiman would go on to make his name with Rogers Custom Boats. When I was 19 in the mid 70's I had a Weiman outboard, even though my dad and I built Tahiti's, across the street from Weimans shop. My buddy had the Cutlass, exact same hull, nothing was changed when splashed. The Cutlass by the way, like Marty Hatchels old 'Hornet' boats used emblems bought straight from the parts counter at their namesakes car dealer. Cutlass=Oldsmobile. Hornet=AMC dealer.
Cutlass also built jets along with their outboards.

The numbers on the transom, which won't be there unless it's a '72 (maybe '73...some builders were slow to the new law) or later, were not stamped into the transom, they're molded in when the boat is sprayed. A special little gun, like the old label makers, would stamp into the tape the ID numbers in a mirror image. The tape is then stuck into the mold and then gel coat is sprayed into the mold and your numbers are there for life...or until some one steals the boat and tryes to 'stamp' or engrave the numbers over the original numbers. Some builders also put numbers in the deck, usually hidden from site when the interior was installed, to aid in theft recovery. When the hull was pulled from the mold, you could pull the tape. Every now and then I'll still see a boat going down the road with the tape still stuck to the transom.

November 1973 was when the US Coast Guard universal HIN system went into force. So anything built before that time was not required to have a hull ID.

Andreas

so where might i find this hin other than on the transom? The one on the transom was issued by the state and i believe this boat was repainted as the are some spots where you can see light blue under the dark blue.

thompsonboat wrote:

November 1973 was when the US Coast Guard universal HIN system went into force. So anything built before that time was not required to have a hull ID.

Andreas

November 1972, not 1973.

Jim,
There were no hin numbers pre Nov. 1972 only ID serial numbers which are totally different. Usually the builder would fasten a little metal tag to the inside gunwale, in the motor well on outboards, inside the transom, on the stringer...there was no rule as to where the ID tag could go. On that tag would be info like HP rating, load rating, the ID number and so on. At the shops I worked at, not all of them but some, the rigger and assembler would sign his initials on this tag in case warranty work was needed.

Here's an old example someone sent me off a 1972 Tahiti jet that my dad rigged and then a tag off an early 1965 Tahiti, the 9th one made that, I use to own. This was an outboard and the tag was in the well.

If you're trying to date your boat the best bet would be the engine year if no original numbers are on the hull.

thanks for the info.the engine is a 88 johnson 88 special and the trailer is home made so i have no clue to as what year the trailer really is but the trailer title says 2011.I will now crawl around and try to find the tag & serial inside the boat hoping i will find an answer.I will let you all know what i find!

well i found nothing on the boat describing the make but what i did find shocked the living crap out of me.I found the sales receipt from when it was sold new in 1972 april of 72 to be exact.It is a cutlass and was sold out of california to the original owner whom i bought the boat from.It was sold as a painted and upholstered hull and trailer only and sold for $1975.38.Kinda pricey if you ask me for 1972.I found the receipt taped to the floor in a bag under the carpet. there was no hin number on the receipt .

I know guys that would love to have the original receipt to their boat.

Nice find!

Someone was looking ahead, that is a very neat find.
Neil

Someone took a cue from the auto industry- they place the build sheet under the carpet, too.

I took the receipt to the kinkos by my house had them seal it up and i put it back under the carpet and actually fastened it with a little hot glue so it dont move or get lost.My quest for an answer is now over now the quest for pics of others like it begins