1989 18ft liberator ???

[racecar001]

has any 1 seen one of these? Its a v hull look that is a tunnel 175 merc hot foot and hydro jackplate.He says it goes around 80... engine is stock, has dual cable stearing telflex gauges seats are newer. The transom, and floor was redone last spring. Is this a good place to start? What is it worth???

[gary slagle]

Kinda Looks Like A Contender,,,17 Ft??were Built In Texas ,early Eighties If I Remember Correctly

[WILDMAN]

Same as a 17ft Starbuck tunnel. They are pretty fast, but can get light in the nose over 90 mph.

[racecar001]

Its for sale in the Texas area how much is it worth?

[gary slagle]

Its for sale in the Texas area how much is it worth?

really hard to tell with only a picture.

[racecar001]

here you go:cool:

[stoneman]

Looks pretty clean.Make sure the transom is good,have the motor checked out.If everyting checks good and you can pick it up for around 4k.
I would think your doing good!Good trailer also?

IMHO

[gary slagle]

what stony said!:iagree: looks nice:thumbsup:

[ratso]

Liberator slash Starbuck slash Contender... The Contender had a splashwell and another difference was the angle of the running surfaces between the two. I've driven all three. We used to have a Contender in the area that would run 103. They were built in Mesquite TX and the Liberator in Crowley TX... Fun little hulls to run.

[warren pender]

I crashed a contender.

[72EbkoStinger]

Terry Brown, the guy that built the Contender, still has a boat repair shop in Mesquite TX. I have known him for 20 years or so. He said some of the boats were built in Mansfield, TX as well. The molds for the 17' were originally built by Jim Starbuck of Starbuck Boats out of Denver. (I met Jim when I was a kid. They made jet boats before the tunnel came out). Terry still has the molds for the 17' and the 20'. He told me that he made 433 of the 17' footers and 22 of the 20 footers. I will ask him for the exact figures this week (I updated the figures....they are correct now). He is fixing a gouge in my Malibu right now (...and this is now fixed).

All the Contenders were made with the splashwell. So, I think this one must be a Starbuck.

The Contender boats were delivered on either tandem or single axle trailers depending on the customer's preference. Don't know if Starbuck did that.

That's about all I know....but if there is anything else you (or anyone) would like to know. I will see if I can find out.

Dave

[Way2slow on H2O]

I have both an '84 Contender 20'02 (according to the title) and a 17' needle nose. I think the yellow boat is a Liberator. I'm curious what you can get it for??? There's a yellow one around here with an OMC on it that I tried to buy a few years back. My 73 year old neighbor has a pristine black 17' with an inline 1500 XS that has less than 2 hours on it.

Ronnie

[72EbkoStinger]

Ronnie, I need to talk to your neighbor!

Plus, I'd like to see pictures of your boats!

Thanks.

Dave

[Way2slow on H2O]

Ronnie, I need to talk to your neighbor!

Plus, I'd like to see pictures of your boats!

Thanks.

DaveThe old fart won't sell it, been tryin for 5 years, even offered him a nice Hydra Sport bass boat but NO!!!

Here's the 20' Contender and along side it is a friends (R.I.P. Grover) 17' Liberator and another friends Yellow 21' Liberator with a 280 that kept spankin out butts, lol...
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj295/way2slow_photo/s_2006_162.jpg

Ronnie

[72EbkoStinger]

I know what you mean. I'm an old fart like that with my stuff, too! :D

Thanks for posting! I need to get my Contender finished!

D

[warren pender]

Mine was a pickle fork 20 ft. that Terry built . I bought the boat in 1984 and had it untill 1997 when I blew it over. I truly enjoyed the boat, It ran in rough water and turned like a race car.

Ratso , post a pic of the 20 footer your working on.

The blue and white one in the pic is the one Terry showed me before I contracted on mine.

[Way2slow on H2O]

I've had the blue & white for 8 years. It came with a bridgeport on a Bob's Hyd jack plate, mod vp lower, and 26 chopper. 90 mph boat and tons of fun. I've made a lot of big block tunnel hulls feel stupid, lol...

I have the boat gutted at the moment replacing the transum and interior. I'll weigh it some time this week just to get an idea of what it truly weighs. I know I asked Bill? (I think that was his name that helped build them) when I 1st bought it and he said he was sure it would be under 600 lbs. I'm building a hot 260 with nitrous so it should be a fun 600/800' rocket.

Ronnie

[racecar001]

I purchased the boat. It is in great shape all was gone through 2 years ago new gauges seats transom and floor. The stringers were left per they were still good, gel coat is in good shape. I ended up giving 4000 for boat, motor and trailer turn key no prop. So I have all winter to find a prop. :) he was running a 28p through hub cleaver 6100 rpms 83-85 gps. I was thinking of getting a 28p over hub cleaver to start.

[72EbkoStinger]

Way to go racecar...I think you did good. Post more pictures when you can. I am going to redo mine as well so any visual info is golden.

Ronnie, we need to get together sometime! PM your contact info.:cheers:

Dave

[Way2slow on H2O]

I purchased the boat. It is in great shape all was gone through 2 years ago new gauges seats transom and floor. The stringers were left per they were still good, gel coat is in good shape. I ended up giving 4000 for boat, motor and trailer turn key no prop. So I have all winter to find a prop. :) he was running a 28p through hub cleaver 6100 rpms 83-85 gps. I was thinking of getting a 28p over hub cleaver to start.Not a bad price if it's as clean as it is in the pics. Where are you located and where was the boat? I've got 30 or so props and have access to probably that many more, lol...

Ronnie

[tlwjkw]

One thing ya need ta look at real hard is tha lower unit. It needs a good Bob's or something similar. If it 's running close ta those speeds a blow out is gonna put ya upside down. I've got a "little" experiance on that with that little boat (1980). Adams came up with tha "dove tail" replacement for tha splash well. Sure improved tha looks I thought. Still all in all is neat little play boat for tha money. Just be very careful with tha "up button".........T

[Way2slow on H2O]

tlwjkw= flipper:D:D

Hey Tommy, you get your boat goin???

I tore mine down and saw all the damage to the lower unit AND block and have been avoiding boats completely, lol....:(

Ronnie

[tlwjkw]

Flipper! :eek: That was when tha balls and brain were'nt attatched :p A long time ago, in a place far, far away..............
Just tha trollin' motor (150) on it right now. Still tinkerin' with tha OTHER motor. Don't blame ya. Sometimes its best ta leave 'em alone for a while.
How did Russ's rice run? Looked and sounded good at tha creek when they were testin'/settin' tha EFI..............T

[racecar001]

The boat was in texas... I am in South Dakota... As far as I know there is sadly very little intrest in performance boats here. For the winter I was thinking a nose cone power lift and maybe some performance upgrades for the motor. It has a hot foot and it still has the stock shifter where can I get 1 of those billet cool ones? It would make a great christmas present for the gf to get me.

[WILDMAN]

I get mine from Eddie Marine.

http://www.eddiemarine.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=76