IMP Boats Information

[oneloho]

kcaztec that is the spitting image of my boat except my brother let it roll down the driveway into a tree so now i need some fiberglass work do you guys know of a place in kansas city area to have this done at. and at a reasonable price

[KCAztec73]

Ouch. I guess your brother won't be riding on the tube for awhile, eh? I haven't had much experience with fiberglass shops. There is a place on 7 hiway on the way into Clinton, MO from 71. I think it's called Truman Fiberglass. They've been there for as long as I can remember. I don't have a contact number for them but I'll look around the web for one. You might call US Boat works and see who they recommend. That's who I use when I need work on the old OMC. Good luck.

Jim

[oneloho]

thanx i know the place you are talking about i forgot all about them they fixed my dad's drag boat way back when.

[NadaBoring]

Originally Posted by Dot

I found this snail mail address but I'm not sure if it's current anymore because from what I understand IMP is no longer in business. But worth a try:

IMP MARINE
PO BOX 102
IOLA, KS 66749

Found that on www.nadaguides.com, a good appraisal site if you're curious what you IMP is worth. Or even if you're curious what models where made each year, because it lists them by year. Good luck!

Dot

Dot, the Navajo is a bit smaller than the Aztec and both are great boats. You will love the Navajo. It's responsive, rides the waves like a bigger vessel and was nicely put together. It's a great boat for skiing, boating, fishing or just tooling around the lake. Very economical too. Sorry to be so late in getting back to you, but just haven't checked this forum lately. My own 1984 IMP Aztec is in Las Vegas now at my partner's house. I'm heading there this week to help put the engine back in the boat and a few other things, then we'll hit Lake Mead. At that time I'll also check about getting our manual put on a cd if possible. Have talked to others about doing this and the manual is in my partner's hands and he's kind of forgetful these day. We're both in our upper 70's so that's to be expected. Anyway, buy the Navajo. You won't be sorry. And if you do buy it and aren't satisfied, write me and I'll find someone to take it off your hands. Best.

John Boring

[grey cat]

Originally Posted by lameduck1

Hey guys. I figured out how to take the top off my 24ft inca and have no use for it. I am in So cal so if anybody wants or needs a hard top for thier boat I have one avail. All you need to do is pick it up FREE. Taking this thing off opened up a ton of fishing room for me.

LD1, I am interested in your top but also need side glass to complete

[Jimbo1]

Hello
I have a 1990 IMP Ashanti 190 and was looking through Nada Guide and they list Ashanti BR and Ashanti SC.
Does anyone know what BR and SC stand for?

Thanks for any info

Jim

[nevadamike]

Originally Posted by Latch48

Dot and Emmet and anyone else looking for a copy, send mailing info to me at larrylachat@hotmail.com and I will get it out. As I said, it will probably be a few weeks b4 I get it done. I am still looking for information on the weight of the boat, and still looking for a trailer for mine. Any help is appreciated. If anyone out there has a 70's Imp Inca, I need info so I can get a trailer for it.
Thanks.

Hi. I'm new to this, but own a 1974 IMP Inca. Weighs 5500 pounds. Mine is trailered on a tandem axle trailer with 3500 lb axles. Rather large rig when all loaded ready to go, but one helluva boat. I also have service and maintenance manuals, but no hull diagrams. My guess is these no longer exist, if they ever did. Mold designs (therefore diagrams) are pretty closely held information, as specific secrets can be copied after publication. These boats were lapstake hulls with extremely robust construction. but curiosly the manufacturer pop-riveted the upper decks to the hull without any fiberglass layup. Probably not all that important, considering the quality of the hull, but sufficient to keep these boats off the list of desired collector boats. Hope it helps.

[nevadamike]

Originally Posted by tweakin

I purchased a 1990 IMP last July 2004. I think they are very well built boats. I think on repowering the boat. What you think?
32' overall lenght 34'8" powered with twin 454 bravo1 it cruises 32k max 42k
What is the web site for IMP owners?

Congrats on your purchase. One of the very finest day-cruisers everbuilt. Question, though. Why repower? I mean, as long as the power plants are sound. If not.... . My thoughts and opinion are that as far as power goes, you probably won't get much more than the 454 set-up can provide. Most likely, you will find the economics of the proposal are in the realm of 'diminishing returns'. You probably can power up, but at very high cost. of course, if the engines no longer perform to spec, then you are looking at rebuild, repower, repairs, whatever the case may be. Opinion-wise, for the money, power does not get any better than twin 454 Crusaders. Several outfits provide Crusaders for marine power re-fits. Sorry to butt in like this... good luck and nice boat.

[nevadamike]

Originally Posted by Grover

Hi Dot,
Glad you enjoyed the pictures. That is one beautiful boat.

Well I got me an IMP. It is a 1968, I was told, 20' Hardtop. Don't know what they called it, maybe someone out there can tell me the model name.
Ser #KH201002. It has a Mercruiser 250 cid inline six and 160 outdrive.

The engine is shot, the tandem axle trailer needs one axle, the sides of the hardtop need replaced, the outdrive needs gone thru, cleaned, inspected, new gaskets and seals and the rest is cosmetic work. Not bad for $345.00.
Had to go to Salt Lake to get it, 450mi. Boat and trailer sold new in SL.

I am going to build a 250 for it with alum dual, single brl carb manifold, HEI ignition, propane pistons (10:1), larger intake and exhaust valves, hope to increase valve od by a 1/4", ported polished and relieved to make it breath better.Expect to get 130+ net hp @ 3800 rpm with proper prop. It will also have a closed cooling system with a 4"x31" heat exchanger, oil cooler and p/s cooler. Heat exchanger holds 2 gals of engine coolant, should be more than enough for the 250. Going to add P/S assist to the O/D, easier on the arms. Boat also has hyd tilt and hyd trim, adj outboard bracket.

Nothing like having a hole in the water to throw money into.

Ron

Greetings, Ron,
Where in Idaho do you live? milage to SLC sounds like Boise. I live in the Elko, Nv area. Also own an IMP. Inca 23'. Can't help with model designation of your boat, but someone has posted the size-model relation info in here somewhere.
Engine specs look good, but watch prop/temp/altitude/rpm portion of the mix.
Should be a serious inline. Cam it for torque and away you go.
I am currently rennovating the Inca (by the way we should be refering to the hulls as we have named them), mine is named after my wife, therefore, BATTLEAXE. I'll be removing the hard top, and replacing it with a marlin tower and topside observation platform/seat. Also converting the seating to a helm chair arrangement with port and starboard lounges, and after fishing chairs, either side of the engine cover.
Do you plan to use your boat in the salt water? Just wondering about the cooling system. I will be repowering, but have not yet decided on a 350 or 454. Will use heat exchanger though. Boat used to fish the Baja, home port was S.F. Cal.
Shout back sometime, maybe we can get together sometime. Mike.

[nevadamike]

Originally Posted by NadaBoring

This is a general message to all hands who are working on older IMPs. Have noticed many messages about water being trapped in different areas. One area you all should probably take a look at is in the gasoline tank compartment. Mine is built into the deck and had a wooden plank over it with about a million screws. When I got the cover off I found the tank was totally surrounded by water and all the packing between the tank and the hole was rotten. The hole is totally glass so no rotting wood but it seems strange there was no drainage method built into the boat design. Just thought I'd pass that on and while I might have opened up another problem area it's best to know about these things. We're replacing the wood under the starboard side motor mounts on my '73 IMP Aztec now. An easy job except for pulling the engine. Good luck to all.

John

Hello, John,
I too, own an IMP, but mine (BATTLEAXE) is an Inca. I also had the "water in the fuel cell locker" issue. I think maybe these other folks are looking at the same. We need to carefully consider this drainage issue. You are quite correct about the construction of the locker, and the observation about the lack of drain hole. The probable reason for this is to keep any fuel residue contaminates away from ordinary bilge. Please always remember we are dealing with gasoline-powered engines, and this fuel is extremely unstable.
Keeping the fuel/bilge seperate helps to prevent or at least diminish the chance of accidental ignition of fuel vapors. I strongly urge everyone to install blowers in the engine room to evacuate the space before startup. As for the fuel cell locker, the only fix I can think of is to leave a small void from top to bottom in the foam surrounding the cell. Locate this void at the after centerline of the arrangement. In the deck covering the locker, either fashion a small hatch, or allow for complete removal to access this area. Use a siphon-type pump (or fuel transfer pump) to suck the contaminated bilge from this area. The ship's ordinary bilge elimination will safely handle any spillage. The frequency of the drainage process will depend, obviously, on the useage and level of contamination. Another thought is that this contamination is not an immediate threat,(as the fuel cell is constructed of aluminum) so annual or seasonal maintenance should suffice.
I would very much like to meet you some time, if you ever travel to Lake Mead or Powell. Mike M, master and commander,"BATTLEAXE".

[NadaBoring]

Mike, Master & Commander of BATTLEAXE, you were right on the money with your comments about fuel contamination of the bilge area. I like your siphon idea for that area. We're going to seal our tank cover as good as humanly possible, but now we might rethink that and add the siphon area. The tank is made of aluminum as you said, but we found deep pits on top and bottom of the tank. One or two were deep enough to penetrate into the tank, but I think that happend only after we started cleaning out the pits. We used JB weld to seal all the pits and put the tank back in the boat along with a new fuel guage sending unit. For those of you who have expressed interest in our manual, (it covers from 1968 to 1986, I believe) please know that we are still exploring ways to get it all copied onto cd's. We have to find someone to do this for us as we haven't the foggiest notion about accomplishing this. Told you previously we're both in our mid 70's. Just talked to my partner in Las Vegas who tells me the engine is repainted and ready to be reinstalled. After that a compression check, timing and we plan to fish a Phoenix-area lake in February. He also has the manual so I'll keep on him to get that copied if he can. Any suggestions from anyone about how to get that done? One final comment. We had to re-glass the motor mount areas (took out and replaced the wood, then put glass over that) and my pard then applied Bondo to the replaced areas, sanded it all down and repainted. Good as new and much cheaper than what we were quoted by a boat repairshop. Don't know about the rest of you, but we're finding this restoring business to be almost as much fun as fishing. Almost. Best to all and good luck with your projects. Hate to read how some are turning old IMP's into HOT boats. They were so perfect as God originally made them........ John

[ltunecpa]

i have a 1990 270 express cruiser with a 330 hp merc bravo 1 and it runs great.bought it new in 1991.this has been the best riding boat of this size i have ever riddin on.ive been in rough water as much as 8-10foot and not been disapointed.wish they were still in buisness.am looking to move on to larger boat.after looking at some of the other posts,have some info as for some info on a 270 express.water tank located in floor behind helm seat next to fuel tank.

[JungleJim]

Hey: Glad to have found fellow I.M.P owners. I was given a complete basket case a couple years ago and I've been restoring my 1976 23 footer for just about that long now. I have taken it down to the bare hull and rebuilt everything. I am now putting her back together. As you have found out, boat parts are not available. Accordingly, I have had to make some fiberglass molds for such things as engine hatch, fuel tank hatch, bait wells and other various parts. So, if you need something, I may have templates or can glass a part from my molds for you. I don't want to make a business of this but am wiling to share as time permits. I'll post some photos of where I started and where I am now one day when It's raining.

[NadaBoring]

Nice to see new IMP owners discovering this site. I'm betting you will get some hits on your offer to share templates. Our own IMP, a 1973 AZTEC, is pretty much intact and nothing required along that line. Wanted to report that the manual we have is the OMC manual - covers outdrives and motors and nothing about IMP layouts and designs. This particular manual is available at West Marine for about $30, I understand. If your boat doesn't employ OMC equipment it might not be of much use. Most early IMPs used OMC outdrives and GMC motors. Latest report on our Aztec: The boat is back in Arizona with the newly painted engine in place, sitting on rebuilt motor mounts. We're hooking up the fuel system and batteries today and will test the systems, hopefully by tomorrow. If all is go, we'll secure the hatch over the gas tank and pull the boat to Lake Pleasant, outside of Phoenix for our shakedown cruises. We both (my friend and partner and I) brought our fishing gear and plan to wet a line if the boat doesn't sink or go bust on us - something we're not anticipating. Best to all IMP boat owners.

[1969imp]

my name is shane and i have a 18' Santee Runabout imp boat and i am having trouble locating some parts for this boat. it has an omc stringer outdrive and i need to get a transom seal because mine is shot. and considering it is impossible to find any good info on these boats i decided to try this. i bought my boat 2 years ago and have been slowly re-modeling it. i also was wondering if anyone knows the quickest and safest way to replace the transom seal. thanks.