IMP Boats Information

Shane, replacing the transome seal on an OMC is not as daunting a task as it might seem. We just replaced ours (1973 IMP Aztec) in Las Vegas at a boat repair shop. Had a new impellor put in at the same time. Total bill was appx. $300. I recommend letting a professional do this chore, but I am sure you can do it yourself if you want. Only difference to our transome seal now is that it is black, where it formerly was white. For full info on OMC outdrives get the book I mentioned in my previous post from West Marine. Good luck.

John Boring

 

I just stumbled on the site , I own a 1986 X250 SE (D

 

I own an IMP X190 cuddy, 305ci Mercruiser 898 built in 1986 I beleive. Has anyone ever come up with any hull diagrams? I may have to replace my fuel tank because I can see some pitting in the original and I'd consider downsizing the tank and using the remaing space for a live-well. Any ideas?

As others have said, this is one quality boat. I've run mine on Lake Michigan a few times and have had much larger boats running in my wake to ease their passage. My buddies 21' Sea Ray would beat me to death in a light chop while my little IMP rides comfortably through 2 to 3 foot seas.

 

update

well i have got the transom seal replaced in my imp and now i am taking out the rear seats and i am building a custom rear engine cover with a bunch of pole holders and a bbq for my lunch ... when i catch it lol. now i am re-doing all of the wiring and i am going to paint it. i will post some pics in a few weeks so u all can see the boat. thanks again for having a page that al imp owners can chat.

 

So I am a new member. I assume you have an Aztec. I am also in KC and bought an Aztec about a year ago. The engine was not running when I bouth it. I put new heads in it and am getting the rest of the engine put together. Do you know any reasonable mechanics to work on these? I am wanting to get it on the water this year!! Thanks

 

another imp owner. i just got it today 88 235 eleganza i also have the same problem with the water surrounding the tank. its been so cold here its turned to ice so now im trying to figure out how to get it out or just wait to warmer weather to remove it? it need the rear bench and engine cover reupoholystered ill post a pic just dont know how to resize image

 

I am reading of all the interst in IMP boats. I just bought a 1966 IMP boat. I got it for the Mercury outboard. This boat is way to nice to partout or junk. It is very solid. Floor is great. The paint on the top is faded. It is red and white. The seats are a little dry, but not torn up. Overall the boat looks pretty nice. Could use a good cleaning and maybe new carpet. It is 18 foot and has a trailer. NO MOTOR. It still has the steering also. I removed the engine and the controls. The underside of the boat also looks good. If anyone knows anyone that would want to buy this boat. Let me know. I will let it go pretty cheap. It is a nice project. If you have a outboard, it would take very little to get it going.

 

Tornado Damage







Hey guys,
I need some help. The boat storage that I stored my 73 Aztec in got demolished by a tornado last sunday night. I think I have a place that will do the fiberglass and gel coat repair but I"m going to need some deck hardware to replace what was damaged. I'm going to need a new windshield, grab rails on the bow and horns. Thats what I know of so far. I haven't been able to pull it out and inspect yet. That comes this weekend. I"ve included some heartbreaking pictures of my Aztec and my good friends 79 Cobalt. Any help would be greatly appreciated. You can reach me offline at jwelty@everestkc.net.

Thanks,
Jim

 

Tyson,
Call US Boat Works. They are the best in the KC area. I'm assuming your Aztec has an OMC drive? They also work on those. That's where I take my '73 Aztec when I need mechanical work done.

 

You folks ought to get together and form an IMP Boat owners Assoc. I had a few dealings with IMP over my many years with the Coast Guard. This was a family owned business for many years, as you all know, in Iola. They had a reputation for building a good boat. Something went wrong in the late 80's, probably the economy because we were in a slight recession then, and boat sales really slumped. IMP struggled on until 1990 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If anybody is interested those proceedings are probably still on file in Kansas. Any lawyers out there? Anyway they sold the company in 1991 to an outfit from Florida who kept the name but laid off a lot of people and drastically reduced production, to no avail. Within a couple of years they were gone. I've been trying to dig up some info off the Coast Guard database on boat manufacturers but it's pretty skimpy. Can't blame anyone except me, I was the one in charge of the database.

Anyway, other boat owners have done this. Banded together and formed and owners association and traded info about their boats and built up a pretty good library of information. Someone out there must have some of the old brochures and owner's manuals. You can get engine manuals off ebay. OMC as you know went belly up a couple of years back. The engine part of OMC was sold to Bombardier in Canada. They may have the old engine manuals. I'm not sure how much they archived after they bought it.

If I find out more I'll post it.

 

There's quite a bit of info on the following link about IMP (Iola Molded Plastics) http://www.fiberglassics.com/redfish/

 

Are there any online boat salvage companies? I'm looking for deck hardware for a '73 Aztec. I need bow grab rail supports that are of the molded type not the pieced together pipe. Look at the images above and you'll see what I mean.

thanks,
Jim

 

Jim, I see quite a few things on Ebay that will go on the IMP boats.
I have not had mine in the water yet, I bought it last year from this guy that let it set. Needles to say, the interior has to be replaced. I am in the middle of redoing the entire boat. Can't wait to get it finished and in the water, it will make a good striper boat. I don't want to put downriggers and such on my Nitro, so this one will be perfect.
Good luck with the repairs, and sorry to hear about the damage.

 

Having read through this thread again, I noticed some asking about plans or diagrams. To be blunt, most boat manufacturers don't have any drawings of their boats. They build from molds and templates and maybe hand drawn stuff. In 34 years I've seen maybe a dozen manufacturers who make boats under 25 feet that have blueprints. When they want to make a new design they take an old design, build a plug mold and modify it until they have what they want. or they spalsh someone elses design and modify it. (by the way that's agin federal law now) Then they make a mold from that. I've asked dozens of builders, why don't you have drawings. Their answer is ussually "Why?, I know how to build boats. What do I need drawings for?"

Anyway, your likelihood of finding drawings is nil. Manuals and old brochures are your likeliest bet. There are people who collect those. The task is to find them and get them to scan them to a PDF file. Photographs are good too. There must be proud owners out there who have lots of photos of their IMP boats.

 

I am still looking for info. I found a few things of interest. This is from the Coast Guard database. I actually wrote the following crap so don't try to make sense of it, I'll fill in the blanks. anything in { } s is my explanation.

ISLAND MOULDED PROD IN OOB 07/20/1989. ADDRESS BOX 944 POINTEAUX PIN MI 49775. G WEIERMILLER. 11/6/2000 ASSIGNED THIS MIC TO IMP MARINE INC, IOLA KS, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH IMP OF BELTON MO (IMU) OR IMP OF IOLA (XMP). THIS COMPANY IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH PRESTIGE BOATS INC (SEE IMU, SEI, IMJ AND YSO). ALL BOAT BEARING THE IMP BRAND ARE NOW MADE BY IMP IN IOLA KS. 030828 OOB {means out of business in 2003 aug 28} PER RNI.

What this all means is that after about 1993 there was a succession of owners of the IMP name, none of which were the original IMP. I have seen boats as late as 2003 bearing the IMP brand. I have been looking for anything else on the web related to IMP. Here's a couple of dealers that have older IMP boats. They also have a few newer ones which you can ignore.

This is listed on Iboats.com classified http://boats.iboats.com/imp_boats/ Some 1980's even a 72. Most have photos.

Raymonds boats in Missouri has quite a few IMP boats. Most are 1980's era. http://www.raymondsboats.com/listing_page_2.htm. There's a couple of 75's and a 67. No photo for the 67 or the 75's, the 83 does. On Iola.com it says Raymond's was an IMP dealer in the old daysvso you might find some good info there. Their main store is in Gravois Mills MO. Look on their web site for location and e-mail.

Someone sold an IMP 1982 sales brochure on EBAY on APr 6, so they are out there. Right now someone is selling a 1979 23 foot cuddy. They have 23 hours to go (its 10:00 pm PDT) and are up to $4050.00.