Posted: August 15 2005 at 00:00 | IP Logged

I was given this boat and thought that I might want to try restoring it, since I know virtually nothing about boats.

Suffice it to say, I dont have the time to devote to such a project.

Anyone want to make an offer on it?

I have photos.

Posted: August 16 2005 at 00:00 | IP Logged

Flipper,

That's perhaps good news for someone...  We're interested to hear more about it. 

What is its history with where you got it from, where it was used, how many owners, etc.

What's the overall condition? (Be as detailed as you want.)  Does it have a trailer? Color? Engine type? What is it rigged for? Fishing or Cruising?

Let us know when you get time...and good luck.

Posted: September 06 2005 at 00:00 | IP Logged

Does anyone even have a picture of an Iroquios?  For a boat that was very popular in its day, I have seen not a one for sale or on the water or in backyards.  I too, have looked for a few years.

I already have a '70 Apache 187 (bowrider) with an outboard.  Its a fabulous, smooth riding hull.

John

Posted: September 06 2006 at 00:00 | IP Logged

I did track down one of the original boats actually used for filming later episodes of Flipper, (via the son of the (late)designer Richard Cole) but she'd been underwater, both engines were shot and it was just too much of a project for me to take on. Also I'm in Sth Africa so I had to buy her sight unseen, despite lots of really kind people off the "Fiberglassics" website offering me their help. So, still looking - the dream of owning that boat has lasted almost 40years, so I'm not giving up now!

I have a few pics - a T'Bird / Flipper tie-in ad which shows the '65 model,  aT'Bird '67 brochure, and some others, but they're too big to upload (not that they're huge files, but there seems to be a 15kb(?) size limit).  Post your mail address or mail me at kro@telkomsa.net and I'll happily send them direct.

I was a huge fan of the show in the 60s (I was 7years old in 67), but only because of the boat! I distinctly remember the model change (there are some obvious differences) 

Cheers from an Iroqous fan in Johannesburg!

Posted: September 16 2006 at 00:00 | IP Logged

Here is a 21', similar to flipper boat.

http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/3/8/64097738.htm

Posted: September 06 2008 at 10:30 | IP Logged

Hi Submarine Sailor,

It's good to hear that I am not the only one working on an old Thunderbird.   My problem is that I bought another, younger, boat and naturally my enthusiasm goes to the newer toy.

I got rid of the scruffy wooden door into the cuddy and replaced it with 1/2 inch smoked acrylic;  also the cover.   Wow what a difference that made.   Of course it looks less like an original.   I too have sliding windows, not round.   The previous owner replaced the head with a Porta-Pottie.

Let me know your progress.

Pasogrande.

Posted: September 11 2008 at 14:37 | IP Logged

The news is only worse, now its a new longblock, seems as the block has a 6 inch crack in # 4. I hope to order on Monday, I think I found a good deal at about $1150.00 for the engine. So is the way with boats and water. I will be posting pictures later this week or next

Posted: September 28 2008 at 14:24 | IP Logged

I have a 1970 Thunderbird 19' Cheyenne that I completely restored structurally.  New everything from the stringers up.  It looks like a smaller version of the boat from Flipper except mine is outboard powered.  Here are a couple links to a T-Bird brochure showing the 1969 version of the Cheyene  http://www.fiberglassics.com/thunderbird/69thndr002.jpg

http://www.fiberglassics.com/thunderbird/69thndr001.jpg

I am shocked by how well the boat rides.  As expected, it's very stable both at rest and at speed but, I was truely amazed by how smooth the ride is in rough water.  Richard Cole certainly got the design right.  I've owned and rode on many other Tri-hulls that would knock your teeth out in choppy water.  Not the Thunderbird Cheyenne. I've also owned to top line deep vee designs and believe the Thunderbird is one of the best all around hulls I've owned.

The deep-V center hull of the Cheyenne's Cathedral hull design really provides a great ride.

If anyone has questions I'll be glad to help if I can.

Okay I'm going to try to add some pics.  Love the deep V which is carried from the bow to the transom.  Also love the 12' of open cockpit which is impossible to find on a modern 18.5' cuddy cabin hull.  All this and a grest ride too...

Posted: July 19 2010 at 19:12 | IP Logged

I actually have a 1966 T Bird Iroquois still in running condition.

The hull is a 1966 and was powered by twin Merc 120's.

I suffered a catastrophic engine failure in 1987 on the port side. Dropped intake valve on #3.

Repowered to twin Merc 3.0LX (135 HP) 4cyl units in 1988.

I had a Starboard lower gear case failure in 2008 and have not run since.

Trying to find time to do a refresh, but need to work so I can pay for it.

Changing out one lower unit to counter rotation gear set with larger pitch props.

Need to rebuild carbs, gimbal bearings, drive seals, drive boots. etc.

Any info I can provide please let me know.

Posted: July 19 2010 at 19:26 | IP Logged

P.S.

I had a good cruise speed of about 27 MPH @ 3000 RPM swinging 13 1\4 X 23 P

SST props.

Fuel burn was about 6-7 GPH.

Got some good high resoultion picts but I can't post them here.

Posted: July 19 2010 at 23:24 | IP Logged

I phoned Formula / Thunderbird to try to get info on my Thunderbird "Iroquois". I was told that those records are no longer kept at the current factory. But, I did find out how rare these boats really are. I was told that Thunderbird only built around 10 t0 12 of the "Iroquois" each year!

  My rebuild is coming along just fine. But, it won't be a restore. It will be a 'custom" build. I'm finding out just how expensive the word MARINE is on each part I buy. But, I will have an awesome boat for my company, Treasure Hunters Unlimited, in Southern Oregon.

  I still need to find a few important parts. Progress photos on request.  Best regards, "Tiger"

Posted: July 20 2010 at 10:01 | IP Logged

Quite a few years back I actually got in touch with Mr. Cole's son and got a copy of the original Thunderbird Sales sheet.

I think that dead weight was about 5500 LBS.

I'll see if I can't hunt it down.

I saw another post on this site about it having a good ride, I'll second that.

I have put a lot of miles and a lot of fish through this boat (Plus a couple of mud flats LOL)

Always remember "A boat is a hole in the water that a man constantly puts his money into"

Posted: August 08 2010 at 23:51 | IP Logged

I hope I am not bursting anyone's bubble, but I grew up running an Iroquois for about 8 years and then "inherited" it and put it back into shape in the mid '80s before I sold it four years later. 

The Iroquios is a 20' footer with sngle power.  Ours ('64 or '65) had a a merc 160 hp I/O.  It easily cruised at 30 and would top out about 36 to 40- no GPS back then.  It was all mark to mark and a watch.

With regard to the Thunderbird on the TV show 'Flipper", that was a '23 w/ twin I/O's.  Probably 120-140hp a piece; maybe 160's, but I doubt it.

The ride was very good in any rugular wave pattern, but would slap you silly is a BIG chop.  I remeber running back to Chatham from Nantucket in 5-6's with a 15-20 mph wind from the north.  Dry,at least up front, but a real bear.  You just couldn't get it up to let the hull do it's thing and and it was up the front and down the back all while getting slapped around by the chop.

I would like to get out in one again for old times sake. Currently I have an '85  23' Seacraft Scepter with a Volvo 260 I/O and I love it to death!  However, I do plan on bumping the power to 300+, God willing.

Posted: August 13 2010 at 05:26 | IP Logged

I have got the factory emblems on mine but one is cracked.

I have actually thought about taking them off and having copies made out of Stainless Steel.

It's actually easy to do with a water cutter.

Just expensive.

I can get you some pictures and perhaps some dimensions if you want.

Posted: December 13 2010 at 09:11 | IP Logged

Hi All;

Not an Iroquois but,

Grew up working a Great Lakes marina gas dock in the late 60's as a teen and remember the Thunderbird cathedrals. Always wanted one and well time passes.

I did come across a 68 Comanche this spring that had survived time and owner neglect and snapped it up. It is not without issues but they are within reason. It is Mercruiser 120 powered.

I've worked as a marine sevice professional for the past 40 yrs and have very little time during the season for my "projects". For this one I will not fade. The big decision is whether to up upgrade the Mercruiser drive system from the MC1 package to a more modern transom system. It is the old conflict of keeping it original or not.

Hope the threads here keep the talk regarding the Thunderbird cathedrals alive as so little is available online. Thanks to all for your contributions.

Steve

Posted: December 14 2010 at 15:31 | IP Logged

Seadover,

  I actually had a set of the 120 MC packages in mine. They worked good till about 1988 when I dropped a valve in the Port Engine.

  We put a lot of hours on those engines. You know as well as I do with an older engine your worst problem will be parts.

 I now have a set of 1988 MCM 3.0 Alpha 1 Gen 1 units and things have been good so far. Fuel effiency is good, about 6 GPH @ cruise \ 27 MPH.

 During the down time this winter I plan on changing one drive to counter rotation.

Posted: December 14 2010 at 21:04 | IP Logged

Shucker1;

No doubt parts availability is an issue for those of us that prefer some of the older classics. As you are also aware there have been some design improvements over the MC1 drive systems as we moved forward in drive design.

I was lucky this past summer in finding a nearly complete (less the drive unit) 1969 120 engine package for free by pulling it from a soon to be scrapped boat. The engine had been sitting out exposed but upon teardown was found to be in quite good condition and of low hours. Surprisingly, externally it looks better than the one in the boat. I also have a line on a complete 3.0L engine/drive package (MR or Alpha 1) at a fair price that I am considering.

My boat looks identical to the pic Embibb posted other than it is a single and perhaps a foot or so less in length.

BigLew;

You made a great point about the chacteristics of cathedral hulls when pushed. I have run nearly all the power catamarans out there in the marketplace for the past 15 yrs; it's all about knowing your hull characteristics vs sea conditions and running smart.

I have excellent wood in the my boat except for two areas; the stbd side of the transom is bad and the cabin top where the windscreen thru bolts had passed through the balsa coring has failed. These are my winter projects. A complete new transom and windscreen base. Though more expensive, I am considering some of the synthetic board materials as coring. I have pulled my engine in preparation for replacing the transom.

Unfortunately, like submarine sailor I am missing some emblems taken off sometime in the past. In my case it was the hullside Thunderbird name.

Posted: April 07 2011 at 10:00 | IP Logged

I have a 1969 Thunderbird 18.5' with a Mercury 115hp outboard. I am trying to determine which model it is. The HIN plate is long gone and the paperwork just says '1969 Thunderbird'.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Posted: April 07 2011 at 12:25 | IP Logged

Does this help?

Posted: April 07 2011 at 12:46 | IP Logged

That's a HUGE help!!!

It's a Comanche!!

I don't suppose you happen to have any closer or more detailed photos do you??

I'm still restoring it.

Thanks again.

Posted: April 07 2011 at 19:49 | IP Logged

I also have a Thunderbird brochure that states that a "Cheyenne" is 18'3".  The "Arapaho" is 20' 2". The "Sioux" is 17'. And I have a "Iroquois" that is 23' 6" without the outdrive.  "Tiger" in Medford, Oregon.

Posted: April 07 2011 at 20:31 | IP Logged

Glad this helps.  I was trying to cut and paste the 1969 catalog but, for some reason I couldn't get it to work. 

Click on the link in my posting up above.  That will take you to the FiberGlassic web site. Click on the library button. Click on Thunderbird and you'll find plenty of literature on old Tbirds.

Posted: April 07 2011 at 21:19 | IP Logged

How about some photo postings of some Thunderbird Boats. I will post some on my Iroquois is anyone wants to see them.   Tigersmail@msn.com   "Tiger"