i just bought a 1972 43' nautaline,it has been docked for three years and winterized,but has not been started since.this is my first houseboat,and not for sure what to do.it has two 351c.i. motors.i had it pulled out two weeks ago to paint the bottom,the boat is in great condition,owned by an older lady that complety remodeled the interior.she could not run the boat any more as her husband passed three years ago.any help would be great.
thanks aboater now.

if the engines haven't been fired up in three years you could be in for a bad time - but you could get lucky. There is a chance that the pistons rings have stuck to the cylinders and if you try to start it they will break. I think the best way to proceed is to pull the spark plugs and squirt oil into each cylinder and let it set a day or two. Do this for a week. Then put a breaker bar(24 inch long or longer if possible) on the big bolt head inside the shimmy damper/pulley on the front of the engine and try to turn it CLOCKWISE looking at the pulley end of the engine. Do this with the plugs out. If things are ok the engine should turn. Turn it with the breaker bar a few times so the pistons go all the way up and down to make sure any corrosion on the cylinder walls is slowly scraped off. Re lube each cylinder and turn over again to force any excess oil out of the cylinders so when you try to fire it you don't hydro lock the pistons with too much oil on top of them. Check the raw water impellers(I'd replace them if the engine rotates). I also remove a valve cover and then turn the engine over with the starter and make sure oil pumps out of the valve tappets, you may have to run the starter for 30 secs and let it cool a bit and then crank again to keep form overheating the starter a few times before oil will appear. At this point you should have oil up in the engine. While cranking the engine with the starter check for the spark, after three years probably needs a condensor. If you got spark put the plugs back in and prime the carb with some gas about 1 oz and crank it - hopefully it will fire for a few seconds and like crazy till the oil in the cylinder burns off. If it does run - run it a few minutes observe the oil pressure -should be 40 psi or better and make sure water is flowing through the engine and exhaust manifold - nothing should get so hot you can't place you hand on it for 5 secs Don't race the engine. Oh yeah first things first- change the oil and filter before anything!! Check the compression after it has run awhile - should be about 120-140 psi in each cylinder hopefully the difference between the lowest reading and the highest is no more than 10%. good luck