New to V-20s - opportunity to pick one up for next to nothing. (Merc 165 I/O) Thoughts?

C

caveman

New member
I have a line on an old V-20 close to me in Texas. Actually it is from a family member. It has been sitting forever. I think it is a 1975. My great-uncle kept this boat at his lake house. He was a Navy vet and mechanic by trade and he always kept things very meticulously. All titles, manual, etc are with the boat.

From what I am reading these boats are pretty popular. This one has been sitting for a long time. It definitely needs to be washed, but my cousin says there are no soft spots and it looks pretty decent from what I am seeing in pics.

Yes, it is a 50 year old boat. Yes, I have a boat problem (2 old 1969 38' + sailboats, and have had others over the years). It's dirt cheap and the galvanized trailer is in excellent shape which is probably worth twice what I would be paying for the boat.

What would you guys look for when taking a look at it?

What steps would you take to try fire up the old motor? Other than thorough clean I am thinking: new battery, check/change oil/filter, use external tank (until I drain and clean the 2 deck mounted aluminum tanks), visually inspect wiring, see if she turns freely, have fire extinguisher on hand and see If I can get a crank. Determine how to run water and try to start - check for proper water flow.

Am I on the right track?
 
check the transom before you spend any time on it. Tap on the area around the outdrive with a screw driver handle, listen for dull hollow sounds. With the drive up, put your weight on teh drive and see if teh transom flexes any, pay attention to where the drive meets the hull. If that's good, check your fluids, oil and gear lube. Inspect the rubber boots( bellows) on the outdrive. Odds are, they are dry rotted, See if it will trim down. Try a portable fuel tank hooked to the fuel pump, hook a fresh battery to it and see if it will spin over. If it does, you can try cleaning teh points with sand paper to get it to spark. If it fires off, make sure you have water hooked up with a flusher to the outdrive. get all that done and check back in
 
Spare, are you concerned about ingesting chunks of rubber impeller? I didn’t change mine for way too long and clogged the cooling passage in the outdrive - finally figured out why it was overheating.
 
easy compared to the stringer drive. Parts are readily available. The merc impeller will not tolerate being run dry, the OMC was a bit more tolerant than the merc.
 
It definitely needs some cleanup and paint. I haven't made a commitment one way or the other. Might need new bellows immediately. I read about some riser issues. Should I replace the riser gaskets before I try to start? Do I need to have it on the flush when I see if it will crank over (impeller). How do I determine if it has a water reverse kit on the manifold?

It has been sitting in coastal environment. Boat has never been in salt water, but that is where I will run it mostly (bay, light duty offshore - close in rigs). Hull is solid.
 

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scook said:
Spare, are you concerned about ingesting chunks of rubber impeller? I didn’t change mine for way too long and clogged the cooling passage in the outdrive - finally figured out why it was overheating.
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I always check the water pickups and thermostat housing if i find blades missing. On those small impeller drives, I recommend a new impeller every season. The later model outdrives( Alpha 1 Gen 2) have a much more forgiving impeller and they can go three seasons or more
 
caveman said:
It definitely needs some cleanup and paint. I haven't made a commitment one way or the other. Might need new bellows immediately. I read about some riser issues. Should I replace the riser gaskets before I try to start? Do I need to have it on the flush when I see if it will crank over (impeller). How do I determine if it has a water reverse kit on the manifold?

It has been sitting in coastal environment. Boat has never been in salt water, but that is where I will run it mostly (bay, light duty offshore - close in rigs). Hull is solid.
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try to get it to run before you spend a lot of time on it, run it with the water hose so you can get an idea of the cooling system( checking for cracked block). After you get it running, do a compression test. Look for similar numbers on each cylinder. If you check it after sitting this long, theres no telling what the numbers will be.
 
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