Think I may have found my boat but have questions

B

bldgengineer

New member
Wasn't sure where to put this so if this isn't it please move it. The guy doesn't want to go below $2000. Its a 1986 steplift I/O

The good is it has a solid floor, solid transom, good trailer, steering isn't locked and no rot in the cuddy.

The bad being a locked up motor, probably needs new gel coat soon, and the fuel tank is the original aluminum(is this really bad?), needs new seats, and doesn't come with any electronics. Its been sitting for almost 2 years due to the motor being locked up

If I were to get this I'd take the I/O out, fill in the hole and mount a bracket with a 200 OB on it.

I know I'm new here but I've been lurking for a LONG time and value everybody's opinion on these boats. Please take the time to look at the pictures and let me know your honest opinion.

IMAG0154.jpg

IMAG0155.jpg

IMAG0156.jpg

IMAG0157.jpg

IMAG0158.jpg

IMAG0159.jpg

IMAG0160.jpg

IMAG0161.jpg

IMAG0162.jpg

IMAG0163.jpg

IMAG0164.jpg
 
Looks good and sounds like a nice restoration!! nothing like a full transom conversion!! They the best. get a good price and go for it!!
 
I'm trying but he won't budge off the $2K:cry: Still trying to figure out if the price is justifiable. I'm too into the boat to justify it myself lol
BTW MJ, I've been staring at your gallery for the longest time :love:
 
Last edited:
$2k with a locked up engine sounds quite a bit to high to me. He's probably been sitting on it for 2 yeras BECAUSE he won't budge off his $2K.
 
Take a better look at those stringers. Try finding a gap to see if you can stick a screw driver in there. I thought there was one in the 9th pic.

Also, what money to you plan to spend on doing this upgrade to an outboard? My guess would be a minimum of eight grand after purchase by the time you find a good deal on a used engine, controls, steering system, and bracket.

If the hull and stringers/transom are solid (and you are absolutely certain as the transom can be deceiving until you gain access to it/drill it) along with a road-worthy trailer its not a bad deal. I would try the old (15) hundred dollar bills with one extra in my pocket before walking away for another week.
 
I pounded on it with my fist for a good amount of time. Ive got a bruise on my hand from it now. Everything felt/sounded solid. Nothing sounded hollow. The guy selling it is a pretty well know dealer where i'm at. The PO emailed me telling me where to find it. He let it sit for a year before selling it to the dealer. The dealer has had it since about last fall from what he tells me.
 
yea, he has to come down if he wants to move it!! thats a bit high for locked motor and also needing other stuff, i say $1000 at most.

thanks, i have a ton more pics in a gallery you can't see
 
ouch lol! you guys are hard on sellers! or maybe i'm being soft...

I do know that the trailer alone would go for 800-1000 around here. even though its single axle its more desirable due to the tolls everywhere around here at 5 dollars an axle...

MJ, I'd love to see what else you have!
 
here is my .02 cents
In order to complete that rebuild even going with the 3.7 liter it will take a good boat wrench, some money and plenty of time. NOW POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Buy a running boat and most of all take it for a sea TRIAL. Their are some V-20 for sale around 2500.00 3000.00. With trailers or without. You will get to use the boat this season and am sure you will always have some work to do!
You may even get some extras on the deal too. Like safety equipment, anchor rope,
vhf, and GPS Like the saying goes; The two happy days of boating are the day you bought it and the day you sell it.:head:
 
If you were to fill in that hole for the outdrive and put a single engine
Armstrong bracket on it and install a 115 Johnson you would have
Old School.
That was my first V20, a 1986. Great boat. Do a search for Willy's Old School and you will see it.
Check the transom better than with your fist there Rocky! LOL
Pull a screw or two from the transom and check what comes out with it. Try to pull the screw from around the outdrive hole area if you can, do it on a hot day and leave it out for a few minutes while you inspect the rest of the boat. I walked away from three different V20's after I did this and walked back after fifteen minutes or so and saw
French Onion Soup seeping out.
Check the stringers real good in the last two to three feet from the transom.
Use a flashlight and find the drain holes in the stringers that Wellcraft used to let water drain through the stringers to get to the bildge pump.
Stick you finger in the holes and use your finger nail and see if it is hard inside there. Use a awl or skinny head screw driver and press hard on those stringers.
Check inside and out as best you can for rot on the bulk head that is the rear wall of the cuddy, where it meets the cockpit. Look for cracking and settling along the floor and at the bottom of the corners of the cuddy door.
Check the area around the helm seat floor for flex.
Stand on the cuddy roof and see how much flex you have in that and then go inside the cuddy with a flashlight and look for staining from water on the headliner and material in there.
Stick your nose deep inside the inspection ports and pull all covers around the cockpit floor and if you smell the slightest hint of gas count on a replacement before you can even use the boat.
Accidentally lean on an open cuddy door and see if the screws holding it in are snug and solid.
Bounce up and down on the gas tank cover, cockpit floor area and see how much flex is there.
Eyeball as much of the fuel tank as you can with a good light, look for whitish pitting or dark moldy looking spots. Scrape them with your screw driver and see if you get a lot of stuff scraping off. If you do the tank will need replacing once that boat gets loaded with fuel and bounced around in the ocean and starts seeping through tiny pin holes into the surrounding foam.
I forgot to ask you if there was fuel in the tank to begin with. If there is none there may be a reason for that.
Get inside the inspection ports and open and close the through hull valves a few times and check the bedding for those through hulls.
Thats all I got right now, it is cocktail time.
 
Oh yea, I looked at the transom pic you have here and there does not appear to be any screws into the transom that I can see, which actually is good. So if you want to pull a screw do it from the inside.
 
2 grand is too much...keep looking. Find a working boat w/trailer for around $3400-$3500. Spend you time fishing and boating, not restoring.
 
I like that boat because it's in good shape, all the hatch-lids are there, the doors, etc...it's complete and would be an excellent starting point for a restoration..but the guys are right 2Gs is just too high...and honestly that trailer doesn't look that great...is it galvanized?...or is that a paint job?...

Unless yer just FLUSH w/money, I'd walk...he musta paid too much for it when he bought it...
 
I agree on pic 9. Looks like rot under the thru hull. I would go thru it with a screwdriver trying to find rot. Two grand is high. You might recover some money selling the outdrive and motor. Give it a couple weeks then try again.

Also take the rod boxes out and check the stringers and floors (cross members) for rot. If i had done that on the 18 Fisherman i would have found rot and not have bought it.
 
Last edited:
Thanks so much guys. I'm going to wait a little bit longer. I actually looked at another boat today with a running johnson 120 for 1500 but damn near put my foot through the floor. Somebody took the caps off the transom and glassed it over. I shook the motor and the thing was all over the place and revealed where the glass had cracked all along the top of the transom...I definitely walked away from that
 
willy said:
If you were to fill in that hole for the outdrive and put a single engine
Armstrong bracket on it and install a 115 Johnson you would have
Old School.
That was my first V20, a 1986. Great boat. Do a search for Willy's Old School and you will see it.
Check the transom better than with your fist there Rocky! LOL
Pull a screw or two from the transom and check what comes out with it. Try to pull the screw from around the outdrive hole area if you can, do it on a hot day and leave it out for a few minutes while you inspect the rest of the boat. I walked away from three different V20's after I did this and walked back after fifteen minutes or so and saw
French Onion Soup seeping out.
Check the stringers real good in the last two to three feet from the transom.
Use a flashlight and find the drain holes in the stringers that Wellcraft used to let water drain through the stringers to get to the bildge pump.
Stick you finger in the holes and use your finger nail and see if it is hard inside there. Use a awl or skinny head screw driver and press hard on those stringers.
Check inside and out as best you can for rot on the bulk head that is the rear wall of the cuddy, where it meets the cockpit. Look for cracking and settling along the floor and at the bottom of the corners of the cuddy door.
Check the area around the helm seat floor for flex.
Stand on the cuddy roof and see how much flex you have in that and then go inside the cuddy with a flashlight and look for staining from water on the headliner and material in there.
Stick your nose deep inside the inspection ports and pull all covers around the cockpit floor and if you smell the slightest hint of gas count on a replacement before you can even use the boat.
Accidentally lean on an open cuddy door and see if the screws holding it in are snug and solid.
Bounce up and down on the gas tank cover, cockpit floor area and see how much flex is there.
Eyeball as much of the fuel tank as you can with a good light, look for whitish pitting or dark moldy looking spots. Scrape them with your screw driver and see if you get a lot of stuff scraping off. If you do the tank will need replacing once that boat gets loaded with fuel and bounced around in the ocean and starts seeping through tiny pin holes into the surrounding foam.
I forgot to ask you if there was fuel in the tank to begin with. If there is none there may be a reason for that.
Get inside the inspection ports and open and close the through hull valves a few times and check the bedding for those through hulls.
Thats all I got right now, it is cocktail time.
Click to expand...

everything willy said. I will add this. I have a 79 I/O conversion. The biggest thing that I found to be an issue was that the transom was too thin for the weight I had hanging off the back. It was causing a lot of flex. If it were me I would plan on doing some glass work and tie the transom into the stringers and maybe add some thickness from the inside.
 
http://easternshore.craigslist.org/boa/3046440319.html

Found this today and just got back from a 4 hour round trip ride to look at it. I did everything you guys suggested and all I could find was the engine idles slightly rough, smoothes out until 3k where it surges until just over 3500 then smoothes out again. It also needs 2 bilge pumps.

The boat hasn't been in the water since 2007 sitting in a garage with a 1/4 tank of gas so I'm thinking fresh gas, carbon rebuilds, and a tune up will take care engine.

Seller is willing to take $3500 so I think I'll be stopping by the bank tomorrow.
 
Before you take the plunge, check the shift shaft that goes from by the engine down to the lower unit. It is VERY prone to rusting through on the early pre 94 engines, and the powerheads many times are frozen to the mid section so you can't replace it with the new style one. I've heard they are making a 2 piece replacement now though that doesn't require pulling the powerhead, but I've never used one. Theres alot of YAMAHA's out there that have been trashed because of the shift shaft and frozen powerhead problem.
 
Everything that Thefermanator just said...., but WOW, you found a Dualie (A dual console) The rarest of the rare!!! Congrats!!!! Great looking boat.. As long as the engine is sound that's a winning find!! :clap::clap::clap:

As far as the gas goes, drain it, if it looks good use it in your lawnmower. It's not worth the chance to use it in your boat
engine. And bilge pumps are considered a wear item, so it's not unusual to find a boat that needs one or two. No points deducted for needing a bilge pump.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top