erikgreen
Captain
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2007
- Messages
- 3,105
Hey all -
I just bought an old boat off of a guy I was trying to get an engine from... he wanted to sell the whole boat, but I did one of those things you later regret, saying "If you can't sell the whole thing I'll give you XXX for the engine"... then I bought another engine, and he ended up relying on me to get some cash he needed. I said I'd buy the engine, so he gave me the whole boat for the same price.
So, I paid $350 for a 1976 Formula Thunderbird. It's in poor to fair shape but still restoreable I think. I'm not gonna do it. My question to you all is how much I should try to sell it for, and how should I sell it, as parts or as a whole?
Here's the details: It's got a Chevy 350 automotive motor in it (the kid that had it prior to the guy I bought it from put it in) with an edelbrock torker intake and four barrel edelbrock carb on it. Both are automotive... I'm amazed the kid is not dead from explosion. The wiring on the engine is funny, it's done outside the mercruiser harness, with some "temporary" gauges hanging loose on wires near the engine. It runs though, it was demonstrated for me.
The floor is soft, with a piece of 3/4 ply being used to reinforce the front half. The gauges and steering wheel seem ok, as is the shift/throttle lever and linkage. The sterndrive was beaten up, but the PO had it tig welded by a friend and it seems ok.. it holds pressure, and he replaced the impeller and pump. The prop is toasted though.
The boat has an open bow with a snap-on bonnet on it. It's a three piece windshield and is missing the center section.
The trailer looks like it had surge brakes, but they don't function. It's got two 205/75R14 tires with shiny wheels on them, non rotten. The rollers all look ok. It needs a winch handle and a light bulb as well as a jack, but all in all the trailer is in ok shape and certainly useable.
The hull has one hole at the front where the kid had an accident on the trailer, a few scratches elsewhere, and some above waterline through holes covered with bits of tar paper(?). It also has a pvc pipe through-hole on one side with a hand bilge pump near it... I presume for emergencies
I have two possibilities: One, sell the parts... the sterndrive seems functional, the engine runs nicely (but needs a new alternator and boat conversion unless it's going back in a car), the trailer is worth something. The boat has an aluminum fuel tank in decent shape, probably re-useable. I could junk the hull whole or cut it up and drop it in the trash.
Or, I could take out the block/sterndrive/controls that are in it, and drop in my old 888 setup, and sell the thing as-is. For that matter I could just flip it as-is and re-sell it for what I paid at least.
I have another boat project that's taking all my time for the rest of this year, and no place to keep this boat.
So, what do you guys think I should do? What would get me the most cash back for it?
Here's a link to some pics, and I'll insert one here:
http://www.greendragon.org/junker/
Erik
I just bought an old boat off of a guy I was trying to get an engine from... he wanted to sell the whole boat, but I did one of those things you later regret, saying "If you can't sell the whole thing I'll give you XXX for the engine"... then I bought another engine, and he ended up relying on me to get some cash he needed. I said I'd buy the engine, so he gave me the whole boat for the same price.
So, I paid $350 for a 1976 Formula Thunderbird. It's in poor to fair shape but still restoreable I think. I'm not gonna do it. My question to you all is how much I should try to sell it for, and how should I sell it, as parts or as a whole?
Here's the details: It's got a Chevy 350 automotive motor in it (the kid that had it prior to the guy I bought it from put it in) with an edelbrock torker intake and four barrel edelbrock carb on it. Both are automotive... I'm amazed the kid is not dead from explosion. The wiring on the engine is funny, it's done outside the mercruiser harness, with some "temporary" gauges hanging loose on wires near the engine. It runs though, it was demonstrated for me.
The floor is soft, with a piece of 3/4 ply being used to reinforce the front half. The gauges and steering wheel seem ok, as is the shift/throttle lever and linkage. The sterndrive was beaten up, but the PO had it tig welded by a friend and it seems ok.. it holds pressure, and he replaced the impeller and pump. The prop is toasted though.
The boat has an open bow with a snap-on bonnet on it. It's a three piece windshield and is missing the center section.
The trailer looks like it had surge brakes, but they don't function. It's got two 205/75R14 tires with shiny wheels on them, non rotten. The rollers all look ok. It needs a winch handle and a light bulb as well as a jack, but all in all the trailer is in ok shape and certainly useable.
The hull has one hole at the front where the kid had an accident on the trailer, a few scratches elsewhere, and some above waterline through holes covered with bits of tar paper(?). It also has a pvc pipe through-hole on one side with a hand bilge pump near it... I presume for emergencies
I have two possibilities: One, sell the parts... the sterndrive seems functional, the engine runs nicely (but needs a new alternator and boat conversion unless it's going back in a car), the trailer is worth something. The boat has an aluminum fuel tank in decent shape, probably re-useable. I could junk the hull whole or cut it up and drop it in the trash.
Or, I could take out the block/sterndrive/controls that are in it, and drop in my old 888 setup, and sell the thing as-is. For that matter I could just flip it as-is and re-sell it for what I paid at least.
I have another boat project that's taking all my time for the rest of this year, and no place to keep this boat.
So, what do you guys think I should do? What would get me the most cash back for it?
Here's a link to some pics, and I'll insert one here:
http://www.greendragon.org/junker/
Erik
