What a saltwater boat looks like..... UPDATED

[Don S]

What a saltwater boat looks like.......... when not taken care of
well, the engine and engine compartment anyway. It's a 75 something.
No, it didn't snow on the engine that is aluminum corrosion. It's an automotive carb throttle and choke plates froze in place, on an aluminum intake with alum valve covers. The distributor is froze in the block, all the freeze plugs were popped out and those rubber expansion plugs put in, (bolts are rusting off)

Then there is the engine compartment, a real thing of beauty.

Water in the bellows, drive froze on, took about an hour to get off. Looked like the first time the drive was off since new. Steering froze up, shift and throttle cables froze up, engine hatch alone is waterlogged and weighs about a million pounds.

All the guy wanted was a tuneup, he just bought the boat (For a good price) and wanted to go fishing.
Sometimes I really hate working on boats!

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Geeze Don! I feel for you having to work on that mess from he**
It actually was still running? Unreal! Looks like some wet or rotting transom going on there too..

 

[JCF350]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Pulled the oilpan off of a chevy that looked like that last year. Dang thing was freshly rebuilt, how long ago? who knows.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Gotta love them old Fords....
Since he is looking at a complete repower,
can I have the throttle linkage?.....
Hard to come by for a 4bbl on a SBF.......​

 

[JustJason]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

so what is this guy getting?? Full repower with drive/intermediate work.... or a hand grenade.

 

[Don S]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

No repower, I gotta FIX it. The engine turns over by hand. Starter is dead.

Oh, BTW, don't spend too much money on it.............. Yea, Right!

Haut, that linkage is homemade, out of flat steel with a glob of rust holding a 1/4" steel bolt for the cable to hook on. Would be really easy to build one.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

in my shop, I would have closed the engine box and politly told the customer to donate it and take the tax write off.
nothing you can do other than a full repower to make anyone happy.

 

[sarantis]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

OOOOOOOOh!My my SeaRay SRV-220cc 1978 WITH GM 305 is definetely Knew!!!

 

[Don S]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

in my shop, I would have closed the engine box and politly told the customer to donate it and take the tax write off.
nothing you can do other than a full repower to make anyone happy.

Exactly what I suggested.
Owner of the shop said we will fix it up.
I've already burned up half a tank of Oxy and Acet just to get the drive off and the engine out of the boat. Now comes the fun part.
Will get a starter monday, check the compression. That ought to be fun.
This job will run in the thousands of dollars.
Carb, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds and risers, starter, alternator, distributor, coupler, ujoints, all bellows, all cables, steering system, oh, and he needs an ignition switch ............. the guy he bought it from lost the key

 

[JustJason]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

watch this end up with lousy compression...... or a spun bearing.

 

[JustJason]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

i also have a feeling that your gonna be breaking all 8 plugs......

 

[Lou C]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

The shop I usually go to would have done the same thing Rodbolt said....
and I bet after you add up the labor hrs + parts it needs, a complete repower might not be that much more money...what about that transom...doesn't look too good!
I'm in salt water too and I have never seen one that bad, unless it sank!

 

[Scaaty]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Come'on Don...you can get him up and running the San Juan Islands by spring.
And with the labor bucks involved, YOU can go BUY one of'em!

 

[Bondo]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

All the guy wanted was a tuneup, he just bought the boat (For a good price) and wanted to go fishing.

Ayuh,.........

I bet He didn't bother with the Survey, or even Starting it before He stole it from the previous owner...??..??

I Hope this is in a Rare Classic Hull that's worth the Total Refit,......
'cause I don't see any Salvage there,.... Scrap maybe, but No Salvage........

 

[mcleaves]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

I read the first post and was gonna make a wise crack about how it "should clean up nice" But now I see you gotta FIX it!!! I am almost in tears for you. I say almost, because this is going to be a fun one to have you narrate, especially as you tell the customer the stuff it needs.

I don't see how fixing this mess could be more economical than a repower..

How is the transom?

M

 

[SuperNova]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

"Nothing a fresh coat of paint and some WD-40 can't fix right up"
--Quote from previous owner

 

[oops!]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

pull the owner aside and explain it to him...or have the owner of your shop re explain it to him.....

when you get done messing with that one.....if the block isnt cracked...its gonna cost him more than a rebuild.....


15 mins per bolt @ $65 hr minimum=383 stroker blown with bottle....with room to put a new hull under it.

when the owner gets the bill...hes gonna be mad....and your shop will be the owner of a new .......trophy!

good luck my friend....

you might have a new vocabulary by the time you get things done.

if you do continue?....we want updates if possible...thats a tough one

oops

 

[Don S]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Actually, the transom is solid. Although it doesn't look like it. Stringers a wet, but solid (how I don't know). Probably did sink at one time IN SALTWATER, and that has the wood salted so it doesn't rot. But the boat really doesn't look much better than the engine and transom.
I'm really hoping for Zero compression on a couple of cylinders to end this nitemare.
If he used all the money he spent for the boat, and what the repairs are going to cost, I'm sure he could have found a much nicer 24' boat that ran.
I guess if the compression is good, then I am going to have to fix it. So if I seem a little grumpier than normal, at least you will know why.

 

[brokemerc]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Wow,, makes my winter project look like I bought it at the boat show this weekend.. Hey sorry for butting in but I dropped my upper drive off at one of our fine Merc dealser here in Va. to have the lower seal replaced, the service dept initially told me that they don't work on anything more than ten years old (1995 bayliner) Is this typical.. As soon as I told her that I would discuss it with the owner she filled out the paperwork and accepted the drive..

 

[Don S]

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

Re: What a saltwater boat looks like..........

It happens, but I woldn't say it's typical. But when someone looks at something like I have to work on here, it's time to JUST SAY NO, but I don't get to make the rules.