New Bayliner owner, and question

[bear_69cuda]

Hello,

My name is Bear, and I just bought my first boat! I'm super excited and feel fortunate to have found this great group of folks on Iboats. The boat I purchased is a 1999 Capri 19' with MerCruiser 3.0 L Alpha One drive. The boat is in incredible, like new, almost showroom condition. The previous owner was an older gent (recently deceased) that always stored the boat on a covered lift with mooring cover, or inside his heated garage during winter. I was told he only used it to cruise with his wife a few times each summer. I have all the maintenance records for the last ~ 9 years. I paid $5300 with a trailer that also looks like it's never been used. I think I did okay? I was looking for a Bowrider with a 4.3 L MerCruiser, but then found this boat and couldn't pass it up... My Fianc?e and I took it out last week for our madin voyage, before winter storage this weekend. =-( What a fun boat! According to stock speedo 44 mph @ 4800 rpm. Not sure if that's a real number or not? But good enough for now... I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello! I'll post some pice if anyone is interested... My question is, has anyone ever swapped the 3.0 L for a 4.3 L in this boat, or a similar Capri? And does anyone have opinions on batteries? I was thinking about an new blue top Optima.

Peace!

Bear

 

[scipper77]

Re: New Bayliner owner, and question

As far as the battery is concerned just get a marine battery that meets the manufacturers reccomendations. What is far more important is maintaining a proper charge in the battery. every time you discharge a starting battery you lose a significant amount of the batteries capacity when recharged.

Lets say you completely discharge a battery and then completely recharge. after 5 or 6 cycles of doing this you will likely begin to have issues with your battery. If however you are constantly topping off the charge you only loose the batteries ability to hold a charge by a fraction of if you were to completely discharge once.

Think of your one big battery as like 100 small batteries where you must discharge one before you can begin using the next. If you use 10 batteries (10% of 1 big battery) worth of charge you still have 90 brand new and untouched batteries. if you recharge the 10 used batteries you will have to discharge all 10 batteries again before you ever get to the 11'th battery on the next discharge cycle. Because the top 10 batteries have a reduced ability to hold a charge, an identical discharge cycle to the first one might now discharge 11 or 12 batteries instead of 10. But you will primarily only ever be using those top 10 batteries (top 10% of charge). Your alternator will keep you there when running the boat. When the boat sits however you will loose some charge and starting will further bring your charge to a new lowest level.
I don't know if my analogy helped or was confusing but the point is that I top off the charge on my battery every 2 weeks when the battery/boat is not used. Keeping on top of your charge will add years to the life of your battery. It's way more important than buying an expensive battery.

Summary...
Complete discharge - bad
battery sitting for long period without charging - bad
charging battery every 2 weeks when not in use - very good

 

[gcboat]

Re: New Bayliner owner, and question

Welcome aboard Bear !!

I think your battery question has been completely answered so let's jump to the next question.
Yes, you can swap out your 4 banger with the 4.3 HOWEVER there will be a bunch of pitfalls along the way. First thing would be to check your lower unit and see if it would be compatible to the V6. I'm thinking that both the 3.0 and 4.3 used the same one but don't take my word on that. Then there will be a new wiring harness, redoing the engines footprint, etc. It could be a tad bit overwhelming.
I think in this situation you'll probably just be better off to leave well enough alone and concentrate on maintaining and tweaking what you already have. Since you are a first time boater get used to the smaller engine package. If you like boating and feel comfortable then take the next step to a bigger engine. There are a lot of 4.3's out there that won't require you to do a lot of work to get where you want to be.
Keep what you have - baby it, learn how to safely operate it and as mentioned then go from there. Accurate logs of maintenance and repairs will go a long way in the future resale of the vessel.
Also, a Safe Boater's course from the USCG Auxiliary will give you a little more confidence in your seamanship skills and also give you a break on your insurance premiums.
Enjoy your new boat - have fun - and be safe.

jerry

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: New Bayliner owner, and questions

Re: New Bayliner owner, and questions

scipper77 and Jerry,

Thanks for the advice... My gut also tells me to work on the seamanship skills and leave the boat alone... I guess it's the go-fast in me that was thinkin about the 4.3... I have a 69 Barracuda with 450 + hp so maybe I need to simmer down on the swap and work on boating skills... 10-4 on that advice. So I was thinking about smart tabs on this boat. (opinions?) Also I love to fish... So I'm having a local marina fab a bow mounted Minn Kota that can be easily removed. Also my plan is to cut a piece of 3/4" marine grade plywood covered with the boats same carpet, with a pedestal seat for the bow. Then I can plug and play this application depending on the activity... The seat pads easily remove, leaving me with a perfect base for the fishing platform. Then when not fishing, convert back to bowrider...Anyone ever do this? My boat does not have a trim gauge, is this something I can add?

Thanks in advance!

 

[gcboat]

Re: New Bayliner owner, and question

1) Smart tabs - absolutely !!!

2) I think your idea of the platform is neat - you would of course be obligated to post pics during and after completion !!

3) The trim gauge should be a simple add on. Since I'm not all that familiar with your particular unit post that question in the Mercruiser section of this forum. You'll have your answer in no time.

Remember those pics !!!

jerry

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: New Bayliner owner, and question

Thanks Jerry,

I'll take some pics this weekend. I pick up the boat from getting winterized tomorrow.

The fishing platform should be a fun project... I'll also post pics with progress...

I posted the trim gauge question in the MerCruiser forum.

I think I'll also try and install the smart tabs myself...

Thanks again!

 

[gcboat]

Re: New Bayliner owner, and question

Bear - a little reading for ya' :http://www.nauticusinc.com/installation.htm

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: New Bayliner owner, and question

Thanks for the smart tabs info Jerry!