Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

[turbojimmy]

Hi all,

Okay, I'm not sure exactly where to post this. I started with the Bayliner forum, but then read the sticky and determined that my question really is more generic in nature so I decided to post it here.

I'm new to boats and was looking for something more or less disposable to learn on for the rest of this season and probably part of next season. I came across an '85 Capri 19' Bowrider in my neck of the woods that I think I can snag for around $600 with the trailer. I'm told that it runs decent, but the ball gears in the outdrive are stripped. The owner says it's fine otherwise and he was using it when the ball gears crapped out a few weeks ago. He's since replaced it with a new boat and is anxious to get rid of this one.

I do all of my own mechanical work, including engine replacements, rebuilding, electrical, etc. on my cars and motorcycles. While I've never worked on a boat before, I'm confident (okay, maybe less confident and more hopeful) that I can figure out the ball gear thing. Looks like maybe $300 in parts and seals? There are kits, it seems. I'm not sure what parts I need since I don't have the boat yet. I see there was an "OMC" outdrive that hasn't been used in some time, but the owner says it's a Mercruiser Chevy V8.

In the pics, the interior of the boat looks like it was well maintained. No rips or tears on the vinyl. The owner stored it out of the water on the trailer.

My main concern is rot. I don't want to have to restore the thing, I just want to make some mechanical repairs and get a season or so out of it. How can I check for transom rot? I assume floor rot is easy to spot by pulling the carpet back. I assume check the corners in the stern, both sides? The owner says that he hasn't "noticed" any rot and that the boat is solid.

It's a 2 hour drive for me to pick this thing up, so I'd like to be able to make a yes or no decision on the spot.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

If it is an OMC with bad gears, then run. The gear sets will cost you around 1K and you need a crap load of experience and tools to get it them installed and everything adjusted correctly.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

It warms my heart to read that someone actually read the sticky in the manufacturer-specific section

I think it's a great idea to get a cheapie boat to learn on, but as oldjeep said, an OMC with issues will cost you too much to get running. You want Mercruiser in an old beater.

 

[turbojimmy]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

It warms my heart to read that someone actually read the sticky in the manufacturer-specific section

I think it's a great idea to get a cheapie boat to learn on, but as oldjeep said, an OMC with issues will cost you too much to get running. You want Mercruiser in an old beater.

Thanks both!

After poking around the 'net, I did find that repairing an OMC would be more than I'd like to get into (I like sterndrive.info - good stuff there). The owner says it's a Mercruiser with a Chevy V8, though.

How can I tell? Are there obvious differences between the OMC and Mercruiser outdrives? Was there a scenario where an OMC outdrive was coupled with a Chevy 305? I've been around Chevys long enough to determine whether I'm looking at a 305, but identifying an outdrive would be beyond my realm of expertise.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

Both OMC and Mercruiser used Chevy engines. It should say OMC or Mercruiser somewhere on either the drive or the engine cover.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

Both OMC and Mercruiser used Chevy engines. It should say OMC or Mercruiser somewhere on either the drive or the engine cover.

Yes, but only trust what is on the drive. Its easy enough to do an engine swap and wind up with an engine that says Mercruiser all over it and still have an OMC drive

 

[sqbtr]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

An '85 Bayliner should have a Penta drive on it.

 

[turbojimmy]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

An '85 Bayliner should have a Penta drive on it.

Yes, you are correct. The owner sent me this info: "Volvo-Penta Stringer outdrive with an OMC V8 305 (chevy) motor"

He also sent me some links to DIY pages and parts kits that make it look doable. Stern.info has a gear kit with seals for $205.

Reading up on it, it does appear as if you could spend $1,000 on the repair very quickly if you get in over your head. Stern.info rebuilds them for $495 plus the cost of parts beyond their basic kit. HD gears are $400. Then there's shipping....

Hmmm......

 

[Maclin]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

The guy with the boat is inter-mixing all different drive terms in his descriptions. Neither VolvoPenta nor Mercruiser drives have ball gears, and neither would be a "stringer drive". Ever. OMC drives do have ball gears. The drives are all completely different internally, with the Merc and Volvo closer in design. The engines themselves are nearly identical, just differences in exhaust, plumbing, accessory belts, crap like that to interface with the outdrive. The actual outdrive type deteremines what the external config of the engine needs to be.

OMC is the only one ever described as "stringer outdrive", and THOSE are the ones that have ball gears. That description comes from the mounting and trim method, the entire engine/outdrive is moved up and down from the mounts on the stringer for trimming, the outdrive leg must always be fully down when running. You cannot even start the engine with the drive not fully down or risk killing the ball gears.

So, the guy is a few letters short of expert on what that boat even has, and much less of an idea what it would need. This is my opinion just based on his wording.

 

[turbojimmy]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

So, the guy is a few letters short of expert on what that boat even has, and much less of an idea what it would need. This is my opinion just based on his wording.

Or being deliberately evasive....

I think I'll drag it up here and see what's up. If it's not worth messing with, I can easily unload it locally. What intrigues me about it, versus other project boats, is his claim that he was using it when it broke down. Most other project boats are gems that people have had sitting in their backyards for years.

 

[Maclin]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

You got it turbo! good observations...everyone fibs (lies) about stuff they have for sale....

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

I'm sure it's 100% OMC Stringer which would be pretty low on my list of want-to-owns.

This little blurb should clue you in to what a clusterf&%k those things were http://www.glmmarine.com/30yearsomc.html

 

[turbojimmy]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

I'm sure it's 100% OMC Stringer which would be pretty low on my list of want-to-owns.

This little blurb should clue you in to what a clusterf&%k those things were http://www.glmmarine.com/30yearsomc.html

Thanks for the help all! After a 2 hour drive, I decided to pass. The guy deliberately tried to mislead by saying it was a Mercruiser in the ad. Nowhere does anything say Mercruiser. The engine and outdrive have "OMC" all over the place. The ball gears were indeed stripped, but that was the least of the issues. The bellow was leaking and the engine blew blue oil smoke at startup (which is not uncommon for a 305, actually, but I didn't want to get into a valve job with the thing). The best part was the "solid" boat has some "soft spots" once I asked him directly. The floor had been shoddily repaired and the stringers were like sponges.

He was pissed that I left him with it, but in all honesty if it were free I wouldn't have hooked it up to my truck.

Lesson learned....moving on....

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Bayliner Hull Check and Ball Gear

wise move.