"free" boat restoration?

[Porkchopz28]

Hello everyone.
I recently acquired a free boat and after doing some research on the boat I’m wondering on how far or if to do a restoration on the boat. The boat is a 1984 Starcraft 19’ fiberglass open bow with a OMC 3.8L V6. And yes it’s the stringer set up for the motor/drive systems. And so after seeing the potential difficulties of getting replacement parts I’m not to sure on how much I’m willing to spend on this “free boat”.

A quick rundown on the boat from what I know and have seen. The floor… it needs to be replaced, not much to say other than only half (port side) of the floor is rotten so it’s given me hope that the stringers underneath are in ok shape. The motor is spins free and seems to have compression I will post the compression numbers when/if I start the restoration in the restoration section. The hydrologic system is working all is moving and has full range with no hesitation or “hard spots”. The electrics are working lights, horn, most gauges even the power antenna is working thou sadly the tape deck is not working and after I dug out some old tapes too. On to the unknown the frost plug is out… for the second time. The previous owner of the boat had the frost plug blow out while on the water then after having it reinstalled it popped out a second time. At this point he had lost interest in repairing the boat and simply bought a new boat one and let this one sit unused and uncovered for approximately 5 years. I have a good background in automotive stuff so putting a frost plug back in won’t be hard. Just wondering why it blew out in the first place?

The hard decision for me is knowing when to walk away and part out the boat or give it up for scrap. I guess I’m Looking for advice on where to start looking into the cost of a boat restoration and seeing if it’s worth the time and effort considering what the boat is. I would hate to spend a bunch of time and money into repairing the floor and have a outdrive part require replacing and spend double the cost of a “new to me” repairing this stringer model OMC.

Thanks for reading everyone.

 

[roffey]

I think only you can decide if the boat is worth it. You mentioned the floor is rotten, if so you are likely looking at replacing all the wood in the boat. The motor is OMC and no longer in business, parts are mostly unobtainable.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Almost everything about the boat that you mentioned would make me want to run, run, run and not look back:

Rotten floor (and likely all other wood structure): Strike One!
Obsolete OMC Stringer: Strike Two!
Blown out frost plug (likely a bad motor): Strike Three!

I don't see much about this 'free boat' that will be free...

 

[Scott Danforth]

"Free" boats are the worlds most expensive boat. the next most expensive boat is the "nearly free" followed by the "i got it for a steal". after that any fiberglass boat under $5k, then after that, any fiberglass boat under $10k and older than 15 years.

core plugs only come out when someone did not properly winterize......consider the motor and drive toast. at best you can part them out. to get the motor and drive up to snuff, it may cost you $3k. a re-man'ed 3.8 (chev 229) V6 or a 1985 only 4.3 will be over $2k - there are no couplings for stringers for the 1-piece RMS cranks

even if you think the drive is good, it will need ball gears, a re-seal, new raw water pump assembly, and most likely all 3 pieces of the vertical drive shaft (known stringer issue) parts alone will be about $800-$1000 just for the drive and if you damage the lower shift cable, it is $750 alone

since you have the boat, if you want to restore it, the hull restoration alone will be $2-3000. at that point you can put any motor/drive in there...... (read that as source a volvo penta or Mercruiser setup from controls to prop)

a running motor and drive will cost you about $2k

then there is the interior.

so you are into the boat for about $5-6k and a year of your time.

 

[southkogs]

...so you are into the boat for about $5-6k and a year of your time.

There's the bottom line. Because after a year and $5k, you'll have a ~$3k boat.

Boats aren't like cars. Restoring one doesn't increase it's value. If you wanna' do a restoration project, and you like the boat, then go for it. If you wanna' go boating, it's probably better to save up $5k during the year and then buy something that's in MUCH better shape.

 

[RE2Master]

Free boat makes a great yard art decoration next to a koi pond. I have taken old boats and "modified" them for alternative purposes like restaurants do with old cars. Building boats as long as I have and knowing the ins and outs of restructuring stringers and floors repurpose is better than restore if you have the room for it.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Free boat, run don't walk away. That is unless you put a minimum of 10K in a boat account and you will end up with a running "old boat" maybe. I always say an old car is a classic. An old boat is just that, an old boat.