thinking about a 74 American - Any thoughts?

[richock]

Hi SC group new and ole-
Long time since lst post... (Fells almost like confession?)
I sold my itchy 69 Looking at getting new (to me) 74 American as a winter mini project.
Here' the CL link:
Any and all comments welcome...
Happy holidays to all!
thx

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Price decent for a ready to go restored boat. Any documentation on the restore? Im personally affraid to tackle glassers and like tin much much more for the ease of rebuilds. Even for a first time go at it.

 

[classiccat]

Welcome back to the fold richock! :welcome:

Notice the lack of full-view shots of the interior...like they're trying to hide something.

The wiring bird's-nest & cruddy bilge area suggests that the restoration did not include pulling that big V8 ...which would be required for a full restoration. more like a lip-stick resto.

I'd be skeptical walking into that itchy deal. :lol:

 

[Tnstratofam]

Thourough inspection is key. She could be in real good shape, but she could also be a rotten mess. Lots of people would say pass, but if you like the style and layout I would at least check it out

 

[Watermann]

For his 3k asking price it had better be turn key! First thing I would check is if the boat is double decked with new carpet hiding a rotten mess underneath. I've seen boats 15 years newer sell for less with A1 drive trains.

 

[laurentide]

If you want a glass boat for saltwater use (the ad says it's in salt now?) I personally think you can do better than an old starcraft with questionable guts. Poly/vinylester resin is porous, and any 40+ year old poly boat will have rotten wood and delaminating fiberglass if it wasn't restored completely in the past decade. In my opinion you could find a much better glass hull for close to free and spend that 3K on a real restoration, not just a cosmetic upgrade.

Since the ad doesn't mention a stringer/transom restoration, it's 99% likely that the boat is a money pit.

And believe it or not fresh oil is a red flag because you can't see the condition of the used oil.

 

[Chinewalker]

I would definitely tread carefully. As much as I love the American series of hulls, unless they've been stored in a dry shed for the last 40 years, they ALL have rot in them. I've rebuilt three of them - gutted right to the outer skin - but never paid more than a few hundred for any of them.

Plusses - they are a very well designed hull and perform beautifully. They look really sharp, too! Timeless design!
Minuses - they were poorly constructed. Wood components had little or no sealing. Foam soaked up water. Rot ensues, starting from the bottom up.

As noted above, check to make sure the previous owner's work didn't just involve a quick slapping down of new plywood over the old floor to solidify things. Check the stringers, particularly where the motor mounts to them. Bottom line, if it shows ANY evidence of soft wood, either lowball him with a $300 offer, knowing you'll be restoring it all the way, or walk away if you're not willing to do the work.