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

[brokemerc]

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

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

Yea I feel for ya,, But my drive looks brand new, not a spec of rust anywhere.. As far as I know an Alpha 1 is an Alpha 1,,, at one point I told her oops did I say 95,, I meant 99... Bad thing is my father in law just dumped 3 grand in his 1993 ProLine at this same dealership not more than 2 months ago... Maybe it's more the profit margin rather than the actual year that truly matters.. Keep us informed on your Heap...

 

[JustJason]

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

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

when no ones looking pour a couple of gallons of salt water down the carb and let it sit for a few days.......
.......sounds evil i know... but you'd be doing the guy a favor in the long run....

 

[Don S]

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

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

Sounds tempting, but I don't work that way.

 

[mcleaves]

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

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

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.

Two things.

1. I'd make damn sure the compression is junk. By that I mean be REALLY critical.. If that don't work then for a beer I'll take care of it for ya.

2. It's IMPOSSIBLE for you to be grumpier!

M

 

[ziggy]

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

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

amazing.... surely ya can quote a reasonable, factual, price that is way outa hand (very high) to make that go away....... looks like a lifetime of broke bolt extraction practice to me...

Sounds tempting, but I don't work that way.

sometimes it sure sucks to be honest don't it......... maybe ya can use honesty to yer advantage and tack on extra $'s for the extra time it's gonna take.....

 

[Don S]

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

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

2. It's IMPOSSIBLE for you to be grumpier!

Wanna Bet?

 

[Don S]

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

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

surely ya can quote a reasonable, factual, price that is way outa hand (very high) to make that go away.......

I started with 5 to 7 grand and stated it was a STARTING PRICE and as bad as it looked, it would all be time and material and we have no idea what the insides of the engine or drive look like at this point. No water in eithers oil, so can't use that as an excuse.

The good news is, I get paid by the hour. The bad news is. How long does a company stay in buisness doing this kind of work for those with little or no money?

 

[achris]

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

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

Don,

Is your boss completely insane????

IF you do manage to do a Lazarus on it and get it running and all back in the boat, it's only a matter of time (A VERY short time) before it's back with something else wrong... Rubbish like that can NEVER be fixed and become reliable again. That thing has to be over 30 years old, at best!!! IT'S GONE TO GOD!!!

And when he does come back you can bet he's going to be asking for it to be fix again FREE OF CHARGE, because YOU obviously didn't do it right the first time. Be afraid, be very afraid....

But I guess I'm saying all the things you're already said, so just ignore me (I'm used to it)

I feel for you.... Just remember what someone else told me at times like this... Just keep breathing... out with the stress, in with the dollars, out with the stress, in with the dollars..............

Chris........

 

[Bondo]

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

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

So if I seem a little grumpier than normal, at least you will know why.

It's IMPOSSIBLE for you to be grumpier!

Wanna Bet?

Ayuh,........ I'll take $20..00 on that.................


Just Curious,.......... What Is the hull,..??

 

[HT32BSX115]

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

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

I hope you're getting the money in advance and there's no guarentee!​

The crowning glory would be the guy saying he has no money when the bill comes due and you have to try to sell it for the bill. ( I'll venture to bet boat is not even worth the parts bill!!)​

 

[Don S]

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

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

Parts are to be paid for up front before ordering. Labor will be charged weekly or whenever it seems to be getting close to a grand. We will gaurentee what we fix, but not the internal engine and drive parts that we don't fix.

The boat is a ????????? , sorry, Not a clue, haven't seen a name (didn't really look very hard), and it's to old for a HIN.

What I am going to do monday, is find a starter (even a cheap automotive if I can) just to crank it over. File the points and hopefully get some spark, I have a usable Holly carb I can put on it, and see if I can make it run, and at least hear what it sounds like without a lot of parts.
Then a compression test, leakdown test, and pressure test the cooling system. If it passes all of those, I order a truck load of parts.

We'll see.

 

[SuperNova]

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

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

Looks like the main hassle is going to be dealing with all the rusted fasteners. Everything else is mostly R&R. It's not like you have to restore those valve covers or the intake manifold--that would truly suck. If the engine is good internally then everything else is superficial. At least you get paid hourly--I have to do stupid s**t like that a lot--but I'm flat-rate.

I tell 'em all the time--One part number fixes the whole mess --in this case that part number would be a HIN
--
Stan

 

[starsnstripers]

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

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

GEESH Don, here's a tip for ya- there's a little release button on your compression gauge, just hold it in when doing the compression test. shhh I didn't say that! I need a mooring. SOOOOoooo, ya wanna be a marine mechanic huh? I'd run far and fast. I'll pray for the tests to come out good.(not) Anyway Don best of luck with that,that,that bote.

 

[obezag]

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."

Jeez Don S. Buy the guy a 6, no 12, no 30 pack to "tune up" and send him off fishing!

 

[achris]

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

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

...We will gaurentee what we fix, but not the internal engine and drive parts that we don't fix....

I understand that, but to a client.... "You fix the boat and now it's not working again... You didn't fix it properly."

I don't know how many times I've heard that!!! The fact that you fixed the water pump and now the alternator's crapped out seems to be irrelevant to an upset client...

A little story.....

We had a guy come in and ask to 'borrow' a flywheel puller. We said no... as you do. He bought the whole boat in and asked us to remove the flywheel, then said "Heck, just do the whole job for me". I asked where the flywheel nut was... It was damaged, along with the first couple of threads on the crank. He'd been using a hammer to try and 'jarr' the flywheel off!!! I said "You need a new crank." He couldn't afford one and asked me to help him out. So I said "I'll do my best but, no guarantees". (That is where I made my mistake). He said he understood. I put new points in, cleaned up the damaged thread with a thread file, torqued up a new flywheel nut, test ran the engine and sent him on his way....

3 days later he's back, angry! The engine wouldn't start.. I checked it out and found the flywheel key was sheared... The nut had torqued up, but only on a piece of damaged thread, not the flywheel, hence the sheared key.

He threatened blue murder, so I fixed it again, this time with him witnessing... We again test ran the engine and he was happy again (slightly) and off he went.

About a week later we got a call from our government department for Consumer Affairs to tell us that the engine had seized and that he had taken the boat elsewhere and we could expect a bill for the repairs, as he suspected we used 'un-oiled' fuel to test the engine so it would seize.... As I knew the owner of the other boatshop I gave him a call and let him know what he could expect from this guy... The owner called me a few days later and told me that the problem was that the gearbox was full of water and that is what had seized. There is a God after all

Chris............

 

[Don S]

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

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

You're preaching to the choir Chris. I know the game, and how it works and exactly what you are saying. The shop owner on the other hand .................... not so much.
Personally, I looked at the boat and said no before I ever put a wrench to it. I also explained my concerns to the owner (of the shop, not the boat) that this was going to be another loosing job. We are doing the job.
I may pack up my tools and call it quits before it's over, but as it is. The job is a job, and I will try to do my best to fix it correctly. It's all out of my hands. I am just an employee.

 

[Four Pyrates]

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

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

Hi Don,

I don't think I've seen one that bad in a long time. Good luck with that mess. The boss must have been drinking the koolaid to take that on.

 

[Bt Doctur]

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

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

Don, that is definitely a handful.Even I would refuse it and recommend a drop in.
Lets see: rear mounting bolt,(had one take 3 hours to drill and clean)bellhousing bolts, starter bolts,oil pan bolts, manifold bolts, manifold, carb, starter, waterpump, therm housing,dist,fuel pump,wiring harness if it went under water,pulleys must be trashed too,this far down go for a coupler too. And this is assuming it has compression ,and dosent have a cracked block
Good Luck and keep us posted.

 

[erikgreen]

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.

Hey Don, didn't a read a while back that you had retired or something? Thought this was all in the past for you?

 

[mcleaves]

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

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

2. It's IMPOSSIBLE for you to be grumpier!

Wanna Bet?

I think that depends on how often you get to yell at the customer!

Seriously though, forget about the point of view of YOUR pain for a moment. It's OBVIOUS why you don't want to do the job. But from the customers point of view what is the benefit here? I mean if I brought my boat in and they told me it was going to 5K+ to fix something that looked like that, or for about the same money I could get a clean rebuilt it'd be a no brainer. What does he think he is getting out of this to want to move forward?

It just makes no sense! As someone else here pointed out, a 383 would be more than reasonable in terms of cost compared to what he is about to spend.. Do you have ANY insight to what this clown is thinking?

M