What boat should I keep??

[lumpys22]

I've been looking for a decent family boat since last fall. Something for my wife, 5 year old daughter and I to have fun with fishing as well as tubing. I had bought a 1988 bluefin sportsman 1900 w/ 85 force outboard about a month ago at a decent price. Classic project boat seats worn, deck soft but hull in nice shape.. sort of the diamond in the ruff if you know what I mean. The other day I come across a 1989 spectrum 1950 with 2.3 cobra ib/ob.. again reasonably priced. In similar shape as the other, so I ended up buying that one as well. (Ive always liked the looks of that style fish and ski boat) So I'm thinking that I'll decide which one to keep and sell the other. I haven't had either one in the water but I'm leaning toward keeping the spectrum but wanted to get the pros and cons of the outboard versus the ib/ob. This is my first boat but I've been on the water quite a bit over the years.Again both boats are in very similar shape and will need a deck, console, seats etc.. I am a builder by trade so the work doesn't worry me and I'm prepared to spend some additional money to do things right. I'm thinking 5/8 acx ply epoxied and while I have the decks out I'll remove poured foam and gluv-vit the interior hull etc... I'm starting to ramble on.....
So here are my questions
1 what speed could I expect out of each boat?
2 will both of them be able to pull a tube or 200 lb skier?
3 Which one would be more economical to run?
4 What are the pros and cons of ob and ib/ob?
Thanks in advance, I've enjoyed reading about all the restorations and I'm looking forward to getting started with my own. This forum has so much information that it's almost mind boggling... but in a good way.
thanks lump

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: What boat should I keep??

Forget the 2.3 cobra it will be an even bigger maintenance nightmare then the force ob.

If you concerned with speed neither one is going to be a speed demon.

An experienced 200 lb skier can be pulled up (depending on skill level) by a 25 hp ob.

Neither is going to cheap to run but I suspect with the maintenance the ob in this case will be cheaper.

OMC parts are hard to get and so are force parts...... most people shy away from those two brands equally.

 

[osborn159]

Re: What boat should I keep??

my .02
id stay away from the cobra io setup for the afore mentioned reasons, the ob would be much easier to deal with swaping out down the road if the need arises, if it does buy another cheap outboard powered project boat and swap the powerplant, much simpler than swaping an io powerplant, plus youll wind up all the controls and associated necessities to swap it out.
and look for a powerplant setup from a mfg that is still in business, mercury, evinrude, johnson, yamaha, suzuki, etc.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: What boat should I keep??

Old I/Os are money pits. Keep the outboard.

 

[lumpys22]

Re: What boat should I keep??

Ok I'm hearing what you are saying about the 2.3... but The boat just seems so much bigger than the other. The splash well on the bluefin just cuts into the deck space quite considerably. Here is what has me on the fence.The motor was just tuned up and runs well ( on land). Although I have not done a compression test. The outdrive was suppose to of been rebuilt last spring. (No documentation just his word) What things should I be looking at to check to see if they were truly replaced? And what are some of the wear signs that should send me running? (yeah I know its a 20 year old boat) Could someone walk me thru things to check out to give me an overall assesment? I can see me keeping which ever boat I decide, maybe 2 to 3 years before upgrading. I'd like to know where I stand before I get moving. I'm considering at least re-decking and building new consoles on both boats because they are almost exact replicas. My thought is if I'm set up to do it once it's not alot more work (although materials) to use the first pc. as a template and rout out another pc. for the other. We'll see if that pans out. Can anyone with similar boats and power tell me what I could expect as far as performance, I'm really curious. Thanks for any and all input, The truth of the matter is that my pockets are not bottomless these days and as much as I would like to have a "little bigger" boat I have to be practical. Thanks again
lump

 

[Bluegills Unlimited]

Re: What boat should I keep??

I have an 1988 Blue Fin as well, with the same motor (except my boat is 17') I am very happy with it, just my opinon

 

[lumpys22]

Re: What boat should I keep??

Bluegills-
How fast do you suppose your boat will go?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: What boat should I keep??

The outdrive was suppose to of been rebuilt last spring. (No documentation just his word) What things should I be looking at to check to see if they were truly replaced? And what are some of the wear signs that should send me running? (yeah I know its a 20 year old boat) Could someone walk me thru things to check out to give me an overall assessment?

Put a post up in the I/O section with these questions. You'll get TONS of info.