Re: Would you buy an uncovered nineteen?
I found another one (1975) that has been used every year (so it is a running boat)
that seems like a good start
but has been stored outside and uncovered in the Michigan winter.
that don't seem like such a good idea. seems like that's really wear out the carpet and upholstery. depending on the color, the upholstery and carpet may be available from AristoCraft. they're still in biz down in alpharatta ga. go to their website for contact info. fwiw. my nineteen is lime green from the factory. neither my carpet or upholstery is available.
it sits alongside his house with the drain plug pulled
that's good, exactly where mine sits. however i have a cover on mine so no snow intrusion. depending on how deep the snow got and weather or not the water was draining or not. i hear freeze, thaw cycles ain't to good on boats + when the water refreezes, i wonder if it'd plug the drain plug hole with ice till it gets pretty warm.
that's all i do to mine too. drain the manifold and block. as long as they're drained it should be ok.
That is the extent of winterization, which I find troublesome.
agreed. i got a three page list of what i do to mine at winterization. lots of grease points to hit, gear lub to drain, engine old to replace, wheel brgs to be packed, etc. when i bought mine, i looked it over bow to stern. including the bottom.
but I don't really want to get into transom repairs.
while i've not replaced mine, i think i see the wood that it has and it's only where the drive attachs to the boat. i don't think it's a full wood transom. more glass that wood. w/o going to look, i'd think that the boss where my drive mates to is maybe 1.5' X 1.5'.
good thing is, a nineteen is mostly a glass boat. no wood stringers or deck. only wood i'm aware of in this boat is the transom, seats, and a piece of wood glassed to the bottom of the hull liner where the ft. engine mounts bolt into. they are filled with full foam though. i've heard of this getting saturated due to leaking between the hull and the hull liner. good thing (if there is a good thing) about only foam is that if it is saturated the repair is cut two access ports under the carpet in the back and dig all the old foam out and replace. while i've never rebuilt a boat, the repair sounds far easier than replacing stringers and decks and transoms.
What do you think the odds are that this boat is worth it?
don't know. get some pics of it maybe, or if it's close go look at it.
the one i ended up with i talked with the previous owner to the point where the only option was to either go look at it or give up the idea. my problem was the boat was 550 miles away. in my case it worked out and po described his boat about like it was.
agreed on the sea trail if at all possible.
maybe a compression test? a drive pressure test? inspect the gear lub for water and metal fragments?
good luck in your acquisition. imho, these are worthy boats to try to acquire (starting w/ the fact that they're mostly glass boats, let alone the sliding hardtop). i sure like mine anyways.
