Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

[dlayman]

Hi all..
Looking for input and/or opinions on some boats i'm looking at. I lost out on the Searay I was looking at last year and havent moved on anything else yet.

My brother in law has aquired a 1984(?) Supra Ryder inboard ski boat that I have been pretty impressed with considering it's age. Real nice and well taken care of (or so it seems thus far). Its got the 351 pleasurecraft and after sitting (brother in laws fault) for almost 2 years we were able to get it fired up and in the water. Ran good and handled the chop pretty darn nicely. It's actually a better ride than my father in laws eLan.. Top speed was about 43mph. That's with old gas and no tune up after sitting.
I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with this boat and motor. Has anyone ever "built" this motor? Stock hp was what, 260?
Any thoughts on what it could do with some mild upgrades?

The stringers check out ok as does most everything else. I really like the "nostalgic" look and feel of the boat.
He's asking $6500 but says he's gonna be raising the price soon. (he doesnt know that I might be interested) unless he reads these boards.. lol

Anyway, i'm looking at a few others as well and will be looking for your input on those as well but this post is long enough already..

Thanks a bunch...

 

[spudshaft]

Re: Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

If it is a 351, it is a Ford. Build it as strong as you want.

I don't know that boat, but sounds like a lot of $$ (although fun), so BUMP to the top

 

[bcons]

Re: Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

I had one, my daughter called it the "rainbow boat" cause of the pin stripes on the side and multi colered interior.
Great boat loved it.
Performance mods don't help much with inboards. With a single forward gear you're only going to do so much. It's a VERY easy boat to work on take the engine cover completely out of the boat and you can completely access everything including the tranny.
One peice of advice being black, oxidation is a big problem, and black looks HORRIBLE all chalky. I found that buffing every spring with polishing compound & a 10" buffer then applying "NU finish" the cheap stuff from auto parts store twice a year worked well.
Does ride very well, holeshot & ride are the advantages of a displacement hull, then the skags on the bottom keep it from pitching much at all. When we first switched back to planing hull my daughter was scared everytime we turned on plane.
Depending on the condition, if good & good trailer the price seems fair. All Ski-wakeboard boats hold value well, and unless there's a big problem $6-10k is the floor.

 

[dlayman]

Re: Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

Thanks, now I wont be able to get "the rainbow boat" out of my head.. lol

The boat does exactly as you said. Pretty good hole shot and little pitch and rides very well for an inboard ski type boat. It also has deeper sides than most other ski brands i've looked at. I would like to be able to get some more performance out of it though to make having a thirsty V8 a bit more worth it.. I mean, many of those 4.3 ltr's are doing 45+mph and seem to have no problem getting skiers up..

So, all inboards have only "one" forward gear? I can see where that could be a big performance limiter. My father in laws eLan does about 54 with the ski type prop he has on it. He put a different prop on once and said he hit 60 although i've never witnessed it. Ofcourse his boats much newer, fuel injected, and has a 325hp V8 and I think its also lighter..

Sorry to be an idiot but i'm not exactly sure what a "displacement" hull is???
Thanks again....

 

[Rscardina]

Re: Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

My .02 cents..

Its an 84..(26 yrs old) if the engine is that old too and it sat for 2 years..then i would be concerned a little. Not saying its trash or anything of the sort but I am always a bit cautious when the engines get up in age..i hope you have service records (ok maybe not all of them)..

Secondly, buying a boat from family...this is tough.. especially if the floor drops out and engine dies or something that causes a lot of monetary pain could create a wedge in the relationship. I know, you are both grown adults with toys..so this make you both big babbies! I am one too..so no harm there..

Lastly, price..$6,500 is high, in my opinion and it appears he may be going higher.. i most recently sold a 1985 searay seville with a 170 merc..the engine was replaced in 2004.. I sold it for 3K..I could have went higher but I wanted it gone to get something different..

I would say that 3-4 k is the right number..but thats just me and I do not know this boat that well

 

[dlayman]

Re: Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

I hear ya on the family thing. Thanks....

yeah, the age bothers me as well but then again after looking it all over and taking it out and seeing and feeling first hand how she ran and performed, I go back to thinking that it would probably be ok. Even the exterior is very nice and almost scratch and rub free.
I don't know, theres alot of boats on the market and a few i've got my eye on that i'll be asking you all about as well.
The funny thing is that the 'ol Supra almost looks better when running out in the water (from viewing it from shore) than many of the newer boats on the lake. It kinda has it's own unique persona. Sounds good to with the Super Traps.
I just keep thinking about what it would be like and run like after I got done with it. If I clean and tune up the engine, adjust and possibly re-jet the carb, swap out the stock intake for something like the edelbrock Performer, change out the prop to a wider 4 or 5 blade with a different pitch and then possibly repaint or have a wrap put on the exterior and yada, yada, yada..

 

[bcons]

Re: Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

As far as value here's a link there's very few 86-90 Supras for sale, but they're all $7-$13k.
boats.com/boats/search/boats_search.html?ic=true&slim=quick&sm=3&bn=advancedsearch&Ntk=boatsEN&locale=US&sfm=false&Ntt=&bcint=1&is=false&bclint=102&man=Supra&fromYear=1985&toYear=1992&fromLength=&toLength=&luom=126&hmid=0&ftid=0&enid=0&currencyid=100&fromPrice=&toPrice=&psdistance=1&pszipcode=13114&city=&ac=&ac=&ac=&ac=&spid=&cint=100&rid=&pbsint=&Search.x=0&Search.y=0

A displacement hull is simply a boat that displaces water rather than ride on top of it. All inboard ski boats are displacement hulls. They all have MUCH better holeshots, & midrange power, but at a cost of top end speed.

Look at the transom when the boat is on the trailer. It probably has what appear to be trim tabs on the back, although no control in the boat. Manual adjustment only when out of the water. Some adjustment will alter the way the boat rides and topend speed.

Looks? Yeah at first glance when on the trailer the boat has some odd look to it especially the wide bow, yet once in the water it's sweet looking. That bow however is what provides the ride. I had mine out and got stuck in 2-3' chop, the bow sprays it all off to the sides. Except when the wind really gets a hold of the spary it's also a VERY dry riding boat.

As far as comparing to a conventional bowrider with the 4.3l when it comes to power & holeshot, there's NONE. The first time you're in any inboard ski boat Nautique, malibu, supra any and realize how fast the skier or tuber is out of the water & on plane it will amaze you. You could put 2 grown men on a giant tube, and they'll be up faster than a little kid behind another boat.

The only trade is top end of 45 vs 50.

 

[bcons]

Re: Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

Here's an 84 Ryder
Interior Shot, no trailer, dash & gauges look shot, swim platform is bad and mounts to the stern are shot.
and it's still $2500
http://www.boats.com/boat-details/Supra-Supra-Rider-19/111850031

 

[dlayman]

Re: Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

Oh wow.. That boats pretty rough. I guess they do hold value a bit better than i/o's and o/b's..
I'll see if I can get some pic's of the Supra i'm looking at...

 

[dlayman]

Re: Your input please: '84 Supra Ryder

Here's some pictures...