Is this jet boat worth looking at???

Hey yall! Here is a sweet looking boat that i've had my eye on for a while and today I saw a for sale sign on it, but I am wondering if it is too much of a maintenance nightmare. I am going to just give you the description that is on the boat.<br /><br />"21' Glastron Carlson cv-21ss<br />The boat is powered by a 455 olds inboard marine engine. It is propelled by a Berkley jet pump.It was rebuilt last summer and includes new rings, new rod and main bearings, new lifters, new push rods, all new gaskets and seals, and new freeze plugs. The block has been hot tanked, magnafluxed, bored, sleeved, and honed by a proffessional machinist. The heads have been hot tanked, shot peened, magnafluxed, valve glides have been replaced, it has hardened seats, new valves, and valve seals, all new rocker studs and freeze plugs, It has an edelbrock torker 2 intake and 750 cfm carburator. It has new bilge blower, flame arrestor, bilge pump, ignition switch, carpet, paint on the top side, the interior has been redone. Comes with all literature, I have included parts catalog. Has new cd player that plays MP3s and new battery. Includes dual a dual axle trailer with a hydraulic tongue break, also trailer now has tongue jack."<br /><br />The price is $2250.00<br /><br />And no I am not trying to sell it. I don't even know what half of that stuff is. The guy is willing to test drive it on the lake.But from the sound of it, even if it doesn;t work out, I could piece it out on ebay and at least break even. Any input on this would be great as I know nothing about jet drives. This boat looks great and jsut the sight of it makes me drool.<br /><br />Is it worth a serious look?

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

Just spoke to the owner and he did come clean about something. He said the gas tank is the original and has sediment in it. He claims that after about 45 minutes it will start bogging, but all he does is take the clear view filter off and rinses it out and it works just fine for another 45 minutes. Does that sound about right. The gas tank is right under the back seat so replacing it would not be a big deal.<br /><br />I am going to take a test drive in in the next few days. But I am hoping to be armed with as much info, so I don't step into an instant money pit.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

Well you will have to take his word on all the engine rebuild stuff, no way to provide actual proof without tearing it down. It would be a big plus if he had the whole thing done at a shop and the shop would extend any warranty your way. <br /><br />*If not done at a shop see if he is willing to provide a some sort of written guarantee himself on that engine. That would at least give you legal recourse if the engine fails and it is not your fault.<br /><br />The rebuild sounds solid and done well as far as rebuilds are concerned.<br /><br />Yes replacing or cleaning the tank should not be too hard at all. At least it does not sound like it would be where it is located.<br /><br />Things to look out for on an older boat is the condition of the gel coat and more importantly check all the stringers, transom and the floor for rot very very closely. The only method I know of is to use a screw driver handle or something and knock on the hull inside and out looking for any soft sounding spots. Look for anything that may indicated water leaks on the transom around the jet or around any transom exhaust. Look for any old holes in the transom and whether or not they were patched correctly. Look for any cracking in the hull, some spider cracks would be normal but anything large would possibly be a problem. Check the condition of the hull bottom for any holes cracks or excessive wear from beaching.<br /><br />So if the engine is a good rebuild (hard to say for sure) and the electrical is in good shape and the wood in the boat has no rot that you can find and the hull seems to be in good shape then the boat would be a good buy if that is the type of boat you are looking for. Price sounds about fair but I would check the blue book value first and compare that with the facts of it's condition.<br /><br />You did not say much about the jet drive, if he increased horse power over what it was when he rebuilt the engine then the impeller may need to be resized and then set up for proper angles. The jet drive typically needs to have wear rings replaced every few years which is no big deal.<br /><br />Sounds like this is an honest guy if he told you about the tank, your test drive more than likely would not have shown the problem and then after you bought the boat you would have been pretty upset. Ask lots of questions about what he had done to the boat and the condition of the hull and all the wood in the boat.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

Thanks Elk, He did say he redid the floor also. Said he used 3/4 something or other plywood. I've heard the term thrown around here a few times. The hull seems to be in great shape, but I will take an extra close look at it. As I have been known to overlook obvious stuff before. I will definately take your advise on all your suggestions. Again, thanks.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

If you can, borrow a portable gas tank and hook it up in place of the onboard one. This will tell you if it is only sediment or the problem is something larger. Those Carlson's are nice rigs. My buddy has an 18' CVX with an I/O. Nice ride.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

I've looked up the value on the NADA website for this boat. Looks like the boat is valued between $1300 and $1610. But this is for one with 260 hp. I don't really know much about how the size of the motor translates to HP but I would think a 455 puts out a bit more than that. Any of you have a clue as to the approximate HP of the described motor. Also, the motor was just rebuilt last summer, should I take that into consideration?

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

I'd be curious to know where the sediment came from. Was it ever sunk?

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

A fresh rebuild makes the boat more valuable. Also, is a trailer included? NADA prices them seperate, so take that into consideration. NADA also has some verbage on there that boats (and other things) that are in very good condition can be worth significantly more than their avg. retail price.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

BoatBuoy - the owner sais the boat sat for a long time with its previous owner and the gas tank has rust and everything else in it.<br /><br />The boat does come with a very nice trailer. I told my wife (while pleading my case) that the trailer alone is worth a significant amount. The trailer has no rust, tires look great, new bearings with bearing buddies, new hydraulic tongue brake. I am going to ask for test drive this weekend. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

Originally posted by water_surge:<br />Looks like the boat is valued between $1300 and $1610.

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Nada is completely worthless on anything but a new boat. That boat is easily worth $3-4000. Sounds like a really good deal to me, although I've never heard anything good about the 455 marine engine.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

If that were in Ca it would be sold now and you would still be looking. The 455 Olds is a good engine, the jets are not efficient, you lose a lot of power through them but they have their good side too. Fuel consumption will be high.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

Well, I took a test drive out on the lake yesterday. And as it turned out, I dont have jet boat. Another guy showed up for a test drive when I did. And I had the nagging feeling that they where aqauintances. So as soon as the other guy leaves this guy tells me that the other guy has offered him $2500 for the boat. I did not get a good feeling that this was a straight deal. So I told him that if he could get $2500 from the other guy he should go for it.<br /><br />This would have turned out to be quite the project boat for me anyway, not what I am looking for. The seats needed to be redone. An the card needed some work. If you tried to accelarate fast from a stand still it would start to bog down. The guy claimed it was some sort of rods in the carb. The motor would have been a nightmare to work on as the compartment was way down and really tight. And the thing that really nagged at me was the speed. I asked the guy several times how fast the boat would run, and he would heem haw about it every time. The speed--meter wonly read 40 and I don't really think it ran much faster than that.<br /><br />So, I think I will just let him unload this boat on someone else.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

good for you for walking away wish i would have

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

Originally posted by water_surge:<br /> the owner sais the boat sat for a long time with its previous owner and the gas tank has rust and everything else in it.

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This causes a flag to go up. The fuel tank may be made out of polyprop, aluminum, or maybe stainless steel, tho unlikely. I don't see any of these contributing "rust" to the fuel. However, if the boat was left sitting for a long time it is possible for varnish on the walls of the fuels system to flake off and get sucked in. In a clear-view filter it will look like rust.<br /><br />If you get the boat, I suggest you replace that filter with an appropraite Racor or equiv after you clean the fuel system.

Re: Is this jet boat worth looking at???

The only reason I can think of why you would put a sleeve in that engine was because it blew up, or broke a ring that wiped out that cylinder.<br />Next why does someone put all that money in a boat they are going to sell?<br />If it is just sediment, why didn't he clean it out?<br />If it sound to good to be true......it's normally a lie.