1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

smokeonthewater

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Hey folks I'm new here and am picking up a new to me boat project

Bought it for a song with no engines or drives and will be repowering....
I've had quite a few crappy old boats and I spent last summer fixing up a 1980 Carver Santa Cruz 2667.... This Wellcraft is by far the nicest I've had and I am stoked.... Will be leaving tomarrow afternoon on a 1700 mile round trip to pick it up. I bought it on ebay with only a phone call and pictures to go on so I am sweating it a little worrying about what I could find when I get it home.
Final price..... $543.00 :D
I already have two alpha's and an 84 transom assy and parts of a 78 transom..... might need another.... for v8 chev. I have 3 good later model ex manifolds 2 y pipes and two sets of risers (although one set is 3" and one is 4") I have a couple engines with cracked blocks one 2 peice rear main and one one peice but with matching accys... not sure about the compatibility of the wiring harnesses yet.
Next option is a perfect 165 (250ci I6) complete drivetrain I can get free from a friend and another I can buy (whole boat) for 700... (not sure an I6 will fit in the eng comp without cutting)

The boat is missing the fridge and the stove but I have both.... I think the a/c belongs under the v berth and if so it looks to be missing in the pic... no genny but I have a 1k onan from the 50's ...no joke.... it runs and charges... will run a 13.5k btu rv a/c so a 10k marine unit should be no prob??

If anyone has any experience with this boat and anything I need to know other than the obvious "should have gotten a survey" I would love to hear it.
Also a line on a smokin deal on two engines would be great.
I will have just under $1500 in this thing when I get it home and I hope to have it on the water for under $3000 so an $8500 engine package won't work.... I'm poor but inventive and persistant
Thanks for any info
Kevin
 
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smokeonthewater

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

I also have a set of bennett tabs..... any thoughts on whether this hull needs tabs?
edit boat had bennet tabs on it already.... factory I think
 
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ezmobee

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Cool boat. Love that huge cabin. Good luck with it.
 

Aviator5

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

I own one for last 2 summers. Have done quite a bit of work on it, all by myself. I love this boat. Mine has 2 4.3 liter Mercs with Alpha one, both the same rotation. I would say that it is a bit underpowered. I know that they are available with twin V8s. That is what I would go if repower. I like the roomy engine compartment. I could reach practically anywhere, even drain the oil thru the drain plug in a small portions. I also bought a trailer for it, so I keep it in my backyard for the winter.
 

Bondo

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Will be leaving tomarrow afternoon on a 1700 mile round trip to pick it up.

Ayuh,... That's a Sweet lookin' project...

Not that it Really matters,...
But,...
You Do realize that, That's an Over-width hull,....
It can't be hauled, Legally, without over-width Permits....
The Federal highway width limit is 8',6"... that hull is Over 9' wide...
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

yup this will be my first time dodgin in a passenger vehicle... hmmm that reminds me.... must take cb.... we're draggin this back with my buddy's deisel burb as he gets 15 (edit got 10 mt and 5 loaded) mpg to my 12 with the powersmoke.... I dunno i might even buy a permit or two but I'm thinking that it's pretty unlikely that we'll get bothered.. anyone ever get stopped?... with a cdl and a full list of endorsements i'd have a hard time getting a break with the ignorance card...
 
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paulspaddle

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

I don't know how this all works, but I would be surprised if you didn't get stopped. Most scale houses will recognize that as a oversize with no signage with quick glance.

You might find it easier and cheaper to check out how to do it legally, but hey..."Canonball Run" was a great movie.
 

rbh

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Hello 350 cui 260 or 300 hp mercs, no 305 blocks.
and get the permits they will be cheap insurance against fines, stop at the scales before you pick up the boat.
 

Bondo

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

but I'm thinking that it's pretty unlikely that we'll get bothered..
Ayuh,... At less than 10',+ being a boat ain't Wide, at Eye Level....
I'd probably Cannonball it Myself....:rolleyes:
 

Aviator5

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

It doesn't look that wide when it is on the trailer.
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

I hear ya on the 260's..... my budget is VERY tight so I have to do what I can.... I am looking a pair of complete 1986 230 mie's (4brl 305's) with closed cooling... one is ccw and one is cw so that would have to be fixed but so far that is my most powerfull option....They have just under 1700 hrs on them but so far it sounds as if they have been very well maintained... owner does extensive long distance cruising around the bahamas and is dropping 35k on a yanmar conversion... :eek:
I have a 350 in my jeep project with less than an hour of run time on it .125 dome pistons .030 over edelbrock performer cam and intake.... later on I might put a v6 in the jeep and build a match to the 350 and swap in stainless head gaskets and brass plugs...... Of course I guess with closed cooling I don't need stainless or brass....hmmm
I have bootlegged before with a load 16'+ wide and a gross weight of 236,000 lbs (no details will be given till sol runs out lol) but that was plain terrifying.... getting caught would have been BAD!!
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

ugh... just walked in the door......been gone 36 hours and clocked 1800 miles.... 7-8k lbs of boat and trailer behind a suburban in a snowstorm in the hills of ny nj and pa was not all that fun...I have hardly even looked at the boat.... hopefully by this afternoon when I wake up the snow and ice will have melted off of it and I can check it out more.
will report soon.... goodnight
 

26aftcab454

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Smoke, wellcome to the CGWOG :cool:(Cool Guy Wellcraft Owner's Group).
I have a 1984 Wellcraft 26 aft cabin that looks to have the same footprint. It was repowerd with a 1996 7.4 L(300hp) bravoIII . it moves up on plane quick and WOT 4600RPM at 40MPH-I love this boat . it has a 1960s 3K onan genset- HVAC- Hotwater- Galley -power winlass- loaded. I mostly cruise around 3400-3800RPM = 26 to 30MPH.

your boat being just a little bigger I would suggest having at least 300-400HP minimum.

The hull is very solid and rides excellent in rough water. I have pepole all the time come up and tell me how much they like the boat.

Good luck and keep us posted.
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

hey thanks for the info... I just got done looking all through it.... man I got a smokin deal... I saw a couple 454's w bravo drives for $8500.... not an option for me but would be fun..... for an hour or two till it was out of gas....
This is a big boat.... the diesel suburban with 33's looked like a geo in front of it... It is probably a little too big for my trailer but not bad. I am gonna have to cut and weld a bit to move the bunks around to fit it right.. I'm also gonna have to put a bow eye in it since it never had one.... the windlass (good automatic?) has been removed but pulpit and anchor roller are there... It already has tabs on it.
It has cable steering but I don't know how to hook that up to dual i/o's I have seen external tierods but would rather have it internal. Do you just use the power steering on the starboard engine to steer both?
 

prop wash

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

I really hate to be the one to tell you this.. but if youll look at the transom pics from ebay you posted... the lower part of the transom is rotted, youll need to put a new transom in this boat before you repower it. Noone would part this boat out unless it had major problems
 

superpop

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Looks like a rotted transom to me as well. Hopefully it is not and it is just the pictures. If that is the case, throw a few motors and drives in it and enjoy. You could get a lot of sweat equity out of a boat like that as it looks like most of the work is just clean up and refinishing. Do not scrimp on the trailer though. If the one you have is not sufficient, please get one that is, no one wants to be behind a boat like that when the trailer fails. Even if the transom is rotted it is not that big of a deal to fix if you know what you are doing. May just be able to do the bottom half as it looks from the pics like the top half is fine. I would also clean out the bilge and paint it before putting new motors in. Could be a really nice boat but it is going to cost some money.
 

superpop

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

I would be suspect about the excuse given for parting out the boat as well. If it was not properly winterized they probably would have left the motors in as they were probably junk. Maybe they pulled them out to get to the transom assemblies, something just sounds fishy. If it was improperly winterized though you could have major plumbing problems when you connect water to the systems.
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

Well everything I was told about it has turned out to be dead on and the guy I got it from seems to be as honest as they come.
transom is perfect, solid as can be... looked rotted in pics to me too so I verified over the phone and was promised that it was just the pic... still that was the first thing I looked at when we got there.... the story was that the shop tore it apart and the owners could not come up with money to fix... The boat was then put through a new york garagemans auction which most of us call a mechanics lein.
I assume that the shop robbed the transom assy's, drives, genny, a/c unit, trim pumps, fridge, stove and anything else I find missing for either another project or for resale.... The water heater is missing but there are plastic hoses melted around where it was so it may have been damaged.... maybe turned on without water?? ... there are two mufflers inline for the genny.... would this cause too much back pressure?
I powered up some stuff today... all the 12 v stuff in the cabin works. pressure pump operates but fresh water tank is bone dry... hopefully they aren't frozen and cracked, tank could be fixed but pump would likely need replaced. I have no power to the helm yet but that either comes through the engine harnesses or I have yet to locate the wiring going up there. The blower switch for the genny controls dims the cabin lights in the OFF position but nothing comes on.... maybe a stuck blower and an upside down switch or maybe some thing is backfeeding? It has a portapotty with pumpout and macerator pump.... I'll likely replace it with an electric head as I'm just not a big fan of having the sewage tank in the cabin and there is plenty of room for a tank in the eng comp
I apreciate any and all input.... There is nothing about this thing I can't fix but I may need to learn a few things along the way...
On my last project I rebuilt and glassed the stringers, Glassed a few holes in the transom, replaced all (5) pumps, several hundred feet of wiring (cut out in chunks) engine transom assy and fridge.... much of the plumbing all through hulls some hydraylic line for the steering ...... gobs of other stuff I can't think of.... that boat sank up to the flying bridge helm in the ohio river and sat for a year or two after recovery...... It took me about $2000 and 3 months work but it was well worth it as I get compliiments every time I take it out....
biggest gripe I have so far is I cannot stand up in the cabin and must duck under the radar arch but then I'm 6'4"... oh well the next one will be bigger

Edit: trailer is 10k.... the work involved will be to make the bunks fit right... The trailer came new under a 27' century cruiser. this 28' cruiser has a different bottom profile though so the outer bunks are centered under the strakes instead of next to them... The trailer is not adjustable so I will need to cut and weld to "tune" it to my boat....
 
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Aviator5

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

According to the specs, Monte Carlo has 8500 lb dry weight.
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: 1989 Wellcraft Monte Carlo ?'s and build

well that's interesting... when I looked it up I got 7200... I also looked on nada for a value and could not find a dual engine setup which I think is standard on these.... I guess I'll need to scale it to be sure. Either way I'lll make sure to do it right.... I have no interest in killing anyone on the way to the lake. Where did you find that number?
 
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