infideltarget
Master Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2010
- Messages
- 802
Well...here goes. Either I have amnesia, am a glutton for punishment, or I have unconsciously started smoking crack. Not sure which it is, but whatever the case, I have a new project boat. Bit-o-history...have car resto experience-o-plenty with everything from old and late model Mustangs, to Hudsons. Have done a little of everything, and can fix most anything (ha! riiiight...) so a few years ago I tried to go the "cheap" way and bought my first project boat. Project boats are NOTHING like project cars, I quickly learned. Project #1 - 1984 19' Invader bowrider with a 5.7 and an OMC Stringer drive, on a crappy tandem axle trailer. Total package cost - $500. I thought I had a bargain. Long story short, rotten to the shell...and a Stringer drive. After 8 months of misery and toil, someone made me a deal I could not refuse on it, and away it went. Project #2 (listed in the Four Winns section) 1998 Four Winns 220 Horizon with a 5.7 Volvo-Penta GSi and Cobra SX. If interested, you can read about it here: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=442937 .
Heart-breaking disappointment, and I swore I would never again get a project boat. I would stick to cars or houses as projects, and buy a ready-to-go boat.
Project #3. Never say never. I accidentally typed in the wrong location while killing time and cruising Craigslist, and my pointer landed exactly on the ad for a 1990 Four Winns 200 Horizon for $1500. Why not look? Look indeed. Within an hour, I had struck a deal with the seller to hold and store the boat for me (for an extra $250) until I could get everything lined up stateside to get it transported 250 miles to my home in Tennessee.
This is what I got: a one owner 1990 200 Horizon with a 5.8 OMC Cobra, SLX package (tri-color gel coat, depth finder, etc), a beautifully kept interior with only 4 small tears, and no rot of any kind, (bow filler cushions are even still there), solid floors and transom (always kept in stacked dry storage since new), and a fantastic original Four Winns tandem axle trailer with guide on bunks, surge brakes, removable tounge, new tires and bearings with bearing buddies, and very little usage. Doesn't sound like much of a project boat does it? Well...here's the bad: you may notice the thick dark mud on the hull...this boat got caught in the floods in Nashville in 2010, and was swept away and partially submerged. The only thing that kept it from sinking was the fact that it was in fairly shallow water when it came to rest, and got stuck in the mud as the water receded. The stern of the boat had 10-12 inches of water in it, so the engine was flooded. The owners insurance company pulled the heads off of it, saw water in the cylinders, and totaled it out. It has very light oxidation above the rub rail, the teak needs to be refinished, someone swapped out the tach with one from a Sea Ray (why?) and someone stole the faceplate to the crappy Dual Marine stereo (again...why?)
So, after $250 storage fee, $1500 purchase price, and $350 delivery fee, it sits in my yard now with a nice trailer-able cover on it, waiting for the first week in May, when it goes to the mechanic for a complete sterndrive rebuild, and a bow to stern check up. Wish I was stateside to do it myself...I think I could actually handle this one!
Here are the pics I have, and I will post more as stuff gets completed. The first four pics are of it at the seller's location, before I bought it.
Input and criticism is appreciated.
Heart-breaking disappointment, and I swore I would never again get a project boat. I would stick to cars or houses as projects, and buy a ready-to-go boat.
Project #3. Never say never. I accidentally typed in the wrong location while killing time and cruising Craigslist, and my pointer landed exactly on the ad for a 1990 Four Winns 200 Horizon for $1500. Why not look? Look indeed. Within an hour, I had struck a deal with the seller to hold and store the boat for me (for an extra $250) until I could get everything lined up stateside to get it transported 250 miles to my home in Tennessee.
This is what I got: a one owner 1990 200 Horizon with a 5.8 OMC Cobra, SLX package (tri-color gel coat, depth finder, etc), a beautifully kept interior with only 4 small tears, and no rot of any kind, (bow filler cushions are even still there), solid floors and transom (always kept in stacked dry storage since new), and a fantastic original Four Winns tandem axle trailer with guide on bunks, surge brakes, removable tounge, new tires and bearings with bearing buddies, and very little usage. Doesn't sound like much of a project boat does it? Well...here's the bad: you may notice the thick dark mud on the hull...this boat got caught in the floods in Nashville in 2010, and was swept away and partially submerged. The only thing that kept it from sinking was the fact that it was in fairly shallow water when it came to rest, and got stuck in the mud as the water receded. The stern of the boat had 10-12 inches of water in it, so the engine was flooded. The owners insurance company pulled the heads off of it, saw water in the cylinders, and totaled it out. It has very light oxidation above the rub rail, the teak needs to be refinished, someone swapped out the tach with one from a Sea Ray (why?) and someone stole the faceplate to the crappy Dual Marine stereo (again...why?)
So, after $250 storage fee, $1500 purchase price, and $350 delivery fee, it sits in my yard now with a nice trailer-able cover on it, waiting for the first week in May, when it goes to the mechanic for a complete sterndrive rebuild, and a bow to stern check up. Wish I was stateside to do it myself...I think I could actually handle this one!
Here are the pics I have, and I will post more as stuff gets completed. The first four pics are of it at the seller's location, before I bought it.
Input and criticism is appreciated.