inthedirtagain
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2011
- Messages
- 321
Looking to potentially repower my boat and not sure which direction I should go. I inherited my grandparents boat when they passed away and no one else in the family wanted it. It has a TON of sentimental value to me, so I'm not 100% sure I'm gonna do this. Its a 1969 Silverline DeVille with the original Merc 1000. We use the boat primarily for watersports, but I do occasionally take it out fishing. Trouble is, that old Merc is smelly and a little underpowered. My wife is constantly on me about how loud it is and getting fumes from it, either cruising or skiing behind it. Been thinking of replacing it with something more modern because of the reasons listed above, but also because no repair facilities will touch it due to age/parts availability. For nostalgic purposes, I'd like to leave it the way it is because it runs out good (36mph @ 5300 rpm/6000ft elevation), but reverse is getting almost no engagement in the water and its been adjusted a bazillion times. I also just added a bow-mount trolling motor with wireless remote. So here's my dilemma:
I'm not worried about cost, but would like to consider a good used outboard over anything new because I'm practical. The hull isn't getting any younger and I need to redo the entire interior and floor eventually. Modern outboards, 2T or 4T, weigh more than what I have and I'm only rated for 110hp. I'd likely get as good or better performance from any modern 90hp anyways, but I'm worried about weight. Should I be? Is adding an extra 100-150 lbs on the transom any different than having an extra teenager on board? If I end up going forward with the repower, I'll likely need newer controls/steering cables, and that will add to the cost/complexity that I'm not 100% sure my local repair guys would be willing to do. Then, what to do with the old ToP?
vs.
The other idea I have is just getting another boat and dedicating it to watersports. Again, not terribly worried about cost, or storage for that matter (I have a 40x60 shop for our toys). Several years ago, I picked up a mid-80's 18ft Invader with a 3.0Merc for almost nothing and we only used it a couple of times before selling. Loved the extra leg room, quietness of operation, open bow, better power/economy of that kind of setup. I could easily find something similar to meet my wife's wants/needs and it'll likely be around the $$. An I/O would be significantly quieter in operation while also being more fuel efficient and having the low-end grunt that we need with boards/skis. Could also look for something with a tower when my current boat couldn't likely handle that kind of stress. Hmm, now that I've typed all this out, I think I've found a solution. Your thoughts?
I'm not worried about cost, but would like to consider a good used outboard over anything new because I'm practical. The hull isn't getting any younger and I need to redo the entire interior and floor eventually. Modern outboards, 2T or 4T, weigh more than what I have and I'm only rated for 110hp. I'd likely get as good or better performance from any modern 90hp anyways, but I'm worried about weight. Should I be? Is adding an extra 100-150 lbs on the transom any different than having an extra teenager on board? If I end up going forward with the repower, I'll likely need newer controls/steering cables, and that will add to the cost/complexity that I'm not 100% sure my local repair guys would be willing to do. Then, what to do with the old ToP?
vs.
The other idea I have is just getting another boat and dedicating it to watersports. Again, not terribly worried about cost, or storage for that matter (I have a 40x60 shop for our toys). Several years ago, I picked up a mid-80's 18ft Invader with a 3.0Merc for almost nothing and we only used it a couple of times before selling. Loved the extra leg room, quietness of operation, open bow, better power/economy of that kind of setup. I could easily find something similar to meet my wife's wants/needs and it'll likely be around the $$. An I/O would be significantly quieter in operation while also being more fuel efficient and having the low-end grunt that we need with boards/skis. Could also look for something with a tower when my current boat couldn't likely handle that kind of stress. Hmm, now that I've typed all this out, I think I've found a solution. Your thoughts?
