Used 1988 Rinker 206 Captiva - What to look for?

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

Going to look at a used 1988 Rinker 206 Captiva bow rider.

Boat was a trailered freshwater boat, never bottom painted. Motor is the 305 Cobra. Boat looks in pretty good shape, some vinyl wear obviously and it needs to be buffed out.

It's been a long time since I looked at a used boat. I know to check the floor for issues, and get my eyeballs and camera everywhere I possibly can. Thankfully I'm a fat bastard which helps when checking floors I know I'll need to do a full preventative maintenance on it, like water pump, engine tune up, check lights, etc, if I did buy it.

Does anyone with any experience with this particular boat have any suggestions on anything specific to look for as far as major issues?

Price seems in line with a 30 year old boat that runs and floats, includes trailer, and that's all I'm really looking for. We have a 2005 Parker 2520SL that's our main boat, this will just be for dragging up to the lakes and stuff like that. The parker is too much of a pain in the ass to trailer with it's 9.5' beam, plus all up it's close to 10k pounds with fuel, trailer and all the other crap in it so it stays in the water.

Thanks!

 

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

And I did read the sticky here above, just looking for anything specific to this particular model and vintage boat that someone may know about.

 

[carburated]

well, I don't know anything about that particular brand, but I do know that I would not buy a boat with an OMC outdrive. Nothing inherently wrong with the Cobra, but OMC has been out of business for almost 20 years. Knowledgeable mechanics and parts are getting scarce (I'm discovering first hand, as I have a 1986 Cobra drive in need of unobtainable exhaust manifolds which are going to cost me $1000 to replace).

At the very least, if you are knowledgeable of and comfortable with the OMC, use it as a bargaining chip because it's surely less desirable than a Mercruiser.

 

[jkust]

OMC parts can be tough to locate and make the ownership experience a potential frustration point. You will notice an ongoing theme here that it is best to avoid OMC for this reason. Such an old boat and so many chances for a bad owner to improperly store it which can mean hidden rot that you can't always detect, see or feel.
Because of the OMC situation, that boat would be a pass for me as I search for something with a Mecruiser with plentiful and easy and fast to locate parts and no frustration. Because life is short and time is far more valuable than money, I would continue looking.

 

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

Thanks guys. I last had a boat with an OMC 3.0 back in about 2003 or so, wasn't a problem back then but that was 16 years ago (man time flies...).

I'm hoping that I can snag this thing for about $1500, that's with trailer and if everything checks out and all. I absolutely hear you about parts, however we were renting pontoons on the lake for half a day at about $400 a pop, so even if I only get a season or two out of this boat I'm ahead of the game in my book.

Not afraid to work on them, I completely removed and replaced the little 140 3.0 back in 2002 when it decided to eject connecting rod #4 into the bilge after an impeller failure. So I'm not afraid to work on them, but yeah, not getting parts would be a show stopper.

 

[jkust]

Go for it then. I really like seeing all of the old boats still in service on our lake and that someone somewhere has taken the time to keep them going. So long as you are aware of the downfalls of OMC, then all is good.

 

[kpg7121]

Go for it then. I really like seeing all of the old boats still in service on our lake and that someone somewhere has taken the time to keep them going. So long as you are aware of the downfalls of OMC, then all is good.

I had a 19 ft. '87 Starcraft Medalist powered by a 3.0 Cobra & if the transom didn't rot I'd still be running it. I too like the styling of the older boats. Euro styled boats make me heave.

To the OP, hey as long as that Cobra shifts ok & you dont fall theu the floor, for $1500 I'd go for it. A buddy of mine had a '88 Rinker & he ran it for over 20 years powered by the 3.0 Cobra. Good solid boat.

 

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

Bought her. $1500 with trailer. Floor was solid all around, knocked on the stringers and transom with a rubber mallet and did not see or hear anything bad. Motor is clean and runs smooth and quiet on the trailer. Could use new captains chairs and some cleaning, and definitely a compound/buff on the red sections of the hull. Lower unit oil was a little questionable, but who knows when the last time it was changed was, it looked like it had a bit of moisture in it. Motor oil was good, no trace of water. Will be draining flushing and refilling the lower, as well as motor oil change, water pump, thermostat, plugs, and I'm going to look for a DST distributor to replace the points and condenser that are currently on it. I upgraded my old 88 3.0 to DST / HEI back in 2002 and it was a night and day difference.

Wish us luck!! Just have to come up with a name now.

 

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

Here she is

 

[jkust]

Great looking boat. Betting she will shine right up with a multi step compounding.

 

[roffey]

Hmm, call it TwoBallScrewBall, lol. like that name. Going to call you Two Ball...

 

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

Changed the lower gear oil yesterday and replaced the water pump, and decided to say screw it and take it down to the ramp and see what she does.

Looked good running at the ramp on the trailer, so we hopped in and headed out to the bay. Planed out OK but would not pull much over 3000rpm, likely old gas I'm thinking, we put 10 gals of fresh 92 octane in it but who knows how much old gas and whatever else were in the tank. Stopped about 1/2 mile out to do a quick visual on things, and we had an alarming amount of water in the bilge. Fired up the bilge pump and headed back. Made it back to the ramp but the motor is definitely not happy about something. Toward the end of the ride it was running pretty rough if I gave it anything more than about 1/4 to 1/2 throttle.

The bellows looked intact when I inspected them but they are definitely old, I can see some dry rot when I spread them apart, so ordered a bellows kit. Also going to seal up around the transom where the outdrive base plate attaches just in case I've got a bolt leak or worse. Poking around in the engine bay, there is some rot in the upper area of the transom where it appears there were some screws that were removed or something. Lower area feels solid but I'm assuming the entire thing is wet. This is a disposable boat at this point so I'm just trying to get it patched up enough to give us some fishing time on the lake this year. We will probably look for something newer over the winter.

Pulled the plugs, they all look normal. Did a quick compression test and all 8 cylinders are 150-160 PSI so that's good.

Good news is we did not sink and made it back to the trailer. I am looking forward to getting the outdrive and pivot housing off and getting a better look at what's going on there.

Once I replace the bellows and re-seal the transom plate, we're going to take it down and just let it idle at the ramp off the trailer for a while to check if we addressed the leak. I'm also going to hook up a portable 6-gal tank with fresh gas to tell me real quick whether the motor just needed new gas or if I need to look at a carb cleaning or anything else.

Really starting to have a whole new appreciation for our Parker Turn the key and go Wish it was more trailer-able.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Sorry, TwoBall, but I don't think any amount of sealant around the gimbal housing will make a boat with a rotten transom safe or seaworthy... sounds like you have a project boat.

 

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

I 100% agree. I will need to sit back this winter and decide whether to pull the motor and address the transom or just keep the trailer (which is immaculate) and part out the powerplant. It would be a shame, the hull and topside is in great shape and like others here said, I too like the more angular styling of these earlier boats. The transom on this one actually looks pretty easy to service once the engine is out, the drive sits in a recess about 3' wide and the wooden transom only spans this small area. If I did the transom, I would likely also pull the floor and core sample the stringers as well, since the floor around the large central ski hatch is soft. The rest of the floor is solid but who knows what's under it. I can do the work, I'm just not sure if I will have that kind of time on my hands.

 

[kpg7121]

I 100% agree. I will need to sit back this winter and decide whether to pull the motor and address the transom or just keep the trailer (which is immaculate) and part out the powerplant. It would be a shame, the hull and topside is in great shape and like others here said, I too like the more angular styling of these earlier boats. The transom on this one actually looks pretty easy to service once the engine is out, the drive sits in a recess about 3' wide and the wooden transom only spans this small area. If I did the transom, I would likely also pull the floor and core sample the stringers as well, since the floor around the large central ski hatch is soft. The rest of the floor is solid but who knows what's under it. I can do the work, I'm just not sure if I will have that kind of time on my hands.

I know where you're coming from. I parted out my boat due to transom/floor rot. I was going to fix it but had second thoughts on spending $1500+ on a 30'yr. old boat plus my labor. Lots of guys do it & hats off to them. I replaced the floor on this boat 20 years ago & swore I'd never do glass work again. And I won't. Nice looking rig, best of luck.

Btw, you may want to think about changing that gimbal bearing due to water intrusion if you plan on runing it.

 

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

So just an update to wrap this thread up.

Transom is not as bad as I thought. Found that a previous owner at some point removed a wire that looks to have been from a transducer. That hole was never sealed, just had the plastic clamshell over it. The screw holes from the wire retainer and the transducer were filled with screws, but the hole from the wire was wide open. This hole is right at the water line at rest, so whenever we went to the back of the boat, or ran at displacement speed, or sat anywhere that was not perfect glass, water would come in. This is also where the rot I saw originated. This is at the very top of the transom just near the port side edge of the wood. Sealed that up, this is definitely where most or all of the water we saw must have come from. Pulled and resealed the screws that held the wire and transducer, and no sign of wetness in the wood. Thank God.

Also found that the bilge pump, while working, had a completely clogged hose. Cleared that out. Works much better now!

Just in case, I ran 5200 around the entire edge of the gimbal housing and around the bilge plug.

Replaced the bellows, no sign of water in there at all, and though they were dry rotted and definitely needed to be replaced, it appears that they did not leak. Greased up the U joint and gimbal bearing and threw it all back together. Was able to replace the bellows without completely removing the pivot housing, just had to remove the two large Torx screws that it hinged on. Did not have to remove or re-adjust the shift cable. Took about 30 minutes of actual work to replace, much easier job than I expected.

Ran 2 gallons of 93 octane mixed with a full bottle of fuel system cleaner on the trailer. Throttle response on the hose improved dramatically. About 90% of the way through the 2 gallons, it quit at idle and was very hard to restart. Found that the primary boosters in the Holley 4160 were dripping a lot of fuel at idle, flooding out the engine. Pulled the carb and cleaned it out, same problem. Swapped needles from front to back, and the problem moved with the needle. Replaced the needle and reset height and all is well now.

Got her on the lake this weekend for a test run. No more water in the bilge. Runs great, I seem to top out at about 4000Rpm, I think that's a bit low. Will check what prop is installed, it's a 3 blade aluminum but not sure of the pitch or diameter. She is very very happy at 2500Rpm, pulling about 20-25mph on the dash speedometer. Did not check GPS speed, don't really care.

 

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

Pics from the weekend

 

[TwoBallScrewBall_Alt]

A couple of other observations.

#1 If the previous owner would have moved this transducer wire literally like 6 more inches over to port, it would have gone through plain glass with no wood and therefore no chance of water intrusion into the transom core. Definitely a dumb decision.

#2 Assuming the wire never leaked when in service, 5 seconds and a little 5200 when it was removed, or even some permatex for pete's sake, would have avoided this damage. Mind boggling.

Will keep a close eye on the transom and hope for the best, but so far it looks OK.