Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

[zvolv]

My buddy just got a free 1995 (finally found the ID numbers) Cobalt 233 with the 7.4L and Bravo Three. It was sitting in the water for who knows how long (it has 05 tags) and there was water in the bilge up to the crank pulley. (90% sure just rainwater) Now its on a trailer.

The prop is seized to the lower unit with a LOT of corrosion. I have the outdrive pulled off and in the garage. I started to drain the gear oil tonight and I did notice the first bit of fluid seemed watery.

The question: Can I change just the "bearing carrier" and get the drive usable again? I will try to get pics up to show you how corroded the whole friggin drive is. The trim cylinders are shot. The anodes are gone and the orings were sticking out the cylinders. Time for a pair of those.

I havent even tried cranking the engine over yet. The batteries are currently at the auto store being charged and tested. My plan is to put the batteries in and see if she will start. I know, I know, running it without water will probably fry the water pump impeller. Just take off the belt? Any other tips for starting the revival?

This is an ultra low budget attempt to get a free boat back on the water. Any help/comments are appreciated. Negative comments are not appreciated, but feel free to give me a hard time anyways!! And I misspelled acquired in the thread title.

Thanks!

EDIT- Spent some time this afternoon and here are some pics. The pics turned out OK for cellphone pics. There are a lot more pics down the thread too guys.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

I started to drain the gear oil tonight and I did notice the first bit of fluid seemed watery. Can I change just the "bearing carrier" and get the drive usable again?

Ayuh,..... Probably Not.........

I know, I know, running it without water will probably fry the water pump impeller. Just take off the belt?

Sure,.... Try it.....

 

[ziggy]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Negative comments are not appreciated

well, the sayin goes, a free boat may be the most expensive boat ya ever own. and it sounds like ya may have a uphill battle and find this out personally, i did. my free boat i got sat if fresh water, sounds like yers sat it salt. my free boats in my backyard, needs stringers, transom, engine, and drive. fresh water is much less hard on boats that salt water..... for my 16' boat i figure it'd be $10k plus or minus 5, but probably plus....

This is an ultra low budget attempt to get a free boat back on the water.

boats ain't cheap by any stretch of the imagination. specially big boats...... i can hardly afford a 19'er.....
sorry, don't mean to be negitive. just tryin to inform ya that ya may be in for a lot of work and dollars....
1st tool ya need is an oem service manual. i don't know which one though.... but it's a must have item if yer gonna work on yer boat.

I know, I know, running it without water will probably fry the water pump impeller. Just take off the belt?

why don't ya just feed it some water?

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

He doesn't think he can get water to it, since the outdrive is off. But you can. The hole in the gimbal for the water is similiar to the diameter of a garden hose. Just have someone hold the hose end up there and see if the pump will suck up the water. But you could remove the belt from the pump, too. But if that 7.4 is carbureted, it won't work, cause the water pump also has the fuel pump integrated, so you'd get no gas.
If the drive really had water in it, then no just changing out the corroded rear bearing carrier won't be enough. However, SEI now makes Bravo One replacement lower units for $895. You'd be losing the dual props, but if they are not able to be removed from the shafts without destroying them, you aren't really losing anything. Assuming that the upper part of your drive is any good, of course. Cause that's where the real expensive stuff is.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

This is an ultra low budget attempt to get a free boat back on the water. Any help/comments are appreciated. Negative comments are not appreciated, but feel free to give me a hard time anyways!!

Thanks!

It sounds like a fun, challenging project.

Low budget? No way in the world!

Even if you can do all the work yourself you are going to be spending a lot of money to safely get this boat back on the water.

Again, that's not to say it wouldn't be worth it - just know there is no way to do this cheaply.

 

[Robj]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Unfortunately sometimes people don't like to hear the truth, and just feel those that are giving advice are being too negative. Well not so, they are telling you their opinion, which is based on years of experience.

Boats are expensive, and it sounds like this project will be no different. It can be worthwhile, but with all the corrosion present, I would proceed very cautiously. It may not even be worth restoring, just part it out and buy a better boat to work on. There was a boat on Craigslist yesterday with a trailer and all the guy wanted were 24 beer. Free boat, but will cost you to get it on the water. I declined.

Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

before you go sticking a garden hose in the back of the boat you need to double check where it gets its water supply from. It COULD be through the drive. but it COULD also have a through hull pickup. Ya need to check on that one. Either way your better off pulling the hose off from whereever the supply side is and sticking your garden hose in that.... at least you can clamp it in place.

 

[Maclin]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Was it sitting in salt water or "fresh" lake water?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

The Cobalt is a pretty nice boat.......but it appears that you'll be replacing the drive.

If the engine is frozen, well, did you say free? The other place to look for problems is wood in the floor, stringers, engine mounts and transom. If it had water in the bilge for that long a time the transom and engine mounts may be mush. The first WOT run may push the engine and drive right up into the boat with you! and leave a nice sized hole in the back!
At that point you can use your imagination.

That boat, in nice condition is probably worth 15-17K...(about the same price as a new eng/drive).

I'm not trying to throw cold water on any part of it. Those are just the areas you need to inspect carefully. If all you have to do is put a drive on it you will have REALLY lucked out! If you put a Bravo I on it in place of the Bravo III it will probably still run pretty good....although be a little doggy out of the hole. There's usually a lot of drives on ebay. This is not the best time to find one though.....fall and winter are the best deals.


Good luck!

Rick

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Post some pics, maybe people here can find some way to help.

But I would say that a Bravo 3 and 7.4 liter is some expensive hardware, so if any of the parts are still good, I definitely recommend you part it out and use the proceeds to buy a nicer boat... which will still be "free", remember.

The engine itself if runnable might be worth several hundred, the upper unit for the drive the same, the castings for the transom the same, if you can get the props off without destroying them, there's more there. The control hardware, gauges, metal fittings on the boat, seats.... it all adds up.

On ebay or locally on craigslist you might be able to turn a non-repairable or corroded boat into a couple thousand in cash if you sell it well... and that'll get you a decent boat this time of year to get you on the water without excessive problems.

Erik

 

[paulrfrancisco]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

When you refer to removing the belt, do you mean the water circulating pump belt or the water pickup pump belt. (could be the same) if its the pump on the lower left side of the moter then you have a "through hull" water pickup pump. Remove the hose from the through hull and clamp a garden hose to it when ready. But first, I'd remove the sparkplugs and turn then engine over with a wrench on the crankshaft. If it turns and no water comes out the sparkplug holes, then you may get lucky... Now you can try cranking it with the batteries/starter. It you get spark, then I'd check the stringer, and transom integrity as mentioned earler... If this is still good, then it might be a worthwhile project... and so far you havn't spent any money.

 

[zvolv]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

So far I have only invested $0.25 in the boat for a new roll pin for the trailier jack.

It was supposedly a $60,000 boat when new less than a decade ago. It supposedly still has two years left on the gelcoat warranty. We still have to clean the rest of the crap off the bottom.

The boat WAS sitting in saltwater for who knows how long. The anodes were completely corroded off and the skeg has some chunks missing from it too from corrosion.

I know a free boat isnt really free. I got a Blue Water 20' for free several years ago and it cost me about $5k to replace the engine and all the components that were shot. Just to have the engine die once from my buddy running it with no oil after the $20 junkyard Chevy Astrovan oil pan got a hole in it. Then I rebuilt the bottom end and the boat eventually sucked in water and blew valves and several pistons. Then the boat got stolen from in front of my house along with another 20' ski boat. It was kind of a blessing in disguise.

I like the idea of sticking a water hose up the butt of the gimbal housing in the water intake. I will do that. It wasnt until last nights research that I learned the bravo units just use the engine mounted water pump only. I had an alpha unit on my last boat and it had the impeller in the lower unit. And I totally forgot the fuel pump is on that pump so forget removing the belt.

We have a hydro hoist that we dont need that we can sell for $$ to fund project The Dirty Hooker part II.

I have been looking at rebuilt and used drives for the thing and it seems like they are $1000-$5000. Knowing me, I will end up probably using a used lower unit.

So nobody really answered my question about if I can just remove the bearing carrier. Also the vent plug for the drive is stripped. I got the drain plug out and the very first little bit of fluid that came out was a kinda yellowish and runny and then the dark stinky blue stuff came out.

I will post my findings about the engine tonight probably. I will probably pull the plugs and spray some oil in the cyls first before firing it up. Also put some fresh gas in it and maybe some stablizer or something.

All this talk...If I show you guys pics of the boat and the engine it is motivating. If I show you pics of the gimbal housing and the drive it will make you cry.

 

[tommays]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

You have to pull OR cut OFF the props to remove the carrier

Lots of them get CUT from lack of a yearly removal and greasing

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

So, motivate us and make us cry

I think the bearing carrier question wasn't really answered because we don't have enough info. You can replace it, yes, but will it be enough to make the gimbal work? Dunno.

If it was me, I'd probably plan on a complete transom service - replace the bellows, bearings, hoses, etc. before trying to run the thing with the drive on.

If there was water inside the hull, odds are pretty good you're going to have rot anywhere there's wood. I don't know how much wood that hull has, but keep it in mind. You're also going to be carrying a lot of water in the floatation foam, which is going to be heavy.

I hope the engine was freshwater cooled, not raw water.

Erik

Edit: Oh, that bearing carrier, not the gimbal bearing. Same response, though... no way to tell until you try.

 

[zvolv]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Luckily the engine is freshwater cooled. I see some corrosion and signs of leakage where the risers connect to the manifolds. I plan on pulling the risers and inspecting them and replacing the gaskets.

I will probably change out the shifter bellows and the driveshaft bellows. The gimbal bearing turns freely and no grinding noises.

I dont have the special tool to get the forward prop off. I havent tried pulling the rear one yet either. There is a good chance they are corroded on there.

What else do you guys suggest I try to inspect/replace in this endevor? What method would you use to get this neglegted vessel back up and running again?

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

What method would you use to get this neglegted vessel back up and running again?

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Is it this ugly or worse? Either way money,money,money,,

 

[superpop]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

If this is really a 2000 Cobalt 233 and the interior is in decent shape then you scored big time. Cobalts are an exceptional boat. That being said, if the motor is shot and the drive is shot then you will indeed have to spend some money to get it going. But I would contend that if you are good with tools and following the proper manuals then you will still be ahead. If it has the snap in carpet then you are even better because the rot is probably minimal with the fiberglass floor. I know a thing or two about the Cobalts and unlike most boats, they are worth something without the drive system. Now if it is totally rotted out and the drive system is shot then it will be more of a labor of love as it will be a break even proposition at best. I would bet though that this will not be a cheap proposition. Pics would help.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

I like the texture on that drive, Gary... very organic looking

Personally I'd scrub that with a wire brush, then fair the surface with JB weld before priming and painting.... it'd be good as new, right? Right?

 

[zvolv]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Pictures added! I guess I can only add 5 per post...

Spent a good amount of time today working on the boat. Got the props off. That second prop was a real pain. It took a pipe wrench, a 4 foot breaker bar, and a buddy to get the 2.5" nut off. Then a lot of rubber malleting to get the prop to break free. The corrosion is really bad. Got the lower unit pulled off too.

I have plenty more pics so I will post some more. I also pulled the plugs and they looked OK. A little bit of rust on the rear starboard cylinder, but nothing alarming.

I tried turning the crank with a ratchet, but it just tightened the bolts.The batteries also are completely dead and tested bad today so I didnt crank it over. I will probably toss a car battery in there to test how she turns over and I guess do a compression test while I have the plugs out.



The shaft seal was shot and thats where the water came in. With the props off the shafts spin freely in both directions. Can I pull off that corroded bearing carrier, or have a shop do it, and salvage the bottom end?

Also, what passage is indicated by the arrow in the last picture below? It looks clogged with corrosion on the upper and lower unit.