I/O vs Outboard, which should I choose

[roscottjr]

Re: I/O vs Outboard, which should I choose

Wow, some interesting things coming up now. I think I have come to the conclusion that each package has advantages for itself as well as disadvantages..lol.. Well, if nothing else I am learning a lot of new things.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: I/O vs Outboard, which should I choose

Having now seen the thread for the Chap.....it does have nice lines. However I really think it's a much bigger money pit (and all at once) than the Maxum. I'd fix up the Maxum and run it and enjoy it with the Force until it gives you too much trouble. Then I'd start shopping for a good used outboard. Part out the Chap to fund some of your restore work.

 

[roscottjr]

Re: I/O vs Outboard, which should I choose

Hmm, I wander if I could get enough by parting out the chap for a nice outboard for the Maxum? Not real sure what I want to do yet but it seems my options are opening up. The Maxum is great at the moment. Since we bought the boat we have put maybe 12-15 hours on it and already had a cdi go bad but it could have been due to age. The boat runs great and we all enjoy it. It just needs a floorboard and new seats. As far as the engine, it only needs a new valve body for the tilt/trim. The only drawback is it is only a 6 passenger boat where the Chap is a 9 passenger. Well, one thing is for sure, work is not going to begine on either boat immediately so I still have time to decide the best option. I am also seeing a lot of advice and tips here as well.

Oh, The Chap no longer needs an engine. I just drove home a truck with a 350 engine in it. Engine runs great, doesnt smoke, has plenty of power. It does leak oil so I will need to replace gaskets if I choose to use it but that is expected as I will also have to replace the freeze plugs. The truck was given to me so no cost there..Hmm, what to do...lol

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: I/O vs Outboard, which should I choose

that truck engine will have dished pistons and the boat engines have flat tops.... if you want to make good power you will need to swap pistons.... also be aware of the camshaft..... a low rpm torque cam will be good. stock will be fine.... a higher rpm cam has a real chance of allowing the engine to ingest water from the surge of waves/wakes hitting the stern.

You also should swap in brass freezeplugs stainless head gaskets and a marine water pump along with the marine starter alternator and distributor

 

[jkust]

Re: I/O vs Outboard, which should I choose

You and I have a few similarities. I live in a northern climate with a very, very short boating season. I have a Chaparral and also I have a bowrider with a Force. What you have that I don't is the tinacity and time to rebuild a boat. I will say my Force engine is the most reliable piece of machinery I have owned in the 26 years I have owned it but gladly use my Chaparral with an I/O. It seems that my Force experience is the exception to the rule so I suppose I am bias. To me Force = definition of reliability. After owning the I/O and using all of it's advantages, the Force rarely sees the light of day anymore however. My thought is that you get to work on the Chaparral this winter and have it ready in time to retire the Maxum this upcoming season. That Chap would be an eye catching bowrider if it was restored and since these are opinions the Maxum would not warrant same restore time committment as the Chap. The project list on the Chap sounds absolutley daunting to me but that type of restore has been taken on many times here on Iboats. Once the Chap is completed, you can sell the Maxum.

 

[roscottjr]

Re: I/O vs Outboard, which should I choose

Ok let me see if I can get both in one response.

smokeonthewater:
I was thinking of using mainly just the block from the truck and switching everything over from the cracked block out of the boat. That is of course, assuming the parts are still good and the tolerences, clearances, and such are all within limits to switch things over. Of course I would still need to purchase a gasket set, starter, and alternator and this wont help with the exhaust manifolds but it will drop my costs a little. Also, since I do all my own machine work, I will also save money there as well.

jkust:
Yes the force has been reliable for us so far but we purchased the boat in running condition with a lake test before purchase so we knew it was already in good condition. After around 12-15 hours or so of owning the boat with the Force engine we lost a CDI pack. As I said before, I am sure this was because of age so it was no big deal. Other than that, I have found the Force is easy to work on, and everything is easy to get to. Its a big engine with a pretty hefty weight to it but since it is the first I have personally owned in the 125hp range Im not sure if it is heavier than others or if they are all around the same. I have however found that another brand such as Mercury, Johnson/Evinrude, as well as a few others would have the same power at around 90hp as this one at 125hp. Not that big of a deal to us since we are out for the fun and not so much the speed but if the time comes up for a new outboard then I will be looking for a little more speed and better fuel economy. However, I cant complain on the fuel as we only used around 9 gallons so far since we purchased the boat so it appears to be pretty good on fuel. It is definately better on fuel than our pontoon with 48hp Johnson. There is an island we like to go to when we go camping. From our campsite the pontoon uses 11 gallons of fuel to get there and get back, it only has a 12 gallon tank so we also take a gas can with us. The Maxum with 125hp Force only uses 4 gallons roundtrip.

 

[roscottjr]

Re: I/O vs Outboard, which should I choose

My wife said I should include what she thinks is the most important piece of information so everyone will know why I want to restore this boat.

I have always had a dream of building my own boat from scratch. Starting with nothing and building the hull and everything. However, this has always proven to be out of my leagus due to the cost of everything involved in a scratch build. This Chaparral gives me this chance to somewhat fulfill a dream of mine while saving on the costs of a complete build. I have no intentions at all of the boat being worth the same or more than what I have in it. Im not going to go crazy and spend a fortune, I myself agree that would be crazy. Should we decide to actually restore this boat then it may take of 6 months or it may take several years, all depends on how much we can put into it and when.

Regardless of my dream, we are finding out a lot of useful information thanks to this thread.

One last request, for anyone who reads this thread, can we try and move all responses to the build thread for my Chap? The link is in my signature. I would prefer to move everything there and then only have one thread. Thanks