1NewBoatGuy
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- May 9, 2013
- Messages
- 94
Once upon a time
OK, so I bought a 16ft 1985 bayliner capri which was my first boat and quickly learned of all the things I should be looking, only because this boat needed the works. After a month of working with the motor (not really a month but few hours here and there) I had a good motor (or as good as a force can get), Then I boggled over starting a restore on the hull (stringers and transom rotted) or selling as project for someone else. Well guess what I sold it for $800 to a couple of guys wanting to rebuild it. They didn't care about the transom said it was an easy fix, stringers didn't bother them either.
So anyway, I took a hit on that since I was in more than a grand but I was honest with my sale and I don't have the space or resources to rebuild an entire boat.
The end
A New Start
I have had the bayliner for about a month and half and never really stopped looking at boats since. And since finding this forum I have learned tons. Well I have been eyeballing this Larson for awhile, the lady that owned it was going through a divorce and needed quick cash. She had it marked at $2300 (price she paid two years ago).
So I checked over the boat and this is what I found
THE GOOD
HULL
check for cracks, soft floor, holes or rubs on hull, look for cracked paint (sign the structure of the boat is flexing too much), stand on motor and look for flex in the transom (I weigh 180lbs so this is a good stress test if the seller wont let you do it, he knows there is something wrong), look for any wood chips in the ski stowage or in the bottom of the boat(don't get the boat if you find any), feel for seperating or bubbled fiberglass under the floor and around the transom
-Transom is solid as a rock, this boat (unlike the 85 bayliner capri I had) has a full solid thick supportive transom from one side to the other. The bayliner basically only had wood where the motor was, rest was just fiberglass and weak.
-Floor is solid (replaced though)
-Stringers, reached under the floor and checked for wood chips and seperating fiberglass (found on the bayliner I had)
All good here, not a single wood chip under the floor, did find a good stick bobber though.
-No cracks found anywhere on the boat
-Paint (faded but no cracks or stress)
-Full built in gas tank, not in the floor but in the transom area strapped in. Hell yeah, it can be taken out and cleaned or what ever.
-Gas fill cap on top of transom area, no more portable tanks or climbing in the boat at the gas station.
- Gas tank vented out the transom area
MOTOR - 115 Johnson, same year as boat
check for spark, compression over 100psi (100 is low and indicates wear), water flow and fuel delivery
-Motor, compression was over 120psi on each of the four cylinders.
-Fuel sprayed from leaking fuel lines (got fuel pressure no problem)
-Spark plugs have that nice consistent white blue spark. PURDY
-A good consistent even stream of water out the tell tail
-Cables all look good and seen no water leaks
-Spark plugs were a little black but just old.
-Shined a flash light in the spark plug holes to look at the tops of the pistons, they look like new. (On the bayliner force motor again the pistons were burnt to hell, black and carbed up as bad as I had ever seen on any motor.)
-Power trim and tilt, works great (something the bayliner needed but didn't have)
-Safety latch for towing excellent design and much better than what I had,
// again the force motor on the bayliner had a flimsy piece of metal that was just not good enough (the motor fell on the road one day cause the latch came unlatch)\\
TRAILER
Bring a meter with you
check wiring, lights all work, rust holes, safety chain and hook, winch strap and hook, winch, hitch operation rollers if present, check tires and make sure there's a spare
-Nice rollers
-No serious rust, some surface rust but not bad for an old trailer
-New Transom straps included
-Lights work
-Big tires 205/75r15. Smooth ride (smaller tires equal bouncing trailer on rough roads)
-5 lug rims, easier and cheaper to find than 4 lug.
ACCESSORIES INCLUDED and Operational
-Life vests
-Two mushroom anchors
-Toe ropes
-Bumpers
-Flash lights
-Bilge pump
-Live well pump
-Fitted snap on canvas cover, NICE Faded but it works
-New Fire extinguisher
-Batteries two years old and clean
Things that need attention
HULL
-Wiring is kind of iffy, all though the motor controls and lighting all works, some gauges are not working right (tach, speedo, trim, and amp gage) and there is a spaghetti mess of wires under the dash. No problem I love this stuff
-Gel coat needs a good polishing and clean up (may just get a full paint job, it's baby blue I'm thinking red and white if it happens)
-Stainless Rail along the top of the hull was cut for some reason. again cosmetic but adds to the deficiency list
-Steering is incredibly stiff (no grease in the cable greaser, looks like I need a new cable)
-Back driver side seat was cut out for a home made dual battery box system and battery isolator switch system, I actually like the idea, just not the way it was executed (made of wood, not fully enclosed and isoloated). This will get fixed right as well.
-Cushion board rotted out on front of boat, not part of the boat just the cushion.
MOTOR
-All fuel lines were leaking inside the motor housing, they were just zip tied on and they were all cracked and rotted.
(replaced last night all new lines and clamped on properly, didn't like the leaks one bit)
-Paint not so pretty but it can be redone
-Dies at low idle, carbs should be cleaned and I'm sure there is some fine tuning that can be done here.
TRAILER
-Winch strap stitching at the hook tearing
-Lights not working (blown bulbs, mad sure I had voltage at each socket), changed them out in the autozone parking lot on the way home.
-Tires are good, but will need replacing as they are starting to crack from dry rot
-Spare tire rubber seperating, no good to use
I complimented her on the boat but explained that she is asking way too much and if I was to fix everything I will be in over $1000 or more easy. She agreed and I haggled her down to $960.00. Nice gal she just over paid when she bought it.
So now I am open for some input here, I love the style of the boat I really think it will be a pretty slick fishing boat and serve a skier as well.
To be continued... pictures to come
OK, so I bought a 16ft 1985 bayliner capri which was my first boat and quickly learned of all the things I should be looking, only because this boat needed the works. After a month of working with the motor (not really a month but few hours here and there) I had a good motor (or as good as a force can get), Then I boggled over starting a restore on the hull (stringers and transom rotted) or selling as project for someone else. Well guess what I sold it for $800 to a couple of guys wanting to rebuild it. They didn't care about the transom said it was an easy fix, stringers didn't bother them either.
So anyway, I took a hit on that since I was in more than a grand but I was honest with my sale and I don't have the space or resources to rebuild an entire boat.
The end
A New Start
I have had the bayliner for about a month and half and never really stopped looking at boats since. And since finding this forum I have learned tons. Well I have been eyeballing this Larson for awhile, the lady that owned it was going through a divorce and needed quick cash. She had it marked at $2300 (price she paid two years ago).
So I checked over the boat and this is what I found
THE GOOD
HULL
check for cracks, soft floor, holes or rubs on hull, look for cracked paint (sign the structure of the boat is flexing too much), stand on motor and look for flex in the transom (I weigh 180lbs so this is a good stress test if the seller wont let you do it, he knows there is something wrong), look for any wood chips in the ski stowage or in the bottom of the boat(don't get the boat if you find any), feel for seperating or bubbled fiberglass under the floor and around the transom
-Transom is solid as a rock, this boat (unlike the 85 bayliner capri I had) has a full solid thick supportive transom from one side to the other. The bayliner basically only had wood where the motor was, rest was just fiberglass and weak.
-Floor is solid (replaced though)
-Stringers, reached under the floor and checked for wood chips and seperating fiberglass (found on the bayliner I had)
All good here, not a single wood chip under the floor, did find a good stick bobber though.
-No cracks found anywhere on the boat
-Paint (faded but no cracks or stress)
-Full built in gas tank, not in the floor but in the transom area strapped in. Hell yeah, it can be taken out and cleaned or what ever.
-Gas fill cap on top of transom area, no more portable tanks or climbing in the boat at the gas station.
- Gas tank vented out the transom area
MOTOR - 115 Johnson, same year as boat
check for spark, compression over 100psi (100 is low and indicates wear), water flow and fuel delivery
-Motor, compression was over 120psi on each of the four cylinders.
-Fuel sprayed from leaking fuel lines (got fuel pressure no problem)
-Spark plugs have that nice consistent white blue spark. PURDY
-A good consistent even stream of water out the tell tail
-Cables all look good and seen no water leaks
-Spark plugs were a little black but just old.
-Shined a flash light in the spark plug holes to look at the tops of the pistons, they look like new. (On the bayliner force motor again the pistons were burnt to hell, black and carbed up as bad as I had ever seen on any motor.)
-Power trim and tilt, works great (something the bayliner needed but didn't have)
-Safety latch for towing excellent design and much better than what I had,
// again the force motor on the bayliner had a flimsy piece of metal that was just not good enough (the motor fell on the road one day cause the latch came unlatch)\\
TRAILER
Bring a meter with you
check wiring, lights all work, rust holes, safety chain and hook, winch strap and hook, winch, hitch operation rollers if present, check tires and make sure there's a spare
-Nice rollers
-No serious rust, some surface rust but not bad for an old trailer
-New Transom straps included
-Lights work
-Big tires 205/75r15. Smooth ride (smaller tires equal bouncing trailer on rough roads)
-5 lug rims, easier and cheaper to find than 4 lug.
ACCESSORIES INCLUDED and Operational
-Life vests
-Two mushroom anchors
-Toe ropes
-Bumpers
-Flash lights
-Bilge pump
-Live well pump
-Fitted snap on canvas cover, NICE Faded but it works
-New Fire extinguisher
-Batteries two years old and clean
Things that need attention
HULL
-Wiring is kind of iffy, all though the motor controls and lighting all works, some gauges are not working right (tach, speedo, trim, and amp gage) and there is a spaghetti mess of wires under the dash. No problem I love this stuff
-Gel coat needs a good polishing and clean up (may just get a full paint job, it's baby blue I'm thinking red and white if it happens)
-Stainless Rail along the top of the hull was cut for some reason. again cosmetic but adds to the deficiency list
-Steering is incredibly stiff (no grease in the cable greaser, looks like I need a new cable)
-Back driver side seat was cut out for a home made dual battery box system and battery isolator switch system, I actually like the idea, just not the way it was executed (made of wood, not fully enclosed and isoloated). This will get fixed right as well.
-Cushion board rotted out on front of boat, not part of the boat just the cushion.
MOTOR
-All fuel lines were leaking inside the motor housing, they were just zip tied on and they were all cracked and rotted.
(replaced last night all new lines and clamped on properly, didn't like the leaks one bit)
-Paint not so pretty but it can be redone
-Dies at low idle, carbs should be cleaned and I'm sure there is some fine tuning that can be done here.
TRAILER
-Winch strap stitching at the hook tearing
-Lights not working (blown bulbs, mad sure I had voltage at each socket), changed them out in the autozone parking lot on the way home.
-Tires are good, but will need replacing as they are starting to crack from dry rot
-Spare tire rubber seperating, no good to use
I complimented her on the boat but explained that she is asking way too much and if I was to fix everything I will be in over $1000 or more easy. She agreed and I haggled her down to $960.00. Nice gal she just over paid when she bought it.
So now I am open for some input here, I love the style of the boat I really think it will be a pretty slick fishing boat and serve a skier as well.
To be continued... pictures to come
