1990 Century 2000BR 4.3 mercruiser

[Chris51280]

I'm in the process of buying a 1990 century with a 4.3 Mercruiser 175hp. I know it has a soft spot between the ski locker and the dog house. I will have a test run on muffs next weekend since it will be warming up here in Ohio. I will get it for a good price knowing that I will have to put in new deck with stringers. Engine has been winterized. That's why I want to test the engine when it will be above 32 constant at night. I assume doing the deck and stringers will run at $1000-$1500. What's your take on it

 

[Scott Danforth]

I would bump your estimate up to $2500-$3500 as you will need the transom, stringers, and deck. include flotation foam, etc. and your at $1500 for glass and resin, about $400 for wood, $500 for incidentals, $300 for PPE, etc.

 

[Chris51280]

I wonder how seaworthy it is. How safe would it be with rotten stringers? I assume that the glass over the stringer give still a decent support. Assuming the transom is in decent shape. I just want to use it some over the coming season and tackle the rebuild over the winter

 

[Bondo]

Engine has been winterized. That's why I want to test the engine when it will be above 32 constant at night.

Ayuh,..... That will be the perfect time to learn how to Drain it,....

Air don't freeze,....

 

[Chris1956]

My '88 SR 19 foot bowrider developed a soft spot near the ski locker. Turned out that when the deck was cut to install the hatch cover, the plywood ends were never sealed. I had the sides and bottom of the ski locker rot and delaminate, which left the keel of the hull unsupported.

I would recommend you check the rest of the ski locker.

Also, when the carpet was removed to repair the deck, I could see that the chopped fiberglass (from the chopgun) over the deck was uneven. The thick chop was fine, but there were places where there were only resin,and those had rotted. The balance of the stringers and transom were solid.

Best of luck..

 

[Chris51280]

Thanks. I guess you really only know when you take core samples

 

[Blind Date]

I'd use the boat as-is for a year. Make sure you like it & that it's worth fixing after you determine the motor and drive are solid. You should be paying little less than what the trailer, motor, drive and transom assembly are worth because the boat is worth nothing and actually de-values those items.

Take it from someone that has gone through the process of completely gutting a boat. Until you tear into it you have no idea what is hiding under that carpeted floor. Your soft spot in the floor may be an easy fix or you could be opening a big can of worms.

The '85 CVX18 I picked up last November has a soft spot in the floor. I'm going to run that "as-is" for a number of years and maybe even sell it that way. Or I may fix it like I'm doing with my '79.

 

[Chris51280]

I think I could buy a boat 10 years younger and have the same problem and the same cost to fix it. So to get an older boat for a fairer price and fix it to have something solid is better than paying 6k and still to pay 2k to fix the same problem.
trailer is a tandem axle with new tires. The outdrive was rebuilt 3 years ago. Probably because it hit something. I can see that the skegg is missing half it's material. I can weld on a new one. I have someone who can weld AL. Has Bimini top and cover. Comes with tube and misc. Stuff for the kids.
Adding like Blind Date mentioned the value of the motor, trailer and outdrive as spare part cost, I think I'm good with the price I will be paying. The problem is that there are always sellers out there that only because it's a boat, means they can charge whatever they want for a basket case.

 

[Chris51280]

 

[Chris51280]

Sure needs some scrubbing on the gelcoat and cleaning of the upholstery.

 

[Scott Danforth]

generally any boat older than 15 years is past its design life. any boat under $10k should be viewed as a project

 

[Chris1956]

Hey Chris, one more thing to consider. The way I found out the issue with the ski locker was when the hull collapsed when I jacked up the hull to paint it. As it turned out, the floor of the ski well supported the keel. The keel was a piece of 3/4" plywood, scribed to match the keel profile, and stapled to the ski well floor. The staple rusted and the keel fell over, allowing the hull to deform.

The hull in that same boat cracked and leaked, under the passenger seat. The cause was incomplete foaming of the hull, allowing the hull to flex, leading to the crack.

I would recommend you do the inspection, before using the boat for any length of time.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I wonder how seaworthy it is. How safe would it be with rotten stringers? I assume that the glass over the stringer give still a decent support. Assuming the transom is in decent shape. I just want to use it some over the coming season and tackle the rebuild over the winter

No guarantee the glass over wood stringers will support anything. Personally, I can’t imagine taking anyone out in a boat that likely has a compromised structure. Based on the pics, I would guess your damage is not limited to an isolated spot of the hull.

 

[Scott Danforth]

let me increase my estimate to $5-6K because the interior needs replacing too. that is one neglected boat.

 

[Chris51280]

Ok. I bought it with knowing I needed to do some work. I have been following many of the restoration posts. I believe I can do it. I certainly have the determination. I haven't really been able to work on it much since the kids and various other jobs around the house needed spring cleaning attention.
Here is where I'm at now.
- The lower unit had a bend prop shaft. 0.05" out of whack.
I thought I found a good deal on FB Marketplace where someone bought the wrong outdrive (Needed an OMC). was completely cutout with the transom plate. Included steering and Y-pipe with gimbal housing. $250 I thought it was a good deal since the shaft was straight and there were no leaks.
So it sat for awhile at home sine I needed to rebuild the Gimbal bearing with all bellows.
As I took it apart, I noticed that there was discoloration on the upper unit. Sure enough, It was seized up, so was the lower unit. The propshaft itself run free with the dog engaging.
So I looked online what my options were. Should I go and get an SEI unit? I just did not want to fork over 1400 bucks since I had a good upper unit alttough older, or to rebuild one.
I looked online for tools since I know I can rebuild. I have the manual from Mercruiser.
I got the tools and a complete seal kit to do all the work.
I bought a seal kit for the upper unit as well.
I will take the propshaft from the seized up unit and put it in my original one that came with the boat.

After trying to adjust the motor mounts to align the engine to the shaft, I had to take the alternator off. And what do I see there? The alternator is not a marine unit. Ordered one there this week.
While I was at it I looked over the power steering pump. The pulley has some play and the reservoir was empty. So I ordered one. Not a mercruiser unit!

The trailer needed new lights and while at it, I checked the brakes. No brakes! The reservoir was full of rust and liquid gunk. I took the unit apart, cleaned it and tried to bleed it last night. Run a half bottle of brake fluid through it with the brakes adjusted. To no avail. The cylinders aren't leaking and I checked one of them. Piston is free moving. I got tired and decided the $40 bucks for a pair of brake cylinders and an actuator (DEMCO $110) is worth it to hopefully solve that. Bearings seem to be still good.
The boat trailer is oversized for the boat but I thought a tandem is better and it had all 4 tires replaced. I need to move the l rear bunks forward. I guess the dealer or whoever did not setup the trailer bunks correctly.

I hope to get it in the water by the end of summer

After the summer I will do the stringers and transom in my barn. I will have to take it off the trailer since I only have 8ft doors. This way I can work on the trailer.

I will update as I go to keep you posted.

 

[Chris51280]

[No message]

 

[Chris51280]

I changed the actuator last weekend with the brake piston. Bled them and voila. Brakes work like a charm. I will be getting a new safety chain while I,m at it. Replace the old rigid cables.
Grease up the bearings, still ok. Old grease looked old but ok.
I wired the new lights in as well.

I took my bend propshaft to a friend of mine and straightened it out to .002". He got a 20ton shop press with alignment tool to measure runout. So I will use that one again. We pressed on the middle of the part and had a deflection of .12" to get it back to where it needed to be.
I will see if I can get the skeg repaired. He also has a waterjet where we can cut a 0.25" piece and weld it back on to where the torn off parts are. I got some low temp brazing rods and I would like to fill in the voids from where the aluminum pitted. Anybody got experience in that?