Hello All, first post here. I have been reading around quite a bit, and I understand my story is all too similar to that of others'.
My wife and I moved to Minnesota in 2019, and after watching everyone enjoy their time on the water, we wanted to get in on the fun. Never even driven a boat before, we rented a few pontoon boats and decided we wanted something for ourselves. Never owning a boat, we wanted something low cost. Fall of 2020 we found a 1990 Larson All American 170. The previous owner had redone the upholstery on the seats, and the remaining upholstery was in great condition. Needless to say, I overpaid... grossly overpaid.
I did a fair bit of research, but obviously not enough. When checking the boat, I found a typical soft spot by the ski locker and chalked it up to a 30-year-old boat problem. I convinced myself that it was not an issue. I knew the boat wouldn't be perfect, but figured we could get a couple of seasons out of it to really get a feel for boating. Mistakes aside, we used the boat about a dozen times before having it winterized, covered, and stored on the side of the house for winter (I overpaid for this also...). The mechanics that winterized the boat made no comments about the condition of the boat.
Overall, last fall, the boat ran well. I only had a few concerns:
1. It pulled to the right, and was difficult to steer under high throttle.
2. The Rub rail seems to be separating from the boat in a couple of places.
3. After running for an hour or two, there's a small amount of water in the bilge (not enough to run the bilge pump). I cannot tell where the water is entering.
During winter, I did a lot of reading about the floor and rub rail. I had a lot of concern about the condition of the stringers given what I'd read.
Fast forward to this year.
I uncovered the boat and immediately started inspecting the floor. Not much had changed. I turn my attention to the battery, removing it to recharge, and was shocked at what I found. The plywood has nearly disintegrated under the battery at the port side of the stern. Portions of the transom feel almost hollow with dry rot. The transom consists of a backplate that spans the full width of the stern, and a middle section on top of that where the keyhole is. The starboard and port-most sides of the transom are pretty soft. A Section of the middle is so bad that I was too nervous to go poking around to see how deep the rot is. One of the front motor mount bolts was loose but tightened back up by hand. I will test it with a wrench later this week, but the motor mount (1 piece) may still be in good condition).
I can't for the life of me understand how it's possible that the boat ran last fall without more signs of an issue. We have a small lake right by our house that we frequent. I had the boat running full out each time.
I'm really struggling with trying to decide whether to take on this project or sell the boat to someone who is willing to take it on. I am a project-oriented person, I typically have a handful of projects revolving around at any given time. I've done a lot of mechanical work on cars, I frequently do woodworking projects, house projects, restore old furniture and machines... but nothing as big as rebuilding a boat. As stated, I have other projects in the lineup as well and am trying to determine if taking this on is realistic. The great thing about these forums is that it's a collection of like-minded people. I'm sure many of you who have rebuilt your boats are also very project-oriented. I have a handful of questions I'm hoping this group could help me with.
1. Is there anyone who has chosen to sell their boat, rather than repair it? If so, How did you go about that process, given its condition?
2. For those of you who have rebuilt floor, stringers, transom all together, how long did it take you and how often were you working on the boat? I've read a handful of resto threads, and I've seen everywhere from 6 months to a year or more. I'm trying to gauge how much time during the week is devoted to working on the boat.
3. I don't have room in my garage to keep the boat during work, so I'll have to perform this in the backyard. This means that I would have to perform demo and glassing during the warmer months. Is this realistic?
4. If I start this project, what do I do with the full tank of gas in the boat? I planned on moving the boat to the driveway to flush out the coolant and get the engine running. At that point, I can lower the sterndrive and put some pressure on it. Assuming I do not see any flexing, is it crazy to put this boat in the water, check for leaks, if good, burn off the fuel? I'm not looking to go full throttle here. I genuinely don't know what to do with all of the gas though.
I know this is a lot to throw out on the first post, but I am pretty torn in my decision-making. Needless to say, I'm embarrassed that I bought such a mess, thinking I was setting my wife and me up for a couple of years of enjoyment.
Any help, suggestions, are greatly appreciated.
-Rob
My wife and I moved to Minnesota in 2019, and after watching everyone enjoy their time on the water, we wanted to get in on the fun. Never even driven a boat before, we rented a few pontoon boats and decided we wanted something for ourselves. Never owning a boat, we wanted something low cost. Fall of 2020 we found a 1990 Larson All American 170. The previous owner had redone the upholstery on the seats, and the remaining upholstery was in great condition. Needless to say, I overpaid... grossly overpaid.
I did a fair bit of research, but obviously not enough. When checking the boat, I found a typical soft spot by the ski locker and chalked it up to a 30-year-old boat problem. I convinced myself that it was not an issue. I knew the boat wouldn't be perfect, but figured we could get a couple of seasons out of it to really get a feel for boating. Mistakes aside, we used the boat about a dozen times before having it winterized, covered, and stored on the side of the house for winter (I overpaid for this also...). The mechanics that winterized the boat made no comments about the condition of the boat.
Overall, last fall, the boat ran well. I only had a few concerns:
1. It pulled to the right, and was difficult to steer under high throttle.
2. The Rub rail seems to be separating from the boat in a couple of places.
3. After running for an hour or two, there's a small amount of water in the bilge (not enough to run the bilge pump). I cannot tell where the water is entering.
During winter, I did a lot of reading about the floor and rub rail. I had a lot of concern about the condition of the stringers given what I'd read.
Fast forward to this year.
I uncovered the boat and immediately started inspecting the floor. Not much had changed. I turn my attention to the battery, removing it to recharge, and was shocked at what I found. The plywood has nearly disintegrated under the battery at the port side of the stern. Portions of the transom feel almost hollow with dry rot. The transom consists of a backplate that spans the full width of the stern, and a middle section on top of that where the keyhole is. The starboard and port-most sides of the transom are pretty soft. A Section of the middle is so bad that I was too nervous to go poking around to see how deep the rot is. One of the front motor mount bolts was loose but tightened back up by hand. I will test it with a wrench later this week, but the motor mount (1 piece) may still be in good condition).
I can't for the life of me understand how it's possible that the boat ran last fall without more signs of an issue. We have a small lake right by our house that we frequent. I had the boat running full out each time.
I'm really struggling with trying to decide whether to take on this project or sell the boat to someone who is willing to take it on. I am a project-oriented person, I typically have a handful of projects revolving around at any given time. I've done a lot of mechanical work on cars, I frequently do woodworking projects, house projects, restore old furniture and machines... but nothing as big as rebuilding a boat. As stated, I have other projects in the lineup as well and am trying to determine if taking this on is realistic. The great thing about these forums is that it's a collection of like-minded people. I'm sure many of you who have rebuilt your boats are also very project-oriented. I have a handful of questions I'm hoping this group could help me with.
1. Is there anyone who has chosen to sell their boat, rather than repair it? If so, How did you go about that process, given its condition?
2. For those of you who have rebuilt floor, stringers, transom all together, how long did it take you and how often were you working on the boat? I've read a handful of resto threads, and I've seen everywhere from 6 months to a year or more. I'm trying to gauge how much time during the week is devoted to working on the boat.
3. I don't have room in my garage to keep the boat during work, so I'll have to perform this in the backyard. This means that I would have to perform demo and glassing during the warmer months. Is this realistic?
4. If I start this project, what do I do with the full tank of gas in the boat? I planned on moving the boat to the driveway to flush out the coolant and get the engine running. At that point, I can lower the sterndrive and put some pressure on it. Assuming I do not see any flexing, is it crazy to put this boat in the water, check for leaks, if good, burn off the fuel? I'm not looking to go full throttle here. I genuinely don't know what to do with all of the gas though.
I know this is a lot to throw out on the first post, but I am pretty torn in my decision-making. Needless to say, I'm embarrassed that I bought such a mess, thinking I was setting my wife and me up for a couple of years of enjoyment.
Any help, suggestions, are greatly appreciated.
-Rob
. 3 months may set a land speed record. 
