First post, new (to me) boat, and how badly did I screw up?

[Ltdan84]

Hi everyone, my google searches the last couple days have led me here on more than one occasion so I figured I should make an account and start posting.
I accidentally won this 1991 Seaswirl 190 Sierra Classic Cuddy at an auction for abandoned vehicles at a towing company for $775.



Not sure what possessed me to bid on it but that’s irrelevant now.In the auction pics it was sitting on the ground so you couldn’t really see the bottom, but after I picked it up today it appears that the reason this boat may have ended up in a tow company’s yard is that it fell off a trailer, as there is a decent size part of the keel and where the hull flares out toward the back (not sure what the technical name is for that, if there is one) on the starboard side that have been sanded flat. How severe would you say this damage is?



Aside from that, the broken bow railing, upholstery, and some crazing in the gel coat on the top of the boat, it seems to be in decent shape, the floor doesn’t appear to be soft or the transom. What other things should I be looking for as someone who doesn’t really know anything about boats and probably shouldn’t have bought this one?Also, getting it loaded on the trailer from the ground by myself was a fun experience

 

[crazy charlie]

looks pretty good on the trailer especially for the money.Very hard to see the damage however Fiberglass is very fixable .What does the engine look like?? Good engine....you did well.Bad engine....not so good.Best of luck getting it going!! Charlie

 

[JASinIL2006]

Not sure I’d go for a boat with an OMC drive, personally. They have been out of business for some time…

 

[Lectro88]

Welcome to iBoats. and Boats...
Look at it this way.
I can point you to probably 20 threads this year where someone gave Thousands...! for a good running ready for the water boat.
To find out the transom, floor, stringers were rotted and the motor was trashed.
I know nothing of this boat, brand or outdrive...
Its a nice "looking" boat. I like the style if it had a big block... lol.
I drink $700 in soft drinks a year, Not too late to cut your losses.. or jump in arm pit deep.
Do some digging around this site a week or two, no cost there, but a wealth of knowledge, especially after a month or two. if you can stomach it.
Then decide if you junk it, scrap it, try to sell it (and be out 3-$400,. break even or get lucky)or fix it.
Keep us posted, plenty helpful folks here.
Best Luck.

 

[Ltdan84]

Welcome to iBoats. and Boats...
Look at it this way.
I can point you to probably 20 threads this year where someone gave Thousands...! for a good running ready for the water boat.
To find out the transom, floor, stringers were rotted and the motor was trashed.
I know nothing of this boat, brand or outdrive...
Its a nice "looking" boat. I like the style if it had a big block... lol.
I drink $700 in soft drinks a year, Not too late to cut your losses.. or jump in arm pit deep.
Do some digging around this site a week or two, no cost there, but a wealth of knowledge, especially after a month or two. if you can stomach it.
Then decide if you junk it, scrap it, try to sell it (and be out 3-$400,. break even or get lucky)or fix it.
Keep us posted, plenty helpful folks here.
Best Luck.

Thank you for the objective reply! I posted on another boat forum and the overwhelming response is that it’s garbage. It may very well be but I haven’t even tried to start it yet, much less see if it leaks. If it runs and floats I intend to putt around my local lake in it, and if it last 1-3 years I will be happy.
I’m in central TX so boat season isn’t technically over yet, but I figure I basically have 4-5 months to research and decide if I try to get this thing on the water or bust out the sawzall and start putting pieces in my dumpster every week until it’s gone.

 

[Ltdan84]

Also if a few hundred $$$ in fiberglass resin, fabric, filler, and epoxy will get the hull back into serviceable shape I’m ok with that.
First thing though is to see if it runs. If the stern drive blows apart then I probably will consider it to be junk.

 

[Lectro88]

Thank you for the objective reply! I posted on another boat forum and the overwhelming response is that it’s garbage. It may very well be but I haven’t even tried to start it yet, much less see if it leaks. If it runs and floats I intend to putt around my local lake in it, and if it last 1-3 years I will be happy.

I would try and get that flat spotted fiberglass built up before I put it near water.
If you get water inside the hull and the foam is compromised enough to absorb water you are in for a cascade of bad events. (it willlL Never dry out)ROT.!
In addition to all that. that flat spotted glass is a weak area and you wouldn't want that area to split open on said water 2 miles or 200 feet from the dock...
If you happen to get it running. and just can't wait to put it in the water.
In other words.. Its not what I would call safe to run and play in.

 

[Ltdan84]

I would try and get that flat spotted fiberglass built up before I put it near water.
If you get water inside the hull and the foam is compromised enough to absorb water you are in for a cascade of bad events. (it willlL Never dry out)
In addition to all that. that flat spotted glass is a weak area and you wouldn't want that area to split open on said water 2 miles or 200 feet from the dock...
If you happen to get it running. and just can't wait to put it in the water.
In other words.. Its not what I would call safe to run and play in.

That was my thought too. I want to probe it and see if there’s any soft spots regardless, but I picked up some twistlock sanding disks at harbor freight today to start working on it.
I was thinking to build it up with a few layers of fiberglass but am hoping someone can recommend what type of mat/mesh and resin to use.
Can someone point me in the direction of a how-to on make some stands to support the boat while leaving the keel exposed to work on? Or should I just do what is exposed between the trailer rollers and then reposition it?

 

[Lectro88]

I'm not the best for this type of repair, But I will give a little.
I myself, personally... am not a fan of Bondo brand anything. That's just my 1/2 cents worth. I would go with a good marine resin.
2 basic repairs are polyester, that the boat was 99% chance made of.
Or you could opt for epoxy for strength. (Huge debate)
Listen to some other replies, not just mine.
Gel Coat doesn't like epoxy... if you even care about paint or color.
There is better cloths that I have never used that would fix you right up.
Others will chime in later I'm sure. But biaxle (spelling) or 1708 are probably what you want to be looking at.(and epoxy isn't the best for cloth that needs styrene to dissolve them)again research and read.
Going to want some acetone for cleaning and prep. for starters.
And start watching some youtube on fiberglass boat repairs, and read, read read.
In a day or 2 you should get several good replies and directions you could take.
I do old school roving woven repairs. because I bought bulk amounts(cheap, before covid)And before I knew about these new cloths.
So I am bowing out. and taking back seat on this ride.

 

[Douglasdzaster]

Before you try to start it go through the complete fuel system. If there’s bad gas or bits of hose etc. You don’t want to suck that through the carburetor.
Checking the entire engine over before you ever crank on it could save you a lot of headaches down the road. I’m not to up on out drives only outboards my whole life but find out if you need to have water flowing through the pump or not when you do start it. That can be answered on here as well I bet. This is a great forum and I’ve learned a lot from these guys in the past year. I bought an old boat and thought I’d made a mistake as well but they got me through every issue and in a year I have a boat I use every week. Good luck on your adventure. It can be fun.

 

[Texasmark]

Check around for fiberglass repair shops. May not be a boat repair facility...may be a custom car outfit that does FG work. They have the tools, parts, and expertise........ For what you paid for what looks like a very fixable boat, you should be able to spend a few bucks to get her ready for the water.

I had a damaged boat repaired by such years ago. Couldn't tell it from new and was very reasonable.

 

[Ltdan84]

I know everyone has been waiting with bated breath, but I've been busy at work and the boat was just kind of sitting there.
I did get the bunks adjusted last weekend so it's sitting on them instead of the keel rollers.
Well, the good news is it runs, and goes forward and reverse. I ran it for about 30 seconds but didn't see any water coming out of the exhaust so I shut it off until I can check for a blockage and check the impeller. It goes forward and reverse, but it might have been making some noise in forward. I didn't leave it running long enough to really check though due to the cooling concerns.
View attachment Boat start.mov

 

[racerone]

Was this boat stored properly last winter in Texas.------There were a lot of frozen / cracked blocks reported due to a severe cold snap there.

 

[Lou C]

Cobra impeller very easy to replace start there

 

[Ltdan84]

Was this boat stored properly last winter in Texas.------There were a lot of frozen / cracked blocks reported due to a severe cold snap there.

No clue, remains to be seen. It got extremely cold here (for Texas) in February, it barely went above freezing for a week with single digit lows which we don’t have here.
I did check the oil previously and it looked like oil not milky.

 

[Scott06]

I know everyone has been waiting with bated breath, but I've been busy at work and the boat was just kind of sitting there.
I did get the bunks adjusted last weekend so it's sitting on them instead of the keel rollers.
Well, the good news is it runs, and goes forward and reverse. I ran it for about 30 seconds but didn't see any water coming out of the exhaust so I shut it off until I can check for a blockage and check the impeller. It goes forward and reverse, but it might have been making some noise in forward. I didn't leave it running long enough to really check though due to the cooling concerns.
View attachment 352716

When you do the impeller I would pull the drive check gimbal bearing and U joints and look for water in bellows.

You should be able to jam a water hose in where the outdrive mounts in the water passage or take the water in hose from drive off and rig up a from to to the hose. You just want to make sure the block isn't cracked before you start dropping money on repairs

 

[Lou C]

If its cracked it will be on the sides of the block, between the starter and the engine mount on the starboard side and same thing on the port side, also if you had pulled the intake manifold you'd see it in the cam valley. You might also see that the heads have cracks and lower edges of the exhaust manifolds.
Up here in the north east we winterize our boats by early November and I drain and then fill em with either -100 marine antifreeze or I mix up a batch of 50/50 Sierra PG antifreeze + water to prevent freeze ups and reduce corrosion. You can get 20 years out of a raw water cooled engine easily up here (salt water) if you do that.....and if you mix your own get one of these refractometers, they are a lot more accurate and can be used for EG, PG or even battery electrolyte. Just measures the specific gravity of the mix compared to water.
Here the -50 and -60 are really not good enough in my opinion, OK in a PVC water pipe not in a cast iron engine.

 

[KJM]

If it fell off a trailer then i would think that it was being used and probably the engine and outdrive are good. Engine looks nice and clean and sounds good. Make sure the bellows didn't get torn during accident and that the seal between the outdrive and transom is still good before putting her in water. I think you probably got a decent deal. Learn how to make "peanut butter" and you won't have too much problem with the worn spots on the hull.