skybuilder
Recruit
Thread starter- Joined
- Jun 7, 2016
- Messages
- 2
Well, good morning all.
Since I'm obviously new here I'll jump right in about my "NEW" old chappy. I've loved these boats since I first laid eyes on one back in the early '80's. Awesome lines and power!!!
I have not owned a boat in many years and with grandkids getting old enough to enjoy the water we thought it was time to go for it. My first purchase was a couple of months ago and has turned out to be a disaster. After much looking we jumped in on a small 16' cuddy by Bayliner because it was "CHEAP", looked clean and the guy selling seemed honest enough (he may be and was just as ignorant as me so I'll not impune his character over the deal). Anyway, it turns out that the transom is completely rotted out and dangerous and I was too uninformed to know what I was looking at until I had it at the shop to get the engine gone over. That one will be a project boat for later in the year when it cools down a bit and after we've had our lake time in the next one.
After doing a TON of research and searching locally for another one that we can actually use we settled on a 1987 198C XL Cuddy and what a bute! It has been covered it's whole life and well kept. Solid as a rock with a couple of small soft spots in the deck that will make it through the season and I'll address them in the fall.
I have many questions that the seller couldn't answer so I'll pose them here.
1. How do I determine the engine size I have? This model came with 3 options and this one seems to be at the higher end. It really growls and runs strong. I believe it's a Mercruiser but he said it's a Penta motor??? The motor was completely rebuilt (by a previous owner) less than 130hrs ago and a rebuilt OMC outdrive with rebuilt tilt pistons was installed last year with less than 30hrs on it. The boat was well winterized and sat in a covered enclosure for the past year and has not been run until yesterday and it felt great.
2. After a quick wash down with soap the Gelcoat is a bit faded/oxidized but in overall good shape. What is the best way to clean it up and give it a nice shine again? I'm actually looking for the best products since I know how to clean. I got an electric buffer and hit it with a light rubbing compound but that didn't bring up the shine like I thought it would. Should I use polishing or rubbing compound on it? Will just a good coat of wax do the job?
3. There are a few nicks in the Gelcoat above the waterline and some dings along the keel. They are not substantial or in any way close to being through the glass but I'd like to repair them down the road. Best practices for this type work???
I can find scarce information on the boat doing searches every way I can think of. It looks like this hull may have been made by Robalo back then. There are threads for both the 198C XL and a 195C XL but I can't find much info about either.
Any thoughts, tips or additional info on this boat would be a big help...
Thanks guys and sorry for the lengthy post.
Sincerely,
Gary
Since I'm obviously new here I'll jump right in about my "NEW" old chappy. I've loved these boats since I first laid eyes on one back in the early '80's. Awesome lines and power!!!
I have not owned a boat in many years and with grandkids getting old enough to enjoy the water we thought it was time to go for it. My first purchase was a couple of months ago and has turned out to be a disaster. After much looking we jumped in on a small 16' cuddy by Bayliner because it was "CHEAP", looked clean and the guy selling seemed honest enough (he may be and was just as ignorant as me so I'll not impune his character over the deal). Anyway, it turns out that the transom is completely rotted out and dangerous and I was too uninformed to know what I was looking at until I had it at the shop to get the engine gone over. That one will be a project boat for later in the year when it cools down a bit and after we've had our lake time in the next one.
After doing a TON of research and searching locally for another one that we can actually use we settled on a 1987 198C XL Cuddy and what a bute! It has been covered it's whole life and well kept. Solid as a rock with a couple of small soft spots in the deck that will make it through the season and I'll address them in the fall.
I have many questions that the seller couldn't answer so I'll pose them here.
1. How do I determine the engine size I have? This model came with 3 options and this one seems to be at the higher end. It really growls and runs strong. I believe it's a Mercruiser but he said it's a Penta motor??? The motor was completely rebuilt (by a previous owner) less than 130hrs ago and a rebuilt OMC outdrive with rebuilt tilt pistons was installed last year with less than 30hrs on it. The boat was well winterized and sat in a covered enclosure for the past year and has not been run until yesterday and it felt great.
2. After a quick wash down with soap the Gelcoat is a bit faded/oxidized but in overall good shape. What is the best way to clean it up and give it a nice shine again? I'm actually looking for the best products since I know how to clean. I got an electric buffer and hit it with a light rubbing compound but that didn't bring up the shine like I thought it would. Should I use polishing or rubbing compound on it? Will just a good coat of wax do the job?
3. There are a few nicks in the Gelcoat above the waterline and some dings along the keel. They are not substantial or in any way close to being through the glass but I'd like to repair them down the road. Best practices for this type work???
I can find scarce information on the boat doing searches every way I can think of. It looks like this hull may have been made by Robalo back then. There are threads for both the 198C XL and a 195C XL but I can't find much info about either.
Any thoughts, tips or additional info on this boat would be a big help...
Thanks guys and sorry for the lengthy post.
Sincerely,
Gary
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