And yes, the commenters who pointed the questionable reliability of Chrysler motors are not kidding. That proved the adage that the two best days in a boat owner’s life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it. Incidentally I did own an ’86 Bayliner 1850 with Chrysler 125, among other holes in the water over the years. Personally, I have had all of boats and boat owners I want and then some. If you’re a good wrench and understand two-strokes, you might make out on one of these but you’re still going to spend lots of money and time. Be aware that you will be faced with car dealership levels of labor and parts costs if you can’t fix it yourself. Practically speaking, if someone buys a boat this cheap, they seldom have the funds to pay for someone else to work on it. You might as well perform CPR on a rotting corpse. You can’t get parts for motors this old and no repair you do is going to make the customer happy. The dealership I worked for found that working on old boats was a no-win situation. I got stories, but you don’t want to hear them all. Usually when you are out in the middle of the lake with a lightning storm approaching. Old boats are like a puppy-a heartbreak waiting to happen. If you had dragged either one of these old tubs into our parking lot, we would have politely requested you leave forthwith. Retired powersports/marine service guy here. It sounds like it might have been in storage for a while, and if the engine wasn’t put into storage properly, that could account for its problems now. The seller lists a lot of recent work done, including work on the included trailer. But finding parts for a 45-year-old boat motor might not be the easiest thing, and replacement outboards aren’t cheap.Īpart from the engine issues, it doesn’t look too bad for a $1600 boat. This particular Mercury outboard is having some issues the seller says it runs, but “something is just off.” There aren’t a lot of moving parts in a 2-stroke motor, no valves or camshafts, so the list of potential trouble spots is few. (Snowmobiles are usually 2 strokes for the same reason.) 2 stroke engines are also smaller and lighter than 4 stroke engines, which is important when you have to swing the whole engine back and forth to steer, and pick it up out of the water when you’re done. The reasons for this are that boats don’t need a lot of torque, but top-end horsepower is useful. As is common for outboard boat engines, this is a 2 stroke engine. It has a fiberglass hull and an 85 horsepower outboard motor. This would appear to be it: the least amount you can spend for a pleasure boat that is intact and has a hope of being seaworthy. Basically, they’re the shitboxes of the boat world, which makes them perfect for us. But because of the bad reputation, they often sell cheap, even the nice ones. But like any “cheap” product, they have their devoted followers, willing to put in the work to turn them into something respectable. With that said, let’s get our feet wet – possibly literally.īoth of these boats are made by Bayliner, who, as I understand it, had a reputation for some pretty cheap shoddy materials and workmanship early on. ![]() I need to navigate some unknown waters today, and I hope those who know better what they’re talking about will show me a little patience as I learn the ropes. Most of these columns I can sail through without a whole lot of research, but this time I can’t just float along. I’ll come right out and say it, I’m a little out of my depth here. It’s going to make somebody a nice cheap ride, that one. And I prefer that earlier square-jawed style. That was just too damn big, but this Eldorado looks just right. Looking at that ’91 makes me miss my ’89 Coupe DeVille. Or, as they’re often called, “holes in the water that you pour money into.” Before we dive into those, let’s see which Caddy you’d rather set sail in: Good morning, and happy Friday to you all! On today’s edition, we’re leaving the wheels behind and taking to the high seas (or at least the lakes and rivers) with a pair of cheap old runabout motorboats.
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