Comparing a couple of 90s boats

GypsmJim said:
... To me, a a 29 or a 26 year old boat is a work in progress. It will end up on the hard more than in the water being used.

My opinion - save more money and wait.
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Mine is 35yrs old, not on the hard (except one week a year) and used every weekend.
 
Ok, just saw a few of the pictures. Wouldn't show up yesterday.

I would definitely go for the one with no bottom paint. A trailer boat doesn't need / want bottom paint as it is just a PITA to maintain and not needed.
 
GypsmJim said:
Pardon my blunt response. I have been a "boater" since being 4 years old. I built my first boat at age 19 before I even owned a car. To me not having a boat, or having a broken boat is tantamount to putting me in a nursing home.

My son wanted a boat so bad that he was willing to buy anything. I convinced him to wait until he had more money and then helped finance him.

To me, a a 29 or a 26 year old boat is a work in progress. It will end up on the hard more than in the water being used.

My opinion - save more money and wait.
Click to expand...
I’ll be blunt as well. That’s ridiculous.

Sure the only thing that works on an old boat is the owner. But with proper care and maintenance, they are perfectly fine.
 
GypsmJim said:
...To me, a a 29 or a 26 year old boat is a work in progress. It will end up on the hard more than in the water being used.

My opinion - save more money and wait.
Click to expand...

I'm going to disagree...
We have had our boat 11 years now and make multiple hours long trips to and from the islands in Lake Erie.
We go out cruising around a few times a month for a couple hours as well.
It's only been the hard when it's time to take a winter nap.

Some thoughts:
I researched my boat type for a few years before I bought it and knew what questions to ask and what to look for.
I bought the best specimen I could find in about a 600 mile radius of Cleveburg.
The boat had good maintenance records.

GypsmJim said:
To me, a a 29 or a 26 year old boat is a work in progress.
Click to expand...

This is absolutely true but if you stay up on the maintenance you can be pretty much trouble free.
If you do go down the old boat road, the two best things you can do is talk to someone who owns or did own one for a while and find the forum on CSR for the type of boat you are looking at and read through it.

I'll tip my hat again to Jason from Aftica again. When I bought my boat, he was an invaluable resource.
 
There are plenty of 20+ year old boats I would own well before many 10 year old boats that have been ignored.
I had my nephew from Atlanta on my boat for the first time last week. He thought it was less than 10 years old and it's now close to 20. It's all about how they've been cared for.
 
northshore said:
I'm going to disagree...
We have had our boat 11 years now and make multiple hours long trips to and from the islands in Lake Erie.
We go out cruising around a few times a month for a couple hours as well.
It's only been the hard when it's time to take a winter nap.

This is absolutely true but if you stay up on the maintenance you can be pretty much trouble free.
If you do go down the old boat road, the two best things you can do is talk to someone who owns or did own one for a while and find the forum on CSR for the type of boat you are looking at and read through it.
Click to expand...
I sold my last boat when it was 35 years old. I was the original owner. Yes, I never had any problems with it, but then I KNEW that it had seen a life of meticulous maintenance.

One of my current boats is now 71 years old, with a 70 year old engine. I was lucky to find her and spent a couple years on a restoration. It was a labor of love and that's all. I have more invested than she's worth.

I'm not afraid of owning an old boat. What worries me is buying a second hand boat with an unknown history. At 29 years, even with good maintenance, that's about the time that things start needing replacement. If a person is a DIYer and has the time, that mitigates some of the issues.

When someone asks me for advice, I usually recommend a boat that it is only a few years old.

Just my opinion. I'm retired now and I simply don't have time to tinker. I don't want to go fishing, I NEED to go.
 
Glad to hear there are some success stories with older boats. If I walk around the marina I slip my jet ski at there are plenty of older boats. So tentatively I'm test driving both boats this weekend the 1993 on Saturday and the 1996 on Sunday. Although I had a very interesting conversation with the mechanic who rebuilt the engine on the 1996. I'm not going to say the '96 EC is out of the running, but it'll depend very heavily on how she performs in the water.
 
First impression: 1993 220 OV

You mentioned bottom paint for the 2nd one, 1st has no bottom paint, I like that. Seems to show better overall, and you'll be working with barkier who may throw in some freebies. Nothing wrong with negotiating with a private party owner though.

"Hull needs a good buff" - ask them to buff it out in your offer.
 
mrsrobinson said:
First impression: 1993 220 OV

You mentioned bottom paint for the 2nd one, 1st has no bottom paint, I like that. Seems to show better overall, and you'll be working with barkier who may throw in some freebies. Nothing wrong with negotiating with a private party owner though.

"Hull needs a good buff" - ask them to buff it out in your offer.
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Definitely, I called to set up a sea trial / test drive and they offered up a buff + detail before I even test drive it. They're also sorting out the mechanical stuff I wanted to see (bellows, gimbal, shift cable and impeller) before putting it in the water. We talked about a slightly lower than list price with those things included and may be able to come to a deal. Either way I have 2 test drives scheduled for this weekend.
 
Well the verdict is in. The plan was to test drive both boats, but the 1996 seller would only let me hear it run on muffs which wasn't good enough for me. I pulled the trigger on the 1993 and am super happy. It's getting buffed on Monday and I have an upholstery guy coming to price out a new cockpit cover and hopefully a bimini. The dealer put in a new impeller, bellows, gimbal and belts. She towed back great and is looking good in the slip even with the chalky gel-coat!

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Congratulations! First on making the right call and walking on the one, and secondly on your new acquisition.
That chalky gel coat isn't an issue and will be gone next week. Couldn't have been said about that bottom paint.
That grin speaks volumes all by itself. You're right on the front side of a bunch of fun!
 
So far the last couple of weeks I got her buffed above the water line, swapped the alternator and battery (dead cell) and got a new head unit it, it's going to need speakers. My canvas guy just let me know that my cockpit cover, bimini and camper canvas are now done!

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How does it run and how does it perform in the water does it meet your expectations
 
Scott215 said:
How does it run and how does it perform in the water does it meet your expectations
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Yeah she's running good so far. Cruises around 28-29mph on the GPS around 3000rpm and the temps have been solid. Only complaints are the Speedo not working and the voltage gauge seems to be off, it's reading ~18v even though it's being fed around 14v based on my multimeter. Going to have her up in the great lakes later this month.
 
My gauge reads 16 volts always has. Glad your happy with it
 
Boat's looking really nice, I still like that grin. Proof that a pic is worth a thousand words. :)

slomaro said:
Yeah she's running good so far. Cruises around 28-29mph on the GPS around 3000rpm and the temps have been solid. Only complaints are the Speedo not working and the voltage gauge seems to be off, it's reading ~18v even though it's being fed around 14v based on my multimeter. Going to have her up in the great lakes later this month.
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When I acquired my 270 the volt gauge was way more wounded than yours seems to be. Had it simply read a little fat, I maybe wouldn't have considered it as pressing, but it was wildly erratic at times as well. I got one of these:
https://fpmarine.com/volt-12-volt-sea-ray-replacement-gauge-10-16-volt-for-12v/

It matched everything else perfectly and works as good as it looks. One of the quickest repairs made to date, in fact.
Your gauges may be a series prior to these, but ought work it it's close enough for you to stand it.

They likely have your speedo as well, but be aware that issue could be at the other end and not the gauge.
 
Yendor said:
Boat's looking really nice, I still like that grin. Proof that a pic is worth a thousand words. :)



When I acquired my 270 the volt gauge was way more wounded than yours seems to be. Had it simply read a little fat, I maybe wouldn't have considered it as pressing, but it was wildly erratic at times as well. I got one of these:
https://fpmarine.com/volt-12-volt-sea-ray-replacement-gauge-10-16-volt-for-12v/

It matched everything else perfectly and works as good as it looks. One of the quickest repairs made to date, in fact.
Your gauges may be a series prior to these, but ought work it it's close enough for you to stand it.

They likely have your speedo as well, but be aware that issue could be at the other end and not the gauge.
Click to expand...


I ordered the voltage gauge, it won't 100% match, but I can at least pull the oem one and see if I can fix it. It's a single battery system so I like the piece of mind. I suspect the speedo hose is blocked well upstream of the gauge if I can figure out a way to get some compressed air to the boat I'm going to try blowing it out, in the meantime my garmin has speed.
 
Slaro where is that slipped at
Looks nice
 
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