Restoring a 1984 Monaco 207

Cj2law

Member
Oct 31, 2014
56
St louis
Boat Info
2003 Sea Ray 240SD
Engines
350 Mag w/ Bravo III
My wife and I purchased a 1984 Monaco 207 4 years ago to use is pool 26 on the Mississippi. The boat was in decent shape to be used as a "River Boat" but over the years the wood has started to fail in different areas of the floor and stringers (assuming transom also). So we Purchased a new boat but could not bring myself to discard the old girl because frankly I love this boat and she still runs like a champ? So I have decided to restore her and I have a few questions and more are sure to come up as the restoration gets more underway. Does anyone have an opinion on rebuilding engine vs. crate engine? Second, Some one told me that I should only tear out the wood that is rotting or damaged, I was planning on taking it down to the shell and replacing the stringers and all the flooring and bulkheads,any recommendations on this? All opinions and advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Just realize that after all that work you will have a boat that you will never recoup your money and time. That does not mean you shouldn't do it if you really love the boat and intend to keep it for some time. As far as the engine I am always in favor of rebuilding the existing one as long as you can find a really good local engine rebuilder. I had both mine done 3 years ago and replaced all the bolt on accessories at the same time.
 
Just realize that after all that work you will have a boat that you will never recoup your money and time. That does not mean you shouldn't do it if you really love the boat and intend to keep it for some time. As far as the engine I am always in favor of rebuilding the existing one as long as you can find a really good local engine rebuilder. I had both mine done 3 years ago and replaced all the bolt on accessories at the same time.
I realize that any work and money I put toward her will not be returned. This boat will become our lake boat when it is done. I plan on keeping her as long as I still like going on the water. Thanks for the input on the engines.
 
No one will believe it without photos posted here! If you do we would love to see before, during and after pics in a thread. If you do that many with experience will follow you and offer help or advice. Good luck,

MM
 
I realize that any work and money I put toward her will not be returned. This boat will become our lake boat when it is done. I plan on keeping her as long as I still like going on the water. Thanks for the input on the engines.

I would suggest that any boat that has wood in the floor and stringers be kept covered when not in use to keep water from invading the wooden structure of the boat. I am always amazed at owners that leave boats sitting exposed on trailers in the yard with the bow down. Then there are the ones that leave the boat uncovered all winter exposed to snow and ice. Good luck with restoration and post a few pictures as you move along.
 
I can offer you some advice on this as I am now 3 years into a restoration project, that was supposed to take about 6 months, on a 1985 Cobalt CM23.
  1. Triple the amount of time you think it will take. (Unless you are retired and have the space and time to work on it constantly)
  2. Double the amount of money you are planning or willing to spend
  3. Expect to find more wrong with the boat than originally planned or, expect the unexpected.
  4. Label EVERYTHING as you take it off the boat
  5. Take lots of pics and videos for reference. Your memory may be good but a photo is better.
The boat I am doing is one that I owned with a partner from 1989-1998 and I had a chance to buy it back 3 years ago. I have intimate knowledge of the boat and it has taken me this long and I did not have to do stringers, etc. I have also taken the opportunity to update and improve gauges, lighting (to all LED), switchgear, etc. to make it a bit more modern and reliable.

The boat originally had a Merc 5.7/260 HP but the previous owner installed a custom-built 383 Stroker motor of undermined HP. Estimates are somewhere around 350-400. This may be problematic as the Merc Alpha drive is really only reliable to about 300 HP. However, my boat does have an SEI sterndrive on it that SEI unofficially states will handle my horsepower. If you don't have an Alpha drive (I thought they came out in '85) you may want to look into an SEI drive to maintain the newness of the propulsion system.

As for rebuilding or replacing the engine I think that is a matter of choice. I was always happy with the performance of my Cobalt with the stock 260. I never felt the need to go faster. What you may want to look into would be a new or rebuilt short block 5.7 from someone like Michigan Motorz. All of your existing auxiliary parts would bolt back on.

Lastly, online sources are your best friend. I constantly research and purchase from eBay, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.

Best of luck with the project. It's a lot of work. And as someone said, don't expect to get the money back. Counting what I paid for the boat I'm about $9k into a boat that BUC states is worth about $4500.

If you have anymore questions , let me know.

Shawn
 
Ok, So had the boat surveyed and the got his assessment. All stringers need to be replaced from transom to the bulkhead. The floor has rot in the starboard and port stern. The transom is solid along with the motor mounts. His suggestion would be that if I was going to remove the stringers and replace, then I should probably replace all the wood including the transom and motor mounts. Does anyone out there have any advice, would your recommendations be the same or would you just replace the rotting stringers and floor? Was wanting to start this project the first of march?
 
Trying to piece good into old and not so good is never the best option. And I would guess that as you tear into it you'll find that just about everything is rotten. there is a guy in Texas who has done this on a couple of Sea Rays. He had a YouTube Channel for a while. His screen name - Friscoboater if you can find his stuff. He documented his project on another site as well.
 
I dunno.... That project will be a lot of work and expense but, if you have the time, money and a place to work on it.... I personally think I would part out as much as you can and find another project.

I got lucky with my Cobalt. The floor, transom and stringers were all in good condition but I had to remake or rebuild all of the plywood cabinets and bulkheads as they were all crap. Additionally, all were surfaced with laminate that was sort of "teak-looking" but not very. I resurfaced all of those pieces with 1/40" paper-backed teak veneer and then finished with 4 coats of Minwax Spar urethane. I'm getting ready to have the interior reupholstered so I am going to be in this project about $11-12,000. Don't tell my wife....
Shawn
 
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With regards to the engines, finding a good engine builder is the trick here. If you don't already know of one yourself, I wouldn't bother asking around and just order a crate. They're pretty popular, built by professionals and I read very little about them having issues out of the box.

The wood that's there isn't worth saving, gut it all and start from scratch. If you're going to go this far with the boat go all the way. You'll have a boat you can use for years and then sell at the end. Sure, you're never going to get all your money back out of it but doing it right will get you the most money when it's time to sell.
 
Ok so update on this project. After doing months of research and trying to decide on which way would be the best route. Decided to sell it. the person who bought it owns a body shop and is going to restore her to its original glory. He claims that he will send me pictures of the restore in different stages of completion. I am not going to hold my breath. Thank you to everyone for their advice and input was greatly appreciated and helped me to decide if I wanted to take on the project. So in the end spent the money that was going to used for the restore towards a different boat.
 
Congratulations. For once, someone with a project boat made the wise decision and chose not to proceed. No you can enjoy your new boat this summer instead of working on the old one.
Shawn
 

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