'87 V20 Steplift questions

[mserg1]

I've looked an '87. It's an I/O version Mercruiser. From my intila inspection it looks very clean. No sft spots ,no spider webs in the fiberglass,1 little scrach in the gel coat, Trailer is so-so. It was just a preliminary look-see but the boat looks real nice for it's age.

What are the problem areas I should be looking for?

Assuming that it's as good as it seems to be, what's the approximate value?(the boat is in NY--salt water usage)

[Zebra]

Tell us what they want for it and how much your prepared to offer. And Pics if you have them.

Stand on the outdrive, its ok and try to rock it back and forth look for excess movement in the transom. Do a compression ck. also cooling system and look in the cuddy behind the helm and ck. out the wiring see how old, ck the guages and also the steering cable. Look for burnt wires in engine comp.

Make sure bilge pump works and ck. battery area. Ck. the tops they can be alot of $ if you have to replace.

And did I say we need Pics.

[Pipe_Dream]

And did I say we need Pics.
;D ;D


And welcome!

[msbhammer]

Still waiting on Pics !!! ;D

[mserg1]

Thanks for the replies.

I still have no photos but after looking at it a 2nd time, here's a little more info.

The shows like it's about 3 or 4 years old. No spiderwebbing,1 little scratch in the gel coat. I've owned 6 boats (from 20' - 34') and this could be the cleanest used boat I've considered buying. I am really amazed at the condition for a 20 YO boat.

The transom is rock solid. I stood on the outdrive, lifted it up,pulled on it in all differnt directions--no flex,no cracking sounds--solid. There are no soft spots in the deck. Again very solid.

The engine is raw water cooled. I have not done a compression check yet. There is no rust, no cracked hoses. From what I could see the bilge area looks as clean as the rest of the boat

I couldn't see much in the way of the stringers but again no cracking or separation from the hull from what I could see.

As I sighted down the hull, there are no waves or bulges. The hull visually does not look twist or mis-aligned.

This is the 2nd owner. He knows the 1st owner. It has only been left in the water(LI Sound) 1 year. Other than that it has been trailered. The bottom has only 1 coat of bottom paint.

Ther is no canvas other than an almost brand new mooring cover. No eletronics to speak of.

It is not in the water but we started the engine using engine muff. It started right up. It shifted in & out of gear easily(no load on the engine or tranny). Steering felt fine(again no load)

The price that's being asked is $7K and it's a 1987.

Other than a compression test., any comments are welcome

[phester]

7K is in the ballpark as long as the motor checks out mechanically. What, imo, is putting the 7k in the higher end of the ballpark, is a "so-so" trailer. I'm on L.I. too, Kings Park, right by Sunken Meadow Park....where you at? p.s. use the trailer as a bargaining chip....start out at 5k offer and see what happens. Good luck and welcome!

[phester]

ALSO, SEATRAIL !!

[Pipe_Dream]

Right on, Phester.

Mserg1, it sounds like a great boat! You may have to come to a pretty firm price agreement with the seller (with the understanding that everything checks out) before you do a sea trial. But I wouldn't buy it without doing one.

Hope it works out for you. :)

[mserg1]

PHESTER,

Thanks for the input.

I'm in Westchester County.

And , yes, it will all be conditional on a sea trial. I talked to a person who claims to now both of the owners and he said that the boat was raely used.

I am concerned about the raw water cooling in a 20 YO power plant no matter how little it was used.

But I am going to make an offer and than have a mechaic check over the engine & outdrive.

[mserg1]

Actually I'm very excited about the boat. It looks like with a few additions it would be a great boat to chase around stripers and blues in the Sound and a trip or 2 out to Montauk.

Just trying to keep my common sense and not jump into a major headache.

[willy]

Mserg it sounds like a good boat, and to me a good price. You are right about the raw water cooling and you must figure that you may be addressing that and other things in time. It's a used 20 year old boat. I would do what Phes said about a mechanic check and especially a sea trial. There is some type of voodoo that guys like GMC or Skools can explain better than me but engines and drive systems can work all day and sound like a Ferrari on a muff but when you get them under load and warmed up gremlins start appearing.
Actually I work pretty well on the muff myself, so maybe it's not voodoo after all ;D
Good Luck you will enjoy these boats a lot ;)