Would this scare you away?

jamesbalog · #1 06-08-2020, 03:52 PM

Looking at 1995 V21

There are spider cracks in the gelcoat on the transom. Nothing that looks like it***8217;s anymore than through the gelcoat.

Transom seems solid, no flex when bouncing the motor. Motor bolt holes looks good, not sinking in at all. I pulled probably 15 screws from around the cap, transducers, swim ladder, wash down/ livewell 3 way etc.. none of the screws had any wet or dark wood come out, all but one came out completely clean, one had a tiny bit of dry brown wood on the end.

Other than the spider cracks pictured there was one little chip In the gelcoat about the size of a dime (gelcoat still intact)

I did not and could not drill a core sample.

With that info and this picture would you run far away from this boat? What would cause this?

randlemanboater · #2 06-17-2020, 10:09 AM

Sounds like a good candidate to me...as long as the price is ok.

CaptainCrispy · #3 06-17-2020, 01:18 PM

Not at all. It's a 25 year old boat, you should expect some imperfections. There is a product called Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure, which is a thin 1 part epoxy that will soak into the spider cracks and seal the fiberglass, if the crack goes down that far. There are also plenty of youtube videos about fixing chips/cracks using gelcoat, wax paper, and very fine sandpaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Tolle.../dp/B00JQ6XHWC

jamesbalog · #4 06-17-2020, 08:42 PM

Well I bought the boat, gave 3500 for it. 95 V21 with a 95 150 ocean pro. The Gear case was completely full of water and metal shavings and wouldn’t shift. Top end had perfect compression in all 6 and fired the first turn of the key after sitting over a year. I’m in the middle of 11 straight 12 hour days and haven’t had a chance to pull the lower. I’ve got a used lower with a warranty on it in the mail, Gave $500 for that. I may have jumped the gun ordering that but it won’t hurt to have it.

Other than that the only things I noticed were I will need a new livewell/wash down pump and the alarm horn didn’t go off when I turned the key so I will have to check that out and test the VRO alarms.

I did say a prayer and drilled holes for a Bracket. Transom was about what I expected for a 25 year old wood core. Not perfect, not rotten, seems plenty strong.

I gave A little more than I wanted to for it but unless more motor issues pop up than expected I think the deal was pretty good. Especially around here where it seems every decent boat sells in 10 minutes or is way over priced. Glad I got to this one before it hit the market.

Hopefully she will last me for a few good years!

CaptainCrispy · #5 06-18-2020, 12:07 PM

Now you need to change your signature !

jamesbalog · #6 06-26-2020, 09:58 AM

Quick update on the v21

Finally pulled the lower that was on it, it was trashed. Bad news is the lower I ordered showed up completely not as described. They shipped it with gear lube in it, and when I opened the box gear lube was everywhere, So obviously The seals are no good. Secondly it wouldn’t shift, the shift shaft housing was completely corroded to the shaft. So that lower is getting returned. There’s another one the way.

Other than that pulled the VRO warning horn out and replaced it with a very overpriced new one and it works as it should.

Hopefully this other lower shows up in good shape and no other issues pop up.

steplift20 · #7 06-29-2020, 09:58 AM

When you buy a wellcraft Steplift your buying a classic hull, it's like buying a 57 corvette sure there old but worth being restored . But when you restore a boat they are not worth like restoring a old vett, you do it for the love of the boat and for yourself . I love the boat and hull design ,

jamesbalog · #8 08-03-2020, 12:10 PM

Another quick update.

Got another lower bolted her on and was good to go. Only other issue I had was the VRO alarm. I couldn’t get it to shut up, constant no oil alarm when it was clearly getting oil. Tried for days researching and trying different things. Could never get it to shut up without unplugging the tank sensors. Finally caved and deleted it and premixed.

Shockingly the hour meter on the boat worked, it had 341 hours on it when purchased. Have put about 10 more on since. Only issue I’ve seen is I believe the throttle cable
Needs adjusted or replaced, the first couple inches of movement on the controls does nothing and all the way forward isn’t getting the motor wide open. Also the fuse panel only has 4 banks. Need to replace that one day so I can run some more electronics!

Pipe_Dream · #9 08-04-2020, 06:40 AM

Looks great!