Think I may have found my boat but have questions

[cterrebonne]

Originally Posted by willy

If you were to fill in that hole for the outdrive and put a single engine
Armstrong bracket on it and install a 115 Johnson you would have
Old School.
That was my first V20, a 1986. Great boat. Do a search for Willy's Old School and you will see it.
Check the transom better than with your fist there Rocky! LOL
Pull a screw or two from the transom and check what comes out with it. Try to pull the screw from around the outdrive hole area if you can, do it on a hot day and leave it out for a few minutes while you inspect the rest of the boat. I walked away from three different V20's after I did this and walked back after fifteen minutes or so and saw
French Onion Soup seeping out.
Check the stringers real good in the last two to three feet from the transom.
Use a flashlight and find the drain holes in the stringers that Wellcraft used to let water drain through the stringers to get to the bildge pump.
Stick you finger in the holes and use your finger nail and see if it is hard inside there. Use a awl or skinny head screw driver and press hard on those stringers.
Check inside and out as best you can for rot on the bulk head that is the rear wall of the cuddy, where it meets the cockpit. Look for cracking and settling along the floor and at the bottom of the corners of the cuddy door.
Check the area around the helm seat floor for flex.
Stand on the cuddy roof and see how much flex you have in that and then go inside the cuddy with a flashlight and look for staining from water on the headliner and material in there.
Stick your nose deep inside the inspection ports and pull all covers around the cockpit floor and if you smell the slightest hint of gas count on a replacement before you can even use the boat.
Accidentally lean on an open cuddy door and see if the screws holding it in are snug and solid.
Bounce up and down on the gas tank cover, cockpit floor area and see how much flex is there.
Eyeball as much of the fuel tank as you can with a good light, look for whitish pitting or dark moldy looking spots. Scrape them with your screw driver and see if you get a lot of stuff scraping off. If you do the tank will need replacing once that boat gets loaded with fuel and bounced around in the ocean and starts seeping through tiny pin holes into the surrounding foam.
I forgot to ask you if there was fuel in the tank to begin with. If there is none there may be a reason for that.
Get inside the inspection ports and open and close the through hull valves a few times and check the bedding for those through hulls.
Thats all I got right now, it is cocktail time.

everything willy said. I will add this. I have a 79 I/O conversion. The biggest thing that I found to be an issue was that the transom was too thin for the weight I had hanging off the back. It was causing a lot of flex. If it were me I would plan on doing some glass work and tie the transom into the stringers and maybe add some thickness from the inside.

[bldgengineer]

http://easternshore.craigslist.org/boa/3046440319.html

Found this today and just got back from a 4 hour round trip ride to look at it. I did everything you guys suggested and all I could find was the engine idles slightly rough, smoothes out until 3k where it surges until just over 3500 then smoothes out again. It also needs 2 bilge pumps.

The boat hasn't been in the water since 2007 sitting in a garage with a 1/4 tank of gas so I'm thinking fresh gas, carbon rebuilds, and a tune up will take care engine.

Seller is willing to take $3500 so I think I'll be stopping by the bank tomorrow.

[bldgengineer]

By the way Willy, I love the write up! Thank you very much sir!

[THEFERMANATOR]

Before you take the plunge, check the shift shaft that goes from by the engine down to the lower unit. It is VERY prone to rusting through on the early pre 94 engines, and the powerheads many times are frozen to the mid section so you can't replace it with the new style one. I've heard they are making a 2 piece replacement now though that doesn't require pulling the powerhead, but I've never used one. Theres alot of YAMAHA's out there that have been trashed because of the shift shaft and frozen powerhead problem.

[Destroyer]

Everything that Thefermanator just said...., but WOW, you found a Dualie (A dual console) The rarest of the rare!!! Congrats!!!! Great looking boat.. As long as the engine is sound that's a winning find!!

As far as the gas goes, drain it, if it looks good use it in your lawnmower. It's not worth the chance to use it in your boat
engine. And bilge pumps are considered a wear item, so it's not unusual to find a boat that needs one or two. No points deducted for needing a bilge pump.

[macojoe]

great i had the yamaha shift shaft problem in mine, but the guy i got the motor from fixed for me with no issues with frozen bolts, thank god!! BS that started this board had the same issue also an d was able to fix himself, that said we are talking about 10 years ago so not as long as now to get the bolts frozen.
Good Luck

[Blue_Runner]

I like the dually and agree with some of the others that said for the money, you'd be better off finding one in running condition. I would advise checking the compression on the motor before plopping down the cash tho.

[reh76]

I don't know how far you are willing to drive, but this one keeps popping up here in Wilmington, NC. Looks Nice!

http://wilmington.craigslist.org/boa/2978006875.html

[bldgengineer]

Nevermind. He just sold it. On to my next unicorn....

[reh76]

I see a ton of V's around Wilmington & eastern NC. When I was looking, the biggest problem I found was soft floors. I checked out several and I swear I think my v21 was the first one I found with a solid floor.