Is it worth it to save my boat?

[Domino256]

 

 

Hi All,

I am looking at doing some boat repairs on an 1989 Procraft 19 footer Fish and Ski. The motor is a 175HP Johnson from the same era. The boat was my dad's and he has since given it to me. However, it needs work. It has sat in the backyard for 7+ years and I don't know if it even floats anymore. There were some animal living in it as it reeked of pee and the foam is all damaged. It has 2 live wells and a tolling motor that needs to be replaced, I would also like to get new fishfinders and get the motor purring. The carpet was "new" we installed it and then a few months later the boat was stored for the 7 years. 

 

Does anyone know how much it might cost to get the whole boat operational and install new fish finders, trolling motor, bilge pump and repair the foam and anything? assuming the Motor just needs to be tuned and ran a bit. 

 

I live in GA. Any help would be appreciated. 

I wont be doing any of the repair myself. I will need to pay someone to do it. 

[Deephaven]

Depends on the condition.   Could be super cheap or way more than $20k.  Pictures and goals would help narrow that down.

[Deleted account]

58 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

Could be super cheap

LMAO

[Deephaven]

29 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

LMAO

Good point.  Bet there are a few of us that could do it cheap though.

[Boomstick]

I'm going to assume it will be a good chunk of change either way, but the way the market is you might be able to restore and renovate it and have a nice boat for far less than the price of a new (or lightly used) one.

 

I'm not handy with boat repairs but I've seen people drop a couple grand on a boat, fix it up and sell it for a $10k profit when all is said and done. They did all their own labor.

 

I've seen other cases where they bought the boat, later learned the motor was shot and had to replace it but the rest of the boat was so nice that they still came out ahead.

 

Then there are boats like this (video is kind of long, but I watched it with one of my sons and we laughed the entire way though it).
 

 

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, Deephaven said:

Good point.  Bet there are a few of us that could do it cheap though.

OP said he was going to pay to have it done. Labor is running $150-200 per hr, and parts and materials will come to a hefty sum for a boat of that vintage that has been sitting around for 7 years, and even doing it ones self, you'd be looking at a couple of grand or more depending on what you find, and most likely that won't be the end of it.

[casts_by_fly]

I looked at doing a similar restoration on my dads old stratos 2 years ago. Doing a lot of the work myself (not the motor) it was starting around $4k. The big question was if the wood stringers and foam are waterlogged. If they are then forget it. You’d be better to buy a used boat with the money it would take. 

[VolFan]

If the foam is bad then it’s probably not worth it. Use it to hold the motor and get it checked and then go from there.

[GaryH]

14 hours ago, Domino256 said:

 

Does anyone know how much it might cost to get the whole boat operational and install new fish finders, trolling motor, bilge pump and repair the foam and anything? assuming the Motor just needs to be tuned and ran a bit. 

 

 

 

To me the big questions would be is the repair to have the boat be a keepsake for your dad or just a boat for fishing and what kind of budget do you have. Depending on what trolling motor and fish finders your looking at could run you $4000 to $8000. And they way you described the boats condition I would say like others have said the bill could easily reach $20,000. 

 

[spartyon8]

Long story short, no. Unless it is a sentimental project then I would avoid it. This is my 1986 Skeeter Starfire 75HP project. I took the wife out on our 4th date and the motor was very bouncy when I put it on the trailer...sure enough the transom was gone. Upon further exception, stringers and all the foam had to come out as well. This tends to be typical from my research of restoring a boat in this condition. 2 years later, I am still working on it. I just put in the front floor and am now moving to the back half of the deck/compartments. The only good thing that I have found with this project is that I can rebuild however I would like within the given parameters of the hull. I added 2 larger compartments up front, extended the deck, and was able to put in a flush mount trolling motor pan after raising the deck up almost 2 inches. 

 

The biggest thing for me (teacher and family) is money and time. So far, I have about $3,000 dollars in material (wood, fiberglass, resin, etc.). The disposables like gloves, buckets, brushes, acetone, etc. sure add up quick and weren't something I planned on much in the beginning. If I hadn't come this far and spent that much on materials already (also pre-boom in material costs), I would not have done this. In the end, you will still have a small 1980s boat that really doesn't have any resale value given comps to newer used boats.

 

[Deephaven]

Post pics.  The arbitrary condition you describe could all be superficial.  What if the motor runs, the trolling motor is fine, and the livewells just need new pumps.  By chewed up foam, I figure you meant the seats.  If that is it, it may not be that bad.  If it requires what sparty did you will have WAY more into it than I have in my boat which is significantly newer and full of electronic goodies.

[spartyon8]

12 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

Post pics.  The arbitrary condition you describe could all be superficial.  What if the motor runs, the trolling motor is fine, and the livewells just need new pumps.  By chewed up foam, I figure you meant the seats.  If that is it, it may not be that bad.  If it requires what sparty did you will have WAY more into it than I have in my boat which is significantly newer and full of electronic goodies.

Fingers crossed you are right. However, being outside for 7 years in Georgia, there may be a lot of hidden rot in this boat. These 80s era glass boats tend to be like this. After I tore into mine and researched a bit, it seems to be the norm. I strongly would advise you to test the transom, floor and possibly stringers before making a decision. Again, I hope he lucks out and it is all cosmetic. 

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, spartyon8 said:

Fingers crossed you are right. However, being outside for 7 years in Georgia, there may be a lot of hidden rot in this boat. These 80s era glass boats tend to be like this. After I tore into mine and researched a bit, it seems to be the norm. I strongly would advise you to test the transom, floor and possibly stringers before making a decision. Again, I hope he lucks out and it is all cosmetic. 

 

Agreed. I'd be jumping up and down on every panel and every lid looking for anything that moves.  Since you own it, I'd get into the wells as deep as you can go and pull back some carpet.  Maybe get a drain camera ($30 on amazon) and send it down the floor drain to see what you can see.  Any point where you can take a panel off and look inside.

 

You could run into $10k by the time you're done and still have a late 80's boat that was redone by an DIYer.  Lots of other boats I'd spend $10k on and have a lot more boat.

[spartyon8]

Many people who restore boats say to drill small random holes in floor, stringers, and transom to make sure wood is solid and then fill holes. At least take a hammer and listen. If you hear any hollow sound on transom, it will need to be replaced. Soft floor (movement or bouncy) will needs replacing as well.  

[thomas15]

Fiberglass boats have wood stringers and transom that are covered with mat and coated with resin. Then there is foam that is used to make the hull more floatable and adds strength. Once the foam becomes waterlogged the wood stringers and transom rot. The repair is to gut the whole thing, remove the foam, rotten stringers and transom and replace. This requires a lot of time, energy and money.

 

A laymen can do this even if they have never worked with resin. It is however not an easy project. There is a forum called iBoats that has a sub forum packed with peoples projects and many many pictures and discussion. I would spend time there looking over the projects it will give you a good idea of what you are getting into.

[TnRiver46]

10 hours ago, thomas15 said:

This requires a lot of time, energy and money.

 

A laymen can do this even if they have never worked with resin. It is however not an easy project. 

True stuff!!!! Like, time enough to where you go to bed face down with your belt on and your wallet in your pocket. I’ve been there done that and it wasn’t even a fiberglass boat ! Just replacing the wood in aluminum boats will wear a man out 

[Way2slow]

Born and raised in GA and messing with boats since I was 16 (that was a loongggg time ago) you can just about bet money any boat sitting out and exposed to the elements is going to be junk so far as money value goes.  Just the cost of materials alone to make it a safe, useable boat would far exceed any value the boat might have, even after being fully restored.  Then you have the motor to consider.  First, the old 175 was not that great of a motor, and there are parts that are common to be bad when torn down to be rebuilt that are no longer available and good used are extremely hard to find.  Having sat for that many years, there is always the chance the internals may be rusted junk from condensation over the years.  

So, unless you have the ability and know how to do all the work yourself, and 3 - 5 grand to throw away for parts and materials, you would be better off just finding a good used boat.  

I have a 1988 Stratos that's been sitting in my yard for about a year I keep looking at and thinking I'm going to restore for my granddaughter (it was my dads) and there is not one thing about that boat that's still good (it had an oak tree growing out of the floor).  I've just got to get enough ambition to start working on it, but there is a huge amount of sentimental value to that one.