Monark Boat Purchase Possible Corrosion Pics

[yorktown mike]

Hi All, I'm new to this forum, glad to be here. I have owned aluminum row boats my whole life fishing on tthe locval NYC reservoirs. Attached are pics of a Monark I might purchase this weekend. Im a little concerned it may have corrosion because I have never seen paint come off like this. Any help would be appreciated. The pics are from facebook marketplace so they are not HD. I am requesting better pics before I make the 2 hour trek to check out the boat. The transom pics are what worry me, it looks like the paint is blistering. The boats is $2k for boat motor trailer so I think I may go through as long as engine has compression. Any help is appreciated.

 

[flatheadsteve]

From what I can tell on my little phones screen it just looks like old worn paint possibly an attempted repaint at some point in its life with improper prep work.

 

[yorktown mike]

Thx for reply, I forgot to mention it's a 1997 Monark 1400SC , so its close to 30 yrs old ,im hoping just worn paint.

 

[flatheadsteve]

Thx for reply, I forgot to mention it's a 1997 Monark 1400SC , so its close to 30 yrs old ,im hoping just worn paint.

When you go see it in person poke around anywhere you think it could have corrosion. If it's soft , or crumbles or the aluminum looks to be turning into a chalky substance then its probably corrosion. Normally on tin boats corrosion forms where the improper hardware was used and reacted with the aluminum so be sure to check around any mounted accessories( transducer,rod holders, fish finder etc) Electrolysis can also cause problems but usually that's from shoddy electrical work and improper grounding.

 

[LDUBS]

From what I can tell on my little phones screen it just looks like old worn paint possibly an attempted repaint at some point in its life with improper prep work.

'I had the same initial thought. Looks like someone did a crappy paint job.

 

[airshot]

The only area that concerns me is the transom, hull looks like poor paint job but lower transom might be questionable.

 

[LDUBS]

The only area that concerns me is the transom, hull looks like poor paint job but lower transom might be questionable.

It is tough from those pics. Lower transom from the port side view looks like they tried to paint along a waterline. Whatever is below that needs a close look for sure. The lower transom view from the starboard side view looks different. Looks like someone even painted the transducer bracket.

 

[yorktown mike]

The only area that concerns me is the transom, hull looks like poor paint job but lower transom might be questionable.

Thx, i'll def check out closely, and look from inside as well. If i get better pics i'll post.

 

[mirrocraft16]

Someone likely used something to strong in a pressure washer and damaged the paint at some point.
A buddy did that to his Lowe. There was a stain from cedar water along the water line and he used his pressure washer with what ever mildew remover he used on his house siding on the boat. It likely had bleach or something super aggressive in the solution and it ate the paint. Castrol Super clean stripped the paint off my old Grumman years ago, I had used it to clean the garage floor, and the boat was pretty nasty after one trip so i just diluted the mix by half again and went at it. I went over it with just water, let it soak a bit, then I hit it with the soap, let it soak about 15 minutes, then went back with high pressure water. The paint on the inside looked like had worn away and it was flaking off paint from the lower hull. The Castrol Super clean had turned the paint yellow with cracks all over, when it dried, the paint was just flaking off. I just kept cleaning and ended up repainting the hull the next weekend with fresh paint. To be fair the paint was 24 years old when it happened but it wasn't falling off. In a way I lucked out because as I was prepping it for new paint I found corrosion in the transom and I ended up replacing the transom wood and finding that they had used pressure treated wood that was eating the hull. If I had left it, it no doubt would have gotten far worse in short order. I was able to neutralize the corrosion, patch the damage and seal it up and all was fine.

Monark boats, in the later years were the same as Starcraft. That boat looks a lot like my 1999 SF14LW hull but with a console.
I've always found the Starcraft hulls very corrosion resistant. I've used mine mostly for crabbing and its never shown any signs of corrosion. Mine is rated for 35hp max. (The original brochure listed it as 30hp, but the CG plate reads 35hp).
Starcraft paint is also pretty tough, when I bought mine, the original owner had painted the registration numbers on each side and had moved with it through four states before he sold it to me. I used lacquer thinner and 0000 steel wool to get the old numbers and layers of white house paint off in between each set of numbers and the paint came up perfect once it was all gone. I then hand lettered it with my numbers over the original surface. My guess was that they used some sort of powder coating and not solvent based paint but I can't say for sure but the lacquer thinner and WD40 and Goof Off I used didn't phase it.

 

[yorktown mike]

Someone likely used something to strong in a pressure washer and damaged the paint at some point.
A buddy did that to his Lowe. There was a stain from cedar water along the water line and he used his pressure washer with what ever mildew remover he used on his house siding on the boat. It likely had bleach or something super aggressive in the solution and it ate the paint. Castrol Super clean stripped the paint off my old Grumman years ago, I had used it to clean the garage floor, and the boat was pretty nasty after one trip so i just diluted the mix by half again and went at it. I went over it with just water, let it soak a bit, then I hit it with the soap, let it soak about 15 minutes, then went back with high pressure water. The paint on the inside looked like had worn away and it was flaking off paint from the lower hull. The Castrol Super clean had turned the paint yellow with cracks all over, when it dried, the paint was just flaking off. I just kept cleaning and ended up repainting the hull the next weekend with fresh paint. To be fair the paint was 24 years old when it happened but it wasn't falling off. In a way I lucked out because as I was prepping it for new paint I found corrosion in the transom and I ended up replacing the transom wood and finding that they had used pressure treated wood that was eating the hull. If I had left it, it no doubt would have gotten far worse in short order. I was able to neutralize the corrosion, patch the damage and seal it up and all was fine.

Monark boats, in the later years were the same as Starcraft. That boat looks a lot like my 1999 SF14LW hull but with a console.
I've always found the Starcraft hulls very corrosion resistant. I've used mine mostly for crabbing and its never shown any signs of corrosion. Mine is rated for 35hp max. (The original brochure listed it as 30hp, but the CG plate reads 35hp).
Starcraft paint is also pretty tough, when I bought mine, the original owner had painted the registration numbers on each side and had moved with it through four states before he sold it to me. I used lacquer thinner and 0000 steel wool to get the old numbers and layers of white house paint off in between each set of numbers and the paint came up perfect once it was all gone. I then hand lettered it with my numbers over the original surface. My guess was that they used some sort of powder coating and not solvent based paint but I can't say for sure but the lacquer thinner and WD40 and Goof Off I used didn't phase it.

Thx for the reply. This makes a lot of sense about the presuure washer solution, the paint is removed almost in a straight line at the water line. I didnt think it was salt water because I don't see other saltwater aluminum boats with paint removed in this pattern so its not common. I was first thinking corrosion or Monark had a bad batch of paint or hull had oil substance when first painted. Thx for posting! I'll post better pics if i end up buying on Saturday (fingers crossed).

 

[alpha550]

If there is paint bubbling or blistering back on transom, I am willing to bet that the transom is rotted. Do a google search on Lund transom rottting, you find out that this is a sure sign that the transom will need to be replaced in the near future or immediately.

 

[MrGiggles]

I find it a little peculiar that there are no pictures of the port side. Makes you wonder if they're hiding something.

I also find the contour of the blistering or whatever to be a little odd. Almost makes me think the boat had a cover, and what we're seeing on the side is just mildew/mold growth where the cover stopped. It's too high up to be a waterline.

The transom just looks to have scum from sitting in a slip at some point, but it's really hard to tell with the pictures.

I'd for sure get some pictures of all sides with a couple close ups before you make the trip.

 

[Lost But Happy]

 

[yorktown mike]

Hi All, I wanted to give a final update to the thread to let everyone know that everything turned out good. I bought the boat! Their was no pitting in the aluminum, just paint missing at waterline. I took better pics, surface is smooth. I will be reapinting only waterline, saving as much original paint as I can, as first project. Boat needs work, thats for sure. Interesting thing is this is a Monark Boat but the coast guard tag lists Brunswick Marine so this must be after Brunswick purchased Monark. Also the HIN sarts with STR just like Starcraft. Thanks for all your help.

 

[yorktown mike]

Someone likely used something to strong in a pressure washer and damaged the paint at some point.
A buddy did that to his Lowe. There was a stain from cedar water along the water line and he used his pressure washer with what ever mildew remover he used on his house siding on the boat. It likely had bleach or something super aggressive in the solution and it ate the paint. Castrol Super clean stripped the paint off my old Grumman years ago, I had used it to clean the garage floor, and the boat was pretty nasty after one trip so i just diluted the mix by half again and went at it. I went over it with just water, let it soak a bit, then I hit it with the soap, let it soak about 15 minutes, then went back with high pressure water. The paint on the inside looked like had worn away and it was flaking off paint from the lower hull. The Castrol Super clean had turned the paint yellow with cracks all over, when it dried, the paint was just flaking off. I just kept cleaning and ended up repainting the hull the next weekend with fresh paint. To be fair the paint was 24 years old when it happened but it wasn't falling off. In a way I lucked out because as I was prepping it for new paint I found corrosion in the transom and I ended up replacing the transom wood and finding that they had used pressure treated wood that was eating the hull. If I had left it, it no doubt would have gotten far worse in short order. I was able to neutralize the corrosion, patch the damage and seal it up and all was fine.

Monark boats, in the later years were the same as Starcraft. That boat looks a lot like my 1999 SF14LW hull but with a console.
I've always found the Starcraft hulls very corrosion resistant. I've used mine mostly for crabbing and its never shown any signs of corrosion. Mine is rated for 35hp max. (The original brochure listed it as 30hp, but the CG plate reads 35hp).
Starcraft paint is also pretty tough, when I bought mine, the original owner had painted the registration numbers on each side and had moved with it through four states before he sold it to me. I used lacquer thinner and 0000 steel wool to get the old numbers and layers of white house paint off in between each set of numbers and the paint came up perfect once it was all gone. I then hand lettered it with my numbers over the original surface. My guess was that they used some sort of powder coating and not solvent based paint but I can't say for sure but the lacquer thinner and WD40 and Goof Off I used didn't phase it.

Looks like you were spot on on this one. The metal is clean of paint with no pitting. Also, see my last post, I ran the HIN and it comes back as a Starcraft, yet title from original owner reads MonArk and coast guard tag says Brunswick marine. Mine has 30hp max, it came with a 20. Thx for your help! Mike

 

[LDUBS]

Very nice boat. Congrats.

 

[airshot]

Back when Starcraft was broken up by the gov't for being to big, they started building boats under numerous different names at different places. They were pretty much the same boats with different paint, stickers and nameplates. All to make the gov't happy...