muddybanks
Member
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2014
- Messages
- 6
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First a little introduction and background, i am 34 years old and live in southeastern PA, i grew up around boats belonging to my fathers siblings and spent summers boating, skiing and fishing at "the lake". i also was raised and still live on a tributary creek of the Delaware river and spent ALOT of time in a canoe when i was younger. My father and i have been fishing the Delaware out of his 16ft Triton jet for about 6 years now. A couple of weeks back i had mentioned missing a good priced boat on craigslist and he mentioned that if i was looking for a boat his neighbor had a boat he didn't want and was thinking about donating and taking the deduction. Well after a couple of trips to his place to look it over and get the motor going, i drug this home yesterday for $500. Its a Mirrocraft guide classic 1654 with a mercury classic 50.
first the bad, ALL of the wood needs to be replaced including the transom The boat was on the water about 3 years ago, but i am sure it was in just as rough shape then. It has been parked in a wooded lot with holes in the cover. It has been home to mice for a long time and they chewed some of the wiring, fuel lines, carpet and seats. The power tilt doesn't work and the owner said it didn't work when he last had it on the water.
The good, other then a starter relay that works 50% of the time the motor starts and runs great. All of the floor joists are aluminum as well as most of the cockpit framing. The hull is a little banged up but it doesn't look like it has ever had any major damage and the galvanized trailer is in decent shape. it came with lots of goodies, two fish finders (haven't seen them work yet), three anchors (good because my dad needed one), down riggers, a big landing net and a good old ugly stick combo and two boxes. My dads neighbor has titles and paperwork for everything.
So my original plan was to just replace the decking and paint the new deck with plans to do a more intensive resto if i kept the boat for the long hall, i would have something i could not only fish out of but also load up a couple of friends and have some fun on the river. But...its looking more like i will have to completely gut the hull to replace the transom. Knowing that what else should i definitely do? the foam appears to be in decent shape, should it get replaced because its time? would it be foolish to not paint the inside of the hull while i have it open? What would you guys do? what did you wish you did?
I should add that that i have not yet paid for the boat, one of the times we were up looking at it we pulled it out of its parking spot, the owner said "what ever you do don't put it back, your taking it with you" and "if its not worth it give me what you think its worth", My father and him have a good relationship and they both help each other with whatever they need and i deer hunt his property. I have no problem with the price, i figured if i had to i could get the money out of the motor alone. dose anyone think $500 is to much?...
Thank you for reading, i am looking forward to any and all input.
first the bad, ALL of the wood needs to be replaced including the transom The boat was on the water about 3 years ago, but i am sure it was in just as rough shape then. It has been parked in a wooded lot with holes in the cover. It has been home to mice for a long time and they chewed some of the wiring, fuel lines, carpet and seats. The power tilt doesn't work and the owner said it didn't work when he last had it on the water.
The good, other then a starter relay that works 50% of the time the motor starts and runs great. All of the floor joists are aluminum as well as most of the cockpit framing. The hull is a little banged up but it doesn't look like it has ever had any major damage and the galvanized trailer is in decent shape. it came with lots of goodies, two fish finders (haven't seen them work yet), three anchors (good because my dad needed one), down riggers, a big landing net and a good old ugly stick combo and two boxes. My dads neighbor has titles and paperwork for everything.
So my original plan was to just replace the decking and paint the new deck with plans to do a more intensive resto if i kept the boat for the long hall, i would have something i could not only fish out of but also load up a couple of friends and have some fun on the river. But...its looking more like i will have to completely gut the hull to replace the transom. Knowing that what else should i definitely do? the foam appears to be in decent shape, should it get replaced because its time? would it be foolish to not paint the inside of the hull while i have it open? What would you guys do? what did you wish you did?
I should add that that i have not yet paid for the boat, one of the times we were up looking at it we pulled it out of its parking spot, the owner said "what ever you do don't put it back, your taking it with you" and "if its not worth it give me what you think its worth", My father and him have a good relationship and they both help each other with whatever they need and i deer hunt his property. I have no problem with the price, i figured if i had to i could get the money out of the motor alone. dose anyone think $500 is to much?...
Thank you for reading, i am looking forward to any and all input.
