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help before buying a boat

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OK guys give me some info. I am looking at an older model fiberglass boat. As far as the boat/hull, what are some things I need to look for before purchasing? Thanks for any and all help.

  • Super User

On any older fiberglass used boat the 3 biggest things to look out for are rot in the floor and transom on the boat and the mechanical condition of the engine.  Things like the trailer and external stuff like electronics, gauges, carpeting, seating, etc. can be seen visually upon inspection but the first 3 are possible hidden defects.

Flooring - Walk around on the floor of the boat as well as the decks but primarily the floor.  If you're finding soft spots you've got a rotten floor.  Excessive soft spots and you've got a boat that's not been cared for.  This could also indicate rot in the structural stringer system of the boat as well, not a do-it-yourself project for the faint-at-heart. If it's merely a small area 1' across or so that can be cut out and replaced with a minimal amount of work.

Transom - This is a biggie.  Rotted wood transoms are probably more common than most people know.  Get a buddy to go along with you to help find this. First look for the visual clues. Cracks in the splashwell corners,  engine mounting bolts that appear sunk into the transom,  rust stains eminating from the mounting bolt holes or from anything mounted to the transom.  I can knock the transom with my knuckles and listen for the sound. It sould sound solid, anything sounding even slightly hollow is an indication of a soft, water logged transom.  Lastly, have a buddy stand on the cavitation plate of the motor and put his weight into it bouncing it up and down while you observe the transom.  You should see no flexing of the fiberglass AT ALL.  Transoms can be repaired as a do it yourself project.  Its pretty labor intensive, mostly getting the old rotted wood out.  Using the seacast system, which is the easiest, it'll cost around $400-600 depending on the size of the transom, redoing it with wood is cheaper but more difficult.

Engine - Don't just run it on the muffs hooked to a hose. You need to get the boat on the water and run it for awhile.  Have a compression test done.  The cylinder compression in all cylinders should be within 10% of each other.  

Hope this helps.

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