1986 Bayliner Capri... I think

[Justin E.]

I was recently given my father in law's old boat (which is currently a disaster) and I've done alot of homework, but there's still a good possibility that the whole boat is Frankensteined...

From the HIN, I believe it to be a 1986. I know it's a Bayliner Capri, but I also believe there's some Tom Foolery afoot.

In my homeworking, I've read that 1986 is when the Bayliner dash cluster went to the spaceship/rainbow looking gauges, but mine has the traditional needle gauges. In my investigating the motor, it is a Volvo Penta 2.3 Liter, I believe it to be the AQ125B, there's a B230 casting mark on the block, it has the heat exchanger, etc, but there are NO motor mounts. The engine is bolted to the Transom, and that's it. I've run my hand and arm under the entire motor from the belts and pulleys to the transom and found no other motor mounts. I'm not sure what outdrive I have, as the cover is missing, but think it to be a 280. Also in my homeworking, I THINK the boat is the 1950 series bowrider, but from Bayliner's manuals, those came with a 32 gallon fuel cell, and mine is stamped as a 33 gallon... Nothing on Bayliner's site alludes to anything with a 33 gallon.

I'm not shooting for an answer to all of this, I know it's alot, and I'm a fairly Smart Fence, so I'm going to go step at a time. My current goal, besides redoing the ENTIRE floor and making the boat more than a potentially floating yard ornament, is identifying some things. So, my first unidentified engine object I present is below. There's a toggle type switch on the top, there are 2 electrical tabs on the bottom, that are threaded, so it doesn't seem like a spade connector would just slip on, and it is mounted with some fairly official (and rusted) brackets... Any ideas?

Thanks for your time and the tolerance of questions from the inexperienced!


The image is rotated 90* to the right for some reason

 

[Scott Danforth]

anything is possible over the past 33 years

the volvo AQ125 used the volvo B230 motor from the volvo sedan. so that is right
yes, the 270 drive is what you most likely have.
the HIN will have the year of registration, however your boat could be a late 1985 registered as a 1986

be prepaired to spend hundreds of hours restoring the boat. the hull is most likely water-logged and the last thing to rot was the floor. plan on between 4 and 5 thousand of which $3-4k on the hull and a minimum of $1k on the motor/drive

 

[kenny nunez]

Volvo’s with a single carburetor had no front mount. The higher power engines came with a front mount which you can add if you google search for the 145-151 HP models.
The switch was something that someone added to raise the drive is about the only thing I can guess at. It does appear to be pretty DRACULATED to me also. The transom is probably also rotted .Bayliners were not known for holding up if not garaged and kept dry.

 

[Justin E.]

Thank you Kenny and Scott for the responses... I was kinda figuring that most anything could've happened over the years. My father in law moved out of state and the boat was left here, thus how I wound up with it and he was CERTAINLY not the original owner. Going solely off the trailer tag and boat registration, it hasn't been in water since 2006. It hasn't been stored in the best of conditions and I know it's going to be a tremendous project, BUT I'm stubborn and don't take "no" or "I Can't" for answers. So now it's like a challenge to whoop.

In regards to what Scott said of the hull likely being water-logged, I'm taking the entire interior of the boat down to the fiberglass. I'm removing and rebuilding the entire floor, removing the old foam and putting in new foam. Most anything that's not factory fiberglass is getting redone. On that note, I know that there will be alot of effort, money, and time into something that's most likely not worth a 1/4 of what I'll be putting into it.

I believe the transom is in good shape, so there's that bit of good news!

Thanks guys!

I'm sure I'll be back with more soon!

 

[Maclin]

It may be time to mention the title status, depending on the State that can be a bugaboo. Is there a title? And is your FIL the last registered owner? (does he still like you? haha).

 

[kenny nunez]

Please take a few minutes to hit the transom on the inside with a hammer. I was a Volvo dealer until I retired in 03 and the Bayliners that were coming in were already looking bad transom wise. While I still like Volvos you may want to start looking for a good used engine and drive package from a wrecked boat of later vintage with the complete wire harness, A V6 or V8 will really wake up that boat especially one with hydraulic power trim. Give some thought,

 

[SunkenShip2]

Look into stringers and bulkheads after you get the floor out of it.

Any pics of that engine hanging there from the transom as you described? It seems I recall a 4cyl with one mount only in the front on a boat of about the same vintage. It sure seems the transom would be flexing under the pressure.

Maybe you could email Bayliner with the HIN and they could tell you exactly...? Larson has done this for me on several occasions already.

I would do paperwork first.

Hope this $.02 helps,
SunkenShip and SunkenShip2

 

[no704]

I have the same boat. A couple years back I hav a spun pds and had to replace the bell housing. Although the transom did not appear to be rotten the way the engine is just teetering on the transom with a couple fender washers is not ideal. I ended up fabricating a coupe of 1/4” Al plates while the engine was out. The fender washers had cut thru the fiber glass on the inside bottom. And the fiberglass was delamininating from the wood core. I used my plates as a mold when the engine was out to reflow the transom.later installed the plates to the interior of the transom to distribute the load. Worked well. While you are there sleeve the interior bilge drain and seal it up.