1989 Chris Craft 245 Limited - anyone with personal experiance

[alamantia]

I had a 22' wellcraft for a couple of years. I wanted to hang onto it but I lost my storage so I sold it last year. I was on a waitlist at my local lake marine for a spot to open up and I got the call last week so I took the spot without owning a boat. I should have hung onto my wellcraft, that was a great boat, but without knowing when I spot would open, I couldn't hold onto the wellcraft and take that gamble. I think I stupidly took the spot too soon because I have been having a hard time finding a boat that suites my needs. My brothers land lord had this 1989 Christ craft 245 that I picked up for $500 with a trailer yesterday. Hull looks decent. Interior is in surprisingly good shape. Floor is fiberglass and solid, vinyl is all good, clean, no rips. The bad. its got a 454 shortblock in it now and the heads are gone. New mercruiser manifiolds and risers are in mercrusiser boxes in the cuddy. He said he was going to switch to rectangular port heads and manifold but never got around to it and the boat has been sitting for 3 years. I am in the process of locating heads and a manifold. If I can get this thing to fire up I plan to have a marina go through the drive and install new bellows and gimbal bearing etc. I don't know if I got really lucky or took on a mistake. Has anyone had one of these late 80's Chris Crafts? Is there anything in particular I need to look out for or know about? I know that sounds vague but my welcraft had a rotten motor mount that I didn't notice when I bought it. I read on here that that was a common problem with wellcraft not glassing in the mounts in the bilge. Stringers were fine but I had to scissor jack the motor up replace the mount. I am just curious if there are any "common" things to look out for or know about this particular boat. That's all. I figured, where else to fine a former 245 owner than the forum...

 

[NYBo]

$500? $500?? $500???
I think maybe you got a pretty good deal.:hail:
You need to check the usual things for a boat that old: stringers, transom, sole. The Bravo 1 drive is a plus, but condition is king.

 

[alamantia]

Yeah, I got pretty screwed on my wellcraft in terms of rot. This boat I checked the floor and from what I can tell from the stringers that I see under the engine they look intact with no cracking in the fiberglass over them. I hit the transom with a hammer and the tone did not change so I am keeping my fingers crossed that there is no rot. Remember, this is a non-running boat. I don't know what it is worth. If I can resurrect the engine and get it to run I plan to drop it off at the marina for them to go through the drive and bellows etc. It seems like every time I buy a car or a quad or something and I run into trouble I check a forum and people say "that's a common problem" for instance, I have a Tahoe with a 5.3 that started sucking down coolant. Turns out it had a cracked cylinder head which was "a common problem" well hell, I wish I knew about that paticular common problem before I bought the damn thing. So if anyone on here has an old chris craft scorpion or limited etc. I was just curious if there were any "common problems" to look out for while I have this thing apart. My wellcraft didn't have glassed in motor mounts and when I posted on here about my issue a few years back I learned that wellcraft had a "common" problem with that. I am just wondering if there is anything in particular that Christ craft was known for in this era of not doing properly, or had issues with. If not, great ya know. Thanks.

 

[Natesms]

With a boat that age, brand doesn't really matter much. FWIW - I have a friend with an 87 Chris Craft that still looks great and is rock solid. That size, with no signs so far of rot, and a trailer, you got a good deal. The motor is the easy part compared to dealing with wood and fiberglass issues. Sounds to me like you have a good plan.

 

[alamantia]

$500 purchase + $1500 for 781 heads + figure another $1000 or so for BS odds and ends and she's together. I only got about an hour on her before the rain started and I put her back on the trailer. Everything seemed fine but I found it odd that it took almost full throttle to get it up on plane. I used the 14-3/4" x 23" stainless prop it came with and it ran about 50mph at 4500 RPM. I need to double check the base timing next time out. My last boat wasn't much smaller with only a 350 and it jumped up on plane pretty easy with a 21" pitch prop. My last boat did NOT have trim tabs. This one does, I have never driven a boat with trim tabs before. Do you guys angle them down to help get the boat up on plane easier? That's what came to mind as I was driving home. I mean, it sounds logical to me, but I am not 100$ sure, I guess its worth a shot to try it once right?