Advice please! 1983 Merc 470

[dara64]

Hello , I was hoping maybe some of you seasoned boat folks could give me some advice. My husband and I bought a boat a few years ago we knew nothing about boats except that we wanted one. We ended up with the dreaded merc 470.We put on a new alternator kit, flushed the heat exchanger, all those things you do, anyway we need to replace floor and stringers and blah blah blah .The motor is just one problem after another and it seems un sellable, we will lose so much. What I am wondering is there a different merc or any other motor that is more reliable that would hook up to the lower leg and everything we already have? Or would we have to change everything or should I just try to sell it as parts and scrap the whole boat thing. I put all the boat money into this and have learned a costly lesson but now I am not sure how to proceed so we can still have a boat. Being a woman I feel like the boat is one of my old pets and I don?t know if I should have it put down or fight till the bitter end!! I?m on a budget like a lot of folks so any advice on how to proceed would be most welcome.
Thanks
Dara

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Advice please! 1983 Merc 470

Your outdrive would be useable with another Mercruiser engine. But everything from the transom plate forward would have to be changed. Look for a complete 3.0l "take out" on E-Bay or somewhere. But you are going to spend thousands of dollars on parts, let alone the labor if you can't do the work yourself.
If the boat needs a floor and stringers, it's junk already. I would sell it for parts. The engine and its parts are worth something to others that still have the motor in their boats.

 

[danond]

Re: Advice please! 1983 Merc 470

Bad stringers and floor don't mean a boat is junk but it does mean you're in for a ton of work. See my sig? Used to have bad stringers, floor, transom. $1500 in supplies, it's all fixed and better than new.

The good news - if you're in there doing the work anyway, you can set the mounts up for any engine you want.

You must do the work yourself for the repair to be affordable. If you can't, sell the parts and buy another boat later.

 

[dara64]

Re: Advice please! 1983 Merc 470

Yes we were going to do the work ourselves structure and mechanical. I guess my dilemma is how much more money do I put into this motor. Little things add up and for something that may never be right or trustworthy.Guess I will just have to think on it.Thanks for the input yall.

P.S. Wow Danond your guide is great ,if we do decide to make the repairs I'm sure I will be referencing it !!

 

[180shabah]

Re: Advice please! 1983 Merc 470

Decide right now if you really want THIS boat. If you like it and want to keep it, and are willing to put the time money and effort into the repairs then:

If you are doing stringers, deck etc then there will be no extra cost to prep the boat for a V engine. V6 and V8 are prepped the same way.

A 4.3v6 would be a better alternative than another 4cyl. You will pay a little more (maybe) for the engine, but your drive already has the correct gear ratio, so you won't need to change it.

Of course you can also go with a v8 at this point. However, DO NOT use a pre-vortec 305 (5.0L). A 4.3 will offer the same power and weigh 100lbs less. If you chose v8 go for the 350 (5.7L).

Somethinf you may want to consider - contact a few insurance companies around you, and ask how they handle total loss claims - you may be able to purchase an entire boat that has been damaged, just to get the drivetrain.

 

[jakebrake]

Re: Advice please! 1983 Merc 470

not to tell you how to live your life. Just pulled the plug on an oldie i picked up cheap. When you start to HONESTLY figure dollars and cents, you will know if it's worth it. If you're going to spend $3000 to fix a boat thats 26 years old, you're not spending wisely.

but hey, neither does our government...yeah, i went there.