Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

[bjcsc]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

I feel the same as you guys. What a nice boat and what a shame that it was left to deteriorate. Remember, if you can get out on the water for $1000, you're half way there (you have to get back!) Best of Luck....

 

[Don S]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

As long as your boating season isn't longer than about 10 minutes, and you never go over idle speed, a $1000 budget MIGHT do it, but I doubt it.
There is so much metal missing (electrolisis and corrosion) that much of everything that steers the boat and keeps the water on the outside of the boat, that I wouldn't trust it even in water I could stand up in (with my head out of the water).
While it is nice to want to do something inexpensively. Somewhere along the line reallity has (sorry) SHOULD kick in. It obviously hasn't ......... YET!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

It eventually does kick in.........but usually only after a whole bunch of money has been 'throwed' at it!!

Somewhere along the line reallity has (sorry) SHOULD kick in. It obviously hasn't ......... YET!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

With where that rear bearing carrier is corroded the worst, I say that it got salt water in the drive. I know you said it turned, but I'll bet it's a mess.
Also, I was told that getting those rear carriers out is hard under normal circumstances, let alone with as much corrosion as you have present. What the Mercruiser tech told me was that it seems like right about when you think you're going to crack the lower case, the carrier starts to turn. In your case, with the corrosion on the case, I will bet that it will crack when you start air hammering on that carrier to remove it.

I like how the person who deliberately let the boat go demands that he get a cut of any profits! That takes a pair!

No need to worry about having to share the profits of a quick sale, though. There will be no profit on this boat. And you'll not get it seaworthy for under $1000.
Sorry, I didn't want to be negative, but so far you haven't shown me anything to be positive about.

 

[zvolv]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Spent some time today clearing the exhaust ports of salt in the lower unit with some special tools. Flathead screwdriver, water, and beer.

I went to a boat shop today and they told me the bearing housing lists for $354 retail. Not including bearings or seals. He also showed me the Bravo 3 drive he had to break apart to get the bearing retainer out. It was also much less corroded than mine. It threads in a few inches down with some fine thread.

Still undecided on how to proceed. We still might try to salvage this rig. We might weld on it. Kinda worried about melting rubber inside it.

Here is what is left of the bearing carrier:

 

[zvolv]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

The guy is going thru a divorce. I guess he felt the same way about the boat as he did about his ex-wife. And she had the keys.

More pics:

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

It looks a lot like mine.

I think this is the correct manual.

You're gonna need at the least a new upper and lower housing. Probably a new drive.

 

[zvolv]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

It looks a lot like mine.

I think this is the correct manual.

You're gonna need at the least a new upper and lower housing. Probably a new drive.

Does your drive work?

I found that pdf in my google search but its only 14 pages and just the index.

We will find a way to get the drive to work. I think welding on it might melt some orings. Maybe some JB Weld will keep the water out for a while. I dont think that assembly guides the prop or anything I really need to worry about. I really dont have anything to lose by trying to repair it. I am not gonna sink if my lower unit fails guys. This isnt a family boat. This is the Dirty Hooker 2.

I need at least the two oil seals for the ends of each shaft. Those are shot.


Here is the diagram I was looking for courtesy of Mercruiserparts.com:

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

On the bright side, the hull looks good. Just needs a thorough cleaning.

If the deck is solid, it's possible that the boat drained well while neglected... I'd say check the deck, transom and belowdecks foam for water before you go too far.

It's a nice boat if you can get a working drive system. I think that drive is done for, and the engine needs some work, and the transom too, but they look at least possible to salvage... mostly surface corrosion there. Do a compression test of the engine and tell us the numbers, that will tell the tale.

It's not impossible to replace the transom and drive for under 1000 with used parts, but you'd be downgrading to an alpha drive most likely.

Keep at it, this boat deserves some TLC.

Erik

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Here's my take on the boat.

Forget about the outdrive, it's a basket case and will only waste time and money.

Start working on things you can accomplish with little money and sweat equity, hull, interior, engine. While working on these projects keep an eye on craigslist and Ebay for a sweet deal on outdrive parts. A complete drive/transom assembly out of a wrecked boat would make this project much easier and less expensive in the long run.

This way, all you are loosing is a bunch of your time if the boat gets too expensive to make seaworthy.

Here's the most important question (hope it has not been posted earlier in the thread)... Do you own the boat and have it titled in your name? My friend got a boat that had been left for dead, similar to yours. I urged him to get the title before he did anything to the boat, but he forged ahead saying it was a no-brainer to get it titled. Well,,, after months of work and a bunch of money thrown into the boat he could not get it titled and registered,,, now it sits rotting once again.

If the owner still holds the title I would be worried about him taking the boat back once it was seaworthy again,,, or reporting it stolen,,, etc. etc.

 

[zvolv]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

VERY good point about the title. To be honest, I havent seen or heard about papers yet. Will follow up on that tommorow. Forging ahead....

After more research I am thinking about making a bearing carrier removal tool. New bearing carrier is $300. Fits the budget.

 

[Don S]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

You might want to check the HIN number on the boat to find out what year it really is. The engine serial numbers puts it in the mid 90s range, not 2000.

Hull ID Numbers

 

[tommays]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

On and alpha drive the carrier nut is right at the back of the drive and made to be drilled and split so a frozen carrier can be pulled out

While i am no Bravo expert the carrier has to be turned to be remover and i find it hard to see that one turning


I dont think anybody was at all negitive BUT i also thing you will find the interior will also be really big dollars just in material IF you can sew your own stuff


many people do sew here and you can get advise on this in the restore section

 

[paulrfrancisco]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

As far as I am concerned the drive is still good. I just need to remove that corroded bearing carrier and install a new one.

Why would I spend $2000-$5000 on a used, rebuilt, or new drive when I can probably salvage the current one with just a few new parts?? It spins just fine.

As someone earlier stated, you can get a SEI Bravo1 drive lower unit, for about 800... So what its not a Duo-prop...? If you clean up the top half and transon assemply you may be out of it with little expense.. But if you insist on reuseing the old lower unit, then your may be into it for a lot more than you think... the plus side of reqorking the current one is you get to reuse your props... just get them cleaned and trued...the downside is you problaby need to send it out and get some aluminum work done on it... The SEI Bravo1 lower would require another prop...

 

[paulrfrancisco]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Still undecided on how to proceed. :

If your going to do it, do it right. No one is going to want to buy any boat, if the drive looks like that despite new internals.

 

[obezag]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

I agree with fishrdan. Get it seaworthy and the ex-wife might decide it's hers. This project looks like soooo much work! In the end you're either going to hate the boat or love it to death. Hope it works out for you!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Uh, does my drive work? What I meant that it looks like mine, ..... year model. It has the single (round) anode on the underside of the "cav" plate etc. Otherwise mine looks like new. It's never been in salt and it's never been moored in the water for extended times....

If If you click around in the PDF you'll find the complete manual there at Boatfix. (make sure you have the latest version of Acrobat Reader and the browser plugin)

That link I sent has a table of contents that is "clickable" which will open other sections of the manual.
Go to page iii, You'll notice that you can click on each section of the Service manual outline etc.

For your job, I would just buy a manual though.

You were kidding about welding on the drive and using JB Weld right?

Does your drive work?

I found that pdf in my google search but its only 14 pages and just the index.

We will find a way to get the drive to work. I think welding on it might melt some orings. Maybe some JB Weld will keep the water out for a while. I dont think that assembly guides the prop or anything I really need to worry about. I really dont have anything to lose by trying to repair it. I am not gonna sink if my lower unit fails guys. This isnt a family boat. This is the Dirty Hooker 2.

I need at least the two oil seals for the ends of each shaft. Those are shot.


Here is the diagram I was looking for courtesy of Mercruiserparts.com:

 

[paulrfrancisco]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

No reserve, 2 days left
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Brav...002QQitemZ120254164323QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW


Also,

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/boa/645017194.html

 

[paulrfrancisco]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

a couple of more options avalable...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LOW-...017QQitemZ270233020891QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERC...015QQitemZ250243908352QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Brav...018QQitemZ280222156390QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

[zvolv]

Re: Aquired free boat. Ugly Bravo III and who knows what else...

Thanks for all the help guys! I am bent on getting this drive to work.

HXB2..., I tried again but I cannot find a way to get the manual to go to any section other than the index! Bummer, that is exactly the info I am trying to get right now. All the special tools and parts that need to be replaced! Maybe I am doing something wrong...

DonS, the more research I do I realize the boat must be mid-late 90's. It is carbed, not MPI. I have looked for the hull ID numbers but cant find em. I found a metal ID plate but the numbers are gone. I have been around boats for a long time and I usually can spot the ID with the last two digits as the year pretty quickly, but not on this boat. More research with the ID numbers should narrow it down.

PaulRFrancisco, thanks for posting those links. I have been looking around ebay for the parts I need. For some reason you have been able to find ones I havent...

How do I find out what drive ratio I have? I have found a couple charts but can make no sense of them. My serial number is reposted just a few posts up by DonS.