So, I've been the proud owner of a boat for about 48 hours now. I bought an 88 Imperial 164 with a Volvo Penta AQ171C. I have no experience with boats, and I think the guy that sold me this one knew it. For now I have a $2000 lawn ornament. The engine ran long enough to convince me it ran. That's about it. I didn't realize it wouldn't stay running. I think it has a fuel issue. I'm not to worried about that, I've been an auto mechanic for 10 years, I can fix an engine. I originally thought the soft floors would be a simple job of replacing some plywood. I had never herd of stringers of had any idea of what was involved in redoing them. Now on my failed first attempt to go play on the lake I noticed accesave water in the bottom where the engine sits. So now it has a leak some where. The bottom all looked good and felt solid. Two questions. How difficult, time consuming and expensive is it to repair/replace the stringers and floor? And, I am assuming the leak is coming from the back. Are there seals or something on the out drive that are common problems here or am I going to have to figure out how to tear this thing apart. I'm not afraid to dive into a big do it your self project. Any thoughts on this from you guys is greatly appreciated.
