To repower or not to repower?

[GatorMike]

I have a 1999 Wellcraft 190center console that had a 115 Johnson on it. I bought the boat for almost nothing in 2002 from a friend, the motor had bad compression on one cylinder and I rebuilt it. I got good service out of the motor untill early 2012 when I got saltwater inside the crankcase and things rusted up on me. My 2nd rebuild did not turn out so well, she never ran right after that. After a year of replacing electronics and wireing I finally got it running good a couple of weeks ago.

This afternoon my son took the boat out and was having problems with it. I don't know what happened, not his fault but I think I probably would have recognized the problem and shut her down before she broke. Anyway something internal turned loose and the engine is toast. I'm not even going to open her up and see if she is fixable since I am tired of messing with that old engine. Also although the lower unit works fine it is a Frankinstein I built out of parts from several old lower units and I have been expecting it to crap out for years. So in my opinion the motor is not worth messing with and I am thinking of repowering.

So I have a number of questions about repowering which I have never done.

1. Is this the right forum to discuss repowering or would it be better to take the questions to one of the forums the mechanics frequent more?

2. When a dealer advertises a price of let's randomly say $10,000, does that include installation or is there an added cost for rigging it?

3. Is a 14 year old boat worth putting a brand new outboard on and if not when buying a newer used outboard how do you know you are getting a good one since you can't take it for a drive like you do an automobile before you buy it?

4. I have other issues with the trailer which is showing some age as far as rust goes. I have banged on the rusty areas with a hammer and they sound solid but the galvanizing is rusted away. I am just wondering if I should look into a new trailer too? This could get very expensive but if I repower I want a servicable boat.

Obviously I have the option of selling the boat and buying a new/used boat something I would hope to avoid.

 

[NYBo]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

I would go with a used motor. You may be able to get one from a boat dealer that's been removed when someone got a bigger motor. As to whether rigging is included in an advertised price, you need to determine that from the seller.

 

[airshot]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

Look for a very nice used from a dealer as it should have a warranty if it is in really good shape. Outboards, especially the bigger ones are quite costly, some of the reasons some prefer the I/O, less costly to replace, but more costly and more service to maintain.

 

[82rude]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

discuss rigging with seller .I got the rigging for free and other percs too.(prop,oil) heres what I did ,not saying it will work for you but why not?i have a wood boat and bought a 60 hp etec new last year.i have the peace of mind of a 6 year warranty and an extremely efficient motor.i have decided this was my last motor till I die.i will look for a boat to match my motor when I feel I need to upgrade from the woody.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

The Wellcraft 190's were pretty popular boats, and they came in many configurations. But when you consider repowering a boat, my first question is how much do you use it? Second question is what the boat will be worth after the new engine.

You'd have about $10K in a new 115 hp 4 stroke motor after controls and labor for installation. That might be warranted if you used the boat every day--or just about every day. But most people use their boats intermittently.

You'd probably do best to be looking for a used engine to put on your boat. Especially since you need to invest in another trailer.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

Since you are obviously mechanically inclined, I would recommend a motor from the 2000s, if you can get one. You should be able to get it cheap, and it should be in good shape. Obviously check compression and gear oil. The motor that you had was a real good one. I would look for something similar.

 

[greenbush future]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

Depends on how good of condition the current boat hull is, are the floor, stringers, and transom rock solid? If yes, I would really consider making the buy on a new or used outboard and repower. The trailer, controls and install are all negotiating points to consider. But if a new trailer is also what will give you peace of mind, add it to the list/cost and execute. You will end up with a boat/motor/trailer which you know is good through and through. Let's figure it will cost $12k to do it all, could you find that kind of boat in that shape, and still have the confidence you will with your current rig? The answer to that ? will sure help you decide. You have some choices to make, but with a little investigating, it shouldn't be too hard.
Also consider resale too, how long will you keep the rig? if a bigger or different boat is on your long term goals, now may be the time to move up. If you are really happy with the boat size you have, that's a plus on rebuilding what you have. The boat will always have a ceiling on worth, the outboard, is usually where all the cash is on most boats of this size.
Because you have skills, you may be able to install the new equipment yourself, or negotiate with a shop to do it, but the install ? could be a tool to get a better price on the entire deal. Trailers do come up for sale, but not very often, most times they include a junk boat sitting on top, which would require a trip to the land fill, but they are out there.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

...when buying a newer used outboard how do you know you are getting a good one since you can't take it for a drive like you do an automobile before you buy it?

Without being able to test drive a used engine you really don't have a clue what you're getting yourself into. Here's my sad story about that: http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...ete-rebuild-1979-checkmate-eluder-541058.html

You can always take a compression tester with you, after finding out what the compression should be on a new or nearly new engine (for example, 90 PSI is great on some loopers but suggests a worn out engine on crossflows). Also, along those lines, some folks say that compression numbers don't matter as long as they're within 10%, my thought on that when buying an engine is that across the board low compression simply indicates equally worn out cylinders.

Also, you could see if the seller would be willing to let a dealer check the engine over and test run it in their tank or on their dyno. They'll probably charge you for an hour of labor, but that would be worth it to at least weed out the worst engine problems. Still, that's no guarantee the engine is perfect.

I have other issues with the trailer which is showing some age as far as rust goes. I have banged on the rusty areas with a hammer and they sound solid but the galvanizing is rusted away. I am just wondering if I should look into a new trailer too?

You could also just paint the trailer with something like Rustoleum, especially if the trailer is in otherwise good condition and meets your needs. My son and I used the brush-on stuff on a trailer and while admittedly it doesn't look as good as new it did make a heck of an improvement.

 

[agallant80]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

Just putting some numbers out there but after a quick search of ebay I noticed the following

2014 Venture trailer for 18-20 foot boat $2,000
115 HP outboard with no rigging is about 5-10K

You are looking at about 7-12K if you repower and get a new trailer. With that said I see both sides of it.

Side1: I can get a new boat for a few $$$ more or but a used boat for what I am going to put in to this boat
Side2: I like the boat and want to keep it, the hull is in good shape and I know the boat.

I would be a side 2 type of person. With that said I would only really want new or something used from a marina with some sort of warrantie.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: To repower or not to repower?

Around here, people repower old hulls all the time. You'll see shiney new motors on hulls from the 1970's. It's really a function of how much you like that hull or if you want a change.

Salt water boats like that don't have the transom/stringer/floor problems like the soft lake boats do; a good hull lasts forever.

A good used motor dealer will give you a short warranty to find out if it's in good shape. We have several around here; you don't say where you are. You may be able to get that out of a private seller, too, but usually that's if you buy the whole rig.

Which brings up another option: buy one of those soft fragile lake boat with a good motor, keep the motor and junk (sell cheap) the boat. Keep the better trailer.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

Which brings up another option: buy one of those soft fragile lake boat with a good motor, keep the motor and junk (sell cheap) the boat. Keep the better trailer.

That doesn't work, take my word for it. You'll feel sorry for the boat and it'll evolve into a restoration project.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

You could also just paint the trailer with something like Rustoleum, especially if the trailer is in otherwise good condition and meets your needs. My son and I used the brush-on stuff on a trailer and while admittedly it doesn't look as good as new it did make a heck of an improvement.

Are you in salt or fresh water? I thought about cleaning up the rust and painting the trailer but I am not sure it would hold up in saltwater?

 

[GatorMike]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

I will probably end up repowering with a slightly used motor. My hull is solid although like most 15 year old boats in Florida has lost some of it's shine. The electronics I have always kept well maintained, Livewell pump, bilge pump, horn, fishfinder, marine radio and CD player/radio all in excellent condition. My previous boat was a Proline and although older Prolines are ugly boats they were designed for fishing. In my opinion Wellcraft took an offshore racing scarb type hull, put in a livewell and center console and called it a fishing boat. That said the Wellcraft does have much prettier lines than the old Proline did.

I am pretty well stuck with getting this done for 8 to 10K so beggers can't be choosers.

 

[JoLin]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

Are you in salt or fresh water? I thought about cleaning up the rust and painting the trailer but I am not sure it would hold up in saltwater?

Look it over very closely. If it's rusting from the outside it's also rusting from inside the frame rails and axle(s). Be careful.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: To repower or not to repower?

try not dunking the trailer in salt water. But Jo lin's right. start shopping.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: To repower or not to repower?

Boattraders.com filtered for 250 miles of your zip code.

EBayMotors.com in the boat parts section

Craigslist.com looking for all the cities in your general vicinity.

You should fine a motor that's acceptable. On a trailer, I'd look in boat salvage yards. Trailers are the first thing they separate from the boats, and they're easily found for most boats--except pontoons.