Need some advice/input on what to do here… sorry my first post is a help plea. I have been lurking around for a while and have picked up quite a bit of info here.
The Background: This spring I bought a 17 foot Wriedt jet with a 455 Olds, Berkeley pump, nothing special. I liked the boat because it has a lot of freeboard for the rough lakes around here, it was a cheap way to get into jet boating to make sure I liked it, and could maybe get my wife on the water with me.
The carpet and seats are ok, the gelcoat is faded in spots and it has peeling automotive clearcoat on (most of) it. The hull is ok, no major issues but not spotless. The guy told me a head gasket had let go and milkshaked the oil. He replaced the head gaskets and had the heads re-done, rebuilt starter, rebuilt carb, etc. It ran good on the trailer. The lake was too far away so I didn’t lake test it.
I haven’t had it on the water yet, I have been doing small things like putting in a water pressure relief/bypass setup, cleaning it up, re-plumbing water hoses, adjusting cables, etc.
I was working on it today and noticed that there was a freeze plug in the engine block that was replaced with a patch plug – one of those temporary o-ring deals. I didn’t notice it before since it is behind an engine mount (3 point setup). Right next to the plug is a nice spiderweb of cracks into the block. The prev. owner definitely didn’t tell me about a cracked engine block. So I basically paid “running boat” price for a “project boat”.
So what do I do with it now? Sell it as a project boat? Part it out? Get another engine and sell it running and lake ready? Go run the wee out of it as is and wait for it to blow?
Nobody in Ohio is giving away running/rebuildable 455s, I am seeing $500 or so for “ran good when pulled” engines. But if I am going to spend the money rebuilding something, it should be something more desireable like a BBC or BBF. But then I am spending additional $ on logs, rails, mounts to convert it over. If I try to sell it as is, obviously I will take a bath on it. Even if I found a cheap 455 runner and threw it in, I think I could spend about $300 max before I wouldn’t be able to break even selling it. I don’t think I have the time/room/patience to part it out. Probably wouldn’t break even there either.
To compound the problem, I found a Glastron jet that I have been lusting over for not much money and it doesn’t need anything.
The Background: This spring I bought a 17 foot Wriedt jet with a 455 Olds, Berkeley pump, nothing special. I liked the boat because it has a lot of freeboard for the rough lakes around here, it was a cheap way to get into jet boating to make sure I liked it, and could maybe get my wife on the water with me.
The carpet and seats are ok, the gelcoat is faded in spots and it has peeling automotive clearcoat on (most of) it. The hull is ok, no major issues but not spotless. The guy told me a head gasket had let go and milkshaked the oil. He replaced the head gaskets and had the heads re-done, rebuilt starter, rebuilt carb, etc. It ran good on the trailer. The lake was too far away so I didn’t lake test it.
I haven’t had it on the water yet, I have been doing small things like putting in a water pressure relief/bypass setup, cleaning it up, re-plumbing water hoses, adjusting cables, etc.
I was working on it today and noticed that there was a freeze plug in the engine block that was replaced with a patch plug – one of those temporary o-ring deals. I didn’t notice it before since it is behind an engine mount (3 point setup). Right next to the plug is a nice spiderweb of cracks into the block. The prev. owner definitely didn’t tell me about a cracked engine block. So I basically paid “running boat” price for a “project boat”.
So what do I do with it now? Sell it as a project boat? Part it out? Get another engine and sell it running and lake ready? Go run the wee out of it as is and wait for it to blow?
Nobody in Ohio is giving away running/rebuildable 455s, I am seeing $500 or so for “ran good when pulled” engines. But if I am going to spend the money rebuilding something, it should be something more desireable like a BBC or BBF. But then I am spending additional $ on logs, rails, mounts to convert it over. If I try to sell it as is, obviously I will take a bath on it. Even if I found a cheap 455 runner and threw it in, I think I could spend about $300 max before I wouldn’t be able to break even selling it. I don’t think I have the time/room/patience to part it out. Probably wouldn’t break even there either.
To compound the problem, I found a Glastron jet that I have been lusting over for not much money and it doesn’t need anything.