Close to buying

[Smuurph84]

So my friends wife wants to buy him an old supra for his b day (cool surprise right!). I have found a couple to go look at for her but had a few questions. I know there is a slew of info on the wood in the floors rotting but is the only thing I need to look for is soft spots? What is the rough cost to replace the floor if i do find soft spots? Are there any other issues i need to pay special attention to?s? Any info would be great

Thanks

[Salty87]

wow, what a cool wife!

if your budget allows, don't even bother with pre-92. no reason to roll the dice if you don't have to. diy cost is $2k (easy to spend more w/upgrades) plus blood, sweat and time. more like $5k at a shop.

what are you looking for?...how much $?

[docdrs]

What Salty said...^^^^^^^^^

[CornRickey]

Unless he has talked about wanting to rebuild a boat I would even think about buying one with the anticipation of gutting it.

[Smuurph84]

wow, what a cool wife!

if your budget allows, don't even bother with pre-92. no reason to roll the dice if you don't have to. diy cost is $2k (easy to spend more w/upgrades) plus blood, sweat and time. more like $5k at a shop.

what are you looking for?...how much $?

She has about 7,500.00 to spend. And that's the high end. I found a 91 saltare at her price. Looks to be in good shape Did they change the floor in 92 I assume?

They will use the boat to wakeboard and really just hang out on the water more than anything. I told him to get an inboard because as soon as he starts riding often he will want an inboard vs an I/o

[Ptownkid]

1992 was the year that they started making boats with composite stringers and floors...BUT, they still made some in 1992 that had wood. The tell tale sign of a composite model is a curved windshield as opposed to the slanted one.

People may be able to help you more if you put a location in your profile...

Cheers

[Salty87]

that's a tough price point to escape wood stringers. mid-90's boats are a little closer to $10-14k.

if the boat was stored inside wooden stringers could last a long time. but, the factory back then just did not build them to last forever.

is your bud handy with a grinder?

[Smuurph84]

He is very handy,

I found a boat I did a quick walk around to inspect it. Everything seems to be in good shape. Except There is a soft spot in the floor. Its abot 6" x 6" area on the drivers side underneath the cup holder location beside the engine.? No rust around the engine mounts, everything works, including the org. Stereo. Is this a huge concern? How do I test it to see what kind of damage it is? What could happen if they don't want to try to repair it? Would this be a structural concern for the hull, or just the floor? Thanks again for any info.

[Salty87]

the rot process usually starts from the bottom and works its way up. water seeps into and under the foam. foam absorbs it. moisture starts to collect on the stringers and bottom of the floor. once the floor starts getting soft, the foam is saturated and it never dries out. that's the general process.

how big of a concern?...boat rot is like cancer. it spreads. you could probably run the boat as is for a few seasons but the soft spots will grow. eventually the stringers rot and the engine can shift causing lots of big problems.

these hulls are very strong. they can run with rotten stringers for awhile. if you ever get the joy of taking a rotting one apart, you'll be amazed at how nasty it is under the floor.

a lack of corrosion under the engine hood is a good sign. when things are really saturated the carb, alternator, bolts...everything will rust and corrode quicker. i put a new edelbrock carb on mine before my rebuild. it's only 2 years older than my new floor but it looks original to the boat from all of the moisture.

a great place to inspect that's kinda tough to get to is the middle bilge area under the gas tank. water collects back there when the bow is up and the middle stringers back there seem to deteriorate quickly on many boats. shine a light and stick a camera in there to get some pics of the stringers.

tell us more about the boat...year, model, pics?

[Smuurph84]

below is the listing on craigslist. the test drive is tomorrow. (I hope nobody steals it from me after reading this. :)

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/boa/3002479443.html

[Salty87]

if it turns out you like it....with an obvious soft spot i'd lowball them. be sure to complain a few times about the floor being spongy when you're out on it. tell em you know the floors/stringers need to be replaced eventually. the rot happened on their watch, no reason you should pay for it.

they probably have owner's goggles and think it's just the 1 spot. the trailer is nice but it's also 10 years old. probably needs some work, too.

i'm not trying to dash your hopes but a fair value on that boat (imo) is closer to $6k.

[CornRickey]

I wouldn't buy any boat for that money knowing there's rot in it! Save yourself the trouble and spend the money on a rebuild job up front and get a composite boat or wait for a solid one. Going to look a nice boat with know rot only makes you question the obvious.

[Smuurph84]

thanks for the honest information. I think I am going to call my buddy and talk to the guy. My buddy's wife really loves the boat though! (you know females, she loves the color and that's all she cares about.) hopefully they can come to an agreement. I will keep you guys posted. the good thing is that they will have cash in hand tomorrow so hopefully he will be more willing to negotiate.