Found a boat with most likely a Cracked block

[sc_beerbarge]

1st post here. This is an excellent forum and I'd like to thank WakeMikey for the solid advice he's given me.

I drove to buy a boat yesterday. During testing on the lake owner had indicated the water pump area was leaking. Pulled the dipstick and sure enough it was well over full and milky. So odds are the engine is shot. Apparently whoever winterized it forgot to pull the main plug on the 5.8L HO PCM motor.

So my question is......how much would it cost to have a new motor installed? I called my regular mechanic from the lake and he said $5,000-$5,500. Not sure if this is in line or what are my other options. I like the boat. It's a 94 Sun Sport in pretty decent condition otherwise.

Thanks,
SCBB

ETA: I didn't buy the boat. I think the owner was stunned and wasn't planning on his boat being worth much less than he planned to get paid. But If I can get the hull from him for a decent price and a plan in place I'd buy it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Okie Boarder]

Around $5000 would be a good price for the motor. If you look at this (http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=1620) link you can see that DIM sells the engine for over $6000.

Is your mechanic basically quoting a rebuild?

[sc_beerbarge]

Around $5000 would be a good price for the motor. If you look at this (http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=1620) link you can see that DIM sells the engine for over $6000.

Is your mechanic basically quoting a rebuild?

No he was quoting a new motor and install for $5,000-$5,500. Said he gets the motors from somewhere around Chicago.

I'm located in the Greenville, SC area and so is the mechanic.

Considering I'd be looking at a complete new install are there other motors beside the 5.8L I should consider?

Thanks for the help. Got the Sunsport or wakeboard boat bug about a month ago. Been out of the Ski boat scene since the mid 90s.

Thanks for the help,
Rob

ETA: I didn't buy the boat. I think the owner was stunned and wasn't planning on his boat being worth much less than he planned to get paid. But If I can get the hull from him for a decent price and a plan in place I'd buy it.

[docdrs]

http://www.michiganmotorz.com/

is anotherplace that sells them.......but that sounds like a great price for a new motor installed...imo

[sc_beerbarge]

http://www.michiganmotorz.com/

is anotherplace that sells them.......but that sounds like a great price for a new motor installed...imo

Looking around it sure sounds like it. If the guy decides to sell the boat as is with a hosed motor I'll have to get a firmer quote. I think the seller is still trying to come to grips with the fact his otherwise very nice boat isn't worth all that much anymore.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

:) Happy to help and glad you decided to post up since there is so much good advice here! Will be watching...

Anyone who knows, is a motor rebuild instead of replacement possible here????

[Okie Boarder]

I'm sure you could buy a new block, then just rebuild from there using the old parts out of the bad block. That may end up costing near as much, though.

[Razzman]

:)Anyone who knows, is a motor rebuild instead of replacement possible here????

Of course it is. It could be a cracked block, a cracked head, blown head gasket, number of things. Without knowing it's a hard call to make as to the viability of it though. There's a lot of other factors as well, hours? maintenance? But unless the block is totally shot it could be rebuilt.

I once bought a boat years back, an older Tigé DD, for half of what it was worth because it was streaming water into the bilge. I could see it was coming from behind the manifold but the owner couldn't figure it out. Cost me $400 to fix it, a couple rebuilt heads and gaskets. Sold a year later and the guy that bought it still uses it, has over 1200 hours on it now.

[jzelt]

Besides, it has 16 years of use on components. If it was this bad (new block), I think I would go complete overhaul and not try to save money on moving old parts over.

[suprava10]

Beerbarge,

Where is the boat located? If you don't want it, I'll take it! :cool:

Chris

[chautauquasun]

I have always wondered about this as a solution...could you buy an old 351 block and just install the parts that are on the bad motor. You can find 351 blocks and whole motors on ebay and craigslist for $400 or less. seems like a lot of the parts could be taken from the bad motor and reinstalled on the new motor. I have often thought that is what I might do if my block cracked. Is this a possible option?

[sc_beerbarge]

Beerbarge,

Where is the boat located? If you don't want it, I'll take it! :cool:

Chris

I sent you an IM. Boat is in Chatanooga but he met me 30 miles north of Atlanta.

[beast 496]

This is not the only southern boat which has a frozen , cracked block. The cold snap this past winter in the southern states have frozen many engines. I just don't understand why people don't pull all of the drain plugs and leave the engines dry. Paying to have an engine winterized is very cheap, compaired to replacing the block. Al

[suprava10]

I talked with the guy today and he still wants $10,000 with a bad motor. Seemed quite high to me...

Chris

[sc_beerbarge]

I talked with the guy today and he still wants $10,000 with a bad motor. Seemed quite high to me...

Chris

what did he say about the motor?

[beast 496]

walk away, 10k is out of the question for a broken down boat. Offer $2,500. plan on puting in 5k. But like I said walk away. Al

[sc_beerbarge]

walk away, 10k is out of the question for a broken down boat. Offer $2,500. plan on puting in 5k. But like I said walk away. Al

sage advice but hard to do. It was a damn nice looking boat. Should have been sitting at my dock this weekend. :(

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v719/308gtsi/Julydock1.jpg

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Dude that is your dock HOLY cow that is awesome fun!!!!! On a river?? Nice job!!!!!!!!!

[sc_beerbarge]

Dude that is your dock HOLY cow that is awesome fun!!!!! On a river?? Nice job!!!!!!!!!

Thanks. It's on Lake Hartwell on the SC/GA border. Still don't have near enough funds to build a house. But one of the neighbors gave us their 14x16 shed. So I'll get it set up nice. Tent will get semi-retired. Funny pitching a tent when you have Nice houses on either side of you. Fun being poor Yankee white trash.;)

Now to find a decent poor mans wakeboard boat. That 87 has stringer issues around the motor mounts.:(

[suprava10]

Yeah I wanted to tell him he was nuts but I didn't...he sounded like he thought his boat was the best one on the market...new or old.

Beerbarge, he said that he had the motor out and he would sell me the boat with the motor out of it. He said it had a cracked block and found another block that he was going to have machined.

He is out of his mind thinking that boat is worth that! What was he asking for it running?

Chris

[sc_beerbarge]

Yeah I wanted to tell him he was nuts but I didn't...he sounded like he thought his boat was the best one on the market...new or old.

Beerbarge, he said that he had the motor out and he would sell me the boat with the motor out of it. He said it had a cracked block and found another block that he was going to have machined.

He is out of his mind thinking that boat is worth that! What was he asking for it running?

Chris

$10,500 is what I was going to pay for it until I found the cracked block. If everything had checked out it would have been a decent deal. Now I'm back to the drawing board.

[NPeters]

Hello all and thanks for all the information.

I was hoping to pick some brains, I have also found a 1989 that was not winterized last fall. What would be a worse case and best case here. The boat is in great shape and was taken care of very well, an illness caused the boat to not be winterized. From reading the other posts it looks like a complete new engine would be some where in the 5k range?? I think the boat would be worth 8-9k fixed mabye a little more. So would anything less the 3k be a good deal??

Thanks
Nelson

[rludtke]

Hello all and thanks for all the information.

I was hoping to pick some brains, I have also found a 1989 that was not winterized last fall. What would be a worse case and best case here. The boat is in great shape and was taken care of very well, an illness caused the boat to not be winterized. From reading the other posts it looks like a complete new engine would be some where in the 5k range?? I think the boat would be worth 8-9k fixed mabye a little more. So would anything less the 3k be a good deal??

Thanks
Nelson

New and overhauled engines are availible in both "short block" and "long block" packages. Short block is sans heads, intake and exhaust manifolds, and accesories. Long block come with heads and intake manifold.

You un-winterized engine would have at the worst, a cracked block (it might not, I can't tell from your post. I drain my block every year, but am forced to park it on a hill. every winter it pops the right rear freeze plug out (no water drain on the right rear side), every spring i pop it back in- no harm done). A new or overhauled short block package would meet your needs. Your heads, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, carberator, water pumps, alternator, ewtc etc all should be serviceable, or easily made serviceable (the heads should be refreshed by a machine shop). This path would save considerable amounts of money. So the question is new or overhauled? It simply comes down to budget. New GM aftermarket engines start at about $4000 for a short block 350, I presume the Ford aftermarket engines are simular. Assembly is required, but this is doable if your handy.

Overhauled short block prices vary a lot. Some companies offer custom "hand built" engines, while others offer high volume factory spec overhauls. The latter start around $2000.

[wotan2525]

I drain my block every year, but am forced to park it on a hill. every winter it pops the right rear freeze plug out (no water drain on the right rear side), every spring i pop it back in- no harm done).

Just curious -- Why not run some RV antifreeze through your system prior to draining? This will certainly prevent your freeze plugs from popping out and RV antifreeze is only about $2/gallon.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

I was quoted a bit over $2k for a rebuilt long block 351 from the factory with a refund for taking my old engine (for them to rebuild and resell). After searching craigslist I was able to find one for $950. A repair shop had purchased them from the factory and then went out of business.

Where are you located?

[duckseatfree]

Thanks. It's on Lake Hartwell on the SC/GA border. Still don't have near enough funds to build a house. But one of the neighbors gave us their 14x16 shed. So I'll get it set up nice. Tent will get semi-retired. Funny pitching a tent when you have Nice houses on either side of you. Fun being poor Yankee white trash.;)

Now to find a decent poor mans wakeboard boat. That 87 has stringer issues around the motor mounts.:(

Your on Hartwell? My girls parents live down there to...I'm down there all the time. Like you, I'm still looking for my supra

[rludtke]

Just curious -- Why not run some RV antifreeze through your system prior to draining? This will certainly prevent your freeze plugs from popping out and RV antifreeze is only about $2/gallon.

Your absolutly right, I should try to remember to do that this year...

[darflinger]

I cracked my block... Dont bother rebuilding.. I got a HO 454 out of washington, delivered, for 5000. only took a weekend to simply drop it in with a engine hoist with a long reach. rebuilding will take weeks, and you'll never have the piece of mind a new engine will deliver

[jmpotter]

Your on Hartwell? My girls parents live down there to...I'm down there all the time. Like you, I'm still looking for my supra

I'm on Hartwell and am considering selling my '89 Sunsport. Currently the boat is in my garage in Georgia while I'm putting in new carpet, a dual battery setup, and if time permits a tower. If you're still in the market, let me know.

[devovino]

Just curious -- Why not run some RV antifreeze through your system prior to draining? This will certainly prevent your freeze plugs from popping out and RV antifreeze is only about $2/gallon.

When I bought my Saltare this winter, the PO showed me how to winterize it, and he did this, drained it then added Antifreeze to prevent any excess water from freezing and expanding its way to break things. I assumed this was standard in "winterizing" boat motors, hopefully it worked especially when we had some temps in the negatives this winter.

[Tackleberry]

I would look for a 351 short block and just put the heads, cam, etc. off the blown engine onto that new short block. My buddy slung a rod in his malibu (350 c.i.d. PCM Carb'd Chevy) and that's what we did. I think it cost him $900 for the short block, $150 to have the heads machined, and a case of beer to get me to help build it. We had it done in 2 days and were out on the river the next weekend. The Chevy engines are probably a bit easier to come by, but the rebuild is pretty much the same. If it's just a cracked block and there is no damage to the rotating assembly, you could probably get a bare block even cheaper. $5k for a rebuild is asinine.

[cadunkle]

$5k for a rebuild is asinine.

Not necessarily. Figure a full rebuild just in machine work and parts will run around $3000 minimum, assuming you don't have to spend more on thing like replacing valves and whatnot. If you're doing it to make money, throw in another $500-$1500 for your time to assemble it, depending on if you're blueprinting and how extensively you're cleaning up things like the ports on the heads, oil passages, oil pump, block, etc. So $5k is not at all unreasonable if you're paying someone else to build it, depending on what has been done to it.

Beyond that, this thread is from last year and I would assume the OP has either resolved his cracked block problem or bought another boat.

[Tackleberry]

I was talking about doing it yourself. It's not a hard job if you have the tools and a manual.

LOL, I didn't even look at the OP date.