1987 Supra Comp

[hobo]

Hi guys.
I’m thinking about becoming a boat owner. I love wakeboarding and boating in general. Being financially challenged, I’m thinking about buying a 1987 Supra Comp with 950 hours. I plan on taking it for a test drive this weekend.
Being a newbie, what should I look for while looking over the boat? I have done some research on this site and I am aware of the stringer rot issue. How many bolts are there to check for stringer rot? 6? 4 motor and 2 transmission? The owner said there is a soft spot in the floor where the front passenger sits. Is this a common problem area? Does this mean there are bigger problems underneath? Are there other areas of the floor that I should look for soft spots?

I also ran across this advice, “Look out for rust stains on the exhaust manifolds from water seeping out of the joint between the manifold and riser.”

Is it possible to see a picture of this? What is the “riser”?

“Take a look at the oil on the dipstick. Is the oil milky?”

What does milky oil mean? Does this mean engine trouble, or it just needs an oil change?

What should I pay attention to while taking the test drive? Should I ask to run the boat wide open? (I probably will never run wide open if I buy the boat. I just don’t like redlining anything.) What is max rpm on this boat?
Is there a way to run the boat to find carburetor issues, or any other issues for that matter?
What are common issues that are hard/expensive to fix?
What are common issues that are easy easy/cheap to fix?

I appreciate all your responses! Hopefully I’ll be a Supra owner soon and I am looking forward to sharing on this board!
Thanks Again!

[michael hunter]

The soft spot in the floor concerns me. If the floor is starting to rot there is a good chance it will have other wood rotting including seat base bottoms and stringers. Look at the overall condition of the boat if it looks like its been well taken care of it probably has.
How much is the asking price? If all goes well on the test drive take it to a good marine mechanic for a check out it will be cheap insurance. Good Luck.

[hobo]

Ah, the seat bases. I will be sure to check those out also. The soft floor concerns me too. But I was thinking that if the engine mounting bolts are tight, then the stringers are in good condition, then the soft floor is “superficial damage.” Is that safe thinking or not?

They are asking $5100 which includes the trailer. I was hoping to pay a little less than this assuming everything was in good working order and there is no stringer rot. What do you guys think? Is that a fair price?

[sybrmike]

Beware relying on tight driveline bolts as an indicator. Mine were all snug, but alas all was rotten down below. I second the caution on the floor softspots. Soft = wet. It may be localized and not too bad a repair job, but water rot has a tendency to spread.

If you're not familiar with older boats, definitely have a pro check it out. A few hundred now could save you thousands down the road.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

hobo if you like to wakeboard, in all honesty I would not recommend the Comp; it sits very low in the water and it does not make a big wake. You want the SunSport or Saltare. The model alone will severly limit what you can do on a wakeboard.

If the soft spot on the floor is bigger than a silver dollar, it is a serious concern and within five years the boat would need $2500-4000 in repairs to have the floor and wooden stringers rebuilt.

With that said, assuming the boat needs stringer repairs (add that cost to your expenses) a good asking price for the boat in current condition would seem to me to be about $1500-3500 depending on how good of shape the interior and engine were in. The NADA list on this boat is only about $5500. With major integrity concerns the price should drop substantially. Only thing it, some people don't realize how big of a problem 'soft spots on the floor' is.

[hobo]

Ok, so I looked at the boat yesterday, and the damage was worse than expected. The floor was really soft by the passenger front seat, and it was soft and warped from the passenger front seat all the way to the back of the engine bay. Then I looked under the bow (behind front passenger seat) and the floor was soft there too!

There is good news, the bolts to the stringers were pretty tight.

I’m pretty handy. I’ve worked in construction and I have replaced a clutch and manual transmission on a front wheel drive car. So my question is…

How hard would it be to replace the floor?

My thinking is that I could replace the floor this year, then maybe in 3-5 years, tear the whole thing apart and replace everything that is rotten.

I really appreciate your insight, especially if you have replaced the floor/stringers in your boat.

Thanks!

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Unfortunatly if the stringers are that bad the mounts are likely not securely anchored. You might get away with one season of driving at slow speeds, but no wakeboarding. Plus, hobo, please do not get a comp if you love wakeboarding (no offense to any comp owners)

[Okie Boarder]

If the floor is that soft in that many places, it is affecting the stringers already. To replace the floor properly, you need to pull the top cap. Once you have the floor up you'll find other rot and be into a full stringer job, most likely. Just keep that in mind.

Like mikey said, if you're going to primarily wakeboard, I'd look for Sunsports and Saltares.

With all the soft spots and the amount of work you would be getting yourself into, $5100 is a little high.

[Okie Boarder]

...then maybe in 3-5 years, tear the whole thing apart and replace everything that is rotten.

I thought the same thing when I bought mine last year. Take a little time and read through my rebuild thread, as well as others. It might help you see some things to look for and understand what you're dealing with.

[sybrmike]

You might get by for a season with a new floor. You might still have mostly good stringers. You might get lucky.

However, you might have an engine mount pull loose, torque the driveline, trash the tranny, bend the shaft, crack the log mount, etc.

Stringer/floor repair in old boats is not difficult, but does take time & money to do correctly. Search the rebuild threads & know what you're getting into.

Keep shopping - I think you can find a better boat, better price, & better suited to your needs.

[hobo]

Thanks for the replies and info. I was initially excited that I might have found a good, cheap boat to wakeboard behind. But now I don't think it is very good, or very cheap. And I wouldn't mind spending the time and $ replacing the stringers if I got a better deal on a boat, and the boat was better suited for wakeboarding (sunsport).

So Thanks again! But I don't think this boat is gonna work for me. :(

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Don't despair - there are LOTS of SunSports out there! Where are you located? I just posted a bunch here yesterday that I found. Try this search engine http://boat.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/boat.cgi?cat=boa&itm=

[hobo]

I'm close to St. Louis MO.

I like that website!

For those of you who have rebuilt your floor and stringers, how much money will it take for materials? I'm just trying to prepare myself for worst case scenario!

Also, I see a lot of 85-89 sunsports priced around $6000 to $8000. When I looked up the nada value for an 87 sunsport, it said about $4400. I realize the NADA value doesn't include a trailer, but still. What gives?

[Mani]

Well, from my understanding it takes about $1000 to $1500 in parts, on average. I'm sure you can skim it down a little and you can go really really high above that, too, if you cared to.

I'm guessing that the NADA books also account for loss of value due to aging. It probably assumes 23 years of rotting wood, and 23 year old engine with 50 hrs. per year on it, and a 23 year old interior. These books are a rough guide for boats. There's Sunsports going for more than double the NADA price. Know what you're buying.

Good luck!:D