Scruffy Saltare
07-03-2010, 10:30 AM
My first boat- A couple weeks ago I bought a an old Saltare (I like the lines of the old classic inboards). The boat had been stripped down and had the stringers replaced in 2005 by a good shop in Tn. The receipt was in the file. The interior carpeting had been replaced with original plush Supra carpeting and the the seats and cushions had all been reconditioned with good quality foam and vinyl, receipts were in the file. The boat was on a good trailer and had a good quality boat cover receipts also in the file. I went down and took a look and sure enough the trailer, cover, seats were all as advertised. While you can't see all the stringers they were solid to the wrap of a hammer and I believe they are in good shape. The 454 fired right off and and was very smooth.
Now the sad part. I noticed a patch in the hull under the wheel. The owner said he did not know it was there and we could call the shop that did the stringers to confirm that he would have fixed it on the inside, I tried to call the shop and they were closed for the day. After making a few more calls I decided to go with it, a few hundred bucks to correct it no big deal.
I took the boat over to a reputable repair shop and asked them to look at it and give me a price. As you have guessed they found a lot more. They removed the patch and found a 2"x4" though hole with filler. We only opened the front of the hole and found no matting behind it and the foam was wet. Then we found the the good stuff. the starboard strake had what appears to be 2-3 holes patched over again with filler and no matting. We only opened one of the holes. Accompanying the holes is a 4 foot stress fracture that appears to have had a couple of holes drilled in it to arrest the fracture. From what I can tell the strake is under the stringer so I started thinking (about time) to do this kind of damage takes a pretty severe impact, is the engine/strut alignment screwed up. Looking up the prop shaft from the prop the shaft comes through about a 2" diameter hole. My guess is that the shaft should be pretty well centered in that hole. This shaft is off center up to the right, same direction as the damage. There is still clearance of about .150" between the shaft and the hull opening but it is definitely off center. This then raises concern with strut alignment? Oh and by the way the rudder also feels sloppy in it's stanchion and the front tip has a slight bend.
Per the restoration shop to fix the holes and stress fracture the repair needs to be done from the inside. Therefore the the boat needs to come completely apart. The estimate I got for a complete turn key job was over $8,500. That was to pull the engine, flooring, remove the stringers and or bedlogs, remove foam, reinforce both strakes (the port strake is also damaged though no holes) put it all back together again with new carpet and recondition the underside of the hull stem to stern.
I can pull the engine and strip the boat and that saves a couple grand, If I do this repair my plan would be to separate the top and bottom of the boat and take them the hull. I can also put a lot of the boat together again but I am still looking at $4 grand plus and when I am done do I still have an engine alignment issue with the propeller shaft strut?
Options
1. Do some of the work and have the repair done by the shop.
2 Find an old Saltare or Pirata with a sound hull, shot engine and interior for cheap????
3. Part the boat out and mark this up to "should have known better"
experience.
4. Any other thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
Now the sad part. I noticed a patch in the hull under the wheel. The owner said he did not know it was there and we could call the shop that did the stringers to confirm that he would have fixed it on the inside, I tried to call the shop and they were closed for the day. After making a few more calls I decided to go with it, a few hundred bucks to correct it no big deal.
I took the boat over to a reputable repair shop and asked them to look at it and give me a price. As you have guessed they found a lot more. They removed the patch and found a 2"x4" though hole with filler. We only opened the front of the hole and found no matting behind it and the foam was wet. Then we found the the good stuff. the starboard strake had what appears to be 2-3 holes patched over again with filler and no matting. We only opened one of the holes. Accompanying the holes is a 4 foot stress fracture that appears to have had a couple of holes drilled in it to arrest the fracture. From what I can tell the strake is under the stringer so I started thinking (about time) to do this kind of damage takes a pretty severe impact, is the engine/strut alignment screwed up. Looking up the prop shaft from the prop the shaft comes through about a 2" diameter hole. My guess is that the shaft should be pretty well centered in that hole. This shaft is off center up to the right, same direction as the damage. There is still clearance of about .150" between the shaft and the hull opening but it is definitely off center. This then raises concern with strut alignment? Oh and by the way the rudder also feels sloppy in it's stanchion and the front tip has a slight bend.
Per the restoration shop to fix the holes and stress fracture the repair needs to be done from the inside. Therefore the the boat needs to come completely apart. The estimate I got for a complete turn key job was over $8,500. That was to pull the engine, flooring, remove the stringers and or bedlogs, remove foam, reinforce both strakes (the port strake is also damaged though no holes) put it all back together again with new carpet and recondition the underside of the hull stem to stern.
I can pull the engine and strip the boat and that saves a couple grand, If I do this repair my plan would be to separate the top and bottom of the boat and take them the hull. I can also put a lot of the boat together again but I am still looking at $4 grand plus and when I am done do I still have an engine alignment issue with the propeller shaft strut?
Options
1. Do some of the work and have the repair done by the shop.
2 Find an old Saltare or Pirata with a sound hull, shot engine and interior for cheap????
3. Part the boat out and mark this up to "should have known better"
experience.
4. Any other thoughts, ideas, suggestions?