Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 24
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    826

    Default Brough home an '89 Supra Priatta. Ugh what have I done.....

    For many years I have wanted an Inboard ski boat. When I was 16 I bought a '67 correct craft with a I/O four cylinder. We had fun with it. But I then noticed that the inboards were a lot better. Now 30 years later I thought I would buy one I another boat. I found this piratta on Craigslist and went and looked at it. Totalled my car on the way up there last weekend to look at it. Went back up with my truck this weekend and brought it home on rotten tires and all. Took it straight to a restoration shop thinking I would have him check it out and see what he would charge. Well he was nice enough but a little crazy. He wanted 10 grand to do from the stringers up. I was think more like get it on the water this year and down the road put more money into it. I left it at his shop for him to evaluate. He said he would have to pull the carpet and some of the floor to give me a better idea of the stringers condition.

    But after I got home, I decided he was a high pressure sales man. So I brought the boat back home to think on it a while. I have a guy that works for me that can do the wood working on the seat bases. I am going to fix the seats and take them some where to get covered. Fix some soft spots in the floor, put new carpet down and use it this summer.

    When I was talking about not leaving it for the 10 grand repair he started talking about using git rot or doweling the holes for the engine mount bolts. If that can be done I can do that myself.

    So does anyone have any input? Who else looked at this boat and walked away from it? Did you think that stringers were shot?

    Just trying to figure out if I was taking all the way to the cleaners.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    826

    Default

    piratta.jpg

    I will post some pics of the interior later today.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    N.W. Suburbs Chicago, IL
    Posts
    2,307

    Default

    $10 grand does sound steep! I guess it all depends on how bad it really is but, I'm sure some of the more experienced guys that have done this kind of work before will chime in on that price.
    '86 Comp TS6M - Reborn 2016
    Riding a HO Sports CX Ski

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    360

    Default

    If you're going to use Get Rot. Try Smith's Penetrating Epoxy instead. Unbelievable how that stuff works.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Hudson, WI
    Posts
    2,651

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gogger View Post
    For many years I have wanted an Inboard ski boat. When I was 16 I bought a '67 correct craft with a I/O four cylinder. We had fun with it. But I then noticed that the inboards were a lot better. Now 30 years later I thought I would buy one I another boat. I found this piratta on Craigslist and went and looked at it. Totalled my car on the way up there last weekend to look at it. Went back up with my truck this weekend and brought it home on rotten tires and all. Took it straight to a restoration shop thinking I would have him check it out and see what he would charge. Well he was nice enough but a little crazy. He wanted 10 grand to do from the stringers up. I was think more like get it on the water this year and down the road put more money into it. I left it at his shop for him to evaluate. He said he would have to pull the carpet and some of the floor to give me a better idea of the stringers condition.

    But after I got home, I decided he was a high pressure sales man. So I brought the boat back home to think on it a while. I have a guy that works for me that can do the wood working on the seat bases. I am going to fix the seats and take them some where to get covered. Fix some soft spots in the floor, put new carpet down and use it this summer.

    When I was talking about not leaving it for the 10 grand repair he started talking about using git rot or doweling the holes for the engine mount bolts. If that can be done I can do that myself.

    So does anyone have any input? Who else looked at this boat and walked away from it? Did you think that stringers were shot?

    Just trying to figure out if I was taking all the way to the cleaners.
    I think you need to figure out just how bad the rot is. If the motor mounts have rotted out, you're going to need to replace the stringers. I don't believe that it is possible to repair them (and I tried almost every method possible to do so.)

    Turn some of the motor mount bolts and see if they can bite into good wood. If they can't, the first "repair" step to try and is to get some bolts that are 1-size larger. These might be able to find some good wood to sink into. If they don't.... either get insurance and head for deep water with the plug out, or be prepared for a big project.

    The wood inside of the strings will be so saturated with water that the penetrating epoxy will never work. It can't bind or setup to anything with a high moisture content. When I cut my stringers open, water and mud poured out. And this was after I spent 12 months trying to dry it out with several dehumidifiers.

    As far as other stop-gaps, be careful. I tried to "repair" my stringers with various methods. The engine in my boat ended up twisting when the mounts gave out. This caused the prop shaft to wear a hole through the shaft log. The hole in the shaft log caused the shaft seal to fail and my boat sank. Luckily I was able to get it to a place where the water was only about 2 feet deep, but.... knowing what I know now, I would have headed for deep water instead. I pulled the cap and replaced the stringers. That was before there was anyone on this board so I just figured it out myself.... I received quotes very similar to what you saw and didn't have any choice but to tackle it myself. In the end, I paid someone to reglass the stringers but I did everything else myself. It's not a project that I ever want to consider doing again but with the number of people that have documented the process on this board -- it's no longer as hard as it once was. Read through some of the pride and joy threads and you'll see some pretty good step-by-step projects.

    Good luck!
    Former owner of a 1987 Supra Saltare. Current owner of a Malibu 23LSV.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    499

    Default

    I guess there is a couple things to consider. How much you paid for it, how much time you got, how bad it is, and how long you want to keep it. After doing a stringer job I could deff do one a lot faster and not be shy about sandin and such but it is a ton of work. If you do it yourself it can be done for under 3k. Just a lot of things to consider

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Austin
    Posts
    2,164

    Default

    $10k is insane unless it included new vinyl. either he's done one before and never wants to do another or he smells blood in the water.

    quick fixes probably won't work on stringers. you never know until you open the floor. in all likelihood, the bottom of the stringers are sitting in water, grime and saturated foam. lots of grime. quick fixes end up being difficult and expensive. this is definitely a job that you only want to do once. get it done right. cutting corners is what the factory did and you will see the results if you move forward.

    a rebuild is really only worth doing if you're going to keep the boat a long time. you prob won't recoup the costs, esp if you pay someone else. blood, sweat, and tears are free. the job takes some room though.

    where are the soft spots? dig some foam out and you should be able to tell how wet it is. you've already rolled the dice, take a look.

    let's seem some more pics. not many pirata's around.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Edmond, OK
    Posts
    2,508

    Default

    Agreed that you need to dig into it a little bit to see how bad it is. Turning the motor mounts will give you one piece of information. You can drill some pilot holes in various spots of the stringers and get an idea of what the wood is like. Once you do, you will want to evaluate whether you want to keep the boat for a while or not. You can do the stringer job yourself and there are lots of threads on here with great ideas. Plan on several hundred man hours and a few thousand dollars and you'll be good. You can also look at having it done for you which should cost more like $5-8k. Definitely post more pictures and provide more details. Lots of us on here can provide good feedback.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    826

    Default Took a little more time today.

    I had a few minutes today to look a little closer at the Piratta. I started taking the seats out so I can eventually pull the carpet. Pretty much all the the plywood on the seats is rotted at least, around the edges. They all need recovered. I am going to build new seat frames and take them somewhere to be covered.

    I took out one of the motor mount lag bolts and reinstalled it. It caught but wouldn't torque down. I am going to try a long bolt and see if it will catch. The other side is fine. Just the left side seems to have the problem.
    48
    I think the guy got me pretty good. I paid 48 hundred. It is a cool boat. The hull is great. Just the interior sucks.

    I really like the boat. It has a really cool look to it. At this point I am not sure how to proceed. I don't really have 10 grand to have someone else do it. And I don't think I can do it myself. I can do and get the interior done, but if I have to replace the stringers right now, I don't think that will happen.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Austin
    Posts
    2,164

    Default

    $4800 isn't that bad provided there are no more big surprises. lots have paid more...i paid more and still had to get a trailer.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •