iFoam

I have a 1988 Wellcraft Classic 180 (18ft) with the 3.0L carberated (sp?) mercruiser in it.....


it overheated and im pretty sure the motor is blown and i'd be more than happy to deliver the boat to you, or you can come and work on it at my house.....


I'm looking for a fellow VaDriven member to do this because this is my first boat and i dont know enough about Boats not to get raped by a commercial mechanic.


feel free to PM or post

Fabrik8

If it's a 3.0L V6, it's most likely based on a GM engine block and heads so it shouldn't be hard to find a replacement for it. I know the later V6 and V8 are all GM engines that have been marinized.
If you can work on cars you can work on stern drive and inboard stuff, because it's all the same as cars with a few differences in the cooling system and how the engine mates to the drive (no clutch). I'm just trying to make you less scared.

This is a stern drive I take it?

cbradio

So are you kooking to swap it out or fix it?

UrGrlGveMeDkBrn

ughhhh I hate I/O's . Dont forget to put a new oil pan on either when you put it in. Its a real motherfucker to replace that thing.....gotta pull the motor. But I LOVE boats and you know what BOAT means right......?.........

iFoam

well i think we've decided that it's a 1988 and it's just not worth fixing to my and the lady..... so we're going to sell it and go spend some real money 10-15K on a newer boat.

UrGrlGveMeDkBrn

15k will buy you a nice ass boat! What kind are you looking for? fishing....cruse....speed?

iFoam

a little of fishing a little cruise.

some wakeboarding, tubing, ski, fish, drinking... haha

not looking for anything "overnight".... or something rigged up to catch Moby Dick....

but maybe some stripers.

ShawnD

bass pro has them nitro boats, they seem to fit your bill, never rode in one before though. Think they are pricey though. My uncles used to have some boats that were good for fishing and pulling someone but no real good places to chill but for the life of me I can't remember the name.

iFoam

im not a real big fan of nitro boats. more bayliners, trophy, sea ray, things along those lines.

i've looked at bass pro and unless youre wanting to spend $20,000+ you cant get anything decent.

UrGrlGveMeDkBrn

I'm just going to give my $.02 here . A few things you should look at when buying a boat is its main use. It seems like you want a all around boat that you can also take in the ocean. I would advise against any deck boat..... As you stated you want something you could go after stripers with but also wakeboard and cruise around on. Imo you should look at a 20-23ft center console.Anything in between 20-23ft you should be able to handle by yourself if needed.Anything above a 23ft boat becomes a serious pain in the ass to handle if you dont have a extra hand. CC boats are awesome setups with plenty of room to move around in. Also IMO you stick with a semi V boat as the semi V dont draw 1/2 as much water as a deep V.A semi V would be fine in semi shallow water. Now if you dont mind the extra water a deep V will draw......... I would go that way. They ride awesome in the ocean if you get into some serious chop but like you stated you are looking for a more "all around boat". Now on tot the next topic....if you want a inboard..I/O.. or outboard? I myself like a outboard. We (my dad and I) owned a 25ft parker(deep V) with a I/O and I fucking HATED it!. The boat was SUPER nice and rode like a dream in rough seas but the I/O just fucking SUCKED! The outdrive broke all of the fucking time(at least twice a year and this boat was purchased new from factory by us) and not even to mention the HUGE space that it took up in the back! IIRC the boat was 8' wide and you hardly had ANY room when you were fighting fish in the back and dont even think about being able to stand beside someone back there. I will NEVER own another I/O boat! Now I have NEVER owned a straight inboard boat but have been out on many and they are nice from what I have gathered. You have to keep up with the maintenance on them because the shaft comes right out of the bottom and if it leaks you are fucked and dont even think of going in ANY kind of shallow water with it. I really like this boat here http://www.boattrader.com/listing/19...-2300-98606174 . If I had the funds laying around I would prob go take a hard look at it. If I could change anything on that boat it would be that it had a FULL transom with a armstrong bracket and a newer 150 suki with less than 500hrs on the back. Also with a 23ft boat with a 4 stroke 150 on the back you should have NO problem fishing/playing ALL day on $50 worth of fuel...where the older 2 strokes have no problem burning $200-300 in fuel. Just keep that in mind also. . And a few good name semi-budget friendly boats are Parker,Judge(no wood in this boat=no rot ever),Grady,Maycraft,Privateer(spell?),C hawk,aquasport(wet as hell boat tho). I have been 40-50 miles out in every last one of those boats and they are built really nice and will get you back home in some rough shit. Now those boats dont have a lot of bells and whistles but they are some serious machines. Also check out http://www.thehulltruth.com/ and anything you want to know is on there.