Well, sadly our 192 tournament sank while tied to a dock this weekend. I’m guessing the float switch failed, but I don’t know yet the reason for water intrusion other than a 6 knot current at the dock.
It was only under for about 5 hours, we got it up and back on the trailer with help from my family and some folks on the dock.
Electronics are obviously shot, engine is a ox66 150, I got plugs out and a bunch of Wd-40 in it and got it to spin over, but it won’t fire.
I’ll be talking to the insurance company adjuster soon (claim reported, waiting on them
To inspect) - and wanted opinions on if you would completely redo the boat (buy back from insurance) or just let it go.
Transom was solid, floors had some weak spots, but it’s a ‘94
Hull has gel coat stress cracks where it was hanging on the dock line at the stern.
The boat is near Charleston, is there anyone that you would recommend for the repairs?
Should I just let it go?
I only had it insured for 6500. Looks like values are significantly higher.
We love the boat, and it still fits our normal mission. Obviously I’d like a bit bigger too, but….
I’ve been there. The first thing is to “pickle” the engine. Remove the block & heads and place it in a container big enough to completely cover with diesel fuel or kerosine. This will stop the damage from continuing. Somebody will purchase the boat and rebuild and flip it. That person may as well be you. If you can t do the engine work or wiring replacement there are plenty of out of work people that will work cheap. Then you sell it and
Put the money into a forever boat
Thanks for the info, I’m pretty good mechanically, it’s the soft floors and amount of overall work that were making me rethink buying it back. Do you know of anyone you trust to do that part locally? I just don’t have any idea how much that costs - and we have a 2 month old baby so my time is pretty limited.
And then gauges, wire harnesses, etc. If I replace it all, then that should rid me of most gremlins, but at what cost?
I was surprised that there’s really not much to replace it at the 6500 value. Dang ‘rona virus.
Only 5 hours? That can be fixed to sell or fixed to keep. Remove every electrical connector clean with eclectic component cleaner coat with dielectric grease and reassemble. On the engine, 5 hours is not enough to hurt it as long as you did what you did and did not attempt to spin it over with water in it. Water does not compress. Starter will probably need to be replaced and maybe tilt trim relays and such. Boats are designed to get “wet”. On the hull and what ef said about water intrusion… ?? I wouldn’t be too worried.
Like you said boats right now are still bringing a premium!! Maybe get her running and and put the money aside. My speculation is “toys” are going to start showing up cheap all over in a few months.
Good luck what ever route you take!!! Maybe even have insurance company total it, cash in and buy back the boat at a steal. Sometimes you get lucky.
You nailed it Fred, I had a 115 mercury “sink” for an overnight. I just drained ALL the water and flushed it with DF and some rubbing alcohol. (Rubbing alcohol mixes well with water AND oil. BTW the compressibility of water is about the same as steel. one fifty millionth by volume per atmosphere. If you try to turn over a motor with water in it, you are going to break something!
If it were a 10 year old contender I would agree, but its a 30 uear old grady with a 30 year old 150 ox
By the time you pay to “fix it” youll have a considerable amout of time and money involved in a boat that the electric gremlins will always reside inside.
Guys the odd thing for me now a days is seeing 1990 something… I tend to look at that as new, guess it does have a bit of age on it. Peeking through Boat Trader, that boat in decent running shape is worth double the Insurance pay out. I would imagine first step, flushing fuel tank and getting the engine running and go from there.
That’s my issue too Fred, at first, I was just good with letting it go - then I started looking around for a replacement and started questioning my logic!
And the ‘94 is the Sea V2 hull, so it’s pretty much the same hull as a new one….
We play on the lake a good bit, and then I love going offshore a little and playing around fishing inshore - the 192 has a good blend of abilities. I just don’t know that I’ve got the time to fix this one.
No EF1 I don’t have the boat anymore. It was a long time back. The summer of 1991 I was living on Little Torch key at the time. There has been lots of other boats since then.
I know Fred has all the equipment and shop to do those kinds of jobs if he wants to, so I see his point on just fixing it yourself.
Here is a video of what it might cost a normal person that has to do a rewire and some upgrading. Of course you might not have to spend as much as this guy did, but you might spend more.
Its a boat about the size in question. Pay attention at the 13minute 30 second mark.
There’s a dozen ways to skin a cat, good luck with your project either way.
If you haven’t gotten the engine to fire up, you need to. The best way to salvage a two stroke is to get it to light off again. Hook a portable tank to the engine, pump up the bulb and try to get it to start, if you can get it to start up, let it run on the hose for a bit before shutting down. If you are not getting any spark, start looking for another motor as that one isnt going to be worth the price to fix. Figure teh boat will need a complete rewire, the engine may be worth saving, but you will have electrical issues with it in teh future. Those older Gradys were all wood, they went to “Green Wood” in 02 IIRC, so going forward, understand it may have structual issues coming up
As a Grady White owner (1972,87, 89) I know the wood rot of Gradys to be accurate, BUT they have very tough gelcoat, and the transoms can withstand a lot even wet.
My .02 cents worth is the COST if you can’t do most of it yourself is just too prohibitive to make sense, BUT again if he loves his boat and feels OK about the struggles MAYBE???
