1985 21BR Project Boat: Will we save it?

[dusglbr]

Hey everyone, me and a buddy bought a 1985 21BR Project Boat. We're not 100% sure what happened with the previous owner, but they removed the deck to repair a rotten stringer and left it sitting for open to the elements uncovered for 6 years. We're hoping to see it back on the water and to learn this boat inside out.

Due to the damage we're going to need to rebuild everything ourselves. The plan is to replace the 2 inside stringers and do a complete rebuild of the motor. It's an ambitious project but we've got nothing to lose. If anyone has any information you think will be relevant to us, feel free to share.

[Jimmy Buoy]

Hi - that's an ambitious but doable project. If the stringers are punky, you want to check the transom as well. Especially the lower transom. I'd be doing some test holes to see what you've got. If no rot, you can always fill the small drill holes with epoxy. If the drill produces punky wet slime, you have a bigger project. Regarding the engine, unless you know for sure it's in need of a rebuild you may want to hook up a hose and battery to it and see if it runs or check compression (might be pleasantly surprised).

Good luck! Looking forward to updates.

[Sumgai]

a complete gut and rebuild of a 96 sea ray in over 20 how-did youtube videos by Friscoboater's garage. Aside from the labor, it also cost him a marriage.
it saved my wallet, literally. After watching that video series, facing a 98 Sea Ray restoration; I sold it as-is and bought a new Cobalt, with an outboard motor. Happy wife, happy life.

[AsLan7]

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So glad you found us dusgblr. Thanks for the pics.

That Sea Ray resto vid series can definitely help you. Some good entertainment there too. Maybe you can document some of the highlights of your restoration. Members could chime in along the way.

How much did you pay for that project boat? Could be a good flip if done right.

And welcome aboard mate.

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[bruceb58]

Personally, I would stop right now and not put any time/money into it.

Looks like it is NOT an OMC which is good. If it is am OMC, don't bother.

[dusglbr]

Hi - that's an ambitious but doable project. If the stringers are punky, you want to check the transom as well. Especially the lower transom. I'd be doing some test holes to see what you've got. If no rot, you can always fill the small drill holes with epoxy. If the drill produces punky wet slime, you have a bigger project. Regarding the engine, unless you know for sure it's in need of a rebuild you may want to hook up a hose and battery to it and see if it runs or check compression (might be pleasantly surprised).

Good luck! Looking forward to updates.

I agree, but my buddy is a mechanic who specializes in engine rebuilds, so he'd rather just do a full rebuild since we need to pull the motor anyways to replace the stringers.

a complete gut and rebuild of a 96 sea ray in over 20 how-did youtube videos by Friscoboater's garage. Aside from the labor, it also cost him a marriage.
it saved my wallet, literally. After watching that video series, facing a 98 Sea Ray restoration; I sold it as-is and bought a new Cobalt, with an outboard motor. Happy wife, happy life.

Excellent video series, neither of us are married so hopefully it's only our wallets who will suffer.

.
So glad you found us dusgblr. Thanks for the pics.

That Sea Ray resto vid series can definitely help you. Some good entertainment there too. Maybe you can document some of the highlights of your restoration. Members could chime in along the way.

How much did you pay for that project boat? Could be a good flip if done right.

And welcome aboard mate.

.

Thank you, and we paid $200 for boat and trailer. We are documenting as we go and I plan to keep sharing

[Kate]

I renovated one of those. (Though yours is more like a reclamation.)

What is the engine and outdrive? As Bruce alluded to, that will tell you everything about whether it's worth the time and money.

Is your plan to restore to original or just to useable? If original, good like finding seats (yours look shot), side panels, and the teak trim.

[dusglbr]

So I've been pretty busy and haven't had time to post an update, but this is what we've done so far:
1. cut out the rest of the deck to reveal the beams
2. Removed 35 gallons of bad gas and removed the gas tank
3. pulled the motor
4. tried to turn it over by hand, and ended up doing a full engine disassembly. Cylinders 4 and 5 were full of water.

So right now the heads + block are sitting bagged and covered in fogging oil. We're getting some new head gaskets, we're going to hone the cylinders by hand since it's a backyard project, maybe get the heads shaved then see if we can't get it running on the stand.

I keep forgetting to look for the serial# to answer the questions about the motor 100%, but it's a 5.7 GMC as far as we can tell. Also for the lower unit how do you tell what kind it is? I don't have the manual with me, since it's with the boat at my buddy's, but if I remember I'll look through and see if it says.

We honestly don't know anything about boats and the biggest goal of this project is to just learn more about them without risking any serious money. Even if it turns out this boat isn't financially viable, working on it has been the most fun I've had in the last 6 months.

For time/expenses we've worked 10 days on it so far, for a total of ~50 hours for each of us, putting us to a total of 105.15 hours. Our total expenses so far, counting the initial purchase, and all of the tools+supplies we had to buy is $463.46. Not bad progress so far. We've also been offered $200 for just the gas tank, so if we do decide to scrap it, we can get some money back pretty quick.

Also if anyone is interested in a free 55 gallon drum full of questionable gas, let me know

Album with images:
I tried adding the images here, but was having some issues.

[billk2632]

Looks like a Mercruiser Alpha I outdrive.

[Kate]

"Looks like a Mercruiser Alpha I outdrive."

Did you see that in one of his pictures? I couldn't find anything.

99% sure, though, that you're right: It's an Alpha1/Gen 1. It's very reliable, and easy to find parts for and work on.

Dus: Can you post a picture of the outdrive?

[dusglbr]

Yep, it's an Alpha One. The lower unit and engine both had about 5+ solid seconds of solid clear water when we drained them. Is there anything special we should do when storing the lower unit? Currently it's sitting in the open air. We felt like after all the salt build up, it'd be hard to make it worse.

[bruceb58]

If your drive had 5 full seconds of water coming out and its been sitting a long time, it's toast

[billk2632]

"Looks like a Mercruiser Alpha I outdrive."

Did you see that in one of his pictures? I couldn't find anything.

99% sure, though, that you're right: It's an Alpha1/Gen 1. It's very reliable, and easy to find parts for and work on.

Dus: Can you post a picture of the outdrive?

I could tell from the picture of the transom assembly.

[billk2632]

Yeah water coming out of the outdrive (I am assuming you pulled the drain plug and water came out?) is not good. At this point I would make sure it is drained, refill with clean gear lube and just leave it for now - you have bigger things to work on. Generally it is best to store the outdrive trimmed down, but if you must leave it trimmed up, put a plastic bag around the prop to keep water from getting into the exhaust passage (through the prop hub) and freezing.

You won't really know what problems you have until you get it running - but with that much water in it for who knows how long, it is probably done. You will likely replacing it down the line and there are some after market drives that are pretty reasonable - ie SEI. But when the time comes, I would at least pull it apart, replace the water pump in it and give it a try - the Alpha's are pretty durable drives, it might work.

[Kate]

"If your drive had 5 full seconds of water coming out and its been sitting a long time, it's toast"

What B said. You can check the gears and run a pressure test, but I suspect it'll be like trying to revive the dead.

It's an A1/G1, which you can get used for around $800. Be sure to match the serial numbers.