i have a 23 foot formula thunderbird cabin cruiser, i bought but needs a new out drive, and seems to be leaking oil alot lol..so im guessing some kinda rebuild would be in order...but umm im not too great with all that, so im wondering how much do you guys think i could get for it i sold it? i really wanted to get it running but it might be too big a job for me...the guy who sold it to me lied and said he ran it a week before and me being stupid believed him, i mean they seemed nice the wife was an e-6 in the navy but that all changed once i bought it, and inspected it further

I don't know anything about boats, but did the previous owner's story begin with "Now, this is no **** ..."?

If so, he simply embellished the story.
If it did not, then he plain lied.
Military law.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 12-19-2010).]

A Little off topic:

Is it big enough to live in, Camp Pendleton has a nice marina?

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1986 Red s/e 2m6 5-sp, & 2006 Red Solstice 5-sp

quote Originally posted by stumpkin: A Little off topic: Is it big enough to live in, Camp Pendleton has a nice marina?

Way off Topic:

Really, I don't remember anything about Camp Pendleton that was nice. Well, I take that back, it was nice waving good bye to Mount MF!

Ron

yeah its big enough to live in, it has a head, a bed, sink and stove...but its far from fancy living....and when i first saw the boat it he started it up and put in gear for a little while so i thought it was good, but just 2 days later me and some of my buddies went aboard and checked out the engine...fuel lines were completely severed i fixed those, and it wouldnt go into gear so we opened up the outdrive and the gears had no lubricant, and were rusted...if he had run it aweek before they would be clean of rust for the most part because of their motion...and it lost 5 quarts of motor oil in a matter of 3 days...i had a mobile mechanic look at it after that because i dont know much about boats either

What year is the outdrive? Is the outdrive a Volvo Penta, Mercruiser or some other brand ? If it's a Mercruiser than parts are plentiful,if it's an older Volvo,then parts are scarce.

its a merc, alpha 1 ...if i remember right...i havent messed with the boat in a while

The problem with out drives is they have a rubber boot that the drive shaft runs in and they get old and brittle after they get old. If the boot starts leaking then that poses problems for the bearing and it rust. Saltwater usage compounds the problem. The only way to change that rubber boot is to remove the out drive. While the out drive is off, then you can replace all the seals so your out drive will keep the oil in and the water out. Plenty of parts readily available for Mercruiser Alpha ones. If the boat has been used only in fresh water,you should have little difficulty taking things apart,if it has allot of saltwater usage then taking things apart can be quite difficult because of corrosion issues. You might be better off replacing your unit with a nice clean used one,however if yours looks to be in good condition,then it can be easily repaired.

If you would like to keep the vessel,then I would suggest you learn about the systems and do the work yourself. Hiring a marine mechanic can be quite expensive. BOAT=Break out another thousand. I should know,I own 3 saltwater vessels and have been maintaining them for years.

You can get used outer drives, as this may be cheaper than rebuilding.

I have an alpha 1 and it has been good, except for a pesky driveshaft boot that had a minor leak. All fixed finally and it is dry!

Didn't some of the old Mercruiser's use the marine version of the iron duke engine? If so, you could loose 3 quarts of oil out the valve cover.

No 'lemon law' for boats?

well i figure if i get it up and running the hull alone will be worth what i paid