Boat Questions...

[garlicbreath]

I just bought a 1978 Cobia 17 footer with a mercruiser 120.
Probably pretty close to the one you are looking at. Mine is rated at 140hp and runs great, I would say 40-45mph, has no problem scaring the crap out of tubers and skiers.

I did have to have the carb rebuilt this year, paid 19.00 for the kit and 50 bucks for the local hot rod shop to do it.

Have the guy start it, you can run it out of the water, but only for a very short time unless you have the wierd looking suction cup thing to hook a hose up to.

Try to get it into gear, then nuetral, then reverse. It should go into nuetral fairly easily, if not it might need a shift cable. Mine was streched out, no more adjustment, so it was a pain to get into nuetral at the dock. IE, made me look like a fool trying to dock and load the boat.

They aren't too hard to get parts for, but prices vary way more than I thought possible, so it pays to shop around.

Great fun, I love mine, but like many things, it is a starter boat.

[robertcarmel]

Originally Posted by Maintain

Thanks guys

I was told it was rated at 140hp. I'll go take a look at it... it's pretty cheap at 1000 bucks... I'm just ITCHING to get out on the water though!

A few notes on I/O's

1) If you hit something (like a stump) you are left with a parts only boat. With the amount of man made lakes in TX there are a lot of stumps( Not the guy on the board here).
2) 140hp is a little light on a I/O. You probably won't get over 30 - 35mph on it, even empty. It may make skiing difficult especially with a full boat. The 19' I had; had a 305cid V8 228hp and only did 42mph.
3) Make sure the Stern drive is in REAL good, otherwise it is only good for parts
4) Have the transom checked as well, otherwise it is parts!
5) What are you going to do with it, and does the pitch of the prop match that. Props are REAL expensive for a good one ($300-$400 range).
6) Make sure if you get it that the bilge blower works, or you not longer have a boat, but a floating bomb!!
7) Make sure you know your state laws about boating I have been stopped in a boat MUCH more than in a car! Have all of your safety equip, and make sure the lights work as well!

These are my pearls of wisdoms from boat ownership!

I rent boats now since it is cheaper !!! That is something you can only learn from owning a boat though!
Good luck man!

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Last edited by robertcarmel : 08-02-2007 at 09:30 PM.

[Jeff_Northon]

Find a GOOD boat mechanic. They will know what to look for, for a grand, seems good, but at least make a few calls to have a boat mechanic look it over. It is the little things in a boat that can cost. The lights that are required legally cost $50 each (4 needed on my boat). I just put $1,000 into my boat last year. The waterpump in the new outboard went out 3 days out of warranty, $376...

[mrnecsteve]

Sounds cool Marty. I have been boating on the upper chesapeake and owned some sort of boat for 34 years now. It will be rare that you will have the opportunity to run over 25mph in the upper bay anyhow at 19 foot.
19 foot is a good size for fun and decent fuel usage for the upper bay and also large enough to venture out past the elk river for striper fishing,beach parties,night cruising, or trips to the few resturaunts in the area. As you are capable of working on your psd, your probably capable of maitaining the boat yourself. There are loads of parts suppliers on the web now also and scads of
parts available local to you.
I am curious if it comes with a trailer or not. (Sure hope you dont have to buy a tundra to pull it around. :")
j/k

[davespark]

yeah, risk in everything. Pay attention to mrnecsteve's coments in my opinion. What the hell... for a 1977, seems like you could expect some trouble with the hull maybe. Newer ones like Sea Ray aren't using ANY wood anymore.... That 4 banger is pretty good on gas. I was out on the St. Croix river last week with a friend on his Rinker 18ft. with that 4 banger. it ran nice and would'a pulled up a skier okay. One ski might be tough on the skier's arms a bit, but... when you're up, you sure don't wanna be goin' 40. 30 is plenty fast for me.

I've got an 85HP merc sittin' in my yard looking for something to do... Outboards seem to hold some value, but the boat I get will likely be a 20' or so with an I/O.... Depends on where you're at...mentally and nautically. Is that water out there "big water"? Will you need to run from storms? Hell, a Kilobuck is like a steep ticket to a pretty cool amusement park...

[mrnecsteve]

I reread your post...a trailer too! As the end of season for non-locals is fast approaching,now is a good time to find some good boat deals.If there are no surprises with that boat it sounds like a good deal. Boating on the bay in september is fantastic and good in october if youre a die hard. Fortunately
most of the pennsyvania navy losses interest in boating during those months.

[Marty]

I gave up on this one and several others that I checked out. I just can't find a boat thats decent unless it's over 5grand. I guess I'll just have to wait until I am out of school and can spend money on things like boats I was stuck going out on boats with other people this year instead of my own!

[mrnecsteve]

I understand the 5k thing. A good technique, to also think off is to find one that isnt decent but is restorable and resellable.Trailerable outboards are usually easiest to retore and resell, if the sell price is below the "gotta go to the bank to finance it" range.I have seen many cases where all the boat needs is a good powerwashing and cleaning up...if the engine is not seized.
Over the years, I have successfully unseized 2 inboards and one outboard,so even that is not necessarily a show stopper

[Marty]

Well how about you take a look at my current boat with a bad water pump that we (nor the boat place which still charged us $95.00 to tell us they can't do it) can get the lower unit off of LOL!

Pretty please!

[Blue01F250]

What kinda boat do you currently have?? It should only be unbolting the lower unit from the upper drive unit and then 4 bolts holding in the water pump???