To buy or not to buy - ‘04 ar230 winter project

[Midwest ranger]

This is long winded but I hope touches all the basics

2004 ar230 winter project

looking for opinions and advice for things to check and quickest way to test if motor is seized.

good -trailer, hull, glass, Bimini and electronics are in good condition, and appear to be functioning.

Bad - best I can figure - theft recovery left outside after police and insurance recovered sat for over a year- missing seats and have yet to see if engines and drives are seized or operational not likely to fit in garage based on height without tower and tire removal and Dollie’s so motors will likely need to be pulled and will hit dead end in winter due to winter conditions


Background:
Just got into a new home, with a 11’x30’ pad on the side of a 26x29 3 car garage. Talking with a buddy about projects and boats, he mentions his work (an machinery and equipment broker) took in a boat a year ago and when it finally sold the buyer fell through and they’d let it go for a couple grand. I work in the auto repair industry as a writer. But I’ve got experience rebuilt top ends, replaced gaskets, transmissions, rack and pinions, radiator, thermostats, etc….. even traded /swapped into a 20’ 1989 carbureted I/o I put work into got water worthy and then sold due to a move out of state.

now I’m back settled in and looking-to scoop up a fall deal on a boat for next year and I’m open to a project. I have 3 littles (all under 6) and lots of family near by so a bigger boat like this is desired-but I’ve always leaned to a pontoon due To simplicity and kids. We like to tube and extended family water skis, no big wake boarders but may try it out in the future. A little fishing is bound to happen.

Im not looking to flip this. (Maybe I should)
I figure if the engines aren’t seized I can rebuild them. I can buy the captains chairs online and my wife and I can fabricate a basic marine vinyl interior to get us on the water next year and upgrade sections as we go to a higher quality and stitching.

I’ll be stopping by with tools and more time towards the end of the week

Opinions? Run away? Grab it up? Are these really that loud? Should I stick with a pontoon?

thanks in advanced

 

[Scottintexas]

What’s the expected cost?

 

[Midwest ranger]

What’s the expected cost?

For the purchase price under 4k

for repairs
best case repair 5-7k into it, worse case I’m thinking 10-12k

 

[Scottintexas]

there's no easy way to check if the engine is seized, it's not like you can put a wrench on the cooling fan to spin it,

maybe you could pull the spark plugs and then get a pipe wrench or strap on the coupler to see if it would rotate ?? I think some others may have done that in the past,

what make you think the electronics are good ? you able to hook a battery up ?

I think I would take a battery and try to jump it off the solenoid to see if it will spin,

if the engines are bad, most people either
1. buy a rebuilt from SBT in FL (with about a 50/50 reputation and if you do get a bad rebuild you pay shipping back and forth)
2. swap one from a jetski

If it was stolen while on the trailer I wouldn't necessarily think there was any engine issues as the thieves probably never had the boat in the water,

for 4k and you're able to work on engines I think it would be worth the gamble, it looks like a nice galvanized trailer,

 

[Beachbummer]

When was it last run successfully? Fuel doesn't go bad so quickly. With a fresh battery it should fire up if all was well. If both engines fire up, and it runs well, you might have a steal on your hands

 

[Scottintexas]

they are loud,

not like a 454ci jet boat dragster loud though,

at idle it's a normal boat, at 5k rpm and up they start to scream, over 5k rpm and you'll be talking very loudly or shouting to other people in the cabin, it's not loud like it hurts my ears just loud like you can't talk normally,

I purchased our boat when my kids were 8, 6 and 3, it's been great for our family

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I don’t know enough to give any advice on the project or costs.

The galvanized trailer looks good and, alone, is probably worth a couple of thousand dollars.

Jim

 

[Midwest ranger]

there's no easy way to check if the engine is seized, it's not like you can put a wrench on the cooling fan to spin it,

maybe you could pull the spark plugs and then get a pipe wrench or strap on the coupler to see if it would rotate ?? I think some others may have done that in the past,

what make you think the electronics are good ? you able to hook a battery up ?

I think I would take a battery and try to jump it off the solenoid to see if it will spin,

if the engines are bad, most people either
1. buy a rebuilt from SBT in FL (with about a 50/50 reputation and if you do get a bad rebuild you pay shipping back and forth)
2. swap one from a jetski

If it was stolen while on the trailer I wouldn't necessarily think there was any engine issues as the thieves probably never had the boat in the water,

for 4k and you're able to work on engines I think it would be worth the gamble, it looks like a nice galvanized trailer,

I was hoping there was a easy way to spin it to make sure it wasn’t seized.

no keys - but everything is in tact - I was assuming here

I stopped by for a quick min with A screw driver opened up the top and found sludge in the cylinders and spark plugs had already been removed and upon looking noticed a water line in the engine bay I hadn’t before.

It’s obvious now it’s been in the water, no obvious gouges to the hull and water isn’t the end of the world but I may hunt for a different project. I’d assumed theft recovery as I thought all the seats were gone and hadn’t seen a water line.

 

[Brad_Ct]

https://jetboaters.net/threads/sx230-resurrection.20148/

Checkout my thread on what I went through getting our SX230 back on the water.

 

[Midwest ranger]

It seems like it’s got decent bones but for the money and time for something I’m not sure I’d like - it might be lame but I may hunt for a I/o deck boat or a pontoon.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/sx230-resurrection.20148/

Checkout my thread on what I went through getting our SX230 back on the water.

Congratulations on completing it, looks like a lot of fun and a boat you hopefully enjoy a long time, read through a few pages, I’m hesitant to start such a big undertaking, your final list of work done I think will be comparable to what I’d have to do, 2 engines is a determining factor in a cost and time combination. Kinda like with cars - the better bones/base you start with the better the project and results. I think the 04 I’m looking at is a bit far gone for what I was hoping for and with plug already pulled and corrosion in there

I’m concerned someone else tore it down and ran from it lol.

 

[Midwest ranger]

Thanks for the input y’all and sorry to waste your time, I’m gonna sleep on it but will likely pass, thanks again for the advice

 

[BlkGS]

For a couple grand it's worth it as a part out worst case scenario. I'd buy it, check it out, and if it's as bad as you fear, part it out.

They're great boats, but I can understand the hesitation.

 

[tdonoughue]

The other factor is the time. I know when I had 3 little ones that age, had I gone out to the garage every weekend to spend 20 hours on a dead boat, I would be dead or divorced. If you're anything like me, there would be no such thing as just spending an hour out there.

And (more importantly) I would have missed a lot of kid time.