Looking at a boat (Dominator?) and I need some advice

Hi all,

Im not sure if this is in the right section, but thanks for any help.

Firstly I should say that our boating experience is limited to tinnies and slower fishing boats. So Any advice or opinions are appreciated.

A friend and I are looking at a 1979 "Dominator Flightcraftor Sun Downer" with a 200HP V6 Mercury engine.

I have attached some pictures of what we are looking at, could someone with more knowledge then us please confirm that this is what we are looking at?

Are there any known issues with this kind of boat?
What about the 2stroke 200HP V6 Mercury engines?

We are insisting that he start the engine for us before we buy it, but we are no where near anywhere we could test it on the water. is there anything in perticular we should be looking for with the engine or boat?

The boat we are looking at is cheaper then other similar boats so we are very keen.

In the worst case, we buy it and the engine is dead, how difficult is it going to be to rebuild (Im an amateur mechanic )

Thanks for any advice.

you are looking at a 35 year old motor...dont know about boat...agree with kimcrwbr1 on the survey....compression and fire and lower unit at a bare minimum must be checked....also look at wiring under the cowl..merc had an early problem with bad wire but it may have been corrected by 1979...the rig would have to be damn near free or i would not touch it...scrap price as you may have to part it out to recover some of your money..just my opinion...

Those old Merc 2-strokes will smoke like a bandit at start up then clean themselves up when they heat up, but that is normal. Agree with above to have a professional evaluation - hull and transom for dry rot, and engine for spark and compression, and lower unit for leaks. Is it the original engine? If not, then what year and how many hours on the engine? Even if the engine checks out, within a year or two of purchase, you will likely be looking for a more efficient 4-stoke, simply because of the difference in the cost of fuel and two-stroke oil.