Need advice on what parts should be removed and sold before selling motors or drives

I am currently trying to figure out the best way to help a family sell off the remaining marine engines and outdrives that their uncle had left them in his estate.

Since we are a couple hours away from a major city it will be a bit harder and I am thinking of stripping the motors of the parts that will be worth the time...say anything that may be worth over $50...and then trying to find someone to buy the blocks or call the recyclers.

I have about 16 almost complete marine engines..a couple of power plants and maybe 30 or so outdrives plus a bunch of random stuff like fresh water cooling things..exhaust manifolds, carbs, intakes. flywheels and that sort of thing.

Hoping that some of you in 'the know" can help me out by telling me what I should strip off these before having them hauled off.
And if there are any test techniques for the parts to see if they are working or not that would be greatly helpful as well.

I know this is a big task and a lot to learn and ask help on but not sure how else to go about it except to dive in and figure stuff out.

Thank you.

My wife and I did spend a couple hours writing down the serial numbers on many of the motors and items..basically if we saw a number we would write it down so hopefully it will help us ID things.

I have also been to the boat shops in our area...there's only a couple. I told them what I had going on and let them know that I would have some very good prices on things if they needed anything..they didn't seem to be that interested but did take my number.

As for finding a tech that I can have help me..man that would be nice but in the past year and a half I have hunted for one regularly and have had no luck..other than the normal..bring it in and we will diagnose it for around $100 an hour...when we get time...that has been frustrating to say the least.

Since this project is not outboards I may be able to get a regular mechanic help me out though..just not sure if I can do compression tests on the ones that have their intakes taken off...guess I could always try to play match up and see if I can get them all or mostly back on.

As far as research goes..this post was the first step on that...I don't want to give the stuff away but also don;t want to waste a bunch of time on taking things a part that are worthless...I kind of need to come up with a plan of attack and being new to this all I can really do is look at repair manuals...see what parts are called then check Ebay I guess..but with the amount of different parts I might encounter I am fearing I will not realize the value of many and overlook them.

Am wondering if rebuild shops would pay anything for the stripped down blocks also...but it's a three day weekend now plus all those types of shops are a couple hours away so will have to wait and find that out next week.

Thank you for the reply.

SeaPair said:

My wife and I did spend a couple hours writing down the serial numbers on many of the motors and items..basically if we saw a number we would write it down so hopefully it will help us ID things.

As for finding a tech that I can have help me..man that would be nice but in the past year and a half I have hunted for one regularly and have had no luck

Click to expand...

One thought would be to try looking on your local Craigslist under Services/Marine to see if there are any Mobile boat mechanics to call in your area to see if they are willing to swing on by to have a look/help.

As previously mentioned, use a online search engine with part numbers to identify part numbers.

If you come across any newer looking (1980+) Mercruiser serial numbers, run the number in this first link to help identify what it may be, https://webapps.brunswick.com/literature/literatureSearch.do

Also study and use this next link as a helpful Mercruiser engine guide http://www.marinemechanic.com/merc/distributors/mercurymarine/sterndrive/gmblockcodes.PDF

In your other thread with the red engines in the photos, typically red was used on some Volvo Penta engine models + I did notice some Volvo parts scattered around the red engines. So they may go together.

Take a few over all pictures of everything and start posting on Craigslist under Boats with a catchy title.

What area are you in?

Good luck.

Yes... I too will say "Good Luck"! You have your hands full here.


Here's what I'd suggest:

You are not in the Marine biz.... correct?
IOW, you are not an expert in that you can easily identify these Marine engines, drives, flywheel covers, this and that, etc... correct?

You are also most likely not in a position to test each component, nor to determine the working status of each, nor are you able to elvaluate the $$$ worth of each part.

Uncle Bob probably obtained many of these parts via a replacement job...... which may mean that the parts themselves are in need of some type of repair.
(generally perfect engines/drives etc, don't hang around the shop for long)

He has an array of AQ series Volvo Penta lower units in the background. Unless these are the 1.61:1 ratio, they are a dime/dozen.
In fact, for the price of aluminum scrap and shipping only, I'll send you a few more.
Nonetheless, pull the rind anode and look at the ratio that will be stamped into the bearing carrier.
If he has any Duo Prop drives/parts in the background, these will bring some money.

You are also acting as the "seller" in hopes of generating some income from these parts.... correct?

Buyers for these parts are rather unique, and are looking for a "deal".... a very "good" deal in most cases.


Shipping some of these parts may be a deal-breaker for you. It is very time consuming.

So....... why not host the equivilant of an Estate sale.... but for Marine related items?
Use Craigslist or one of the other web based sites to advertise this, and with lots and lots of good clear photos.
The less messy in the background, the better the photos.

Do this several weeks prior to the actual sale.

Don't list the address until the time arrives.

List your first name and email address, but in your email address omit the > @ < in lieu of > (at) < to keep the robots away.

You can also buy a $30 throw-a-way cell phone, and list that phone number.


The toughest part may be loosing sight of the goal.
The goal is to get rid of these parts... even if it means a lessor price than hoped for.


Get the BBQ out, put some beverages on ice, and make a fun weekend out of it.





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First off - you are like the guy with a junkyard, but for boats....you aren't likely to sell to any shop as you aren't likely to warrant anything so your target market is the boat owner...

The more you strip off an engine, the less it will be worth and the more you'll have to deal will....

Your best bet is to unload as much as you can, as fast as you can...especially when you factor in your time...

I like Rick's "estate sale" concept .... the only drawback is the time of year - so don't set your bar too high...good luck

makomark said:

I like Rick's "estate sale" concept .... the only drawback is the time of year - so don't set your bar too high...good luck

Click to expand...

Very true. Spring time would have been much better.
However, don't be surprise if these guys come crawling out from underneath the woodwork for a good sale.

I think that starting your ad a few weeks early would be benificial. Let them get the juices flowing.


We just finished an estate sale at my mother's home. She is in a memory care facility, and is OK, but will not be returning to her home.

I advertised early, did not mention the address until the evening prior, and I did several great road signs, etc.

The turn out was amazing... much better than expected and we were swamped.
We felt like over-worked Macy employees the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas.


.

A big question in my mind is how did your uncle aquire these parts?
Was he in the boat servicing business?
If they were removed from customer boats in the course of business, my guess is that they mostly have some sort of issue, and perhaps his plan was to wrk on them when he got the time.
The engines may have cracked blocks, shot valves, hydro-lock issues, or any number of other problems.
The drives may be OK or they may have shot gears, rusted bearings, who knows what?
As was said above, if there are items that are fully serviceable, they would likely not be sitting around gathering dust.

I like the estate sale idea mentioned above.
Otherwise you could remove items and list them on ebay or whatever, with a 'condition unknown' disclaimer.
This will be a lot of work, and shipping will be an issue, but it could be fun.

Rod

Where are you located??

I second the WHere are you ? and have a yard sale !!