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How little is too little???

M

Masagana

New member
Just looked at a twenty+ year-old boat with Crusader 454's. Engine hours were barely 600 and they showed very little use, (paint still shiny Crusader blue).

Boat was a Great Lakes boat for nineteen of it's years, used only in the summer, put up in the winter, etc., etc. Spent the last two years on a lift in South Florida and only totaled ten salt-water hours before the owner passed away. Widow states she had someone start the boat once a month though.

Engines are fresh water cooled , (unusual for a mid-western boat) and they even have a flush system for the exhaust manifolds which are raw water cooled.

Very slight amount of rust around the riser to elbow joint, I'm guessing from a dried out gasket? Oil looks like it came right out of the jug.

Will be putting in an offer subject to sea trial and survey, other than compression and maybe WOT what should I look for engine wise?
 
First off..... a question such as How little is too little??? would be best asked of women. :D


Seriously.... the fact that these are fitted with Closed Cooling systems is definitely a plus.
600 hours is typically past the point of issues showing up, and is certainly not too many hours, IMO.
You can go to more extremes and have engine oil analysis done.

One thing to remember about salt water, is that once salt water corrosion begins, it's very difficult to arrest it. Not a deal breaker, just be aware!

Your key to a successful purchase will be right here >>>> sea trial and survey!

The hull must be clean, engines in full state of tune, etc, before a successful sea trial and/or WOT RPM test can be performed.
Your Surveyor will be savvy to this!
I'd load the boat as you would intend to use it while doing the sea trial. This will help you determine if it will meet your needs regarding power and performance.

Good luck.

.
 
Rick lays out a great plan. I might add that the sweetness of price fades quickly after the bitterness of maintenance and repair. But, I read that somewhere and live it all the time
 
Thanks, Knuckle.

My dad used to say; "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a good price!"..... or sump'n like that! :D

This is where a good Marine Surveyor will come in. He should be up to parr with current values, etc.
Given a cetain range, he should be able to answer the value aspect during an initial phone call.
The rest will be "Hands On".

.
 
You say the engines are fresh water cooled but the manifolds are raw water cooled? Would this be a half system? My Crusaders are fresh water cooled which includes the exhaust manifolds.

As Ricardo says, survey and sea trial. I bought my 22 year old boat with a little over 800 hours.
 
"the sweetness of price fades quickly after the bitterness of maintenance and repair" You knew my first wife???

Thanks, all good points, intend on proceeding slowly with professional's opinions
 
craig_collins said:
You say the engines are fresh water cooled but the manifolds are raw water cooled? Would this be a half system? My Crusaders are fresh water cooled which includes the exhaust manifolds.

As Ricardo says, survey and sea trial. I bought my 22 year old boat with a little over 800 hours.
Click to expand...

I think the op means the risers are raw water cooled. To my knowledge Crusader has never made a 1/2 fresh water cooled system. The manifolds will be fresh water cooled and the risers raw water cooled. That being said 600 hours is fine as long as they run up to full rpm and run cool. If risers are original the should be changed out. Also if the distributors have mechanical advance check to see they work properly with a digital timing light. My 26 year olds Crusader 454's had 920 hours when I bought the boat 2 years ago and after new manifolds, risers,fuel pumps, plugs, wires and repiared advance systems they run great. No old consumption, leaks or overheating issues.

You may want to install Racor fuel filters as the old fuel may have issues and make sure you condition the fuel and change the raw water pump impeller.
 
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