I will double down on Mark's suggestion. Buying a boat without a surveyor is a huge gamble that could cost you thousands compared to the few hundred the survey costs. The seller should agree and pay for the surveyor that you select, or at least split the cost so if you decide to bail you haven't lost much. It may not be the engines that are the thing that sinks the deal. 1989 wasn't a particularly great time for boat building (sales were through the roof tho) and there were lots of duds even in the big name yards. They were building them as fast as they could and quality was second in line to profit. At least, until it all cam crashing down in the Recession of the 90's.