www.iFourWinns.com

We are considering purchasing a 1996 220 Horizon with a 400 Hp Ford Cobra engine. This would be our first boat purchase. Any thoughts? The owner is asking $11,500 and I believe its probably worth about $8-$9. Is it too old for a newbie?

I bought the same boat last year. I paid 8900 for mine and thought I got a deal. But I found its got a rot problem. I'm going to pull the floor and repair it. I love the boat just check it real good.

Rot will be one of the biggest risks. Unless you want a project boat, check it carefully!

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Wood cored decks are always a concern because of poor construction techniques. Carpet over a wood cored deck is just bad construction. You got holes drilled to mount seats that are not sealed and the carpet holds in moisture=rot sooner or later. Only way to avoid rot is to do what I did...new deck, 'glassed and gel coated with non skid gel coat and all screw holes sealed. Say NO to carpet in any open boat.
If I had a boat like that first thing I'd do is remove the seats, rip up the carpet, get rid of the carpet glue, fix any rot starting, re-glass it and finish as above...

The other issue with that particular age boat, is that in some years, some of the parts for the original OMC Cobras and the joint venture ones made with Volvo can be hard to find. Post a pic of the engine and drive, I could tell better then. The drive is probably the joint venter OMC Cobra/Volvo Cobra SX but sometimes ignition parts, FI parts, etc can be discontinued, or hard to find. Something that you don't want for your first boating experience.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Didn't the 1996 have the option of a molded non-skid floor with snap-in carpet? If it has the molded non-skid floor with snap-in carpet, it is far less likely to have wood rot under the floor, but it is still possible depending on how it was cared for.

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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

Yep there was the option of the fiberglass liner which is much better but it still has to be carefully checked since you don't know how it was stored, etc.

But still, it is a wood core, and there were holes drilled for all the seat mounts and every one of those carpet snaps.

When I did my deck you could see how the rot started right at each screwhoese and the unsealed edges of the plywood.

A tube of 3m 4200 or Life Seal could make a boat last much longer. Even better would be to inject thinned epoxy into the screw holes (CPES is a good product for this) let it cure fore 3-5 days then install the seats.

To prove this point, I've removed a transom mount transducer that I re-bedded with 4200 at least 5 years earlier. Keep in mind my boat sits in the water 6 months at a time. When I installed a new one this spring no water came out...

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Thank you all for the feedback. How do I check for rot easily? We are taking it out for a test ride next Saturday?

the problem with rot is that most of it is hidden, but there are signs. Walk all over the deck (floor) and feel for any flexy or spongy areas. The deck should be very solid. The only part you might feel a little flex in is the big hatch over the gas tank (center of floor area), some of them were not braced that well but that does not mean there is rot for sure. Grab the helm seats and see if you can flex em, and look at the seat bases. If you see them moving and lifting that's bad. If you can take a screwdriver and see if you can tighten the screws holding the seat bases to the deck, if they just keep turning, sure sign of rot. If the boat has carpet that is where it often starts. Get a mirror and look in the ski locker, look for wet, dark, crumbly wood on the border of the ski locker area. Hold the mirror so you can see the underside of the wood around the opening. Since water collects there you can have rot there. Try to look under the rear seat if you can, it often starts there too because moisture gets trapped. Then look at the fiberglass around the front engine mounts (each one will have 2 bolts screwed into the engine mount area). If there is any cracking in the 'glass around the engine mounts that is BAD. Rotted engine mounts means that the engine will never be aligned properly and that ruins the coupler and is unsafe. Then take a look at the transom, any cracks around the transom mount suggests rotted wood that is allowing the 'glass to flex. Try to move the outdrive up and down and watch the transom. If you see flex that is VERY BAD.
Notice how the boat was stored. If the interior is original and the seats do not have mildew and the boat does not smell musty, that is a sign that it was properly stored and less likely to have rot. Keep in mind rot is caused by fresh (not salt) water, sitting in an area, keeping it moist, with little air circulation and temperature above 45 degrees or so. Boats stored inside in a dry storage area will be much less rot prone. Outside storage is difficult in a damp climate. No matter what you do moisture gets in. Vented covers and moisture absorbers help.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Mines the worst at the front of the ski locker opening definitely take a good flashlight and stick your head in the ski locker and look towards the bow. On a side note if you do get it you will not be disappointed. I really enjoy mine.

I've been looking at the spec sheets. It appears to drink gas like water with a full load from the spec sheets. Ford stopped making the 302 and 351 for marine and industrial market so parts maybe a problem. The owner wants $11K for the boat and trailer. That seems high all things considered.

Remember, the spec sheet is for 1996, 17 years ago. I highly doubt it still performs at that level. Also, parts are plentiful. It is just a Ford 5.0 / 5.8. Your local NAPA will have everything you may need. "Marine" only parts really only consist of electrical/fuel parts that have to be marine rated for safety. 11k sounds a bit high, depending what part of the country its in tho, it could be worth it. Salt vs fresh water comes into play too. Lowball him at 9k and see if he will haggle. Good luck, I love my 96...

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

Any boat that size with a V8 is going to use a lot of gas, you'd have to go down to a 18-19' with a V6 to see any reduction in fuel consumption. I would check on parts availability also that can be a deal breaker.

The parts that can leave you high n dry are marine specific parts such as electronic ignition parts and electronic fuel ignition parts. If they were used only on this engine, they can be hard to find and since omc is out of business the suppliers stop making the parts. I am lucky that I have simple points and condenser ignition, the electronic ignition for the newer than mine models is not available. I can get the simple ignition parts for mine no problem. Same with the carb, no oddball EFI black boxes just a marine Q-Jet 4bbl.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

The 400HP seems high to me. My 94 Horizon has the Ford 5.0 V-8 engine and thats around 200hp or so. Did they make them 400? Wow, a boat that size with a 400 hp engine would really move, eh? Mine moves like a banshee especially with the four blade prop when I hit the throttle. I can only image what doubling the HP would do. Hopefully its a strong transom!

As far as the rot - another place to look that I had issues with was near the swim platform ladder. The wood frame underneath the seat cushions and the starboard side of the engine surround (basically a wood box with carpeting on the outside surrounding the engine) was rotted out. I used that to knock about $750 off the price and re-built it pretty easily with some marine grade plywood and simply re-attached the carpet. Use the cosmetic stuff to lower the price, but be wary of non-cosmetic rot.

The other thing to look at that I didn't look hard enough was the trailer. The factor trailers were steel box trailers and they rust out pretty badly. And since my boat is a fresh/salt mix ride, that's bad. I didn't give a thought to the trailer and I regret that. Only 3 years later and now I'm looking to buy a new trailer for the boat.

Regarding the engine/drive, 94 was the change over year, so its in all likelihood a Volvo SX with an OMC label on it. That's what mine is - all the parts are Volvo Penta parts and readily available if it is a VP-SX drive - you can use the OMC scare on the seller too perhaps to get the price down.

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1994 Horizon 190
5.0L V8
SX/Cobra

I'm not sure I would call 9k a lowball. That's about what it should be IMO. I would start offer at 8k

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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

Yes, 400 Hp does not sound right. If it is, this boat should probably do 70+ mph!
Here is the spec sheet for the 1996 models. See Pages 26-29 for the H220 model:
http://www.fourwinns.com/upload/Documents/Catalogs/1996/FastFacts_1996.pdf
Shows the 302 Ford (5.0) engine at 220 HP. With this engine, top speed should be about 46mph. At a cruising speed of about 29mph, you would burn about 10gph (yes, that's 2.9 mpg). This is normal for a boat this size. But remember that a lot of boating time is at idle or no-wake speeds where you only burn around 2gph, so it's not a bad as it sounds. A full day of "boating" and hanging out might be 10-20 gals. A full day of towing skiers or tubers, or long distance cruising could be 40-50 gals.

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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings