www.iFourWinns.com

OK no pics yet as I currently only have the title in my name as the boat is being winterized. Thank you all for your advice and suggestions and wait until you here the story behind this purchase.
I finally was able to get my money together and a sunny day to go inspect the boat for the final time and purchase it. The boat has some minor scratches but that is no biggy as it is 20 years old. The floor is solid and I was excited to hear the new chevy 350 that was in the boat. My dad wanted to go with me and when we pulled up the boat was running. That always makes me nervous as the owner could be hiding something. I Hopped up and put my hand on the block and it is cold so he just started it, oh and the motor sounds very healthy. I start inspecting the interior and the floor is solid. The seats in the back are new and the back to back seats are not bad but the vinyl has started to crack. No worries as I have someone that can repair that for a small price and the boat is 20 years old. I hop out and look around the outside some more and when I look up water is squirting out of the block. I can hear your voices in my head say run away now. I had already talked with the engine builder and looked over his shop and was impressed so was not expecting problems and neither was the seller apparently as he went white as a ghost. You could see him start to get sick at the thought of his second cracked block. The boat had been stored in a heated shop and he was shaken. We determined the leak was coming from the intake manifold and I told him that if he took it in and there was no damage I was still interested. This after I had checked the oil and it was free of water. I let him know where I would like it to go and luckly thats where he took it. These guys have worked on our family boats for 20 years and have extensive knoweledge of OMC products. He took it in and we all gathered as they took the intake manifold off. Sure enough the intake manifold gasket had failed. It was a brand new gasket and had ruptured on the outside edge of the intake manifold. The inside of the gassket was still good and that is why water was kept out of the motor. They decided to pull the heads off and check to make sure everything looked good and the motor looked brand new inside which it should and there was no water. Everything was put back together and the gasket sealant was left to set over night. The next day they ran the motor for an hour and checked the oil and there was still no water. In the mean time the out drive was inspected and everything was good in there. I headed over to check the boat out and watch it run before I handed any money over. As I pulled up I could tell something was wrong. The leak was gone, but another leak was discovered in the power stearing cooler. I left again saying if it is repaired and there is no leaks and the oil is clean I would take it. I made my third trip over (50 miles one way) and checked out the power stearing cooler repair. Everything looked good and the boat was run again for an hour. No water in the oil and no leaks. So now after a week of stress and me looking at 5 other boats to decide if this is really the one I want I am the owner. I convinced the seller to pay for the repairs obviously, but also the 225 winterization and service for my troubles. He agreed and after looking his bill over for the fun total of 850.00 I am happy with the boat, but it is still there getting winterized so pictures will be coming next week when I finally get to tow it home. The ironic thing is these are the guys I was going to pay to inspect the boat. After the seller had left the last time the owner of the shop asked what I had paid for the boat. He had sold this boat to these people 5 years ago for 7000. I told him I had paid 4000 for it and he offered to sell it for 6500 for me at the boat show this weekend if I wanted. He has a 1985 four winns freedom 190 on the lot for 5000 and it is in much worse shape. I know some of you would have turned down the sale the first moment you saw water and also would have negotiated a better price, but I am happy with the deal I got. It is not uncommon for bayliners of the same year and size go for 6000 in the summer here. I will update with pics soon.


Oh and the boat is not named and I am thinking it should be recess or summer break since I am a grade school teacher.

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Todd
1988 Four Winns Horizon 200
AKA "Summer School"

Now the hard part... waiting for boating season to start. Congrats on the new boat.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

No kidding. I went out this morning to feed the minature horse and there is 2 inches of new snow on the ground and it is sowing lightly.

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Todd
1988 Four Winns Horizon 200
AKA "Summer School"

Congrats on getting the boat, it's a good stable running hull for its size, and these old 200s are about a foot longer than newer 200s, being 20'9" long, vs 19'8" for some of the newer models.
Once you get it on the water there a few things to pay attention to that will help make the drive system work better and last longer. One thing is for a Cobra to shift properly, the idle has to be between 500-600 rpm in gear, on the water, don't depend on the dash tach, they are often inaccurate. I use a Actron tach/dwell multimeter to set mine. The other is that it must not jump out of gear after shifting, if so get it back to them right away because the clutch dogs in the lower unit will wear out and that's a real expensive repair. The condition of the transom shift cable and the adjustments of the shift system is critical to the longevity of these units. When I first got mine it would shift into gear ok but would not come out of gear to neutral. I took it to the best OMC shop around and they got it shifting great. That was back in 2004, since then all I have had to do is maintenance. I take the drive off in the fall, check the bellows for water and check the gimble bearing and ujoints. Then in the spring I check the whole shift linkage and lube all the pivot points with OMC triple guard grease. There is a bell crank in the pivot housing that can get deposits packed in behind it, you have to clean that out and grease it so the shift cable can move the bellcrank up and down, which is what shift the gears in the lower unit. Finally make sure the ESA system works, this is an electronic device that lowers the engine rpm when shifting from gear to neutral, to allow the clutch dogs to release. It won't have to engage if you test it running it on land because there is no resistance on the gear set from the prop being in water, but in the water you may feel a slight drop in rpm when shifting to neutral from foward or reverse, this is normal. If this is not working right it may be hard to shift to neutral which is dangerous esp when docking. Just a few things to check 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

I will and thank you for all your advice.

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Todd
1988 Four Winns Horizon 200
AKA "Summer School"

congrats!

I am in the same boat as you. No pun intended. I bought my 89 on Oct 25th. Made a sea trial an winterized the next day.

I can not wait for summer!


Post up some pics when you get a chance. I love the 88-89 model years. Best of that era. Glad to see more people appreciate them like I do.

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Rob

Present: 1999 Formula 280SS
Past: 1989 180 Horizon

http://www.robcamerondesign.com

In high school my parents had a 19 foot Reinell and I always loved that boat and this is the same style just a little bigger and nicer. Pics will be coming soon. I have friends with 60,000 malibu wakeboard boats and that is awesome. They work all summer to take the boat out on the weekend and I have 2 1/2 months off in the summer to enjoy my boat everyday.

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Todd
1988 Four Winns Horizon 200
AKA "Summer School"

Here are some pictures. Just got home and put the boat in the shop.

You will notice the dog sticking his head in trying to help and of course the mini horse had to make an appearance. Also there is a pic of the home for the boat and a couple of pics where the gel coat has been rubbed off and I was wondering what you guys recomend to protect that spot.

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Todd
1988 Four Winns Horizon 200
AKA "Summer School"

Todd it looks great for a 21 year old, mine was in much rougher condition in that the deck was rotted and the interior had to be replaced, all of which I have done over time, now there is no carpet on the floor, only on the side panels, the deck is nonskid gelcoat. I replaced all the seating except for the coaming panels on the sides which are original. Mine is the same boat except it has the sunsport seating with the pedestal seats up front and the big bench seat in the back with the sunpad over the engine compartment. You have a great storage area there, here in LI New York any kind of building is so expensive that most boats are stored outside.
When you get it ready for the season, double check the gear oil level in the outdrive to make sure it's full, and sniff around the fuel lines if they are still original. I replaced all of the battery cables because they were original (not tinned wire) and all salt air corroded. I put in a dual battery system at the same time. Here in LI the salt air gets to everything so whatever you use has to be better quality in order to last. Fresh water boats look so much better than those here in the salt pond!

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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 boat came to oregon from las vegas. That means it had humidity of around 7%-9% in Las Vegas. It was garaged here and we average 14%-18% humidity. I am sure that is why the floor is in such good shape. The picture of the seat that has the small splits is the original 21 year old seat. The back upholstery was just done and the front is perfect. The one nice thing about where I am in Oregon is that I bought my house with 3 acres for 120,000 and the shop cost 15,000 so far. Should be into the shop about another 6,000 for concrete, electrical, and insulation. Also have a mountain view so I can't complain.

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Todd
1988 Four Winns Horizon 200
AKA "Summer School"

Golden Retriever?

The gel coat can be repaired pretty easily. A pro may be able to do a better job of color matching it and will have the rotary buffer to do the job right. But you could do it yourself if you just want to cover the bare fiberglass.

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

Good call Mike. He is a AKC Golden Retriever. His owners bought him and he was to much for them as a puppy with their new baby so I got him last summer at a year old for free. He is an amazing dog and is looking forward to his first boating trip. Thanks for the heads up on the gelcoat repair. There are a number of former sea swirl workers around who do some great work for low prices. Once they closed the plant locally they all just do work on the side.


Here is another shot from this morning. We went and checked out the lake to see if there was ice on it and there was of course. This picture is after he got to run around. Pure Happiness.

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Todd
1988 Four Winns Horizon 200
AKA "Summer School"

Great shot, Todd!

Here's Sandy, also AKC, but not free LOL:

Groomed:



Needing a groom :

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

What a good looking dog. I love the personality of golden retrievers.

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Todd
1988 Four Winns Horizon 200
AKA "Summer School"

wow, everyone on here loves the same things! ha ha Older Four Winns boats and Golden Retrievers!

Heres mine, he is looking forward to Lake St Clair this summer!



His name is Jack, hes AKC purebred as well.

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Rob

Present: 1999 Formula 280SS
Past: 1989 180 Horizon

http://www.robcamerondesign.com