www.iFourWinns.com

Greetings all,

Been poking around here a little as I am interested in potentially buying a 1989 Horizon 200. Boats has a trailer, the OMC 5.8l and presents to be in pretty decent condition. The boat is located NC about 2 hours from where I live so I looking for some advice from the wealth of knowledge here in this forum. I have attached the link below for pics and reference, he is asking $4400, I think that is a little steep, thinking more in the 3,000 to 3,500 range. I've read numerous posts about the floor rotting and that OMC's are expensive to maintain, etc.. There is no mention of hours in the ad, so that will be one of my questions when I call him alone with the floor condition, existing maintenance records and such.

What else should I be asking this guy on the phone? I'm not sure I am going to drive the 2 hours if I can't get a good feeling over the phone that its worth it. Can you all help?

Thanks in advance!
Bob
http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/bod/3892627032.html

Anyone... anyone... Bueller... Bueller?

LouC is the resident expert on FW's of that vintage. Until he chimes in, I'll see if I can list some items to look for:

- Floors, especially carpeted. Ya wanna make sure there is no "soft" spots, which could indicate rot. Poke your head down in the bilge and check the stringers and bulkheads. Look for exposed wood, take a pocket knife or flattip screwdriver and push into any wood you see. If it is soft, beware.

- OMC is a great engine/drive, if maintained can last forever. However, parts are sometimes hard to come by.

Things to ask the seller:

- Annual maintenance, engine/drive oil, fuel filter(s), winterization, impeller, u-joints, bellows. Does the seller check/service these annually?
- Salt or fresh water? Exhaust manifolds serviced/changed?
- Any accidents, collisions, water intrusion (leaks)?

Thats about all I can think of off the top of my head, the boat looks very clean in the pics, so hopefully the seller was meticulous in his care for her. good luck!

_________________

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

Unless you're a marine mechanic, you shouldn't purchase anything made in 1989. If your goal is a hassle free pleasure craft to use with the family, stick with boats made since around 2000.

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Nice looking boat. Very nice that it was garage stored. Still sounds high though; $3000 sounds more like it.

Engine hours mean almost nothing on a boat this old. In fact, I would rather have one with 1500 hours than 300 hours, because the 1500 hour one is more likely to be properly maintained and run often enough. A compression check would tell you more than an hour meter. Buy it as if it might need an engine rebuild next year... if you get 5+ years out of it then you are way ahead.

Avoiding rotten floor and stringers or transom is the main concern.
Exhaust manifolds are likely to be the first expense on the engine, unless they can prove how new they are.
Also do a search about these steel trailers. It looks good, but they rust from the inside out.

_________________

"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

I have the same exact boat only a 1990 and a 4.3. Things to look for are soft floors, and has it been taken care of. By that I mean did the PO do all the maintance like they should have. $4400 is not a bad price for it. I gave $4500 for mine. I would do a good inspection of it and go for a sea trial. OMC is a good drive and can last you a very long time, if taken care of. Parts can be hard to find, but they can be found. If we all had money like Ric we would go out and spend 10s of thousands of dollars on boats, if it is going to be your first boat and it is in good shape it will last you as long timeand teach you a few things like mine has taught me. Mine handles great and has enough power to do what I want, plus it don't cost me an arm and a leg to get out and enjoy the water with my family.

_________________
1990 Four Winns Horizon 200
2005 GMC Sierra

That is my exact boat except for the engine (mine's a little 4.3 4bbl) and mine has the sunsport seating. Otherwise the colors are exactly the same.
Well to add to what everyone here has said, the boat is old, you have to check the deck under that carpet very very carefully for rot. Walk on it and try to get it to flex. Take out the cover for the ski locker and look in there around the edges. Look at the bow cover, some did not cover the anchor locker. If thats the case rain water would run under the anchor, right in the ski locker and rot out all the wood there. Grab the seat backs and try to flex them and look at the floor when you do that. If you can take out the rear seats and look at the deck under them. The hull layup on these boats is good and the hull design is excellent, with a very deep V 21* deadrise. They perform and handle very well in rough water. I've had mine out in Long Island Sound many times and trust me that is no place for a boat that can't handle a bit of rough water. Part of the reason why I restored mine is because of how well it handled for its size.

As far as the mechanicals, well you need to get it checked out carefully. Your first call should be to see if any shops by you do OMCs. If not owning this boat will be a headache. I have a good shop that solved my shifting problem which they were known for. Why? well the original cables were sticky and the drives did would jump out of gear. And, the adjustment procedure in the OE manuals was needlessly complex and verbose. I finally had to learn how to adjust mine. I got the 3 special OMC tools and it took me 2 days of staring at it to figure out how it worked, once I got it set, that Cobra shifts REALLY smooth, much smoother than any Merc Alpha I have been on and easily as smooth as a cone clutch Volvo. If the cable set up is done right and all the normal I/O stuff is done, they last a long time. The Cobra has a few advantages over the similar Alpha
1) easier impeller replacement, takes 15 min
2) easier bellows replacement
3) better lube system holds 2x as much gear oil.

Just be careful. But if there are no OMC shops by you forget it.

_________________
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