www.iFourWinns.com

Well, thanks everyone. Your info and advice was invaluable and, unfortunately, unnecessary for this boat since the old man sold it out from under me and his friend who was working with me. The buyer didn't even try to start it or anything and he paid full price. Perhaps it was best. If I find another Four Winns, I'll be back and I'll use all the knowledge you shared towards my next possible purchase.

Thanks again.

That may be a blessing in disguise, LOL....
point # 1, never ever buy ANY boat without a full water test.
point # 2, if you have had floods, or storms in your area, (like we had Sandy) ask about flooding and check to see if the boat sank. It is possible for a boat to sink on the trailer (ie the plug was not removed and the engine compartment filled up with water). You have to know what to look for. As in, rust in areas that you don't normally see rust, sand in the seats, musty smell everywhere, water line stain much higher on the hull than normal, etc.

Here in LI, esp on the South Shore, there were boats all over the place after Sandy. As in, on Montauk Highway (major road), Sunrise Highway (another major road, 3 lanes in each direction) in people's back yards, in people's in ground pools, even on the Long Island Rail Road tracks leading from the main land to Long Beach.
Sooner or later most of these went up for sale....

_________________
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

We don't get any storms like that round here. The worst we get is a very hard rain for about 30 min and then it's over. It inundates the storm drain system but nothing really severe. Worst I've ever seen is standing water in some streets about a foot deep and I've lived in the area for over 35 years. I'm not saying that boats don't sink from time to time. We have plenty of reservoirs and lakes. I'll keep my eyes open for the descriptions you mentioned. Thanks

Look for a boat that is running in perfect condition.

_________________
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

all it takes is for the owner to forget to take the plug out, the boat's stored outside and the cover leaks. Bilge fills up and rusts starter, oil pan, pulleys. What we got was a 100 year storm. We are coastal region and we get no'reasters but those are not as severe as hurricanes. BTW, I pulled our boat out the Friday before the storm. A lot of boats were left in, a few sank but not that many. I am on the North Shore of LI and it was not that bad. We still had a ten foot tidal surge though. The South Shore was a horror show. South of Montauk Highway most of LI is only about 5 feet above sea level.

_________________
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 would take that as a higher power intervening in your favor.

And probably someone else looking here in the future to find out why their boat that looked good on the outside isn't running.

_________________
2008 Four Winns h180 Bowrider
3.0 Volvo Penta

2013 Dodge Durango HEMI

Yeah. Keep an eye out for the purple boat.

I'm now looking at three different boats. One is a another Four Winns that appears to be the same boat, same year, same efi engine and outdrive but not purple. This guy wants $7k and it doesn't look nearly as nice but it runs. The next is an older Renkin, 1985, that looks really good and it runs although not very well. It too has sat for about 10 years. Has the 5.7 Chev engine with Merc outdrive. I'm not familiar with that old of a Merc outdrive. And the last one is a 1989 Rinker Captiva with the 4.3 and Merc outdrive.

With not knowing anything about any of the boats except for maybe a little about the Four Winns and Rinker, what can you tell me about them?

Well to generalize, the main problem you can have with boats of that age is wood rot because of the way they were constructed. Plywood cores, poly 'glass resin which is not water proof, carpet on the deck which holds moisture and holes that are drilled to mount seats, etc not sealed with a marine sealer. Now if you are in a dry climate, this will be much less of an issue than it is here, where we have a damp climate much of the year but esp in the fall and spring. So first you check for wood rot. If you find that (soft spots in the decking, seat mounts pulling out of the deck, rot in the ski locker, cracks in the 'glass for the engine mounts, cracks in the transom around the transom mount). Find another boat. If the boat doe not seem to have rot, or 'glass damage on the bottom, then put it through a water test. If it passes then it might be a good buy. The problem with all of these older boats is that the construction techniques, are cheap, the workmanship can be poor and if the owners did not store them properly, there will be rot if the climate is at all damp. If the climate where you are is dry and they were stored inside they might be fine in that respect.

_________________
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

Ditto on the wood rot. We were initially looking for a boat just for this year, that may have had some issues - as long as it ran....

But let me tell you - I looked at 30 plus boats. All under $10k. Of the ones that "ran" - most had a soft spot in the deck. Others had issues with the hull, issues with electronics, and other things....

We finally settled into realizing we would either have a boat payment, or be paying to fix a boat - and not having much fun.

A boat under $10k will be a project boat - you will have issues with it, most can be fixed by putting money into it, but it all depends on how much time you want to put into it.

_________________
2008 Four Winns h180 Bowrider
3.0 Volvo Penta

2013 Dodge Durango HEMI

_________________
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

Excellent. I will pay attention to all of that. Fortunately, Utah is the second driest state in the nation and our humidity can get down around 20% in the summer. I'll still look very carefully at everything you guys said because you never know if a boat came from somewhere else.

Thanks again.

As for the Mercruiser drives, not much has changed on them since the 60's or so. This indeed sounds as if you dodged a bullet. Good luck in your searches!

There are used boats and there are used up boats. You want one in the first category.

_________________
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

Thanks again for all the replies.

I looked at two boats today. I'll look at the Four Winns tomorrow. The Rinker is just too much $$ for what it is. The guy was sure proud of the Metal Craft trailer. The Renkin was very cool and a bit nostalgic. The vinyl was in good shape as was the hull and the engine was so clean I could almost see my reflection in it. I think it was a Chevy 389. Does that sound familiar? I crawled on board and the noticed the floor felt spongy, the very thing you guys were warning me about. It was a section of floor about one foot across and about three feet long right in the center just in front of the engine compartment. I pulled the ski locker cover out of the floor and stuck my head in and it had that musty smell you guys were also talking about. Is it worth looking into seeing how much it would cost to fix or should I just walk away from it because it could be a lot worse once I get into it?

The problem with rot it you never know how far it goes, till you take it apart. On my boat what started with a soft spot under the helm seat and more under the rear seat, turned into a full deck replacement and stringer repair. I fixed it as a learning process but it takes a long time and is nasty work. That was 7 years ago and the deck in this boat is still very solid. I'd walk away from that one, if you want a boat to use. Because it could wind up needing a new deck, stringers, the whole nine yards. Keep looking. See you can find these problems even in a dry climate. That's why my boat does not have carpet, and I made a support system to keep the cover from caving in during the winter. This keeps moisture away from the wood cored deck.

_________________
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