bert4332

David Boudreau, Service Manager, tell him Robert with the Lavey sent ya. I would first PM "BUP" (John), he will be closer and can probably do all the work there at the lake, if he can't do it, then I would go with David at Slalom Shop.

CaptainLOTO

Will do Bert. Thanks again

BUP

iTrader: (9)

Thanks for the heads up guys and the referrals. Many of our customers are boaters at PK, Lake Whitney, Eagle Mountain Lake. We do offer on site repairs and pre purchase inspections.

We offer an unbias inspection report, I say unbias because we sell boats also inwhich some shops / dealerships will lead you to their boat inventory instead of the boat your looking at especially being from out of state.

I have seen this boat running around PK a few years and back.
Seemed always to look like a good runner and if I recall had HP 500's carb motors in it.

Many shops in our area are closed for the holiday's as in some 2 weeks straight so I would check on the shops listed in this post.. Till the middle of the month we are by appointment only.

Notice you mention just a leak down test as I would look into more than this for the inspection no matter who is doing it. We are very familiar with the HP 500's and I will list some of the common things that we run into.

Valve springs - HP carb motors Crane Valve springs can break easy see it alot around the 200 and above hour mark on the clock- weak and or broken valve springs can or will lead into other problems in the head / piston area. So valve train maintenance is important especially on these motors.

Intake manifold - Dart alum. Single plane manifold with brass inserts will leak water into the lifter valley from the water passages because the aluminum around the brass has deteriorated - One because of dissimilar metals and salt content water. PK as mentioned has salt content in it and see alot of corrision issues from that lake especially if not properly maintained.

The Gils Exhaust manifolds made for Merc will or can develop exhaust gasket leaks - they are Aluminum again dessimalar metals can cause detoration around the flange area also the heat soak of the motors and a hotter running engine than normal will cause these manifolds to warp over time. We see this alot these exhaust manifolds will warp across the flange area causing the exhaust leak. We have a machine shop that shaves the exhaust manifold flat if its not to badly warped then we use Mr. Gasket Ultra Seal exhaust manifold gaskets - these have worked better than the OEM Mercruiser gaskets plus cost less. So a huge tip. I have more but will have to type it out later.

Feel free to call me if needed even if your plan is to use another shop for the check out. Also recalling back some Avengers did have some handling issues. Props and having the hull bottom looked at / trued & changed by blue printing cure these problems. I'm sure its posted or talked about up here on OSO.

If anyone has any questions please feel free to call my cell 817-658-7721 as I am a huge power boater myself. Thanks and good luck with the 380.

CaptainLOTO

Bert and Joker,
Used John at Boats Unlimited to look at the PQ and wanted everyone to know the guy is great. John was extremely knowledgable, easy to talk to and great to work with. He rearranged his schedule one day to help me meet a dead line and was right on with his evaluation and comments.
Thanks for the referral and to all here, I highly recommend John for folks in the Dallas area.
Thanks again

bert4332

Cool, glad everything worked out.