first time scarab buyer

Gump1986 · 07-07-2008, 09:30 AM

Hello. My name is Forrest, and I live in Kennesaw, GA. I have been around boats my whole life, and I am finally ready to buy a boat of my own. I have found what appears to be a nice 1984 Scarab 21 for sale near me. The boat has a clean hull and gel coat, excellent interior, and a 350 with thru hull exhaust.

I am going to look at this boat Friday. It is a one owner boat and seems to have been well kept. What particular areas should I pay special attention to? Any problem areas this boat is known for?

Also, what speed should this boat run top end if it is in good running order. I will be able to do a lake test on the boat.

If I decide to buy it, what kind of performance potential does this boat have?

Sorry for such a long first post.

Thanks for the help.

spazboz · 07-07-2008, 10:06 AM

Congrats on your interest in owning a floating money-pit!!! Just Kidding. My Buddy has an 86' 21 Scarab with a 260 and 3" Thru hull. Bone stock he runs mid 50's with a 20 pitch prop. Fun little boat, great for skiing and tubing. This weekend he offered to trade me strait-up, but my little 185 PowerPlay is going nowhere! Hopefully some of the Scarab guys will chime in on the performance aspect. There's some "healthy" ones out there. Nick

coolhand502 · 07-07-2008, 12:15 PM

welcome to the club dude, i would agree mid to upper 50's performance-wise. i would just check the normal stuff, how many hours on motor, outdrive etc.... anyway good luck

BlownScarabI · 07-08-2008, 07:50 PM

Great Boats, Check the transom for rot, if you can get the tips off. I have a 86 with 540 hp small block that goes 84 and is pretty stable at that speed. Good luck.

Gump1986 · 07-09-2008, 02:36 PM

That is good to hear. I am going to check it out Friday and I will post up what I find out when I get back from the lake.

That is one thing I was curious about was the performance potential of the boat. I know that 350's are fairly easy to make more power with.

If the boat runs mid 50's factory, how much more power am I looking at to hit high 60's?

BlownScarabI · 07-09-2008, 05:53 PM

about 350-400hp I would think. go easy on the alfa though, I upgraded to a Bravo One and External steering, much more safe. I went through two alfas before the upgrade.