Looking at buyine one. '84 model 390x. Approx. 400 hours on original engines (is that alot?). Includes trailer with new tires. Said to have no issues.







Any problem areas to look for on these boats in particular or just in general for that matter? This would be my first boat so I'm kinda jumping in with both feet.

get your self a survey it will tell you if there are any problems and a good surveyor will teach you a thing or two about the boat lots to learn!!

Agreed. The engines will be the least of your problems. You need to look for rotted stringers, floors and hull issues.

Someone purchased a similiar one for about 19k and knew ahead of the purchase to spend about another 7k for transom repair, etc. I'll try to find the thread.

400 hrs on 454's is fine if they ck out. Rebuild time on those are about 1200+ hrs.

As stated get a survey for sure.

Cool old piece

yo

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...om-repair.html

Asking price is $20k. Thought that didn't sound bad for the condition, but wasn't sure. Said to be all freshwater use. Any ideas where to find a surveyor in Oklahoma? How much should a survey cost? THANKS

Surveys can cost anywhere from 75 -250 bucks depending how detailed they are. The survey on my boat was 27 pages in length and very detailed with pictures.

I agree that 400hrs are not a lot if the maintenance was done regular such as oil changes etc. That boat looks like it's in pretty good shape from the pics you posted but DO check the moisture in the stringers and transom with a moisture meter.
20k sounds reasonable as well...

Good luck! Hope it works out for you. I have had mine six years and absolutely love it!

Thanks for the suggestions. Are moisture meters hard to use? I got to looking and now I'm not sure if it's a 390x or a 415x...wasn't the 415x a 390x with a swim platform?



He said the drives were TRS400. Are those good or bad? Maybe I'm thinking of Bravo1s as being bad. I just thought I read that one or the other wasn't too reliable.

You can get a moisture metre at Home depot. They take a nine volt battery and you place it on the hull flat. You can get different readings of how much moisture content is in the fibreglass up to about two inches in thickness I believe.
They cost about 40 bucks or so.

All Stingers had optional swim platforms. Mine is moulded and is bolted on teh transom as a 4 grand option when new. The 415 might be the Fittipaldi special if it's a red boat. (grab that up as it's rare and worth large!!!)

The trs drives are great drives. I have those on mine as well. Bravos arre good drives too as they can handle the torque of the big blocks. Try to avoid Volvo or OMC...when looking for a boat.