I went against everyone's advice and am in the midst of a project boat. I've spent alot of money already and I haven't even touched the boat myself yet. In fact, it's about 1500 miles still being worked on.

Things WILL add up fast. I also had the mindset that:

1.) I can't afford a newer boat
2.) If I were to buy the era boat that I can afford, it would need work regardless, tearing apart a working boat did not make sense to me.
3.) I just happened to get an offer I couldn't refuse so I dove in head first.

I have come to the realization that I may break even when all is said and done. The boat will be like new and will reflect my tastes.

The only way to come out close to break even is to get the project CHEAP!!!

If you like working on boats, get a project. If you like DRIVING boats, get one that's 95-98% good to go, but still a little bit left that you can tweak to your style a bit.

If you didn't know what was going on and got a little scared then I gave you the feel of what a large refit is like...


I brake a restoration down into 4 steps with a large project
if you pay for it and do nothing:
#1 tare down: 5 to 7k
#2 body work and mod's : $5 to 8K
#3 paint with booth time: 25 to 30k
#4 refit: put parts on..... how much u want to spend on parts? say 20k leaving some stuff out
10k yard fee...
one constant on a large boat the yard fee 20 to 50 a day + lift fee's, blocking fee's a 35 foot go fast with cabin is a 6 month job with out a cabin can be 2 months less, if your lucky. So plan on twice that...

70k but un finished refit no ac or microwave and so on.
100k done with hard where & bright work.

ur labor if u can do it all in 6 months. 35K

non have power at that price.... all are give or take 10 to 20k....

If you have a lot of cash and can afford the loss on resale when selling buy new or newer..
If you have a vintage boat in mind or with history that you like and the cash to pay some one, do it...
If you do not have the cash to buy or pay out 4 labor or like doing this stuff and can stick to the project. You can build your self some thing nice, maybe nicer then any other...

You will appreciate it!!

Johnny buy one that is already done. Insurance and financing helped my decision when I was looking to buy. Another thing that might not have been address is that the older cigs take bigger power to run in the 70-80 range resulting in questionable drive reliability.

Andy

True - I think if you are looking at a Cafe you need to bank on a SOLID 600 each side to consistently touch 75.

Thanks for the encouragment, I need it!!!

I saw your dad last night, he was gonna go out but it was a little iffy and windy. Also, there's one sweet NorTech from FLA in dry storage next to your Gun, pretty badass rig. Staggared w/ #6's and all.

Questions about painting the hull / deck:

1.) You guys mention upwards of 30K for paint, what if you prep it yourself, have a place to do it so it's not sitting in a booth, and get everything ready to spray and have the painter come to you, or trailer it over just for the painting portion?

2.) Would a painter even consider this?

3.) Any issues with doing all the prep work yourself, such as painter not wanting to spray something he doesn't have control over or hasn't prepped himself?

The quote on the paint is probably the hardest detail to give you an estimate on. No one knows what you want to spend on the paint job, or how much you want to spend on the materials to create it.

You can have one design picked out, and have it painted in a wide variety of ways, which would obviously include a wide variety of prices.

You could spend a lot to paint the design, by using pearls, metallics, & other kinds of expensive paints. Or, you could just do it with basic paint & clear, & spend much less.

You can clear the boat 2 times, or 12 times. The boat can be prepped in a variety of way as well, some more in depth than others.

I don't know of a single credible boat painter that would consider letter the customer have anything to do with the painting process. No painter with a good reputation would want to risk their name, by taking a chance on the customer doing a bad job prepping the oat, or any part of the job, then having their name as the person the painted it.

Boat paint jobs are usually quoted by the foot, after the types of paint & materials have been established, as well as how wild the design is going to be.

Thanks Andy! I saved up money for a depo quicker than I thought and just looking around. After all the help on here I think done is the way to go and then do little things from there. But the Cigs have something about them that I really like at this time. But as you may know I don't care what the top speed is of my boat is long is will get on plane and cruise that is all I want. Most offshore guy's want the top speed I just want a sharp boat.

+1

That's all I wanted too. To get on plane and cruise. Back in the day, you were flying at 75. Today, with some pleasure boats doing well over 100, you'll need an endless pocket book to compete against that.