valve train noise could be a wiped out cam lobe. Lingenfelter should have some paper work on the motors. If the keel is worn thru to the glass, my question would be how long has it been like that for and how long did it sit in the water. May be a huge problem waiting to happen.

Just my .02

Also for the agreed upon price of $25000 and with you in Ca and the boat in Pa, how much will it cost to transport

The original agreed upon price was $25.5. Shipping will run me $3500. I called the seller back, and told him I'd be willing to pay $21k for it, no more. So I'd have $24.5k into it with shipping. I figure with $4k in my pocket, I can fix the issues that come up. The surveyor said he didn't figure any major high dollar repairs were needed, just some maintenance, adjustments, and fix the keel. This way, I'll be fine if it does turn out to need a cam, etc. The seller is still thinking about my offer, and will get back to me. I won't pay more than that, if he doesn't take it, I'll look at something else.

I have went thru my 311 driveline all the way this year if there is a problem with the trannys it is about 2000 a piece to rebuild them. Parts are available and are no hard to get. Make sure that the boots are in good condition as that is the only thing that are VERY hard to get. Keep in mind i had a survey done, rode in the boat, drove the boat, everything i should have done. First run broke it Sept of last year and now 20 grand deep and i am still not on the water. I know once it is done it will be cool as chit though Good Luck

The seller hasn't gotten back to me yet, but I'm probably going to pass on this one. I called Lingenfelter to try to verify the motors were done by them, and from the serial #'s on the motor, Lingenfelter says they were most likely not their motors, and they would definately not mixed gen IV and V blocks in the same application.

So, here I am back to square one. The first boat I was interested in, is a 40ft 1982 Formula 402 in the OSO classifieds. Looks like a decent boat. I might fly out to look at this one. The areas of concern on this one are- the seller says the motors are 572's, but doesn't really have any info to back this up, he says the drives are #3's, but they look like TRS to me, and he doesn't really know, and the most notable, is a major ripple in the deck that can be seen in the pics. The seller says this is a common 402 Formula problem, but I've never seen it on any others. That doesn't worry me all that much though, as long as it's not due to collision. Check out this one in the classifieds if you get a chance, it's a nice looking boat, in my price range. I can afford about $30k including shipping. He is willing to sell the 402 in that ballpark. Of course, if there's a nice Cigarette or Apache around at that price, I'd be interested in that too.

Thanks for all the help on the Formula, the info was very valuable.

Ask on the Formula forum about the ripple in the deck. From the pics the drives do look like #3's. I have speedmaster 2's and mine look different than the ones on that Formula. Mel Riggs should have some nformation about the motors if he built them. Search the forums for Mel Riggs for a phone number.

Mel Riggs # is 920-872-2728,he is located in Eldorado Wi.,about 10 miles north west of Fond du Lac