'79 Thunderbird 302
 

I'm new to the forum and might soon be a new owner of a Formula. Any insight or pro's and con's you Formula guys may have would be appreciated since I've never owned a Formula much less a boat of this age. I know the pro's and cons of the TRS drives I just dont know much about this age or model boat.
Thanks!!

Man, I figured someone would know atleast a little about the 79 F-302.......


So the the boat I'm looking at was a 1979 year end model, This was supposedly the first batch of Thunderbird 302's....

Can anyone confirm when the Thunderbird 302 started production?

I thought someone would chine in on this thread too. I personally don't have any insight into that model/year.

We'll try to keep this thread at the top until someone who knows sees it.:cool:

I don't know about a '79 but the early '80's 302 was a popular boat. I saw them most often with 330 TRS. Ran about 60 mph.

Have it surveyed, older boats were not seled well, Formulas had some transom and bulkhead issues, I guess that goes for all old boats.
TRS are good, most people want Bravos but I like TRS, I have them on my Baja, my friends old 311 ran 550-600HP through trs with no issues ever.
Parts can be hard to find but as more people go Bravo parts will surface somewhat.

check on formula web site under brochure of the past. I have 79 233 that I found only small water damage under one engine pad, the rest rock solid.

Hello and welcome to OSO,

Is the boat you are looking at "SIN BAD" ? I'm not sure of the age but if it is, you are looking at a great boat.
The reason I ask is, it has been in Fresh water all it's life I know one of the owners from Belleville Ont. Canada and they maintained the hell of it. Then I beleive it went to someone in Kingston area (1000 Isles) saw it every summer.
We cruise with a guy who has one in Sodus NY. THe boat will go through anything. He has 365's w/TRS drives. He loves the TRS drives never had any problems as well. Boat runs 65 mph ish. He says it does 70 but i think that is on the trailer.
They did a couple of modifications ... one was they lowered the bow rails making the boat look more modern. Another was customize the bolsters .... His wife is short so they raised her's so she could see better and matched the material.
If you are interested in talking to this guy I am sure I could put you in touch with him.
Shoot me a PM if you want any more info.

Good Luck !!!

Jeff

Thanks for all the info coming in..... You told me the stuff I was looking for, est. speeds, transom and hull issues with older boats, so thanks for the info!

I'll be sure to look it over as well as I can when i go pick it up next week.

"Got Twins" Yup its Sin - Bad, You made me feel alot better about driving 11hrs for a 29yr old boat I havent seen in person and know nothing about. I know this is kinda a individual opinion but what do you think about the price tag on it... It seems fare to me but you know more about the boat than I do.

I'll see what happens when I get there to look it over.... Thanks again for all the info!!

What do you charge for a 29yr. old boat? It is worth only what you want to pay for it. What I mean by that is .... in this case there really isn't any good comparisons for you to go by.
It is alot of boat for the money however you look at it. I personally don't think you could hurt that boat with regards to the hull or get hurt with regards to the price.
To put things in prospective you could buy the Formula or buy 1 SeaDoo and an inflatable for the same price. Which one is the better deal for you .

Jeff

used to see Sin-Bad all the time at Potter's Beach with the present (I presume) owner.
Talked to the guy a few times...
boat looked gently used and my observations of the owner, his boathandling and care at the beach back that up.

Any pics of this Old Bird, like to see them.

Dave,

They are in the classifieds in Formula section on OSO .....
I know the boat .... My buddy Pete owned it about 10-12 yrs ago ..... The boat is still in freak'in great shape. He went through it from one end to the other with a open check book. It is the real deal when it comes to a "clean boat" ..... I haven't seen it in about 2 yrs ..... but when I saw it online it was the exact same boat as when my friend owned it.

Jeff

Here is the link.

http://www.offshoreonlyclassifieds.c...o21545-en.html

That is nice looking, price seems reasonable too.

The pics online showed alot better than the boat did in person... I was still gonna go for it and drop a little money in it to get it cleaned up and back in shape.... Then I find out..... The boat is still in someones name that lives in Ontario??? No thanks, Seemed like a good buy but too many surprises for me.. I found that 88 272 instead that I posted about last week

Sorry to hear the bad news ....
I spent approx. 400 hrs. of research looking online , classifieds , ebay etc. until I found the right boat for me.... I feel your pain.

Try Boattrader.com and go to the "Great Lakes Section" and do a search of what you are looking for. You will be amazed how many and how clean the Formulas are in the Lake St. Claire area are......

Good luck .....

Jeff

i had 79 302 great boat did ton of mods ran a hard 80.