Finance an '86 boat without motors or drives? Good luck!

I wouldn't think that someone with decent credit would have a problem with an aprox. 20-25k loan which seems to be roughly half the price of a running example. The Myco alone is worth a good chunk of that. Anyway thats not my concern. If someone wants the boat for that money, how they finance it makes no difference to me. There are plenty of options available to a person with the will to own it. The boat is not officially for sale, I'm just trying to see if it is even worth my effort to try to sell it. If the boat is worth very little or if no one can pay what it is worth I'll just keep it.

OR P.M. ME ,$$$ IN HAND.

FWIW, there have been a few sold lately, in good running order for under $32k. Considering the fact that you have never had the boat in running condition either ( and I understand your efforts to work on the project as stated above), your preference to sell less any drivetrain, and the current market, I think you may be surprised what it would be worth. My guess would be low to mid teens at best on the trailer.

There is one local here, with fresh 454's, TRS's, new cockpit upholstery, less trailer that can be had for $25k.

I'm sure its not want you probably wanted to hear, but just an honest estimate with all things considered you mentioned above. Really a difficult time right now. With the repo market for boats going crazy, anyone, even with great credit, would be hard pressed to find financing on a 20+ year old boat without power. You could hope for someone with cash or to use their LOC for the purchase.

Best of luck to you. Sounds like it could be one heck of a ride all finished with the power and Kaama's. Their cool.

Thanks for the input. I could sell the boat with the drives and transmissions but that would up the price considerably. The drives have never been hit or beat up and still have the prop guard on top and the Kaama zinc and all good original Kaama hydraulics. They do need boots however. Although I have never verified it the props were supposedly custom made and pretty expensive. I also have at least 5k into completely rebuilt transmissions (0hrs) with upgraded internals wich was done at an authorized Twin Disc dealer that has experience with this drive package from when it was still in production. Since not many people want these drives and since I have a lot invested in them that would be tough to get out of them I figured I would be better off keeping them. The 540's I am having built only need carbs and pans to finish. If I were to finish the engines and put it all together then I wouldn't sell it.

Just as info. Although the 357 is a great boat I never really had the desire to own one. I bought this one because it seemed like a good deal at the time. As I put more time and money into it and as more time continues to go by I am beginning to think that I should get a boat I really want and put my efforts there instead. That is why I am looking into selling it. I do like it enough however that if I get it all put back together I would enjoy it too much to sell it.

IMO you would be LUCKY to get 10K for the hull and trailer. This is not knowing the year of the trailer. Beleive me I am in the same position as you are. I have put a ton of money into a boat that is not worth near what I have into it. There are Cig hulls out there for in the 30's and less.

The drives are also a tough sell. The boots can not be gotten. So the drives are essentially worthless unless you find some one that took out theirs. People have been talking about having boots made but to date it has been just that. I do not understand why it is so hard to have a boot made and I am sure if some one took the time to go to people that made that sort of stuff that they could get it done but......

The market is totally dry now. No one is buying boats unless they can steal them. This boat for a steal would be well under 10K. I know of a Foutain ICBM that is in good shape, no power, no drives for like 5K. Remember even after you buy the boat you will need insurance. I am finding that getting it for my older formula may be a real problem. Of course that is assuming that I ever finish it!

I've been thinking about the boots for quite some time and am convinced I won't have a problem making something acceptable myself when/if the time comes. I agree with you on the drives being a hard sell, that's why I would prefer to keep them. They are worth more to me than what I could get for them. I forget what year the trailer is, but I know it is a lot newer than the boat. The boats insured through State Farm. I've never had a problem with them and they've insured anything I've owned from modified cars and trucks to snowmobiles and this boat. I don't hesitate to recommend them.

I agree saying under 10,000 with trailer, no power or drives, sucks but reality.

you can buya clean running 357 for 25-35,000 these days, if someone was to buy the boat with no power/drives, the cost to rig it would be way too much, even for a do it yourselfer, most people would not tackle it for what you can buy a boat done for.
Financing is not going to happen on that boat easily right noy, especially with all that is going on in the bank world.
I bought my boat and redid the whole drivetrain, new engines, drives, transom stringers, all work done by me and have over 17,000 in that alon, not including cost of boat, I already had the parts too, just a thought.....it adds up fast!

If I were you, fix it up yourself, and use iti, then sell later, you are going to lose money either way, I have yet to see a hull sell lately with no power, unless it is a Apache or Cig, it's a reality.

Hey Brian,
How is the 357 going? Wanted to let you know that there is a market for these boats without power. Just be realistic regarding price. I had the same dilemma when I sold my 1985 F402. I knew what the market for the boat was in complete running condition and I just couldn't justify my investment in the engines going away like that. Also wanted to hang onto the Kaamas as parts are getting scarce. My boat was listed in the first week of January 2007 on OSO. Sold it for $15k asking price in one week. No drives, motors, hydraulic steering, exhaust,etc. It did have a brand new cockpit that was restored to original colors and materials. Hull and imron was in good original condition but the forward deck had typical F402 stress cracking in gel. Cabin was in excellent original condition. I had done extensive rerigging and updating of electrical and mechanical systems. Trailer was a custom Target gooseneck that needed paint but was mechanically sound. In addition to the buyer I had 5 other seriously interested parties that were waiting for this guy to renege on me. Buyer deposited $5k immediately but then hung me up until May. Almost took his deposit to move on to next buyer but gave him a break.
He actually had a great idea for repowering. He bought an insurance salvage boat with cabin fire damage for about $6k. It had 420's with TRS. He literally had everything he needed - Engines, exhaust, trans, drives, steering systems, wire harnesses, etc. The Kaama transom cutouts were inside the TRS cutouts completely. He rigged that boat in 3 weeks and had it running. He bought some Stellings headers on OSO for about $2k a set. In the end he had about $28k into it.
You might be surprised whose out there with cash and a dream.