A little advice on this Formula purchase.
 

I have a deposit on a 1991 SR-1 29' with 156 hours and has been stored for 10 years. It is all stock with 502 engines in and I paid $17,500. for it. It is about a 8.5 condition. Any things I should be aware of when deciding if I should purchase it? Thanks for any help!

i'd buck up for survey. make sure hull is solid, and have motors checked. could save you alot of $$ in the long run !

How is the price in todays market

I think your price point is in line if it is solid and the engines hold good compression. beware that often times lack of use can be worse than normal use. Seals and rubber parts tend to crack and deteriorate with lack of exercise. I agree on the survey...well worth the money and may give you insight on an issue you may not have considered. It may also give you the opportunity to take another bite out of the apple before you pay out that hard earned money!!!

How good are 502 engines? I sure the hours are right at 155.

Wet transoms were an issue with these older Formulas.

Survey is definitely a no brainer here...Drain every bit of gas out of that tank before you fire those motors... You do not want any part of 10 year old gas (Hook up an alternative fuel source for testing the motors if you have too)... And to Sprink58s point about seals, it probably wouldn't hurt to run Seafoam in the NEW fuel and also pour some down the carbs... this stuff does a great job of lubricating seals and internal rubber parts.

The boat is clean as not being messed with or screwed around... all stock and factory. Engine compartment is clean. I plugged in the shore power and the charger is not working, anybody know how this systems works? At the price Im paying is this fair or is there a better model or year for the money?

I m sorry I dont want to come off sounding bad but,,,,,should you not done all that before you put a deposit on the boat??

Yes, but the deposit can be refunded after full inspection, but thanks for the thought on it. I'm just used to older Nordic single engine 26' and this is a jump for me. On a different point, the cockpits are small for the length, how do you guys like that for relaxing on the water? I like to drift down river and listen to music and enjoy a cold one?

That's what i enjoy doing, and mine is just a 272 SR-1, it's not that bad with 3-4 hanging on the boat, but any more than that we go to the Sandbar

This style Formula compromised quite a bit in the cockpit room...thats why most family buyers will shy away from these types of boats. Dow here it's Center Console outboards 2 to 1 over all others for that reason....you can have a bunch of folks ridding along in a CC boat as opposed to a sport boat.

Well the boat has a true 155 hour on it. The cabin interior still looks new, A few things need attention, When it is plug into shore power, nothing happens, anybody know who to operate it?

I have the same boat and I've been very happy with it. As to the charger, make sure the breaker in the cabin is switched to on. Also make sure the fuse is good in the charger itself. It's located in the lower left hand side of the charger, this is assuming its a Guest charger.

Also make sure the fuel is pumped as mentioned. My 292 was a similar buy, as in it sat for 8 years prior to me buying it. I had a hell of a time with the old fuel. I pumped it all out but that didn't resolve the issues. The old fuel created a pebble like residue that clogged my filters for an entire summer. I ended creating a fuel safe vacuum to suck the sediment out. Then as soon as I would get out in Lake Michigan and hit some waves, more sediment, clogged filters, more problems which meant draining the tank again and sucking out the sediment again. So that 10 year old gas could be a real pain, it may not be as simple as pumping it out.

With all that said, I really like my 292. For an older boat it still has great lines, it rides well, and is built well. I would also expect that you should be right around 70 MPH with a pair of 502's.

I had 780 hours on my 1993 271 with very little compression loss. It all depends on how well they are maintained and how hard they were run. I agree with Sprink. Sitting unused for 10 years COULD be worse than normal wear and tear depending on how the motors were layed up prior to storage. Spend money for a thorough survey before spending your hard earned cash on this one.

Dave

I had a 1990 292 SR1 with 365 hp magnums. Great solid boat. With the 502's you should see 70-75 mph which is fast for those older sr1's. Two things I would invest in right away. 1) Remove the stock exhaust and put in stainless marine or other aftermarket aluminum manifold and stainless risers with full stainless pipes back to the transom. You don't want the water to mix with the exhaust until it hits the transom area. This will prevent water reversion which will kill an engine over time. Also, initially inspect the seal between the cast iron manifold and riser. If there are rust staines on the outside, then you can be assured water is leaking on the inside into your heads. 2) Installl full hydraulic external steering and tie bar. At 70+ MPH, you don't want to rely on the stock mercruiser steering. After about a year or two of ownership, my boat would wander at speed in quartering seas, thought it was the boat's hull. Turns out the steering arm in the drives loosen up and causes the boat to wander. With the boat out of the water, shake the drives back and forth, if there is any play you either need to replace the steering arms in the drives or install the hydrualic steering. Other than those issue, I put over 700 hours on mine and it was a great boat. Good Luck.

Thanks that is great advice! I put the aluminum ones on my last boat. I think I figure out way the charge would not work, there has to be about 10 amps in the batteries before the charger will turn on.

I have a few more questions, I going to tun the engines over with the plugs removed and marvel oil in the cylinders to get oil pressure, then put on the muffs and try starting with a separate gas tank. What is the large hose with a gate valve on it that goes out the bottom of the boat and when and how do i use it?

Wow what a day! So due to everybody's help here I backed out on this purchase. The Port motor ran great on the hose but the other had a slight miss, which could be a wire or plug. The big problem was the out drives. I know a top outdrive guy that has even published a book on outdrive repair fraud, so he inspects the drives and finds the one has a .125 bend in the prop shaft!! Plus there is gear whine in the lower unit. He said that the damage could go all the way to the motor and he has seen damage like this could require a motor removal! After changing plugs on theses motors, I not sure how you guys work on these engine compartments. The thought of changing a starter, I don't even want to go there! Sure like the look of that boat and will look for another. Also do you guys every rotate your drives?