formula 242 ls twin engine value
 

Hey guys hoping to buy my first formula and it's a project. The boat has been sitting in a rack for at least 10 years but maybe 20. It's a 1985 twin 5.7 boat shows 270 hours. The hull is faded, both Motors have clean oil but do not turn, the rear seat bulk head is rotted though and the cabin bulkhead behind the Porta pottie is wet and rotted.... Standing water around the toilet. Swim step rotten. If it was a single engine probaly not worth much but being twin engine.....what do you guys think?

Have a 86 272, so construction is the similar. Mine looked good (keep that in mind) until I really started digging into it. The stringers and bulk heads on these are all wood and but up to each other. Where they meet, they put a 2x2 in the corner and nailed it together. What that 2x2 does now is create a wonderful conduit for water to travel through since it touches both flats of the plywood. If your bulkhead behind the porta pottie is wet I would put money on the stringers being wet in the whole bow area. That might even progress up to the ply under the bench seats. If the step is rotted, that means the main cabin bulk head is wet which I had on mine. This then traveled into the stringers going forward and under the cockpit. The engine bulkhead being rotted through is bad news also. Means the stringers are gone. Transom might be good, mine was bone dry but took a lot of work to redo. And remember, mine looked good and felt good when picked it up. Removing carpet and such is when I found the hidden problems. Yours is blatently showing problems

If the boat came with a $1,000 cash in it, I would take it for free and part it out for another grand and throw the rest away. That way you would only lose a little money and some time. Have to pay for it, run away. Seriously, been through something in better shape, don't do it.

Oh, and it has old 350's in it, they are going to be scrap. Mine actually started and ran when I bought it, ended up pulling both out. They are worthless!!!!!!

Can't stress this enough - FORGET IT!!!!

Brian

In case I came across as wishy washy or you are like me and having trouble understanding what I really meant......

DON'T TAKE THE BOAT. EVEN IF GIVEN TO YOU. RUN AWAY. TWIN 242LS IS NOT WORTH IT. SERIOUSLY, NOT KIDDING!!!! DON'T DO IT!

Brian

If you are ready for a project go for it, but it will become very time consuming and expensive, so you need to buy it right.

Good,luck

You will be in the negative regardless. It will be IMPOSSIBLE to turn a profit if that's what your thinking. If you just like DIY projects and want a cool twin engine 242 then go for it. By what your describing be prepared to gut entire boat and do full structure. Stringers, bulkheads everything. Likely all wood on interior is gone be rotten also. So plan for a full new interior. Oh motors not turning over? Might as figure in a refresh of those at least tearing down cleaning up and new rings and bearings. This all sounds like a bare minimum expectation from what you described.

I had already offered her 1000 , she spoke to her father the owner and they were hoping for 5500. Then she says she got a call for 4700 asked me If I
Do better...... If someone offers you 1000 and someone offers you 4700 you don't try to get more out of the first you take the 4700 fast... I told her 1300 is as high as I'll go. We will see what happens, I think it's a cool boat and don't mind the project, I keep looking at boats that run but aren't in much better shape for 8-10k. I know there's no profit in boat projects, our last boat was a 30 ft sailboat we rebuilt e very thing. Paid 6500 spent 20k in repairs and sold for 9k, it's all for fun.....

As a side note if anyone is selling a twin engine formula under 30ft for reasonable money I'm interested.

Trust me that boat will not be fun by the time you were done. Find something that is useable even if it needs everything gone through.

If someone wants to pay $4700 for that boat, let them. It would be a neat boat, but you will have nearly $20K into if it is in the condition that you are describing. With water sitting in the hull and evidence of rot on both ends of the boat, you can be sure that the rest of it is in similar condition, as Befu indicated.

My take would be a complete structure gut and rebuild, then probably 2 engine rebuilds or long blocks, and a new fuel tank. Then there are the outdrives . . . .

By chance, the owner may be BS'ing about another offer. Your offer of $1K (or even $1300) is a nice gesture and would not be a significant part of the reconstruction cost. So, I'd stay there, don't chase it.

There was a guy on here that was redoing a twin 242LS. Cut the floor out of it and redid all the wood, huge project but it looked like a really nice job. Had a bad engine on one side, I still have his long block sitting in my shop right now. Murray or something. Will have to look it up. He has not been on here in a long time I think, wondering if he would be willing to sell his project. His looked worth saving at least. $4,700 for that boat is way too much! I think your $1,300 was too much.

Brian

Well I spoke to the seller again today, she still insists someone is still offering her 4700 I told her to to cash the check quick..... I found another one that's fresh water boat with a trailer asking 8000, it's about 1000 miles away, I know it's getting cold up north I'm going to see if he is willing to work on the price. To bad I can't find anything closer to miami

So you took a $17.5k bath on your last boat for the fun of it?. Forget about that boat....send me a check for $10K and you will have saved $7.5K when it's over. I'll take your money and you won't have to lift a finger on a project.

No need to thank me for being so considerate. I'm just looking out for your best interest as any friend would do. :D

How generous of you. We made some mistakes on that one it was a old boat built by a no name company that was long out of business so the boat had weak retail value. We rebuilt the ancient Volvo diesel that cost as much as a new beta marine engine would have but didn't increase the value of the boat. All new sails didn't need them but they looked great and sailed great. And I don't think there's many 1980 us yachts with mounted chart plotters integrated to all the electronics with a autopilot and instruments. If I would have done this to a name brand boat I would have maybe broke even. I also sold the boat in 1 day to an out of state buyer so maybe I i priced it to low.

No need to be defensive. I just saw an opportunity to have my way with you in the name of fun. :D

Most of us on here will tell you that what we do is for the love of the hobby. I personally try not to think about how much it costs to maintain the hole in the water. The odds of selling our rigs and breaking even from the cash standpoint are pretty slim. Now if you figure in the fun, family and comradery factor (PRICELESS) you might feel like you made out on the deal.

Lastly....I agree with the opinion of the majority. Run as far and fast from that 272 as you can. Tell her to pay you $4700 and you will dispose of it for her. Be patient and the right deal will come along. I spent months scouring the southeast states for a nice used Vintage Formula. I finally found the one I wanted and it was less than a mile from where I live.

Welcome Aboard!

Mark

When I was writing that this morning it didn't sound so defense... Reading it now I feel kinda like an a## Sorry about that.. I think I have a deal in the works on a clean fresh water boat just negotiatein the number.

Being a sailor also can I ask what brand the the snailboat was that you redid?

No need to feel like an a##. You will find that most of us here are really thick skinned. They don't show much mercy around here and will take a poke at any given opportunity. :duel:

As a note that is on topic.......It would be wise to have a survey done on whatever you are looking at. It will be money well spent......trust me. :ernaehrung004:

The boat was a 1980 us 30 made by us yachts which was owned by bay liner. Nearest we could figure they made about 100 of the 30s. It was a sweet boat designed by Doug Peterson, sailed great and was fast for a 1980 cruiser/racer. But we are pretty excited looking that boats that travel at 10 times our average speed on the sail boat.

The problem with alot of these older no name sailboats boats and why you lost so much money you invested in it is because they had a really bad reputation for the front falling off.

Here is a small interview with the than president of US yachts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM

Now that is funny....I don't care who you are. :drink:

Well now I own a 1986 242 ls with twin 260s. The boat was a fresh water boat. Spent its life in michigan on Lake Erie. The owner had every recipt that ever pertained to the boat from the day of sale to now. The bad part, I have never seen the boat in person and it's 1400 miles away. My dad and one of his buddy's who is a boat guy went down and looked at it. Went out for a ride and put it though it's paces and all my dad had to say was that it hauled azz. They couldn't find many faults and the price we agreed upon before i sent my dad to look was the selling price. Also has a almost new steel twin axle trailer. I'm pretty excited and working out the details to get it from michigan to miami. The boat looks like it's going to need a few gauges and some electronics, VHF and gps. After that a good cleaning we will see how we are looking.

Congrats on the new 2U rig. :worthless_without_p

All I have is the pictures he sent to my phone. So here is what I have [IMG]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8878b1dc.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/...psf3b7fceb.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/...psc8db3ff9.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/...psacdd5a29.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/...pscf9957e6.jpg[/IMG]

That's all I got right now.

She is a pretty ole' girl. I'm partial to the older Formulas. :D