Bought a 1987 Formula 242 LS
 

Hello, everyone - Wife and I purchased our first boat ever. A 1987 Formula 242 LS with a 454. Lots of work to be done! The pics below are from Fall 2021 when it first arrived. THE GOOD: It is gorgeous and I love the way it looks. Transom and stringers appear to be OK. THE BAD: Lots and lots of scratches on the hull; over a thousand hours on the engine (which seems to run fine); interior and exterior were torn, dirty and waterlogged so we tore everything out and are getting them re-covered; not all gauges work; overall everything is just a bit beat up or worn with age. It is a 35 year old boat, after all!

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If folks are wondering, we paid $7,500.00 for the boat and trailer and that included the seller driving 150 miles to deliver it to us. Included 12 life jackets, good fire extinguishers, flare gun, safety flag, two new replacement gauges in their boxes, anchor, three bumpers, and a Garmin Striker 4, etc. Trailer has a new spare and tire dates are all within a few years.

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We will be boating on Cayuga Lake here in Central NY. Below is our backyard (pic from last summer) with the lake in the background. This year we have access to a covered boat lift about 20 minutes away. So, no excuse to not get on the lake after work and on weekends!

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Looks awesome man! As long as it runs fine you shouldn't be to worried about the hour count. If you are concerned it might be useful to do a compression check. Assuming since it's an 87 it has an alpha drive? Have you pulled the drive and inspected it yet?

Overall a great deal for sure and she will clean up nice! Excited to see the interior and gauges when you start putting it back together! Glad to have another 242 owner on OSO!

One of my favorite things to do is buy a Diamond in the rough and then polish it to see what you have!

Thanks for the replies! A compression check and drive inspection are on the to-do list for sure. Interesting to note that the engine hatch/sunpad was not even physically attached to the boat at all. It was so waterlogged and heavy it stayed on because of the weight. We needed a forklift to get it off the boat.

QUESTION: Any recommendations for a motorized engine hatch lift system? We have the button on the dash but absolutely no equipment for it.

That’s a good looking boat. Great view. Great to be 20 mins from some good water.

hey.... does the exhaust come through the platform? Did not see the tips on it.

So I understand the exhaust is the "Silent Thunder." I believe it vents into the swim platform which also fills with water so it keeps it quiet. Every other post I read says I should immediately take it off and replace it with a regular exhaust and a standard metal swim platform. Supposed to rot the transom??? I will learn more this Spring.

It's not a death sentence. Just something to keep in mind. The weight of the platform can pull on the bolts that are thru bolted and water can get in. If the transom is solid it's not a must do at this second if you have other priorities.

For the ram, you'll just need something along these lines:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/e...UaAsoyEALw_wcB

yes, what you say is correct. I have a vintage formula as well.

I was asking because it looked like someone had already removed that platform at one point as there were plates behind the upper rings that hold the platform on. Then I did not think I could see the chrome tips off the Back of the platform.

Congrats and welcome to the Formula Family! The 242 is a great hull that handles amazing for a boat that size. I’m confident you will love it. What a great first boat!

With the price you got it for, you can afford to put a little TLC in her and still be sitting good with it.

If you don’t have one, get a good 7” polisher and some compound and polish. You would be surprised with how well you can make it look with some elbow work. I would use sno bol toilet bowl cleaner to get the yellow out of the undersides of the hull first…….I know guys use many other types of acid, but sno bol is what I use and works amazingly well…..there are threads on here covering all this stuff.

Upon looking at pic, it looks as if you may not have the Silent Thunder……I don’t see the rectangular holes that the exhaust exits out of. Look in the engine compartment and see if the exhaust goes straight out the transom or if you have a “y” pipe for the exhaust to go out below the waterline. My transom was damaged from the exhaust leaking out of my platform and you may not have that problem to worry about. Also looking at pic it seems you do have a bravo one outdrive. It will be a great drive for your power and setup.

Good luck, have fun playing around with it and reach out if you need anything, there is a ton of knowledge and help here, I have benefited a bunch from these guys!

We boated the finger lakes years ago and absolutely loved it and would like to go back someday…….beautiful area! Maybe a good spot for a Formula 242 rendezvous someday?

Yes we have the Bravo One. Happy to hear it is a good one!
Each side of my exhaust goes down and both curve to meet in the middle at the bottom of the transom. So, no Silent Thunder rot worries? Looking outside at the back I am wondering where it comes out? Apologies for the blue tint in the photos. Under the winter cover.

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And here is the naked interior.

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Would love to have some 242 buddies join us here on the lake! If you like wineries, breweries, distilleries and hiking this is the place for you!

Nice boat, will be real nice with new interior and the hull cleaned up.

So it looks like it is a standard thru-the-prop exhaust...which is fine...you just won't hear that big block rumble, which some actually like. There's a clean slate there to work with insofar as the interior goes, you can make a nice example of a vintage boat if done right. To me, THAT is one of the coolest things, to have an older boat that makes people go, "Whoa! It's how old? No way!"

As bajaman said, your exhaust will exit through 2 holes in bottom of transom assembly and through prop.

My ST platform rotted and allowed exhaust to get trapped between boat and transom which damaged transom requiring repair......you’ve probably seen my current thread on repairing that. Yours shouldn’t have any water to rot it out and for sure no exhaust to do any damage.