Riley0114

Hello, thanks for taking a look and for any advice you give. My dad was cruisin around South Florida and for the past 2 months noticed a 2002 38 Fountain sittin in front of a dealership that hadn't been touched whilst all other boats had been rearranged so he figured there would have to be a story on it. So he went talked to sales rep and this is what he found out.

The boat is a one owner boat bought brand new in 2002 with 525 EFI's. The guy bought and used it maybe a few times (20 hours on the entire package) before he put it in storage and basically forgot about it and he let it sit for 10 years in storage with no cover on it. Well the owner is friends with the owner of the boat sales place and asked if he could put it in the lot just to see if he got anybody interested in it and again I think he forgot about it and it has been sittin at this lot uncovered for atleast 3-4 months. My dad left the sales rep a card and told him to call him back if he can get a hold of the owner and if the owner still wants to sell we will be very interested in it if we can get it for the right price.

Now here is the question. Assuming that the guy calls back saying he would like to sell what would a good price be? The cockpit interior is basically shot, would have to be completely redone. The clear coat on the top deck would have to be fixed but the hull sides look like they could just use a good bath. The sales rep also said a couple months back they hooked it to a battery charger and tried to see if they could just get it to crank but the motors just made click noise and didn't engage starters. (electrical problem?) The rest of the boat seems like its in perfect shape. The bottom of the hull looks brand new the drives still have factory paint on them and there is only minor surface rust on stainless steel parts such as the tie bar.

So with all that said we would definitely get a survey and try to mess with the motors some to get them to show some signs of life. (my dad is pretty mechanically savy) So with all that said what would be a fair price to get it at and what would the average cost be to have the interior redone and what are some ideas for what could be wrong with the engines ranging from cheap/easy to expensive/hard. We arn't gonna be looking to resell my dad is a major fan of the beak so we arn't worried too much about resell this is his favorite boat model made by Fountain and he isn't a super speed demon. Thanks for reading my post I know it was long winded

Philm

The engines could need a complete refresh if they werent fogged prior to storage, even then, they have been sitting for 10 years, who knows what is living inside them. If it turns over i would be surprised, more than likely the rings are frozen to the cylinder walls. I would take the plugs out and see if you can turn it over by hand first.

Hopefully it didnt ever have a drain plug in it for any length of time, otherwise all the water just sat in the bilge for who knows how long.

It will need a ridiculously thorough survey before you make any offer, and even then, it should be a low offer.

HTRDLNCN

20 hours of runtime in salt water then sitting ten years is not a good thing unless it was properly flushed,cleaned,fogged and then stored...

FIXX

iTrader: (2)

the engines being 525's and having closed cooling systems i really would't wotty about the engines being toaste from salt water..i would be concerned about the heat exchangers and the headers..dont even attempt to start the engines with out at leaste taking off the headers and have them pressure tested,,that was a chit year for those headers and their have been many engines distroyed because of the cracking problems those headers are known for..like mentioned remove the sparkplugs and squirt some marvil mystery oil in the cylinders and leave the engines sit a few days before atenpting to turn the engines over by hand..you will also need to go through the fuel systems,drain the old fuel out add fresh 92 octatane fuel,change the fuel filters and remove the injectors and have them cleaned and checked..

soldier4402

it could be a time capsule. Might be nothing more than a good cleaning and check up. IT NEEDS TO be checked. Dont let people scare you on things that sit. yes it can be bad but if it was properly stored than it could be fine. There are potential issues, but being in florida its not like you had the cold and snow to worry about.

scarab63

iTrader: (5)

Pretty safe to say its been neglected....I dont see the guy saying ” lets change all oil, flush and fog the put the b`itch outside uncovered for the next decade”

florida gets heavy frequent rains, and humidity so id guess its going to have a lot of mold, mildew, and prob some rot.

But id still look at it.....who knows

Audiofn

I purchased my 311 after it had been sitting for 10 years. New batteries, hooked up a pony tank, turned the key and it started right up! That was 4 years ago now. The motors not turning over depends on what size charger he hooked up. If it was a small one there is no way it would have enough power.

Marginmn

iTrader: (1)

I think the owner will be shocked at how little that boat is worth. FWIW I recently sold this 2000 on a trailer that was minus power but needed nothing else for under 40K. If that one needs a new interior figure at least 10k just to bring it back to factory standards - not to mention if standing water has damaged the hull itself.
http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o43031-en.html

tanner

Its been sitting on Federal Highway for 10 years cause the owner is absent and nobody has paperwork to do anything with it , and the sales manager their is a total putz !! from what I was told !!!

TWIN-SPINS

i think i would post some pics,,and let the guys on here go thru them,,iam sure they would see more isuses