looking for some opinions on an 86 29' scarab
 

I'm thinking about getting into a speed boar, and there is a nIce 29' wellscraft scarab with twin 454 mercs with bravo 2's. Locally that seems like just what Iq'm lookinh for.

Can anyone give me some info on this hull or setup? Are there any issues with this hull I should know about?

I'm going to be usings it for river runs on the columbia in oregon Also, what should i look for when inspecting it? Ai'm new to these larger boatsm, and I appreciate any advice

Thanks

Do you know which scarab model it is? I own a 84' 30' s-type. Definetly check for rot in the transom/stringers

What kind of options does it have?

Pictures!

It's a panther.

Here is a link to the listing.
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bod/3220089887.html

So the drives in the Craigslist post are not bravos, they look just like mine which are TRS's.

Any details on the engines? Number of hours?

My first opinion would be 15k is too much! I am basing this off the sucky economy, year of the boat and what I paid for mine and the options I got with it!

Thanks for the reply.

What do you think is a good price?? No info on the amount of hours on the engines yet.

I would start at 11-12k unless those motors have some bells and whistles but I am guessing they are stock 330hp

He said its got the magnum f.i. which is 360hp according to a quick search. Is that correct for that year?

He also said it had bravos! :lolhit:

I don't believe there was fuel injection for marine in 86 so unless it was repowered I am guessing they are carbs. Pics of the engines would be good!

It actually does have fuel injected magnums, I think 86 was the first year. He had some pics of the engines posted up awhile back, they were definitel fi and had mmagnum written on them. I was suprised myself.

fixx
 

if their magnum engines then they were most likely replaced with a newer 385 hp mag engines,,the drives may be trs,,the back of the boat showa water pick ups mounted on the transom which indicates trs drives..they also said bravoII drives..wrong,,a brabo II drive is a vary deep drive and made for cruisers..with out seeing a good pic of the drives its hard to tell from that pic what they are..

Thay are TRS drives...

I'll probably go look at it monday and take a few pictures and post them up monday.

Is this a fairly balanced hull?

Thanks for all the replies, when you are new all this information realy helps.

Here are a few more pics, shows the engines anx what not.

http://www.siglersmarine.com/pre_own...R0&veh=2679278

I'm hoping the boat is nice and solid, and if it is, Ill work onthat price :)

One pther question I have, what kind of tow vehicle do you need for one of these? What kind of weight am I looking at?. I do have a nice older 2wd 78 f250 4spd with a 390 in it. I'm thinking this will do?

With trailer and about 40 gallons of fuel my 84 30' s-type weighs 9540lbs. It's a tripple axle aluminum I-beam trailer though, that steel trailer is going to way quite a bit more!

I tow mine with an 84 1 ton crew cab dually with a 454 and 400 automatic!

They are definetly heavy boats!!

Well I went to look at it today. It's going to.need at least new paint. I found one 4 inch diameter soft spot on the transo at the left top trim.

I do like the boat but it basically needs a ful restore and some transom work.

What would be a fair price to pay in this condition?

If you found a soft spot by feeling around the transom is 100% rotten. 3k to fix that if you pull the engines and rerig when done. Ask me how I know.... Panther is a great boat though and mine with a new transom, fresh blower motors and real bravo drives getting 90mph gps and towed on an alum tri axle trailer could be had for 30k.

I'm not gonna lie, I still want it. What is the transom constructed of?

I'm thinking around 10k for it might not be a bad deal considering the engines?

The soft spotalmost looked like it was from an oil leak off the trim.

Are the bravo drives that much of an upgrade?

Well, I don't know much about price, but I agree with everybody that the boat has trs drives and that's really not a bad thing. The trs drive is a good drive up to around 600hp. As far as the panther is concerned..they are great boats!! My first boat was an 87' panther, loved the boat, but mine had 454s with alpha drives.....I blew up a few of those till I leaned how to drive her. I don't care for the all black and red, but its a great riding hull and you won't have to worry about the trs drives unless you go crazy with the motors. If you can get the boat for a good deal, you won't be sorry. Trs boats have a tranny, so if you were to change to bravo drives there is some work to be done. Have to move the engines back and recut the transom..etc.

Get the boat surveyed. Period. At 10K a $3-500 is hardly a drop in the bucket and if it results in a motor having low compression in half its cylinders or finding out that the stringers are bad (normally some of them are rough if the transom is shot) you suddenly can get the boat for far less or maybe walk away. You'll find Black and red paint to be a serious pain not only to keep up, but also in the sun it gets hot enough to literally burn your feet. Start with a Survey. Go from there.

Personal opinion, I would keep looking. You can find some much nicer boats in the $20k range. You will forever be chasing that paint. What I mean is once you get it polished, it will fade fast. So a repaint is going to be around $6k (on the cheap end) plus the
Price of a transom repair ($3k). There will always be an extra $1k that needs to be spent on hidden things (it's a boat...). So figure you are looking at $10k in transom and paint alone.....trs drives are solid, but parts are becoming scarce and expensive. Now figure the cabin, looks to be in nice shape but very dated... You could find a boat with bravos, no transom repair and better paint in the $20s. Spend a little more and get an even better boat. While you may really like what you see, keep looking around. There is a better boat out there for you.... The$18,500 they are asking for that boat is way too much. NADA on that boat with upgraded motors is $14,500. This is assuming the boat is in "average" condition. Needing transom repair is not average condition..... While NADA isn't the bible, especially when dealing with older boats, just something to keep in mind..

THe one, well 3 things I like about the boat, are the fuel injected engines, the hull design, and the paint scheme. I'm not worried about paint, I've done quite a bit in the past, and would be doing that myself.

THe transom I would send out. THe rest, I'm more of a diy. I'd probably go through the drives and engines just because thats how I am.

I'm debating if I wanna offer them 10k for it or not. THere is a 79 30' scarab with twin 454 up right now without a trailer for around 4500. Kind of a pain to get a trailer, and I would be painting it and rebuilding the engines as well. RIght now about 14k is my budget, as I am buying a house in about 2 months, and dont wanna dip too low into my savings.


As for the paint upkeep, I assume that is mostly if the boat is moored or stored outside? I dont plan on mooring the boat, and plan on keeping it inside. uv is a ***** lol, and amazing boats don't need to be stuck outside rotting.

There are boats out there for the price range that don't need the transom and paint done, I will tell you also that if it needs a transom it probably needs more then that and after doing transom, paint, engines, buying boat...... you WILL easily exceed your budget even doing it yourself, there are so many little things that add up while your in there doing it all, trust me I sunk way more money into my 32 Baja then I thoight I would, finally before more floor work and paint I said nah, found my Cig that needed nothong but engines, the boats are out there, gotta look around...

Like previously said, if the transom is soft, with that old of a boat there is most likely other issues that can't be seen. Even at $10k, I think its too much.... Fuel injection is great, but I would not buy a soft boat just because it has fuel injection.......

I know this is an apples to oranges comparison... But I bought my 2003 Velocity 260 a few years back for $18k. It was just in need of cosmetic work (cockpit vinyl was faded). But it was usable. The first season, we used vinyl dye to make the interior look better. Then in the offseason spent $4k and redid the entire cockpit. Basically where I am going with this is you are better off looking for a boat that is structurally and mechanically sound that needs cosmetics, than you are buying one that needs structural. You will be spending way more money than you think fixing that scarab...

As far as paint goes... I had an olde Baja 250 with a grey and blue color scheme. I kept the boat under a full length cover that covered the entire hull sides. I could spend an entire weekend polishing the boat to a mirror finish. Yet one day on the water and it looked 20 years old again. Once a gel coat finish gets to that point it is gone. Regardless of where you store it. Without seeing that scarab in person I can't say for sure if it is beyond saving or not. But it looks like it is. Plus red and black are the two hardest colors to keep up. So I would assume a full repaint is in order.... Even if you do it your self, materials cost are going up by the day.... Plus figure your own time spent.

Also keep in mind trs drives are strong. But will be costly to fix as parts are limited and costly. Also these have transmissions.. More moving parts, more to go wrong. A bravo boat with stock 502s, 454s, 496s is practically bullet proof.. Even when in need of repair, are fairly inexpensive to repair /replace.

I went ahead and had a hull survey done on the boat today. THe guy said he was really suprised at how good the hull was for it's age.THe only spot he found was the same small soft spot I found, and said the rest of the transom was very good. THe stringers were in excellent condition with no other soft spots.

He quited me 5-600 for the repair above the trim tab. I was quite suprised actually.

I put a down on the boat to hold it. Got them down to 11800.

I'm going to go take a second look at the boat today and go over it with a comb with a buddy.

At this point if I am happy, I will go drop another 400 or so on a full mechanical survey.


I'm also doing some truck shopping right now. I'm looking for probably a older 80s or 90s 1 ton chevy or ford. Any idea if I can get by without a dually? If this thing weighs in at about 6900, plus a steel trailer.

You could get by with a 3/4 ton truck of that vintage without a problem. The newer 1/2 ton trucks are rated to haul over 10000 pounds. I would just suggest a 4X4. Nothing like getting stuck on a wet ramp. A few years back I saw a guy in a brand new Dodge dually diesel, still had temp tags in the window, stuck on a ramp at LOTO with a MTI on the trailer. Between the truck and boat easily over a half million invested but just forgot a couple of grand for the front axle.

I bet this ends up costing over 20k easy before it's said and done.

I agree. Then add the price of a tow vehicle.

How so? Picking up a 1 ton dually 454 for around a grand. Runs good and will get me the whole 15 miles from the house to the river. Party on wayne!

I'm happy to be getting this boat, spent the money on surveys, and the boat checked out excellent. Gonna take it for a few winter rides before I store it for the winter.

Gotta love oregon, no one wants a power boat, everyone wants an aluminum fishing boat. Which is exactly what this boat was traded in for lol.

Congratulations great looking panther:party-smiley-020:

nice panther, you will love it! sounds like you scored it at a great price too, nice

Congrats and welcome to the club! :party-smiley-020:

Did you end up picking up a 80's dually! That's what I haul my scarab with and never had a problem at ramps, wet or dry! You would be surprised with the extra tires on the ground the difference it makes.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i4...b/b53a9e1a.jpg

Great graphics 502ss. I like that a lot. Not to hj this thread, but 502ss from looking at you build thread, where did you get the components to make your dash wiring harness? That looks slick.

I live in the good old NW too and alot of people on this board dont understand that there arent that many offshore boats out here...AND very few older classic offshore. I think you are doing well to pickup a 29 foot Scarab with newer FI motors and trailer for under $12k. Assuming the transom is a $500 fix you are on the water for cheap and have a real eye catching boat. I dont know if you ever make it up to Seattle for Seafair or the powerboat regatta in late July but if you do here is a pic of my Wellcraft...Stop by and say hi!

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...23158596_n.jpg

Thanks for the compliments!

Can you be a little clearer on which components you are referring to? I have touched every square inch of this boat! :)

Agreed, let's not hijack! Let's continue this discussion on my build thread!

Now back to your normally scheduled program already in progress......

This redneck disagrees. My research shows Merc to have started in the early to mid 90s with FI. I think it's been repowered.

Having said that, I think the boat has more value with these motors vs what probably came in it.

Either way it's a cool looking boat. Best of luck with her and congrats.

Buck

Merc had fuel injection in 89' that's fact. the 350/320 has it.

That is probably true.

In 2001 when I was actively searching for a boat my price range put me in the 1990-96 range for what I could afford. I wanted a big block. EVERY boat I looked at that was older than about 91-92 range and still had it's original power in it was carbureted. To go FI in a big block I had to buy newer. I looked at several hundred boats like this.

Buck

I went down and dropped the money on it today, Had them un-winterize it and we fired up both engines and ran them a bit in both directions etc and my friend and I crawled all over the thing with a magnifying glass. I'm real happy. I noticed the left side trim is either low or has some air in the system, and im pretty sure the trim tabs are no original.

Anyhow, I had fun checking out all the lights n what not, testing out the stereo. We determined it needs bigger amps, and a lil update. We are going to repolace some of the plexiglass that is worn, and upgrade some lighting to led etc... Small stuff.

I gotta say, this thing sounds f'n amazing though!

So It is my birthday. I figured I'd wait to finalize the deal until today lol. I ended up getting a 3/4 ton 86 suburban with a 454, and 6 inch spring lift for a tow rig. 2200 there. Not bad, and more than enough power to move the boat. Kinda nice having a matching engine too lol. I need to go pick up a drop hitch tomorrow and pick the boat up.

One little bonus is it came with a sun shade. I guess the previous owner stopped by awhile back and dropped it off.

The day ended up costing me 14,400. Not too bad considering.

I haven;t been to the sefair, but I am definitely interested in getting together with some of the local guys. This winters turbine season looks to be busy, so I should be able to get out and enjoy the boat every other weekend or so this summer and sit good :)


Now I just need to find a white suite and salmon shirt....


Here is a picture.
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...28157516_n.jpg


And no, It was a joke photo putting my ranger up there lol

Back those drives down some. No need to be that high. Happy Birthday.:party-smiley-051: Enjoy Your new toy. Artie

Nice looking boat. The 30' Scarab was the 1st boat I looked at when I finally could afford to get my own. Wound up getting my current beast. The Wellcrafts may not be the fastest or even the best built but they are a dam good boat and the Scarab name always seems to be recognizable to most boating people. Congratulations on your purchase. Now post some more pictures dam it.