To buy or not to buy?
 

Well I will give everyone all the info I have. It is a 95 27 fever with a blown 540 with dual carbs totally rebuilt by Nickerson with 46 hrs. The drive is a bravo case with all upgraded imco parts larger vertical shaft upgraded gears larger bearings stronger propeller shaft. Wants 20,000. If it were you guys would you buy or pass or what's your input?

What's the boat like? Don't focus too much on motor. How is the interior? Cosmetics? Those can be as much or more expensive to replace. People focus a lot on motor and those can be replaced but interiors/glass work can get overwhelming.

If your on a tight budget and don't wanna wrench or know how to are looking for reliability then look for a plain black motor without the blower, if you have a few extra dollars and or wanna wrench on it and the wifey won't get upset if your wrenching instead of boating then check it out throughly and if alls ok go for it.

a 27 fountain is not a big boat, but a blower motor is a lot of maint... that boat would move pretty good with a 525 and you would do a lot more boating and less fixing.

If you are looking at the one on ebay, I noticed a few things.

B&M 250 Blower.Too small for a 540CI engine. To make decent boost, the blower will be overdriven a ton, and make lots of heat. The blower itself wont last very long turning that fast. While sometimes they can work "ok" in a setup like that, it's really not ideal.

The overall condition to me looks "Fair" at best. Lots of rusted bracketry and fittings, etc. Boat is located in kentucky, but to me it looks like it spent some time in salt water.

The trailer appears to be something that might get you from point A to point B, but not a gem by any means.

It still might be a decent buy at 20k, but to me it looks like you would need to sink some money and wrenching into it.

Where would you be using this boat? Have you been on a 27 Fountain before?

Yes it is the one on eBay and thanks a lot for your input. The trailer isn't that big of a deal because I would be boating on lake Cumberland ky and we have a lake house 1 mile from the ramp. I hope it's not been in salt water but the guy who has it said he bought it in Virginia so I would have to ask him. I definitely don't wanna have to work on it all the time or have it worked on. And no I haven't ever been on a 27 fountain. I would prefer a 29 fountain with a single but I'm only looking to spend 20,000 so I don't think that's possible. Thanks

If that's the case I'd stick with a stock powered boat. That's just my opinion and you know what they say about everyone and opinions! :bunnydance:

I'd bet it was in salt. ESpecially from Virginia.

Be careful, 20k can turn into 30k in a minute of the engine is junk

I would pass....save for another year and get the 29 fountain you want. We need to know more about the motor. Aluminum heads? Open cooling? Saltwater?

Is it your first boat?? If so a blown 27 fountain that runs probably well into the 80's if not 90's would be a real handful AND if your honest with the insurance company pretty much UN-INSURABLE IF that is something you are worried about, Smitty