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

I think 20k for a 95 is kind of high speciially for a blown engine, which you can factor in 5-10k to fix, and dont matter how well you look at it, when you get a 15 year old boat home ultimately you will find something. Every time I buy a boat I factor 1000-1500 into incidentals, ropes, bumpers, fix something here or repair something there. Personally a boat in top shape in that year in lenth should garner a 30k price tag tops, and will probably sell on the market more in the 25-28 range. I think this boat wouldnt be a bad deal in the 18 range, I would take the motor out and sell it, you could probably get a few grand easily for it, then I would get a 502 or 496, boat would be great with one of those engines.

The engine is not "blown" it has a blower on it. Now it may or may not need 5-10k if it is junk, but I don't think that is what he is saying. As others have said......general condition of the boat and interior is a big factor. The interior will run you 3k for a cheap one and 5k for a factory looking job. I agree you should probably stay with stock power, as a blown 27 would need experienced hands to drive safely. My 97 with a 502MPI and CMI headers will run just over 70 and is plenty fast enough for that size boat. With the notched transom and long nose, it's really the hull of a 23' boat. Mine will be on the market soon.....nearly mint, looks like a much newer model due to the graphics package and I should be able to get in the high 30 range if not close to 40 here in Denver with a nice Heritage trailer.
Just food for thought. You should of bought Freeman's 27, now that was a nice boat!!!

I looked at Fountain's for over a year and can certainly agree with TP on the 29 over the 27. Save some more money and look hard for a 29 with stock HP500 or HP525 power. Plenty fast and the extra hull length will reward you.

X2, TO MUCH POWER, I HAD ONE. And transom, transom, on and on. Check the structure of the boat first. Interior second, is the vinyl and stitching in sound shape? 250 blower is too small for a 540. 871 is a starting point. Where at in Virgina?

27 is a cool fast boat for the size. I am not afraid of blown motors myself but would be cautious with that power on that hull. Guy at my marina had one and said it was a real handfull above 82. His ran 88.

OK i missed that in that case maybe not a bad deal depending on rest of the boat. Like you said depnding on interior, I know locally i can get skins for my whole boat for a grand or so, but that means stapling them back myself, and the quality of this place is factory.

If your like me and just want to enjoy your boat and not be stressed out every weekend wondering whats going to break next keeping looking for something with stock power. Mine was a little different set up (502 Mag/Whipple) but i bought it not really knowing anything about supercharged engines. Over three summers i spent a little over $5k on the motor, Fuel systems upgrades so it made the power it should have, steering upgrades to handle the speed, correcting vapor lock issues, IAC problems, and the final break the bank disaster was the exhaust updgrade. It was a fun boat and i really liked it i just grew tired of spending my gas money on repairs. If you can do all the work yourself and it checks out go for it but if you have to pay a pro make sure you have a full pad of checks in the checkbook!

I don't know where in Virginia it came from, I will have to ask the guy who has it now. If this boat had a 500hp na motor I would feel a lot better. Like you guys said I don't wanna work on it all the time or spend every dime I've got fixing it. I don't know what I'm gonna do, just wanting a boat real bad so I'm afraid I'm gonna rush into something.

It does not look right to me. This may sound crazy, but the engine is too "dirty" for 46 hours, IMO. My Spidey senses are going off on this one. The detaisl do not seem right........ Not sure how to further expain this......

27Fountain
 

If someone puts that kind of power into a 27 Fountain he probably is not looking to cruise to the local hangout and throw the hook out and take it easy, he is looking to go from point a to point b as fast as possible and see if he can catch some unsuspecting go fast guy in his travels. Just my opinion.

I'm with Redhook on this deal..I bought a turn-key blown 540 boat last season and already have $2000 into it. If that outdrive is fresh and he has receipts and you can talk to the builder of the motor and you can take it for a romp on the water and it feels tight and no hickups..and you really like it..offer him $15,000. Boats are not selling for what they are worth these days..Looks like it needs a good cleaning..if it was a killer deal it wouldn't be on EBAY.

just my .02