38 Fountain Lightning Worth It or Not ?
 

Hey guys -

I am looking to up-size and have been looking for a fun cool boat. I am looking at a 38 Fountain Lightning. Boat is pretty much complete except for a stripped engine bay and transom.

The interior could use a little TLC but I don't mind since I would be replacing most of the vinyl anyway to match a custom paint job.

What motors would have come stock in this boat (twin 500 EFI's)?

The boat is on a nice steel bunk triple axle trailer. What is something like this worth? Is this boat worth the $$$'s in the long run?

Thanks.

You're probably going to have to be a little more specific on year and condition of boat over all to get much help.
Other than that I can't help you much, but good luck!

How stripped is the engine bay? is all the rigging still there? what year is the boat.........with that info, it will be easier to say what it's worth.

with a striped bilge and transom it is not worth a lot,even if you can do the work yourself the parts will cost a lot. you might be better off looking for a complete boat that is ready to run.

Unless it's FREE, run from it. Run very fast.

I think its a 2003 or 2004.

The overall condition is fair. I feel confident it is a solid boat.

The finish and interior are fair, but I would want to do custom paint (or gel) and change up the vinyl anyway so I don't have a lot of concerns there either.

The engine bay is pretty much bare. (no rigging - no motors)

I know the little stuff could add up, but the boat has to be worth something? Its on a nice triple axle steel trailer.

I know fountain is still in business (one of the only ones left) so that has to say something for their boats.

Any idea what the hull and trailer are worth? Any ideas the cost to rig it?

Pictures inside and out would be best, there are many variables. Was the boat sunk, is it a "Sandy" insurance boat? Was it stored outside without a cover? The more info the better

I wish I had pictures, I ran across the boat by accident - not even looking for it.

I am almost certain it was not sunk and not a sandy insurance boat.

I consider the boat in average condition (inside and out) just trying to figure out what to offer him.

I'd start by counting backward from what you could purchase a "running" boat for. The OSO classified have a number of '03 & '04 38 lightning's, most are in the $100 k to $120k range. There are a couple with staggered 525's asking $119K. Thus what the boat you're looking at is worth becomes market price (not asking price) for a similar boat, less all parts & labor to make this one the same. If you have to put $100k of engines & drives, plus an interior, then MAYBE it's a $10k boat & trailer. Most times it's pretty hard to break even on a "project boat" & there's ALWAYS a reason someone turned it into a project...

Honestly I would look to a complete boat. 38 Fountains of that vintage are plentiful. The stripped hull has almost ZERO value IMHO.

Wannabe