Would you be afraid of buying a boat with these motors?
 

Hey, I was eyeing a Formula 382 with a pair of freshwater carbed HP500's with 600 "original" hours (meaning never refreshed or top ends redone) ? The motors are 1999 vintage.

Buy it right with a plan to refresh. Make sure hull is dry.

^^^ Agreed^^^

I would get a leak down test, offer a price that covers the Top End Rebuild. The Leak down will tell you how the bottom end is. I wouldn't run the boat until I had the tops done. The HP500 has a pretty stout bottom so I bet it is fine. Tops need to be done. Buy it right and you will be happy. Plus doing the top end will give you piece of mind and you will know exactly what you have and get on a good maintenance schedule. Good luck

Thanks for the replies so far! Any ideas on how much a top end job would cost? Also, how much would a complete rebuild cost?

how does a leak down test tell the condition of the bottom end?

It would need to be priced accordingly. I would plan on spending 15k for full rebuilds sooner than later.

Top ends could probably be done for 3-4k per engine. You never know what it needs until they are apart.

Sorry miss type, should have said The leak down will tell you how the top is. The HP 500 has a pretty stout bottom which we have seen go 750-1000HRS. Thanks Mike for pointing it out!

Fixed below. Thanks for the catch....lol

You would know at least the bottom end needed rings based on a leakdown.