gettin wet

Just want to start off and say that this forum seems awesome and everyone who contributes I thank far in advance. With that being said, I am looking at a 85 Scarab 400 to almost completely redo.

It has twin 454's, but apparently they came out of a newer baja. They need to be completely stripped down the block and rebuilt. TRS drives that are no good. The lowers have holes in them from erosion (was previously in Miami). Bolsters seats are in pretty good condition, just need cleaned up. Back bench framing is rotted, but there. Could use it as a template to build a new frame and re-upholster. It is primered white right now. Comes with all the necessary marine paint to spray. Cabin is a little rough. Needs to definately be cleaned up and all reupholstered. Has brand new breakers and wiring. Let's see, oh . . . there is one soft spot as you enter the cabin that concerns me. Does that mean there is possible stringer problems beneath? I have heard horror stories of fixing those and can't imagine trying to replace them throughout a 40' boat. If it did not require any repair to the stringers we could fix the fiberglass no problem. I'm sure the trim tabs would need updating. All the gauges are there and supposedly wired correctly. I would probably want to get new anodized though.

I think that is about all I can think of right now. Here's the deal - me and my buddy partner up on boats. He is a good body work and paint man. So paint would not be a problem since all the paint is there & yes, we have painted boats before. Nothing close to 40', which I am sure will be a pain in the a**, but if we can find a booth to fit it in we should be fine. The thing that scares me is the power. Supposedly, the guy who is selling it got quoted at $3500 a motor to completely rebuild them into high performance motors with carbs and all. I don't really know if that is good or bad? Any input? I have saw one TRS drive on ebay for $650. However, what is the reliability of buying a drive off ebay? It could be complete junk and there goes $650 out the window. Ok, I am rambling now & I am sure some people are pissed, so any inputs would be greatly appreciated. Oh, I think I can get the boat for $5,000 as it is.

waterboy222

If i were you..id take the money you want to spend on the boat and the refurbs ($20K sound fair?) and start shopping for boats in the $25k-$30k range and start learning with that.. this is a HUGE project youre getting ready to undertake. Especially with a saltwater boat with a soft floor, completely corroded drives and obvious lack of proper care and maintenance. You might be better off saving some money, downsizing in length and learning your wiring and upgrades on that first.. but thats jjust my opinion..

Welcome to the forum and GOOD LUCK!

gettin wet

Yeah, the more I read about this and think about it. It is a HUGE project.

scottie150

Run away! Run very very far away! These things take on a life of thier own- and unless you want a old boat for some reason(nostalgia, style, etc.) a newer boat is the only way to go. Not only will you be able to use it, it will be worth more in the end. I started off in the same way on my boat 3 years ago thinking I would save some money, but there is no way to do that on a project of this scope. If I could do it all over again I would listen do exactly what waterboy222 is saying- or if you want a project buy mine and I will go buy a new boat

jaxx 30

Just ask dbdiver how much he has put into the "cheap hull" that he picked up-I want to say 70 grand. I could be wrong. Anyway, run, run, run away. Listen to waterboy222. Look up dbdiver and ask him his opinion. I don't think he started out with hull issues and it still has cost him.

scarabfun

mine's in good shape and still $20,000 later between engines, hydrol. steering, rebuiling transom assemblys, some other thing's. but you could buy another and still have that so i fig. i know what a have and the boats paid for so it was worth putting $ into it this past winter.

Kims

Some of us here have a blast restoring an old boat. mine is an 87 that I have worked on for 4 years now and still got a few things to do. Wiring, painting, engine building, rigging etc, etc is no different on a 40 footer than it is on a 20 footer if done correctly. If you have the attitude that you are getting a good deal and you don't love to restore boats, I agree with the guys saying run, run far away. If you love tinkering with boats and have clear, realistic goals then I say go for it.

gettin wet

Well it is nice to have people from both sides of the fence commenting. I am still thinking and debating over the boat. I am still trying to estimate what kind of budget I would realistically need to restore the boat. I have read all kinds of posts on here and other forums about 454 rebuilds and drive rebuilds. Plus checked a lot of classifieds. I don't think I would want some outrageous motors & drives b/c realistically I probably couldn't afford them right now.

If we rebuilt the 454s that are in them right now, to say anywhere between 400-500 hp, what would be an estimate for cost for just parts & machine shop labor to achieve this? Don't include general rebuild labor & install b/c my buddy has a shop and his dad is a certified mechanic with tons of experience.

Also, what could I expect realistically to pay to have the trannies rebuilt & a purchase a set of rebuilt TRS drives? Oh, and I assumed the steering was good, but have no clue. Any ideas on that?

As for interior? An estimate to redo the back bench seat, sun deck, & cabin interior? Nothing too fancy, probably just one color with an accent stitching and a few logos/lettering.

Paint is not an issue. We would have all the necessary paint & could do the labor ourselves. Even though this would be a huge step up from our current 18' runabout. I think we could handle the paint & just have some vinyl work added on top. Here is a few pics of our current little runabout before & after. What do you think? As far as liking to mess with boats, we do like projects just have never had such an extensive one.

Well any and all advice will be appreciated. Thanks a lot guys.

gettin wet

Scarabfun, just wondering if you don't mind me asking. How much of that $20k was to the engines and how many ponies are you getting out them?

scottie150

Where it gets expensive is all the little stuff associated with rebuild. On a smaller single engine its not as bad because you are only dealing on one of everything(engine, tranny, drive, etc) On something like this, you are dealing with two of everything, and thats where it starts to add up.

On just your engines, if you longblock them you are looking on the cheap side of 2500-4000- depending on what you do and what you have to reuse. Are your blocks ok? Heads? Are all the associated parts there, or has someone took it apart already so you really don't know what you are missing?

I am not trying to discourage you by any means- I just want you to know that even on the cheap side you will have 20-30 K in the boat minimum, not including labor. And we have not even touched on the whole resale debate yet. Hopefully this helps.

Scott