Im buying a 97 Scarab 29' Need advice
 

97 Scarab with twin stock 350's. I believe they are carb'd. It has Alpha ones ( not my first choice but thats what it has)
Any advice on what I should look for during the sea trial and final inspection? I have arranged for motor and drive inspections buy a mobile marine shop. They want $500 for it. Is that reasonable?
Thanks!

have the transom checked to make sure it is not wet

Find another boat without the alphas --------Junk!!!!they will not stand up to any abuse..



Jim

With stock 350's you'll be fine with alphas. That boat in twin engine configuration only came with alphas/350's and sips fuel compared to big blocks. Should top out around 68mph. Do check transom for rot. You can't see! Have to have a moisture meter. Wellcraft notorious for not sealing their cuts with in the hull. They depend too much on the transom seals not to leak. I know, had a transom replaced, $6000. Check motor mounts for any movement also. Hope you found a jewel! Don't let any of that scare you.

Scarab
 

pitts,
Thanks for the encouragement. Im not a racer and I wont be racing. I just like the Scarabs (had a great 97 22' before) and I dont mind doing 50mph as long as its economic and fun. I actually like stock motors and set ups. I only use it offshore in southern CA so its a great boat for that. And the price Im paying for it I dont think I can go wrong.

I sea trialed the boat today and I had a blast. Boat motors were smooth idled good and everything seemed decent.
There are some issues.
1) port motor was 200 to 300 rpm off the starboard. Not sure if thats a tach issue or something more serious. The starboard pulled 4500 rpm and the port would be 4200 or so. These motors have about 360 hrs.
2) Starboard motor made an odd chirp noise at rmp. Almost like a belt or alternator bearing. and it seemed to be coming from that area of the motor.
3) MPH gauge didn't work.
4) Motor sync gauge didn't work
5) trim tabs and drive tabs indicators were working..sort of.

Im having a marine shop do an inspection on the motor and drives on monday. Depending on that I will continue with the purchase or re-negotiate.

Intake manifold may be leaking causing the noise. Pull the PCV valve at an idle it may stall.

I had a 97 22' with the flag graphics! If you have had a 22' you have a pretty good idea of what problems to look for in the 29'. If i remember my studying,the 350 alpha combo gets about 2.25-3.00 mpg. I looked hard at the scarab 29 with twins, before my current boat. If you are about to have mechanic look, have compression check due to the loss rpms. Also, Look at the props and see any difference to cost the 300 rpm difference. Compression test is going to cost good bit, because same amount of time to change spark plugs. Dunno how you would propose it to seller, but I would have the mechanic swap the plugs to new as the compression test is conducted. Compression test comes in good, then the loss of 300 rpms is probably something external on the engine that can easily be repaired. Could be spark plugs, wires fuel filter, fuel pickup,fuel pump etc. I would have some "set aside money" to track down the 300 rpms, should pull the same rpms on both engines tho.

Any idea on weight of the 29?
 

Im finding conflicting reports. Some say 5500lbs dry and some say 6500. Do you know the real weight of the 29 with the twin 350s?

Single = 5500 lbs
Twins = 6500 lbs

RPM diff could also be prop related. One could be a little tweaked versus the other.