I have been looking to upgrade to a 24-28' boat for a while. I wanted a project at first and lots of people have talked me out of that. However, I saw this boat on eBay as a "mechanic special" which kind of scared me, but I still checked it out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...TQ:MOTORS:1123

Guy said he wanted $6,500 minimum with the blown motor. Is it worth that? NADA book only calls for low retail of $6,140. Saw a few guys on here with 454's for sale pretty cheap. Would it be better to buy a new or rebulit engine or have this one rebuilt? Oh, I am awaiting a response as to what exactly happened to the blow the motor.

All thoughts and input would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

I don't feel it's worth $6500 with a blown motor. I would ask about the transom and stringers also. Make sure they aren't rotted. Just my .02

Project will cost more in the end than buying one done.
I'm not sure how much you can do on your own, but my advice is to find a good boat owned by one of the respected members on this site.

Beat me to it. You're right on the money there.

There are a ton of boats just like this one on the market- only in good shape and running. The current bid is higher than what the boat is worth- and that's assuming nothing else is wrong with it. You could easily be another 3 grand buried in it if the drive is f'ed.

Here is what the seller says.

"owner didn't winterize it, and water in the block cracked it. Bravo One that is 3 years old, owner hit a log and the insurance company paid for a new outdrive."

I can get the block stripped and everything onto a new block with a little help from a buddy at his shop. He just did the same with his boat and it is running great.

I saw a thread where a few people said they had blocks for sale, but can't seem to find it now.

Might want to look into this one before you jump on that Baja. I don't know anything about this particular boat other than it's a 24' Pantera, with a running motor.

http://forums.screamandfly.com/forum...d.php?t=166277

Why would you want to pay $6500 for a boat that doesn't have an engine when you can have all of them you'd want for $6500 with running engines?

1988, lets do simple math

say $6000 for boat
say$3000 for a used motor
say$2000 to put in rig and BS stuff

you are up to 11K and who knows what else is wrong, not worth it. For your price range do a search on Switzer boats, they made a 24 that should get close to what you want to accomplish.

WILL

The truest sign of a neophyte boater is their gross underestimation of what can possibly go wrong and what it will cost to fix it.

sorry chris, but i had to edit.