rebuilding verses building

[anonymous]

I was out seeing a relative this afternoon and noticed a boat I have passed had still not moved in 2 years. It is very similar to the one Shine is rebuilding. It is an inboard/outboard and ~22'with a small cabin Would it be cheaper to build new, which I am familiar with, or rebuild this boat if it is just the transom and minor parts not the whole deck?
How difficult is it to convert to a outboard?
It is important that it have a lot of deck space for what may be a mostly wheelchair bound individual.
bluefish

[Daddy]

No way to answer any of your questions until you start tearing it apart. Could be minimal amount of work, could be way beyond anything reasonable. Starting from scratch with a good set of plans, new materials, a decent work site is a sure thing. The boat that has been neglected could be a nasty can of worms, been there, done that. New is better.
DAddy

[fishingdan]

Been down both roads a couple of times. Rebuilding an old hull can be a faster path to the water, but you won't know how much work it really is until you dig into it. If it turns out to be a hull up restoration as the boat Shine is working on, I would make the choice for new at that point.

Typically it is cheaper to rebuild if you pick the right starting boat and if you have a powerplant you can use.

In this era of high fuel costs, my preference is to build. The older boats are heavy compared to the designs available hear. That translates into operational savings that add up quickly.

Good luck,
Dan

[Boomer]

The brand makes a lot of difference too. A lot of boats were just built shoddily and you won't be able to make a silk purse out of sow's ear.

Determine the brand name and then do a thorough internet search on the overall quality of the boat and resale potential.

[Daddy]

I've given it more thought over the past couple of hours and will stick my oar int the water one more time. In rebuilding/restoring an old boat you sure do learn a lot. I was amazed that the black gick I was digging out from between two layers of fiberglas was end grain balsa wood, brand name Baltek which was guaranteed by the manufacturer not to rot and that was where I found out the 3M 5200 holds like the devil on a rich man's soul and a whole host of other useful things.
Regardless of what you end up with you will learn something about boat building and or how boats are built. Not a bad bargain if you dont invest too much.
Daddy

[frazoo]

I've been actively searching for the past four months for the "right" project boat. My humble advice would be, (1.) don't go for the first one you see just to say you have your project boat, (2.) find out if the boat was well built when it was new, (3.) don't look for a reason to buy that particular boat, look for reasons you should stay away from it and (4.) assume that it very well may turn into the boat from hell before it's over. It might take you longer to find the right one by being "picky" but you will be less likely to regret the decision later. If you look at the pics joel posted, the Aquasport was decent looking from the outside, but look at what the inside looked like. Just my 2 cents, good luck

frazoo

[roob76]

frazoo makes some good points.

i would also like to stress the fact of finding a boat from a reputable manufacturer. sea craft,mako,aquasport,boston whaler,hewes among others. make sure the boat is going to be worth the money and effort you put into it. you could dump as much money as you want into a bayliner and it still won't have good resale value when you are done as long as it says bayliner on the title.