Bought a boat

Many Moons ago, I was at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago.....

And I was looking at the German U-505 Sub that America captured at the end of WW II.

There was this little old Italian Man standing next to me and admiring this Sub like I was, so I thought I'd strike up a conversation with him. So, the conversation started like this......

I said, "Hey Mister, is that a U-Boat?"

And he said... "That's a'no my Boat, I justa loook!" LOL
 
Many Moons ago, I was at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago.....

And I was looking at the German U-505 Sub that America captured at the end of WW II.

There was this little old Italian Man standing next to me and admiring this Sub like I was, so I thought I'd strike up a conversation with him. So, the conversation started like this......

I said, "Hey Mister, is that a U-Boat?"

And he said... "That's a'no my Boat, I justa loook!" LOL


All American ships names start with USS - United States Ship
All English ships names start with HMS - Her Majesty's Ship
All Italian ships names start with AMB - At'sa My Boat
 
I will certainly take everyone's advice - and keep her in top condition - while we're out there enjoying our piece of junk Bayliner watching everyone else in their $90,000 Tiges and Cobalts and the like. Admiring them for sure, but comfortable in knowing we didn't mortgage the house to get out on the water!

Having owned boats in the past (I had a boat before I had a car, and grew up on a fishing resort) these days I just rent, which works for us in our situation. You have just as much fun on a Bayliner as on a Cobalt. Sure, the build quality of Cobalts is something special, but the last one I rented was $60k retail for a 19 foot boat.
 
We’ve rented too. $600 for a day for a pontoon! Granted they’re new but still.

I look at the Bayliner kind of like old audio equipment. It’s a conversation piece now as much as anything. We’ve had a few people come up and just want to look at it and are amazed its as old as it is. That’s cool to me. Like my 69 Toronado. I’ve taken it to a couple of car shows and get as much attention as a tricked out Chevelle. I’ll talk about toys to anyone who wishes. That’s part of the fun of having them!
 
and the Alpha 1 is then, as it is now: junk.

I've never particularly loved them either. The crunchy / clunky shifting is what always bothered me. The Bravo drives shift way better, and none of that stumbler switch garbage to deal with. Mercury drives of all persuasions do seem to have rot problems too. Not sure what they use for an alloy but OMC and Volvo drives just seem to hold up better in that regard.
 
I owned a 25ft Bayliner when I lived in Rock Springs. Never felt ostracized or limited with that boat. It served me well.
 
Learned something new in that Merc used an ignition interupter on the Alpha drive. My father has an 87 Fourwins 160 with the 3.0L Mercriuser and we replace the engine late last year with a rebuilt shortblock and new head to mate with it as the pistons were flat top and the old block had dished pistons.

3 hours on it so far getting the old points ignition working good and realized the coil is failing. Anyway if the temp doesn't come up on the gauge (thermostat) , make sure to fix that as it caused the engine failure, with 3 out of 4 rods seizing in the pistons, as my father didn't think it would hurt it to run cold.

For the ignition i'm trying to make an electronic system to assist the points using an HEI module and have to get the bugs out of it. I found the schematic online where a fellow used it on a Kawasaki motorcycle for years with no problem! I read the Pertonix get flaky when the distributor gets worn a bit and the Merc stuff is pretty pricy.
 
HiFi, one of the things you need to keep a sharp eye on is the boot around the drive shaft/mechanism on the back of the motor and before the transom. They last a long while but if they are compromised, you can have a flooding situation pretty quick. I learned this about the Mercruiser. I am not sure if the setup is the same with yours. Have fun while you can because at some point the bills will weigh you down. I had to give up my 21' powered catamaran about 8 years back because of my knees. Everything you have to work on in a boat requires that you be on your knees. I just couldn't take the pain any more. Even with my knee replacements, it is still too painful to kneel.
 
I've always liked the looks of Bayliners, and that would be a prime consideration for my decision to buy. I seem to recall that Bayliner had some issue with construction years ago, they corrected it but have been dogged with bad rep ever since.

If the floor isn't springy, you're good!
they have always used partical board building those boats. if kmart could sell boats? bayliner would be it :rflmao:its about as top notch as sparkomatic brand radios and speakers.
 
they have always used partical board building those boats. if kmart could sell boats? bayliner would be it :rflmao:its about as top notch as sparkomatic brand radios and speakers.
just be VERY weary about the transom number on weakest spot. an the hull #2 spot.
once the floors start springing? moisture is 100% inside the hull. ive seen them actually fall apart both in the water an on the trailer.
 
Bayliner and OMC, the two swear words of the boating world :)

A lot of the problem with these, and all boats, is storage and care. The Bayliners (and others) used cored fiberglass and if you just let them sit out and do not take any care to repair leaks, cracks, or plug any holes drilled into the deck or hatch covers the core wood gets wet and rots. If this is an 89 with original interior, it has obviously been taken care of. It doesn't take that long for the vinyl seats to get faded, grey spotted, and start to crack if they are neglected. Keeping the mooring cover on and/or storage indoors does absolute wonders for how things hold up. Don't leave it sit uncovered in the back yard under a tree all the time and it will last. The gelcoat not being all chalky and nasty also says it was taken care of.

OMC specific stuff, make sure the shift cables are good and adjusted properly. If it gives you problems shifting, or if it stalls going in and out of gear the lower cable is probably going bad, and/or its not adjusted right. Its a fairly critical adjustment and you can blow the lower unit if its not where it needs to be. There is also a stumbler circuit in there (its the thing where the shift cables come together) that needs to work right or it will grind until the gears are gone. Some had a magic box for that, others it was just a microswitch that shorts out the points or ignition module to make the engine miss for a moment when shifting. Inspect the bellows if you haven't. If it cracks you'll take on water like you wouldn't believe.
bayliner +omc = how long will this boat last on the water today? :rflmao:
 
they have always used partical board building those boats. if kmart could sell boats? bayliner would be it :rflmao:its about as top notch as sparkomatic brand radios and speakers.
bayliner stringers, in the year he has. uses fully encapsulated alaskan cedar and all coated plywood is marine grade. granted, it can soften with abuse - especially in the seating areas but thats an easy fix (cept for the fact that todays marine grade wood is junk due to the outlawing of certain treatment chemicals)

on the topic - I replaced the floor access panel with one made from PT 5/4 boards using PT ballisters as a supporting cross on the bottom, with SS hardware, that way the ski storage area breathes.
 
HiFi, one of the things you need to keep a sharp eye on is the boot around the drive shaft/mechanism on the back of the motor and before the transom. They last a long while but if they are compromised, you can have a flooding situation pretty quick. I learned this about the Mercruiser. I am not sure if the setup is the same with yours.

There are 2 bellows, one for the drive shaft/u joint, and one for the exhaust. You can survive the exhaust one splitting is it goes from the manifold to the reliefs and prop vent...while running you will be ok, shut her off and water can back feed into the cylinders. the drive shaft one however...a split there will sink the boat fast as the hole will be faster than the pump can keep up. Each time you remove the outdrive to check the gimbal and lube the u joint, feel this out - not too pricey, not to hard to change (but the outdrive has to be off)

it is weakened by storing the outdrive always up when parked on the trailer. something to consider
 
A hole in the gimble bearing bellows will not sink a boat, the gimble bearing is in the way. there's also two O-Rings on the yoke shaft creating a seal between the shaft and the bearing, any water that gets in there eventually ruins the gimble bearing and the U-Joint bearings. Eventually the yoke seal will go and You'll get water in the drive, You can tell when you pull the drive and the bellows is full of oil.

All this Bayliner talk brings back some memories,I worked for a large Bayliner/Hunter sailboat dealer for a few months during boat show season one year, During the week I'd put them together, Then on Saturdays I'd take the new owners out and try to show them how everything worked. I remember when Cobra drives came out, Nobody knew how to refill them, So I rebuilt lots of upper gearcases after their first oil change. Then the shift problems started, Lots of shift cables, then clutch dogs and lower gears, Then the gear changes started because they couldn't get on plane with a 17" prop, then with a 15, then a 13 wouldn't have enough speed and couldn't plane with all the trim tabs in the world.

OMC had one of the better service schools in NJ to go to, the instructor (Tom?) was a lot of fun and would go out with the class at least one night during the week. Volvo had the most professional school at their headquarters, Great lunches and the instructor really liked gearboxes of any kind. Merc school was a waste of time and I think I had built as many Alpha drives as the instructors.

in 1986 I was waiting at the boat ramp for the boat hauler with my newly purchased '84 Grady White Offshore 24 when a couple guys in a new 17' Bayliner (itcould have been a 19). but anyway they were happy and pretty proud of their new boat until they asked what I paid for mine. It was only $2000 more.
 
they have always used partical board building those boats. if kmart could sell boats? bayliner would be it :rflmao:its about as top notch as sparkomatic brand radios and speakers.
just be VERY weary about the transom number on weakest spot. an the hull #2 spot.
once the floors start springing? moisture is 100% inside the hull. ive seen them actually fall apart both in the water an on the trailer.

Funny, I've been through it and I don't see any partical board. All seems to be plywood and everything except for under the dash is coated in fiberglass and pretty thickly too. It's about the same construction as my old Crestliner and that lasted 35 years in my family - only replaced the floor in that because it was left without a cover for a couple winters.

There's no rot, no soft spots - zero. I'm not an idiot when it comes to boats - like I said, I grew up around them and have owned them before. I know a bit about what to look for. It's a very dry climate out here - what gets wet doesn't stay wet long. Additionally any snow we get is very powdery - and I'm doubtful if any has ever gotten inside. Floors are less likely to deteriorate out here than gel coat getting chalky and seat vinyl dissolving.

If I would have suspected anything of what you describe, I would have walked away. I walked away from six or seven boats previously after looking at them for one thing or another - and none of them had Bayliner written on the side.

bayliner +omc = how long will this boat last on the water today? :rflmao:

You're exactly the snob I was describing in my first post. Could be junk or might not. So far it's not. Two weekends full of tooling all over the place - and going out again this weekend. Runs great, gets up and goes and hasn't sunk. I'd call that a good boat. So you can go bash Bose. I'm going out on the lake with a cooler of beers, a tube and the family on my K-mart boat with the Sparkomatic stereo blasting (it may actually be one!). :thumbsup:
 
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