Another motor
 

Here's the 1989 Evinrude 175 that is on the...I hate to say it...Cruisers Inc. Bonanza I'm looking at. Any suggestions? It started right up for its first start since it was winterized. It looked clean on the inside...I just need to check compression.

Looks a lot cleaner than the 140 looper

Well Erik,
You're right about Bushwacker - one of the most helpful and experienced skippers you'll ever meet.

This motor certainly looks better but IMO the Seafari is a better designed and built boat. Cruisers cabin you'll find is very short, although it has good sized field to fish from in return.

The ride of the Seafari is much more comfortable.

I almost bought a Bonanza but found Seafari before I pulled the trigger. Glad I did.

Good luck.

Seacraft and Bonanza
 

McGillicuddy,

Yup...Bonanza is short on cabin, but has more deck room. I've heard a few horror stories about the transom and balsa core of the Bonanza. The thing is, I'm really looking for the best engine that hopefully has a nice boat attached to it. :eek: Here's a pic of the Bonanza transom. It passed the "engine shake" test. The owner took real nice care of it. He actually cared for it more than the Seacraft guy cared for his Seafari.

Erick,

I'd respectfully suggest that your priorities are screwed up! Motors are EASY to change and good used motors of that vintage are pretty cheap! Big Shrimpin could probably find you a good fresh water motor for that boat, especially if it's a 20" transom! Good boats, however, are not so easy to find or change! I'd take a ride in that Seafari before I put any money down on that Bonanza!

BTW, a 15 x 17 prop doesn't sound right (I'm running a 4 blade 15 x 15 on my 150!) A 13 1/2" diameter would be about right, so measure the radius of one blade on it if you get a chance. Denny

Erik, the transom reinforcing plate on that Bonanza screams "I need a new transom". If you're going to sink that kind of time and money into it, do yourself a favor and get a SeaCraft. (Seafari's Rule!)

Exactly, that alum plate was put on there for a reason.... and not a good one. Walk away while you still can. Stick with a Seacraft and find a motor to fit. Or spend a little more and get a solid boat with a decent power plant.
FYI:
I have one of those 1993 225 loopers that I am gonig to be listing for sale soon, and Iam going to be lucky to get 2K for it with rigging.

I saw that too and forgot to mention it in my reply, so good catch Fr. Frank! I bet it was installed because of localized crushing in the motor mount area! Reinforcing plates are always a big red flag in my mind! Denny

Transoms and Engines
 

I showed my engine savvy friend a video of that Seacraft engine and he was not a fan. Lots of metallic clanging. I heard it too, but it's new to me...did sound scary though.:eek:

Can you post the video on here for some highly experienced ears to listen to? A compression check should reveal any ring problems. Suggest you PM Big Shrimpin to see what he would recommend for a good light older motor and a rough cost estimate, subtract that from the asking price, and make an offer for the boat and trailer, assuming the motor is about ready to blow up, and see what sort of deal you can make. I sold my old 1975 115 with about 1000 hrs on it with good compression for $500 back in 2006 before the economy and boat market went to hell.

BTW, it seems like most guys on this forum are mainly interested in fishing and want the CC models, so there is a lot less demand for the Seafari, and they generally go for quite a bit less money! Some rough "project boats" have even been given away for free on this site or sold for a few hundred $! This is in spite of the fact that only Moesly & Potter built the Seafari and only about 700 of them at that, while there were thousands of CC's built, by Moesly, Potter, SeaCraft Industries and Tracker up until the late 90's! I know demand drives price, but the lower Seafari prices always surprised me because when these boats were in production back in the 70's, a new Seafari was quite a bit more than a CC model, and they had the highest resale value of anything in their class. Their advertising at the time, which mentioned the resale value, ended with a statement that sounds exactly like something Carl Moesly would say, i.e.: "The price of a NEW boat tells you what the BUILDER thinks he can get for it. The price of a USED boat tells you what OTHER FOLKS think it's WORTH!" Have you priced a restored Bertram 31 lately?! Denny