Buying a 73 Seacraft CC I/O

[keith]

Hi Everyone. Great Site!! My name is Keith and I live in the San Francisco East Bay Area. A friend of mine in Oregon has had a 73 Seacraft for 35 years, can no longer use it, and wants to sell it. I am going to buy it from him. What do you think?
It has a 305 mercruiser i/o with 280 hours on the whole setup. He replaced the engine and outdrive about 6 years ago.
It is a larger boat than I have ever had but I want to do more ocean fishing out here so that is a good thing. I also will need to add radar because the fog here can get pretty thick. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Keith

[Capt Chuck]

Welcome to CSC Keith

Your SeaCraft can handle the chop of the Bay for sure! Enjoy the site & the Ride

Capt Chuck (Admin)

[htillman]

Nice looking boat you will find to be a good purchase.

[Bushwacker]

Welcome aboard Keith! You'll find a bunch of knowledgeable folks on here that can be a valuable resource!

While a lot of folks on this site prefer outboards because of their lower maintenance requirements and fewer corrosion issues, the I/O models have a couple of thing going for them:
1. Better ride and balance with CG further forward due to weight of engine located forward of transom.
2. Relatively simple designs you can maintain yourself if you have moderate mechanical skills and can maintain your own car, etc.

Checkout Pelican's post with a lot of valuable tips on I/O maintenance.

[bobbert]

Buy it. You will not regret it.

[keith]

Thanks everyone. I bought the boat and it is great! Took it for a test drive in Coos Bay, Or. I went outside of the bay in the Ocean, after throwing out some crab pots, and it handled the waves beautifully. I took it a mile or so down the coast, found a little spot to fish and caught around 20 rockfish in about 30 minutes! Came back to the bay and grabbed the crab pots I threw out earlier and ended up with 5 keepers! Not only is it a great boat but it is a lucky boat too!
The 305 had plenty of power, the electronics worked fine, and the ride was smooth. Great boat. It belonged to a friend of mine who has owned it for 35 years. He is a great mechanic and took very good care of it.

Just out of curiosity. How much does a bracket retrofit cost? I don't have any plans to do anything that major any time soon, I am just curious.

Thanks!

[FLexpat]

Congrats! I think that 305 is the MPI 260HP version which is about right for that hull. If it runs well I would not even think about a bracket&repower unless you really want to get into spending some time & $ on a rebuild. I suspect it would cost a lot more than you paid for the boat and thats doing it yourself. A new Yamaha 250 is around 20k. You would also have a bit of glasswork and the cost of a bracket. If you take good care of your I/O you should be able to run it for a lot of years. There are a couple of good threads here about that; one of them is by Pelican: http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ad.php?t=23364 .

[keith]

Thanks for the feedback! I don't have the time or the money to put a bracket on, I was just curious. There are a lot of bracket retrofits on this site that look great though! I don't have a big issue with the I/O except for the room it takes up, the maintenance, and the fear of leaving it in the water too long during fishing season here. It is nice to have a motor that I can work on in a pinch though and I am very familiar with these engines.
I couldn't have chosen a better boat and I look forward to years of good times fishing and boating.
I had called my friend to ask him what he thought of Boston Whalers. He said he isn't a fan and to come and buy his boat, so I did.
Here are some more pictures.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ox3391kgt...vnQO1epia?dl=0

[pelican]

Originally Posted by keith

Hi Everyone. Great Site!! My name is Keith and I live in the San Francisco East Bay Area. A friend of mine in Oregon has had a 73 Seacraft for 35 years, can no longer use it, and wants to sell it. I am going to buy it from him. What do you think?
It has a 305 mercruiser i/o with 280 hours on the whole setup. He replaced the engine and outdrive about 6 years ago.
It is a larger boat than I have ever had but I want to do more ocean fishing out here so that is a good thing. I also will need to add radar because the fog here can get pretty thick. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Keith

sharp rig !

follow my advice concerning servicing the motor and the drive - it's important.that thread has been mentioned twice in this thread - it will show you what's required.

those alpha drives,the generation II drives,it's important to replace the waterpump regularly - there's small 6mm bolts holding the pump housing down - these can corrode and sieze,causing big problems.also,there's a small "bulkhead" - this seperates the water channel from the exhaust channel - this can become a problem due to corrosion.
when replacing that waterpump,do not remove the paint from the drive in any of those areas.also,do not use any kind of metallic grease or a never sieze product.DO NOT use a silicone sealer on the waterpump gasket !!

that 5.0 MPI is a good power package !!

[keith]

Originally Posted by pelican

sharp rig !

follow my advice concerning servicing the motor and the drive - it's important.that thread has been mentioned twice in this thread - it will show you what's required.

those alpha drives,the generation II drives,it's important to replace the waterpump regularly - there's small 6mm bolts holding the pump housing down - these can corrode and sieze,causing big problems.also,there's a small "bulkhead" - this seperates the water channel from the exhaust channel - this can become a problem due to corrosion.
when replacing that waterpump,do not remove the paint from the drive in any of those areas.also,do not use any kind of metallic grease or a never sieze product.DO NOT use a silicone sealer on the waterpump gasket !!

that 5.0 MPI is a good power package !!

Will do. I plan to replace the water pump asap. It isn't the MPI package, it is the TKI I think. The carburetor version, not the fuel injected.