So I bought a project boat....I wish I knew something about boats.

ltrpilot9

ltrpilot9

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2012
So I bought a project boat. It’s a 1996 Bayliner Capri 1850BB with inboard mercruiser. It’s rough, to say the least. I know i have an immeasurable amount of work and probably expense ahead of me, but my goal is to have a safe, reliable, nice boat by next spring. It does run and the trim works but that’s about the end of the good news. The entire interior is shot, I will replace or repair everything. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can about the mechanics of this thing by reading boat forums, for now I’m just correcting the obvious mechanically and then we will get started on the cosmetic.
1st order of business, fix the trim pump and starter solenoid mounting situation. The first picture is how it sits now. The trim pump is just sitting on the floor and the solenoid bundle is flopping around. Can anyone give me an idea of how it’s supposed to be mounted? I think it originally had a metal bracket but I can’t really see how it’s supposed to look. Anyone?
 

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may god have mercy on your soul.

Hopefully its just shitty carpet and not rotten wood.

You'll probably need to touch every wire and fastener on that boat to get it to reliable shape. then there is the trailer.

There is an enormous amount of Bayliner hate out there. When on a boating forum i'd leave off the bayliner issues and just say I have a 4.3L Mercruiser that's doing this....

I really hope that you don't have any soft spots in the floor.

Good luck. I love my boat.
 
Yeah back when I was dumber I replaced a few rotted boat floors and stringers, even tried doing upholstery. Fuck that. You're in for a real treat. Not to mention just because a boat runs with muffs on doesn't mean it's going to go more than a mile on the water, especially a mercury I/o.

I can say from experience that your best bet on a boat like that is to go ahead and buy a new switch/breaker panel and to rewire the whole thing--the bayliners from the factory were wired like a cheap utility trailer and the previous 7 owners didn't do it any favors.
Find a decent upholstery guy for all the seats and hopefully the plywood backs are still decent.
If the floor is spongy you can try and add a few layers of glass to make it better but it won't help much.

Go ahead and go through the carburetor now, make sure the lower unit oil isn't milky and check all the seals..
Mercury used all kinds of dumbass electronics on those engines that you won't see on automobiles that make them way harder and way more expensive to troubleshoot.
As a matter of fact, before you put any work into it at all, take it to the lake, if it runs well for a few hours then it might be worth the effort.
 
Park it in your front yard with a for sale sign on it.
 
So you didn't just buy a hole in the water .... you bought a HUGE hole in the water!
I don't even own a boat and I'm praying for you!
 
Thanks for the great advice, I really appreciate it. I truly am a glutton for punishment so I’m going to try to save it. For what I paid for it, I can afford to put some money in it as long as it’s a worthwhile investment. I totally agree that I should put it in the water before I do anything, but I was thinking I should fix the basic things I know it needs for safety before then. Yesterday I ordered a bracket off of eBay for the trim pump and solenoids. The engine compartment blower and bilge pump both work when connected to a power source but both need new switches. I can fix both of those things for minimal expense and effort before a trial run. I hadn’t planned to rewire the whole boat , but now I will. The floor has some soft spots, I’m going to cut them out and put in some treated plywood from Lowe’s and then reseal the whole floor. I haven’t decided if I’m going to lay down some glass and paint it or re-carpet it yet? That’s way down the line. Thoughts?
 
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Yep, that's literally the worst boat you could have started with.
All the aforementioned issues are probably wrong with it.

The one that would concern me the most is the wood, especially in an 86. Need to find a way to look at the stringers and the floor and the transom. If any are rotten, you're better off the pull the motor and drive and set fire to it.

If not, then hey...it's just a matter of money and time.
 
Someone once told me there were two things in life you could never get rid of. Herpes and a Bayliner. :lol:

I know nothing about boats other than the 13ft aluminum one my son dragged out of my neighbors yard. Not much to that one though!
 
Couple things about boats!
1. They're supposed to float!
2. They don't go over rocks too well!
3. You can tow people!
 
Boat=Break Out Another Thousand.

Pro tip, When cutting out the rotten floor, double check the depth of the saw blade. Seeing grass from inside the boat is not a good thing after removing rotten floor.

You will want to glass over the replacement patches, even PT marine grade plywood can rot.
 
My knowledge of boats is as follows: The two happiest days of a boat owners life are they day they buy it, followed by the day they sell it......so I hope you were really happy yesterday, cuz that feeling is going to have to hold you over for a while!

Good luck to you, a friend has a bayliner he bought for $700, runs fine, smells like it burns a 1:1 ratio of gas and oil.
 
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Used to work on boats while going to community college years back. Don't know why all the MerCruiser hate, but a Bayliner is about the worst hull out there. Super thin and cheaply made. This will likely turn into what Dylan ran into with his RV. No way I'd mess with it, but more power to you.

The trim pump would have had a metal bracket that was screwed to the floor. You can make something easily enough. If the trim isn't working, be prepared to spend a bunch on it. I anticipate you will run into a ton of obstacles along the way.
 
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