Re Engine Time for 1986 Overnighter?

[8Bells]

Greetings,
New member - first post - please forgive if I stumbles a bit - 8Bells is the username - North Shore Massachusetts
Boat - 1986 Overnighter MDL 204-C - Transom checks good - Existing motor 1986 Yamaha 150 HP ETXJ - Runs but time for carbs pull clean repair - trim tilt making screaming sounds and corrosion looks extensive
Boat primarily run on Merrimac River and coastal fishing Mass, New Hampshire for 2 seasons - carb issues coming out of storage this year. In the boat yard on the hard.......

Re engine quote for 2022 Yamaha 150 X13, tach, trim tilt gauge, new harnesses, aluminum prop + labor = $20,200.

Looking for opinions - Have I found a fair price and I should bite the bullet and pay up now? Or is better to spend $2000 and keep the old 1986 dawg running another year (and hope the trim tilt is kind to me)? Thanks in advance 8Bells

 

[glacierbaze]

REBUILD SERVICE!!! TRIM TILT UNIT YAMAHA 115 150 200 250 300 HP F115 F150 F200 | eBay

If you wish to receive the faulty unit back we are still entitled to our Full Rebuild Service Fee. This is not a unit for sale but a Professional Rebuild Service of your unit. Rebuild service - Includes Unit Breakdown, Wash, Reseal, & top off all fluids.

www.ebay.com

You can send the whole unit to Fla., for a complete rebuild. Several companies do this.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

If it were me, I’d honestly sell the boat as is for as much as I possibly could and then use the $20k that you were going to spend on a brand new motor to buy a different boat. There are lots of used boats out there for less $30k that are newer, already have a 4 stroke motor on them and so forth. A 1986 boat is now 36 years old and depending on the condition of the rest it, you could be opening up a can of worms with regards to future repairs and maintenance that are going to cost likely more than the boat ever will from this point on. Just my opinion of course, if you’re adamant on keeping the boat or it has sentimental value then I say spend as little as possible to try and fix or rebuild it.

 

[seasick]

The 150 may be heavier than your old 2 stroke motor and if so, performance would be affected.
Regarding the tilt mechanism; Did you actually fine new unit in stock? I am surprised if you did. A third option would be to try and locate a used one. It's a bit risky but will be less costly by far.
If the screaming is a bad tilt motor, there are replacement ones, not genuine OEM, that may work out.

 

[Doc Stressor]

Putting a new engine on a classic boat is almost like having a new boat. Particularly if you are going from a corroded 2-stroke to a new 4-stroke. Outboards don't last forever and your's is 36 years old. The fact that it still runs is amazing. I blew up 2 engines over 11 years on my old 204C. And that doesn't count lower units and tilt mechanisms. Your engine is long overdue for replacement.

You will have less torque for popping up on plain with the 4-stroke. But your cruise speed and top-end should be about the same. Since your old engine must be pretty tired, maybe you won't even notice the difference.

That's a decent price for an installed F150, so enjoy the peace of mind and fuel economy with a new engine.

 

[8Bells]

Greetings and I thank each and every one of you for the replies! Awesome forum!

Glacier and Mustang make excellent points on trim-tilt rebuild options and also selling exisitng boat outright as the $20 K I would put into this boat would go a long way towards a new to me (used) boat. I am leaning towards the replace the engine approach at this point and will post the outcome. Can anyone in the forum recommend repower shops for Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki 150 HP 4 stroke options in the Mass, NH, RI area?

Regards............8Bells

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Putting a new engine on a classic boat is almost like having a new boat.

I would disagree in that if the boat is almost 40 years old then what else needs to be worked on or fixed on the boat as well? If the hull, wiring, electrical, trim and everything else on the boat is in excellent condition then yes, it's almost like having a new boat. Rarely though imo is a 35-40 year old boat, or even newer ones than that, ever in absolutely fantastic shape to where they literally need nothing except a new motor. Maybe the OP's boat is the exception? What I think of when buying boats or even just considering buying a boat is the things you can't see. With my boat being a 2004, it's not even 20 years old at this point, and yes things do definitely fail within two decades but then I think of a boat like the OP's that's 36 years old and think to myself... "how many previous owners has this boat had?" "Has anything been upgraded or worked on over that time or was it just abused and neglected by all of the previous owners?" "What kind of electrical gremlins and other things are hiding underneath the surface that I can't see?" "The transom looks ok right now but what about a couple years from now to where I could need to sink $7k-$10k+ into having it fixed?" For me, it's too much of a gamble or roll of the dice, and I know that obviously not everyone will agree with me. That being said, if you gave me the option of spending over $20k on a new motor for a boat that's still 36 years old with potentially other issues in the near future vs what I paid for my boat that I bought for $26.5k... I'd pick mine being that it's almost 20 years newer, even though it has a used 4 stroke motor with almost 1k hours on it, because I know it's a rock solid platform and a reliable fishing boat.

 

[8Bells]

Greetings
Thank you Mustang! Your opinion is not at all uncommon and your thoughts have certainly crossed my mind. Start new to me (used but newer used) and reduce probability of age related issues! I do have a good history on this hull and motor (former owners and maintainers) and am willing to gamble - it is truly a gamble - that other major items will lie dormant if I pay the $20K to re power.
Still leaning to the re power option.