Updating 1988 242G

[Captglasshole]

Seatrialing a 1988 242g with a 2019 Zuke 250 with 182 hours. Boat comes with a 2006 trailer. I checked out the boat in person and the fuel tank hatch is soft. I don’t mind a hatch recore project. Tanks are believed to be original. No fuel smell in the bilge. Garmin 9”, radar arch, no hard top. Started the engine in the driveway and sounded good. Jumped on it and the bracket and didn’t see any flex in the transom. Guy is looking for $13k. Seems like a good price especially given the crazy market recently. Thoughts?

 

[family affair]

The engine alone is worth that much.
If the hatch is soft, there is likely water intrusion elsewhere. I would be concerned about stringers beneath the hatch. If the boat has a lot of rot elsewhere, you would get most, if not all of your money back from the engine and trailer. It just depends if you want to deal with the potential headache and heartache of a problem boat.

 

[Captglasshole]

That's what I was thinking. Guy is getting divorced so kind of a quick sale type deal. Hopefully works in my favor. Sea trial is this weekend, fingers crossed. As far as headache and heartache, I'm no stranger to either. I don't mind a good project.

 

[family affair]

Best of luck. I hope your problems end at the hatch.

 

[Captglasshole]

You and I both brother! But let's be honest, its a boat, the problems never end haha

 

[family affair]

You and I both brother! But let's be honest, its a boat, the problems never end haha

Looks like this isn't your 1st rodeo and you left your rose glasses at home. If the engine and trailer are 100%, you are off to a good start.

 

[Captglasshole]

yeah not my first boat but first Grady since I was a kid and last bought bought back in 2015, long before the COVID years and price hikes. I’m active on THT and always read how this site is a great resource for Grady owners so figured I would reassure myself on here before pulling the trigger.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I think it'll honestly depend on the actual condition of the boat as well as the motor. I'd have a certified Suzuki tech look over the motor and make sure it's in the condition it's advertised to be in, as well as have a surveyor inspect the boat for damage, rot, other issues, etc. The boat is 35 years old and if the transom or something else needs to be completely replaced then that could cost upwards of $10k, depending on location, severity and so forth. Worth case scenario would make me think you could sink another $10k-$15k+ into this boat after buying her, which would make me ask the question of it is it worth it? I look at what I paid for my boat at $26.5k and if you did have to put say an additional $10k into the boat you're looking at, putting the total at $23k, then I'd personally say no it's likely not worth it. A couple things to note about a 1988 vintage of Grady White would be that it's going to be a SeaV1 hull as opposed to the newer SeaV2 hull, of which the SeaV2 hull is what they still use today. The SeaV2 hull is going to make for a smoother, drier and more comfortable riding experience as opposed to the SeaV1 hull and in 1997 I believe they switched from using standard marine grade plywood to a product called Greenwood XL. Of which the former is going to soak up a bit more water and make it more likely to rot as opposed to the Greenwood XL. Not saying that the latter can't have issues with rotting, because I've definitely seen a few issues on here from owners, but it seems to be a better product from what I've read up on it. Depending on what your intentions are for the boat, you might not care about it being a SeaV1 vs SeaV2 design, which is completely fine. I think as long as the outboard and trailer check out, you'd likely break even hopefully at the very least at the $13k asking price. I think just about anything much above that price range is going to put you upside down rather quickly depending on what all might actually need to be done to the boat to make it seaworthy. Either way, good luck on the boat and add a few more details like your location, budget and so forth so that others can help you potentially find what you might be looking for, or maybe even a better alternative.

 

[PointedRose]

Sea trial, open the throttle all the way and see how the engine reacts and the speeds/rpm, check the plugs after and ideally compression if you want with a mechanic but I don’t think you would be upside down at all with that price. Easily could get a few years out of the thing and then unload if you wanted to. Check the gas tank if you can and maybe negotiate a bit but it probably won’t last that long.

only thing would be if the engine submerged

 

[Captglasshole]

Forgot to update this thread. Had to put 4 new tires on the trailer (went with good year endurance load range E's) to get it home, but she's officially mine. Sea trial went great, electronics weren't working (I knew that going in) but after getting it home was able to get everything up and running. For some reason there is a switch (no, not the main battery On/Off/Both switch) mounted in the transom that I hit and everything booted right up. Never seen a set up like it but I've been poking around in the battery compartment and looking at the wiring and starting to familiarize myself with what is what. Need to install a new bilge pump and float switch. All the materials are in, just need a weekend when its not raining its ass off to knock it out, but she's water ready otherwise. Engine ran like a top. Over the winter I plan on pulling the hatch that goes over the fresh water tank and re-coring that. Other than that, I plan to fish the hell out of it. She wont be a show queen, but Just need her to be solid and have the main systems up and running.

 

[Captglasshole]

Also, anyone have experience with Bennett Hydraulic trim tabs? They are not functioning and it looks like the plastic on top of the pump has a crack in it. Not sure if that's affecting them functioning properly or not. I need to mess with the system. I've only ever had electric tabs in the past.

 

[seasick]

The

Also, anyone have experience with Bennett Hydraulic trim tabs? They are not functioning and it looks like the plastic on top of the pump has a crack in it. Not sure if that's affecting them functioning properly or not. I need to mess with the system. I've only ever had electric tabs in the past.

top plastic is just a dust cover over the solenoids and wiring). The lower clearish plastic is the oil tank. So...
If crack in upper, no big deal.
By not working do yu mean that nothing happens when you activate ( no motor noise) or you hear noise but tabs don't move.
Depending on the answer the diagnostic steps are different.

 

[Captglasshole]

I can hear a faint click, but no movement in the tabs.

 

[glacierbaze]

Do you have fluid in the reservoir up to the full line.
Bennetts are pretty simple. If you did not know Tabman, from Bennett marine, he was one of boatings’ real assets. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago, but you can still find his forum by searching “Tabman forum” on Google. I don’t think THT still shows it in its list of forums. He also has YouTube videos, and you can find any answer to your questions with a little search time, including several step-by-step, troubleshooting guides for different problems.

https://www.thehulltruth.com/tabmans-trim-tab-discussion-15/

https://www.thehulltruth.com/tabman-s-trim-tab-discussion/369844-sticky-color-code.html

 

[Captglasshole]

I read a lot of his replies over the years on THT and he was certainly a wealth of knowledge. I appreciate the links and pointing me in the right direction!

 

[Captglasshole]

I got the new bilge pump and new float switch wired up. Liking the accessibility of this boat already as fishing wires was a breeze compared to others I've had to do in the past. The new float switch was working, but the manual switch at the helm wasn't. Changed out the bad fuse and fully functional now. Checked out a couple other switches that had bad fuses and I now have courtesy lights that work as well. I went on Grady's site and printed off the Accessory wiring color code so I can try to figure out what is what in the rats nest of wires that I have. I was able to eliminate a few that were not hooked up at either end. If the wind keeps blowing, I'll just keep knocking out one project at a time on her. Next up is the trim tabs. The washdown pump will likely be after that since its not a necessity, however, I think at some point one of the previous owners did away with the fresh water tank so may have to source one of those if I can't figure out a good way to install a seacock for a raw water pump. If I can find a freshwater tank that fits well, I will likely recore that rear panel at the same time so I don't have to pull it up twice.

 

[Captglasshole]

Finally got the weather/time to cooperate this coming weekend to get a few hours out on the old girl. Just put two new batteries in her this week so she is full of fuel, fully juiced up, and ready to roll! Looking forward to getting her wet and maybe even get to see a rod bend if i'm lucky!

 

[family affair]

May luck be with you!
Photos are mandatory if it works out, optional if it doesn't.
I'm pulling for photos of success.

 

[Captglasshole]

Success! Well, no fish but very happy with the boat nonetheless. Ran great, better fuel economy than I was expecting. Seemed like the happy spot was 4200-4400 rpm’s which was a nice cruise of about 28-30mph getting over 3mpg. Took my old man and kids with me, smiles all around. Got some more pics but the site won’t let me load them, says they are too big? Anyone on here know how to address that?

 

[family affair]

Congrats! Impressive economy numbers.
For me, I reduce the file size on my phone before I upload.