To repair or not - blown engine

Ok, I need some advice here. I've got a '98 Moomba Outback that has a blown motor. I'm trying to determine if it's worth replacing the engine. The bid to replace the engine and exhaust manifolds is $9,300.

I know there's a lot of factors, but with a new motor, re-upholstered, Monster Tower, trailer w/ new tires and some other fixes, I'm trying to determine what it's worth.

Anyone know where I can look up boat values to see if this is worth replacing the engine or what it might be worth, as-is?

Thanks in advance.

Look at onlyinboards.com for current market.

NADA Guides can give you another bit of info, but onlyinboards will give you more specificity.


Making my new SA build come true!!!

As stated onlyinboards is your best bet for current value.

What happened to the engine, 9300 seems high unless you're just going with a full new replacement and not a rebuild.

Another factor, do you want to keep the boat?

If so, I would probably look around for other bids to rebuild the motor.

If not and you are planning to move to a different boat, you could probably sell-as is and not deal with the rebuild process. There is a market for people that will buy a boat in good condition with a blown motor (ie TX when they get a hard freeze). People that want to get into boating and have mechanical skills to do it themselves will save some $$.

Sell as is. The market isn't there for a quarter of a century ski only boat. A good mechanic on a tight budget (many of those) would jump on it. Having a new engine is nice but the transmission and mechanical linkages will be going down the same path.

If it's cheaper to fix, I think it can be fixed. But it depends on how much cheaper and how much the repaired one will work (

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zabooda

Sell as is. The market isn't there for a quarter of a century ski only boat. A good mechanic on a tight budget (many of those) would jump on it. Having a new engine is nice but the transmission and mechanical linkages will be going down the same path.

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this. use it as an excuse to upgrade

If you don't have plans to get rid of it and would continue to use it, replace it. I just had a 400hp crate motor delivered, with 3yr/50k warranty for just over $4200 (going into a Chevelle). Your price sounds WAY high.

Otherwise dump it and let it be someone else's project.

Not knowing what your project level confidence, this is hard to rate.
Motor and exhaust at $9300 must be installed. If doing this yourself you can save about 3k in labor. How is the motor blown? A long block and elbow grease will save you even more.

It appears you already did full interior, tower, trailer maintenance and upgrades. What kind of money do you have in it currently? Can you sell it and recoup those funds for an upgrade. At this point I would be thinking that route but prices keep rising and not having a payment is a nice feeling.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bergermaister

If you don't have plans to get rid of it and would continue to use it, replace it. I just had a 400hp crate motor delivered, with 3yr/50k warranty for just over $4200 (going into a Chevelle). Your price sounds WAY high.

Otherwise dump it and let it be someone else's project.

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Yup you can drop plenty of crate engines, or even low mileage used engines, main thing to replace is get a Marine Rated Starter and Alternator.