21' Sutphen questions

I came across this sutphen on craigslist that im looking into purchasing and i have a few questions. its 21' long and right now has a 225 early 90's evinrude on it.

does an outboard of this size seem to large for this boat? the guy selling the boat said its not what was originally on it and he had it put on but only used the boat once. im worried about weight distribution as well as this thing just sucking down gas unnecessarily.

second issue i had with it is that there is a gas tank in the hull but he said it leaks and would need to be repaired or replaced. im good with fiberglass work so would it be relatively simple to chop this tank out and just glass in something new? or would i be better off leaving the tank in and just using something like 2 portable 8gallon gas tanks instead?

last question is that whoever owned it before him decided to put bottom paint on a powerboat... id like to repaint this whole thing white, is that going to involve sanding the whole boat or just getting the bottom paint off and going over whatevers left?

heres a picture:

 

Those boats usually had an enormous outboard. That's common.

I haven't seen one since I was about 17 years old. My girlfriend's dad had a bright yellow one set up as a ski boat (he barefooted) and I got to run the boat while he was doing it.

What an incredible machine. It was propped down for waterskiing and would get on plane like you were *in* a plane!

So yeah, that is normal to have a huge, 200+ HP engine on one of those. They actually handle like a dream with a huge engine on them... scary though!

Here's another one. This is the profile of the engine I was used to seeing on one...



You don't want to do your own tank out of glass anymore. The ethanol is supposed to react very badly with glass tanks and gum everything up. You'd be better off putting in a new tank or using those larger outboard tanks you leave above deck.

Worrying about using too much fuel with a boat like that is just not right. They are made to burn as much fuel as they can as quickly as they can. If you go for a sea trial, you'll see why....

 

I wouldn't mind owning that sutphen!

Put in a new plastic gas tank.

The picture doesn't look too bad but it is hard to see. Sometimes bottom painting they ruff up the bottom. That makes it a real mess trying to take it off and have a gloss finish again. Not fun stripping off toxic bottom paint, but I've seen much worse to strip off.

 

ive been on a sutphen i believe it was something like 13 or 15' with a 90horse on it and it moved. im on long island is this a nice ocean boat or meant to be more of a lake boat?

so would you guys even bother chopping the old tank out or just leave it in and add plastic fuel tanks ? if i leave it in and just abandon it is it weighing me down at all or should i just abandon it and forget about it?

would the original paint thats up top need to be sanded first in order to paint this boat? how would you go about painting it?

 

Typically when the tank leaks, you also develop more issues. I'll bet stringers and sole supports are also compromised. This means a new sole, stringers and supports and I haven't mentioned the transom, which will also have a high probability of issues. This is a motor for sale with a boat and trailer holding up up. I'm not sure what you're looking to pay, but you certainly could find a better deal, one where you don't have to gut the boat, fix it's structure, reassemble and paint.

 

he was asking $4500 for it. he didnt tell me about the gas tank until i was already there looking at it... i figured i could have talked him down a bit from that.. what should i be looking to pay for something in this condition?

 

I agree with PAR. The gas tank corrodes because salt water has been sitting in contact with it. Check all wood.

 

And pay less.... way less. The boat market is not good right now and this type of boat is the hardest hit. I'd offer $1000.

 

If you want the topsides white too, the whole boat will need a light sand. Solvent wipe first to get rid of 20 years of wax.

 

If you don't know what to look for it'll be hard to preform anything but the most basic of inspections. First thing to do is walk around inside the boat and see if you feel soft spots, which will feel springy under foot. Step everywhere, particularly around places where things are bolted or screwed down, like seats pedestals, equipment, etc. These area the areas that water will penetrate and cause rot. Next examine the transom, where the engine mount is bolted on. Are there dents around the engine mount, particularly near the mounting bolts? Stains running down from the mounts and other transom penetrations? The trailer also looks to be under size, possably not rated for the weight of that boat (very probable). It certainly isn't the right size (length), look at the winch tower. It'll rub the back of a pickup towing it easily and you have 1/4 of the boat (the heaviest part) hanging off in space out back, likely having put a hook in the bottom panels (a really difficult thing to fix).

Again, this market is wide open and a buyers dream. There are lots of boats out there, that can be had for $4,500 with few, if any major issues. Or you could buy this and hope it's not the nightmare it appears to be (it least to me) at first glance. Sorry about bursting your bubble, but honestly, you'd rather learn now then after you learn the hard lesson, of what BOAT actually stands for.

 

I didn't see the bad overhang on the trailer
Too busy looking at the sutphen to see the trailer.
Those rollers are far from the transom.
If you roll up your sleeves, check the bottom carefully with a level for hook.

 

i got inside the boat and crawled around it and everything seemed pretty solid.. he said the floor had recently been replaced, for what reason im not sure but from what you guys are saying that could be a good sign or a bad sign. i guess ill bring up all these issues with him and see how much i can haggle.

does anybody see a problem with just abandoning the gas tank and not removing it? say i wanted to remove it either way is it going to be painful?

 

When he rebuilt the cockpit sole, did he leave an access panel over the tank???

 

im pretty sure i remember seeing an access panel but i dont think it was as big as the tank itself

 

That 225 Evinrude will take 9 gph @3000 rpm and 23 gph wot.
8 gallon tanks would be smallish.