Somebody help me please!

Hey guys.
I have just received a boat from a friend.
It's in great shape on the outside, and the inside is missing chairs.
He doesn't have the key to the boat or anything, but the engine looks like it's in good condition.
It has an amazing body and I would love to restore this boat.
It's a 12 ft boat with a MARINE engine

Is it possible to fix this bad boy up? If so, what is the estimate cost? If you can help me out, I would compensate you for your time and step by step instructions.

 

It's probably possible to fix that thing up, so long as the hull isn't damaged.
First step is to clean all the junk out of it and take a good look inside. Poke things with an awl- are structural pieces spongy when prodded? Do you see cracks, crazing, any signs of excessive stress, or places where the layers of fibreglass are odd colours or are separating? If the answer is yes, it'll probably be a fairly expensive fix. If no, then get a second opinion- buy a beer for someone who knows fibreglass structures. If he says it's fixable too, then go ahead!
There are piles of threads on this forum about restoring boats like this. Use the Search function, read, and learn. You won't regret it.
You don't need a key to start that Merc. You just need to know which wires to jump on the back of the key barrel. (Little tip- NEVER run an outboard motor on dry land; the cooling water intakes MUST be able to pick up water freely or you will fry the cooling pump- or worse. There are earmuff-like adaptors available for a garden hose that can provide water to most outboards. Amd make sure the correct oil is mixed with the gas, at the correct ratio, before trying.)
Anyway, I say if the structure holds up under close inspection, go for it. Cost can be anywhere from $100 if you scavenge everything you need from junkyards, to $10,000 if you have a professional do a meticulous detailing of every part.

 

If the hull is good, the cost of restoring it depends alot on how good you want it to be.
1.Clean it up.
2.Try the stearing.If it stuck, take out the s/wheel,there will be a few screws behind the black plastic cover..loosen that and get to the helm behind.
3.Inspect the stearing cable from helm to the engine,dismantle and oil it.
4.Inspect the push and pull part that will make the engine turn left and right,(on the engine )if it is smooth just clean it and regrease.
4.1 Inspect the throttle control system box and the cable,clean and oil it, make sure the cable push and pull smoothly.
5.If that Mercury can be pull start, take out the spark plug and try to pull.If it is smooth you are quite safe.
6.If there is a workshop nearby that can service that engine..go ahead..it will save alot of frustation..unless you have had experience with Mercury outboard before..make sure the gear box oil drain out and change.Collect the old oil in clear container and check for water.If that engine is bigger than 40 horses..it might be too heavy to handle alone..get a strong friend to help when dismantling and lifting the engine from boat transom to the car/pick up .After dismantling all connection to the engine,take out the four stud and bolt holding the engine to the boat transom,lower the engine to the ground by tilting up at the trailer front.Take the engine out.
6.1 If the workshop is nearby..and trailer is good..just tow the trailer with the boat and engine there..
6.2 Inspect the transom, is it solid or mushy,any rotten wood or stinking smell?
7.If the boat can float good and the engine run smooth, the stearing system good..that boat is ready.
8.You can replace all the other broken parts when the budget is right.

 

Your friend may OR maynot have given you much, except the "curse" of boating. A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into. Have you been boating all along? Is it a favorite past time? Well anyway, it may be too late, you are already infected like the rest of us.
Before you do the things Marshmat advises (very good advice), take the whole thing ro an outboard shop and have the motor looked at first!! An old boat with a bad or marginal motor is not worth anything. I can give you a website with hundreds of them. I have a friend who makes good side money buying your typr of boat IF the motor is good. He sells the motors & junks the boats, good hulls or not. The value is in the motor. Price a motor as if you needed one for this boat. .....Yeah, GULP! These OBs are EXXXPEEENSIVE!
IF... the OB checks out and the hull is soubd, THEN the rest is doable (mostly glue & carpet to get the inside pretty). If you havn't a motor, you ain't got much!
Good luck, let's hope that OB tests out good.

 

seems there are too many yachts in U.S.

can't see boat normally in China.

 

Not yachts Frank. Too many cheap GRP run abouts that are overpriced. They live short lives, lose their value quickly and are abandoned by the hundreds. Disposable boats. It's the American way!

 

iv seen a lot of these bowrider boats when they were big deal...actualy they ride fairly nice i thought, somone was doing saltwater flats fishing for?? tarpon? where u stand up and pole in over shallow flats? pretty stable small boat as i recall ,iv been in a couple was far more comfortable for fishing than the aluminum Dv's that size,,,what make i still see the tag in the picture nice pictures btw i dont see any obvious damage with patches what about a bottom Pic with the trailer tilted nose up? and maby we should stop designening disposiable boats.

 

"Disposable boats".....
< rant >
I second that. I see so much junk around the marinas here. Beautifully styled cuddies and cruisers, built like crap and fitted with el-cheapo gas engines, and marketed to newbies as if they were yachts. In many cases, the boats are so expensive to run and perform so poorly that their owners give up and just use them as lakeside cottages. Many people buy and drive these with no real clue how to drive them safely, and no real clue as to how likely they are to fall apart in five or ten years. Some have hard putty as a hull core in place of foam! But now and then, there are some really good ones. It's easy to tell- they're the ones that are efficient and comfortable enough that they go out every weekend.
< / rant >