I recently bought a 1977 GW Dolphin 200, powered by a 200 hp Evinrude (model year unknown), all on a '76 aluminum tandem torsion axel Float-on trailer. The hull is extremely solid and there are very few things that need to be done aesthetically to make it water worthy. All the glass is in tact and the paint and all interior is all original. The motor starts easily and runs great, good compression and seems like preventative maintenance has been implemented over the nearly 40 years of service it has seen (presumably, because I haven't researched the model year of the engine. I don't think it's the original motor for the boat). The trailer is basically the reason I ended up buying the boat. The tandem torsion axle style was highly sought after in its time and provided superior suspension and riding advantages. The aluminum frame is all in impeccable shape and all the lights work. Guide posts come with it too.
Now for the bad. It seems a layer or two of fiberglass has come loose along the top of the transom on either side of the motor mount. A previous owner of the boat who used it in lake Gaston for freshwater fishing designed a fixed bracket to raise the entire motor up about 6 inches. The installation involved tightening the bolts down way beyond any imaginative requirements for the job, causing warp in the fiberglass. This will require the engine to come off and a small fiberglass replacement job. The wood is solid and no delamination or rot has set in.
The trailer was in need of new tires and rims, wheel hub rebuilds and possibly new wheel bearings. Years of use and water exposure without bearing protectors has caused extreme wear. Fortunately, this is all replacement work.
The boat needs a steering cable, a full rewiring job and new fuel lines run to the 60 (pretty sure) gallon aluminum tank installed midship under a convenient deck access door.
The cowling on the motor needs some bondo, paint and decal work. The block needs some touch-up paint and there's a little rust on the bolt heads. Some small wiring work on the engine.
OVERALL: I paid $1500 for the boat, motor and trailer. I feel that in its current condition, it's worth about $2000. Once the trailer wok is done, the trailer alone would be worth about $700. With the work mentioned finished to the engine, it would be worth about $800. The hull in better aesthetic condition (some screw holes filled top-side, detail job), and with the steering, wiring and fuel line work done would be worth $1400. I actually had an offer for that amount by a local boat dealer for just the hull if I decided to part the boat out next summer.
I plan to post updates throughout the winter here on the work I'm doing. I hope to get some insightful suggestions and maybe I'll even be able to help you all out with your projects. As I'm writing this, I've had the boat for two weeks. I've acquired the parts needed for most of the trailer work (new hubs, bearings, lugs and nuts, rims and tires) and am going to install everything this Sunday. I also hope to begin the process of lifting the engine off the hull so next weekend I can begin to dig in and find out my exact course of action to address the fiberglass issue. That will be first and foremost in my project. Once I have a solid and trustworthy transom, I can work on the wiring problems and fuel line replacement. After all that, I'll go to adding creature comforts like windshield wipers, power distribution panels, washdown pumps, decals, new curtains and the dreaded bimini top frame it came with, without the canvas.
Anyway, that's about everything to know at this point. Here are some pictures I took on the way home from picking the boat up. You should be able to see just what I saw when I pulled up to it for the first time: a little gem that needs some polishing.
From the previous and next picture, you can see holes toward the back of the boat. These are the locations for the seat cushions. I have those and they're in good shape, but I don't like the fabric type. I'll be upgrading to vinyl.
Here you can see the obvious lack of care taken in the last year of this boat's life. Grease and dirt is stuck to the motor, the bracket is rusted and some paint and bondo work needs to be done. I had to tie the motor down to keep it from moving as the steering cable is disconnected.
As you can tell, I did some walking around the boat before I bought it. :wink:
So I'll welcome any thoughts, suggestions, criticisms or otherwise. I've worked on boats and yachts for a couple of years and now manage a marina in Atlantic Beach, NC. But at 19 years old (just turned last weekend), this is my first personal boat so I guess I needed a project to kind of show me the ins and out of personal boat maintenance. I learned by doing the jobs I have that it always helps to know your boat from stem to stern in case you need to do some repair work offshore. Which is another important mention.
I plant to use the boat mostly for pleasure, but to occasionally travel offshore within sight of land (15 miles or less) to bottom fish. The engine is a 2 stroke so she will definitely appreciate fuel so I don't plan on doing any overnight or even full day trips offshore. Not so much because I think I'll run out of fuel, but to keep the cost down.
Anyways, let me know what you think about the project. I need to be doing some homework on how to hoist the motor off the boat. There are no lift points on or around the block. I'm assuming the person before me removed them for some reason. I have a local mechanic across the street from the marina who only works on johnson/evinrude engines so he'll be my first stop once I clean it up a little bit. I'll post pictures of the engine this weekend. Thanks!
Now for the bad. It seems a layer or two of fiberglass has come loose along the top of the transom on either side of the motor mount. A previous owner of the boat who used it in lake Gaston for freshwater fishing designed a fixed bracket to raise the entire motor up about 6 inches. The installation involved tightening the bolts down way beyond any imaginative requirements for the job, causing warp in the fiberglass. This will require the engine to come off and a small fiberglass replacement job. The wood is solid and no delamination or rot has set in.
The trailer was in need of new tires and rims, wheel hub rebuilds and possibly new wheel bearings. Years of use and water exposure without bearing protectors has caused extreme wear. Fortunately, this is all replacement work.
The boat needs a steering cable, a full rewiring job and new fuel lines run to the 60 (pretty sure) gallon aluminum tank installed midship under a convenient deck access door.
The cowling on the motor needs some bondo, paint and decal work. The block needs some touch-up paint and there's a little rust on the bolt heads. Some small wiring work on the engine.
OVERALL: I paid $1500 for the boat, motor and trailer. I feel that in its current condition, it's worth about $2000. Once the trailer wok is done, the trailer alone would be worth about $700. With the work mentioned finished to the engine, it would be worth about $800. The hull in better aesthetic condition (some screw holes filled top-side, detail job), and with the steering, wiring and fuel line work done would be worth $1400. I actually had an offer for that amount by a local boat dealer for just the hull if I decided to part the boat out next summer.
I plan to post updates throughout the winter here on the work I'm doing. I hope to get some insightful suggestions and maybe I'll even be able to help you all out with your projects. As I'm writing this, I've had the boat for two weeks. I've acquired the parts needed for most of the trailer work (new hubs, bearings, lugs and nuts, rims and tires) and am going to install everything this Sunday. I also hope to begin the process of lifting the engine off the hull so next weekend I can begin to dig in and find out my exact course of action to address the fiberglass issue. That will be first and foremost in my project. Once I have a solid and trustworthy transom, I can work on the wiring problems and fuel line replacement. After all that, I'll go to adding creature comforts like windshield wipers, power distribution panels, washdown pumps, decals, new curtains and the dreaded bimini top frame it came with, without the canvas.
Anyway, that's about everything to know at this point. Here are some pictures I took on the way home from picking the boat up. You should be able to see just what I saw when I pulled up to it for the first time: a little gem that needs some polishing.
From the previous and next picture, you can see holes toward the back of the boat. These are the locations for the seat cushions. I have those and they're in good shape, but I don't like the fabric type. I'll be upgrading to vinyl.
Here you can see the obvious lack of care taken in the last year of this boat's life. Grease and dirt is stuck to the motor, the bracket is rusted and some paint and bondo work needs to be done. I had to tie the motor down to keep it from moving as the steering cable is disconnected.
As you can tell, I did some walking around the boat before I bought it. :wink:
So I'll welcome any thoughts, suggestions, criticisms or otherwise. I've worked on boats and yachts for a couple of years and now manage a marina in Atlantic Beach, NC. But at 19 years old (just turned last weekend), this is my first personal boat so I guess I needed a project to kind of show me the ins and out of personal boat maintenance. I learned by doing the jobs I have that it always helps to know your boat from stem to stern in case you need to do some repair work offshore. Which is another important mention.
I plant to use the boat mostly for pleasure, but to occasionally travel offshore within sight of land (15 miles or less) to bottom fish. The engine is a 2 stroke so she will definitely appreciate fuel so I don't plan on doing any overnight or even full day trips offshore. Not so much because I think I'll run out of fuel, but to keep the cost down.
Anyways, let me know what you think about the project. I need to be doing some homework on how to hoist the motor off the boat. There are no lift points on or around the block. I'm assuming the person before me removed them for some reason. I have a local mechanic across the street from the marina who only works on johnson/evinrude engines so he'll be my first stop once I clean it up a little bit. I'll post pictures of the engine this weekend. Thanks!
. But especially a Grady with the amount of wood used in the construction of the boat, you have to be ever mindful of the danger of wood rot. Speaking of which, does anyone want a project Dolphin 200?