89 overnighter with original 150 yami

[jdobyns]

First time poster, new Grady owner and I have a few questions.

1). I have a 89 overnighter and I love the boat. I bought this boat 2 months ago for an amazing price. I have the original 150 yami with ~2500 hours. The motor starts and runs as it should. Averages out about 30 mphs with 4 people and gear. Should I start looking around for a repower or just keep rocking this motor until it gives up. Should I know of anything to check on these engines periodically? It has the oil tank on board and on the motor still hooked up and its working fine.

2). I think I am missing the "tubs" that go into the back bilge area under the seats. Where can I go to find these?

3). The boat has bad bottom paint on it, places chipped out, etc. How is the best to remove all the bottom paint.

Thanks,

J.R.

 

[gwwannabe]

I had an 89 Overnighter and loved the boat. It had a 200 HP Johnson 2-stroke on it and would hit 40 MPH with 6 adults aboard. It had lots of built-up bottom paint on it but I was too cheap to have it soda -blasted off and I was too lazy to sand it off. Since I kept it on a lift, I just let most of it wear off.

I have no experience with 150 HP motors on the Overnighter but think it's borderline under-powered. Many people believe it's perfectly adequate. In your case, an older engine will deliver even less power. A compression check on each cylinder might answer the question for you.

I would suggest that you start looking for a replacement motor so you are in control instead of waiting for it to die and leaving you to play catch up. There are lots of motors that will perform well for you, used or new. You might consider Yamaha OX 66s which are fuel injected (better economy), Yamaha HPDI's which are also fuel injected but better than the OX66s (even better economy). Yami F-200s would be a good choice (best economy). I happen to be a Suzuki 4 stroke bigot. A 175 or 200 would be sweet. I have twin 140 hp 4-strokes on my Gulfstream and I get better fuel economy than I got on my Overnighter with the 200 HP Johnson 2-stroke. I have no experience with Merc's but see a lot of them around.

Gary 03 Gulfstream twin 140 Suzikis

 

[Doc Stressor]

That 150 hp Yamaha 2 stroke was just about the most bullet proof outboard ever made. They aren't bad on fuel for a carbed 2 stroke. However, a 23 year old engine is not worth anything, so you might as well run it until something in the top end or lower unit blows. As long as you don't plan on running offshore, there isn't much risk in waiting for it to die or begin to run crappy.

My 2008 226 has the same size plastic bait wells as my old 204C. So you should be able to find some at a boat bone yard or get them new from Grady.

The best way to remove old bottom paint is to have a shop blast it off with sand or soda. You can then sand down the surface and paint it with 2 part polyurethane as long as you don't need anti-fouling paint. The polyurethane finish will be as smooth and hard as gel coat. I did that on my 204C and picked up 2 mph at top end.

 

[jdobyns]

Thank you for the kind advise. I do not go off shore, just the Potomac, Chesapeake and Rappahannock. Normally I am on the Potomac around colonial beach or on the Rappahannock between Downing bridge and Urbanna. I am slowly working my way around to expand my fishing areas.

I think the previous owner gave me some gel stuff to take the bottom paint off. Has anyone ever used this stuff?