I have an accepted offer on a 7M.

zip · 14 June 2015, 21:27

It is your standard retired military Cummins/Conrad vessel located here in Southern California.

I took a look at it a couple of weeks ago on a trailer, and am scheduled for a sea trial hopefully this upcoming week.

I went through the boat pretty thoroughly, and it appears to be in fair shape. I don't believe there is anything majorly wrong with the boat, and close to turn key.

The batteries were dead, so I couldn't turn any of the switches on, but the owner said he would have them replaced by the time of my sea trial.

The only thing I know about these vessels, I have learned on this site. I have picked up quite a bit of knowledge, but not enough to really know exactly what I am looking at and looking for.

I do not know if I will have the boat professionally surveyed prior to purchase, but would like at the minimum to hire someone to go out on the sea trial and take a cursory look at the boat. Is there anyone here that might be interested in that, or know of someone in the area that does this kind of work?

I own a van with a diesel in it, and when I peg the throttle at a stop light, smoke comes out of the exhaust. This is normal. Is it the same on a boat?

I know the boat has tach, trim, oil, and temp gauges. I know it has a couple more, but I don't remember what they are. What other gauges are likely to be on the boat? What kind of readings should I be seeing once boat is at running temperature?

Thanks again everyone. Fingers crossed.

ShinyShoe · 14 June 2015, 21:50

Gauges: ?battery volts/amps and fuel seem good possibility

zip · 14 June 2015, 21:53

^^^^
haha, yep I would imagine those would be a no brainer. I didn't know if exhaust temp might be there.

Todd Grimley · 15 June 2015, 07:12

Hey there zip
Find out whether or not the boat has been sitting for a long period of time. If so check out the exhaust side of the turbo. Sometimes rust can form inside there ,from being so close to where the exhaust fumes meet with the sea water and splash back up,and can seize the rotor( causing loss of power) or rust can form on the rotor fins, causing it to become out of balance( and cause future failure of turbo. You need to undo the mixing elbow of the turbo to check that.
You might want to get a marine mechanic to check out the engine , steering and stern drive at least before you purchase. They can cost a small fortune to repair if things are ceased up, or waters got into bearings and need replacing!
Hopefully there are no problems with the boat. I'm just talking from experience, as I've been doing a project on an ex navy 7 m and ran into some of the issues I've described. I was lucky to be able to do a fair bit myself but...... parts and turbo rebuild $$$. Don't let my experience deter you, as I knew that the boat I bought needed some repairs and maintainance . I could of checked it out more thoroughly before I purchased.
All the best which ever way you go, zip.

zip · 15 June 2015, 11:52

Todd,

I believe the boat has received regular use until around 7 months ago.

I have reached out to a couple of members from this site in an attempt to hire someone with more mechanical knowledge than myself to look at the vessel.

Thanks for your input.

Blair

jyasaki · 15 June 2015, 14:08

Congrats, Zip.

Hope your purchase goes well.

jky

capntroy · 15 June 2015, 20:23

I just pm'd you the number of a guy named Nick, he's got more time in the engine room of a Willard 7M than anybody I know...awesome diesel mechanic...

zip · 16 June 2015, 03:41

^^^^^
Sweet. Thanks. I called him today.

Bigtalljv · 22 June 2015, 20:00

Very exciting. we need PICTURES!!!!

zip · 22 June 2015, 22:43

Jason,

I'm not sure what is going with the guys I'm trying to buy it from.
They just don't seem real motivated to make this happen.
They say they have very limited available time to meet me.
We just pushed the date out another 8 days.

zip · 01 July 2015, 17:20

It appears we now have a sea trial and survey date of 7/8.

I was not able to get any of the mechanics recommended from this site to ever return my calls, so I went with a local guy. I just have to pay an extra 4 hour travel time. Bummer, but he comes very highly recommended.

Fingers crossed.

Thanks again for everyone's time and information.

tworotorturbo · 02 July 2015, 12:56

Good luck zip, hope it works out. Let us know.

zip · 08 July 2015, 18:14

DENIED!
Out of water survey was about what I expected.
Put the boat in the water for sea trial and couldn't get it in gear.��

Bigtalljv · 09 July 2015, 02:08

Sounds like the price needs to be much lower

Jason

zip · 09 July 2015, 03:00

Jason,

The owner still tried to negotiate a deal. I told him the boat was now a project, and offered him half his asking price. He declined my offer.

Bigtalljv · 09 July 2015, 03:27

Nice! Sorry it fell through.

Jason

zip · 12 July 2015, 19:05

Owner just contacted me and said he would like to see if we can still make this deal happen.
He is going to have someone address the transmission issue, which I believe may be a linkage related.
A few of the gauges didn't work either. Not sure that will be an easy fix.

I again made him a "project" offer, but he declined.

Bigtalljv · 12 July 2015, 19:56

Sounds like a good bargaining position. Have him fix everything and still pay less as obviously it needs work.

or at least not maintained to the level you would expect for the price he is asking.

Jason

zip · 12 July 2015, 20:45

Jason,

Once owner says he is ready, I will bring my surveyor back up there and hopefully sea trial. Having oil samples taken too.
This would be a lot easier for me if you would just sell me your boat. I'd take it with the broken windshield.

Bigtalljv · 12 July 2015, 21:09

Sorry I replaced the windshield with plexiglass on Wednesday so I don't need to sell the boat anymore