Looking at a '89 Nautique

Also the woman shooting the boat to me, said she heard it on the lake and instantly turned it off.

Its also not a ski nautique... mustang maybe?

You could just barely make out what looked like Nautique or Ski on the back of the boat. I figured I didn't really need to post about it and I should walk away, but that is tough to do, hah. Stubborn old goat.

What does the HIN end in??
My 1978 Mustang ends in     M78G
1979 Mustangs had teak strips in front of the front scoop, 1978 did not

HIN: CT801206M78C17MS

Everything I am looking up is saying this should only be 12 characters long? Also the title shows 1989 CC. But from those pictures, it is definitely a mustang. The windscreen, dash, seating all match.

Strange***no rear bilge blower vents. Was that normal??
Non factory floors,   may have had a stringer job in it's past.

Duane in Indy wrote: Strange***no rear bilge blower vents. Was that normal?? Non factory floors,   may have had a stringer job in it's past.

Duane,

th3_d0c wrote: The floor/runners were supposedly redone about 9 years ago,

Regarding the aft deck vents and the non original hull graphics, I'd say there's a chance the vents were removed/filled in and then the hull and deck were painted.

Morfoot wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: there's a chance the vents were removed/filled in and then the hull and deck were painted. That's exactly what somebody did! Look closely at the picture of the stern and you can see the vent hole plugged, painted over and a half arse job at that.

Tim,
Yup, I see it now. Not a very good idea for the USCG regs!!

th3_d0c wrote: The exhaust ports are below the ski platform, not shown in pictures. .

Rob,
We are referring to the bilge ventilation exhaust and NOT the engine/cooling water exhaust.

th3_d0c wrote: How does the stingers/floor look? I guess you can't really tell?

Does she have any more pictures of the stringer job before the sole (floor) was laid?

BTW, you haven't mentioned was the asking price is? With more and more oddities showing up, the price had better be pretty low!

Sounds like the title is for a different boat.

The boat may have been stolen.

The legal problems with this may cost more than the purchase price.

Walk away. There are too many obvious issues with the boat and you must assume at least a few unidentified issues.
1. If you're willing to work on a fixer-upper, you're better off with something that's all original but old. Getting parts will be easier, getting advice will be easier.
2. Spending $3k on a sound original boat leaves room to drop a few grand for a $5k to $6k value boat. $1k for a hacked up boat with prior owner mods could easily cost more than it's worth.
3. You didn't say what you wanted the boat for, but it's probably for a low cost, fun boat or a restoration project. Either way, getting an all original boat will be easier.

I suggest you let this one go. With the boating season here, finding a good deal gets harder. Best to wait until fall or winter....

Walk away there are better boats out there keep looking.

Sorry, Peter, I could have been clearer in my post! The advice here is great and I've read a lot of very helpful posts. Actually bought my '89 after reading here that it was possible to repair an Invertaflo muffler...

I meant that if a prior owner has made a lot of undocumented modifications it is harder to figure out what the correct replacement parts should be, especially if the part is old and part numbers are faded. You can't just go to Skidim and order based on make and model.

Diagnosing any issues related to those mods gets complicated unless you know exactly what has been changed and can explain it to the really great members here who are trying to help. Can you imagine the post when he asks why the doghouse exploded? How many replies would it take before members figured out someone had glassed over the vents? Yikes!

I didn't mean that good advice is hard to come by, it just takes a lot longer to work through the unknowns to get to it.

I just really felt for this guy trying to get an affordable boat that he could work on. Maybe saw enough of myself to prompt my first post. His life will be easier working on something that's original because it will be easier to order parts and helping him will be more straightforward.

He came to the right place for advice, and I'm hoping I helped a little. Apologies if it came out wrong!