I'm looking at buying an older 1974 Checkmate 16' speed boat with a
135 hp Johnson (i call it Grampa's Speed boat cause it's old and a
kinda ugly brownish color). I'm not sure of the model but I think it's
something like a Tri-mate and it's got a V-hull. The hull seems to be
in good shape for a boat that old. The guy is asking $1600 and I'm
thinking of offering him around $1200. I intend on restoring it a bit
(I've seen restored versions of this boat sell for around $3000 or
more). I'm a newbie to the boating scene, but I have lake access and i
want a boat i can fish with and maybe use for skiing/tubing. I'm also
kinda poor with a budget under $2000 for a boat. Anyways my question
is, since i know little about boat motors/2-cycle engines, how can I
tell if this (mid-1980's?) 135 hp Johnson motor is a good boat motor?
And if it is, is that kind of boat capable of handling that much
horsepower or will I be ragin around the lake one day and all the
sudden it'll explode into fiberglass chunks?

If anybody has a good honest opinion let me know. I'd be glad to
answer any computer software/hardware/wireless networking questions
cause that's stuff i do know something about.

Thanks,

Shawn