I spotted this and I'm not sure what to think of it. I would like to tap the
wisdom of others.
Locally, I've found a 1990 Four Wins 195 Freedom with a 175 OMC Cobra I/O
going for about $1500.00.
The price seems good, so I checked it out and here is what I find:
Outer hull looks great and the trailer and tires look good. Seats and trim
look good too.
It has pretty bad rot in the floor immediately in front of engine cover that
has creeped a little into the floor behind rear facing left seat.
The center floor section seems to be a separate panel, so I think I could
replace that easily.
The rot creep to the left looks like more of a problem to fix, but it
doesn't look like it has gotten really deep.
I don't know much about the engine other than the current owner says it has
had regular maintenance and is in good shape.
For this price, I still might consider this boat, but I'm getting a negative
feeling off the net about the OMC Cobra drive.
I'm really an outboard fan and have never really considered an I/O before.
Anecdotely, I/Os always seem to have more problems and have poorer
performace than equivalent outboards.
I don't get to the lake as often as I would like (6-8 times a year), but for
a price like this, it sure looks better than renting.
I've owned boats in the past (all outboards), so I do have some idea about
what it means to have a boat.
What I don't want is something that is likely to be problematic and
expensive to fix.
Please let me know any comments on this drive system and anything I need to
look out for.

Thanks, Brian

Well put. You make me wonder if it would be worth having, even if it were
free.

Outboards seem to be harder to come by.
From what I can derive from the net, if you have to go I/O, go with Merc
Alpha.

Thanks, Brian

"Dread Pirate Szfranski" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 6 Nov 2005 01:19:19 -0500, "Brian"
wrote:

I spotted this and I'm not sure what to think of it. I would like to tap
the
wisdom of others.
Locally, I've found a 1990 Four Wins 195 Freedom with a 175 OMC Cobra I/O
going for about $1500.00.
The price seems good, so I checked it out and here is what I find:
Outer hull looks great and the trailer and tires look good. Seats and trim
look good too.
It has pretty bad rot in the floor immediately in front of engine cover
that
has creeped a little into the floor behind rear facing left seat.
The center floor section seems to be a separate panel, so I think I could
replace that easily.
The rot creep to the left looks like more of a problem to fix, but it
doesn't look like it has gotten really deep.
I don't know much about the engine other than the current owner says it
has
had regular maintenance and is in good shape.
For this price, I still might consider this boat, but I'm getting a
negative
feeling off the net about the OMC Cobra drive.
I'm really an outboard fan and have never really considered an I/O before.
Anecdotely, I/Os always seem to have more problems and have poorer
performace than equivalent outboards.
I don't get to the lake as often as I would like (6-8 times a year), but
for
a price like this, it sure looks better than renting.
I've owned boats in the past (all outboards), so I do have some idea about
what it means to have a boat.
What I don't want is something that is likely to be problematic and
expensive to fix.
Please let me know any comments on this drive system and anything I need
to
look out for.

Let's be honest here. Repairs will double or triple the price of the
boat. This drive is always suspect anyway. If you have floor rot,
then the chances of having transom rot are also high - you may have a
stringer problem as a result. I doubt that it has low hours, although
it might.

Looking objectively at this, with the price of quality marine plywood
being somewhere above the stratosphere, resin and glass prices, your
own time and effort (yes, your time and effort cost money), you will
at least double the initial price of the boat for the things that you
know are bad, never mind the things you don't know are bad.

Besides, it's an inboard and we all know about inboards. :)

You certainly can take a chance, but I would take a pass.