Check a few things. Compression. Best to worst should be no more than 5
lbs if "perfect". If 1 and 6 are low, you should change the crank seals.
Wouldn't hurt to get a full gasket set and change all the rubber parts plus
the impeller. With a good shop manual (Clymer or whatever) you should be
able to rebuild if needed. The only "special tool" I needed was a flywheel
puller and I took the powerhead to a local marine mechanic who pulled it for
$10. The tool was $50 and I hoped I'd ;never need it again. Your cylinders
I guess are like mine ('88 200hp)--chromed aluminum. I had to get 2 bored
and sleeved ($250/hole for piston and rings, another $250/hole to bore and
sleeve). I walked out of BassPro with a little box of parts for about $750
and then paid the machine shop about $800 and all I had was parts! Compared
to an auto engine a V-6 Merc is like 6 deranged people all had their
favorite little system and they each piled it on one project! It's hard to
imagine how they could have made it any more complicated. You got one guy
that is a racer type and uses surface gap (racing) plugs that don't work
very well for trolling and they're not resistance plugs. Another guy had
this little black box that would make it idle better and tweak the timing
over 5600rpm (but now I suspect it cuts the engine at over 5000 and idles
poorly). Then there's the pollution freak who put in the "bleed hoses" so
any unburned fuel/oil would stay in and smoke like crazy at cranking after
setting a while. Can you believe some demented mind would run a rubber hose
off the top end that, if it cracks or comes off will lean out the
cylinder?? On and on.
One more thing on the motor--check the oil (bottom screw) in the foot, for
excessive metal on the magnetic rod. (A new/rebuilt foot will cost you 1 to
$2,000.
As to the boat, stomp all over the floor to see if it's got soft spots and
check the transom. With the motor tilted up, put your weight on the prop,
up and down to check for transom flex (rot).
LD


"Jeff B" wrote in message
news:CKAVg.8830$Rp3.445@dukeread12...
My Dad has an opportunity to buy an older Ranger bass boat that is
seemingly in "perfect condition" for what he feels is a very good price.
It is a one owner boat and my Dad knows the owner and his meticulous
nature so he really wants to buy it. However, he is a bit concerned about
the motor itself just based on its age (it currently runs flawlessly). He
has asked me to try to figure out how difficult it would be to work on
this particular motor if/when it needs repair down the road. I have a lot
of experience with 4-stroke car engines (I work with them for a living
actually, building turbo/efi race motors) but I have literally zero
experience with anything related to boats, 2-stroke motors, or even carbs.
So in a nutshell, for somebody that has a wide selection of tools, and
lots of mechanical experience, are there enough resources out there
(service manuals, etc.) that a person could jump in a succesfully repair
this type of motor?

On another topic, is there any particular part of this boat that we should
knit pick before buying? Every single thing on this boat "looks" perfect.
The paint, the carpet, even the upholstery, but we have never owned any
kind of boat and buying anything this old is a bit scary.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Jeff