We are in a financial sh*thole with kids, college bills and other stuff, so we thought we aren;t going to be able to get a boat of our own this year.  The other day  i was browsing craigslist and found an 89 20 foot Maxum for 1800 bucks.
The paint was oxidized and she was all dirty.  We decided to take our chances and drove up to lansing just to check her out.  The hull was 100% sound with no spider cracks or anything obvious. The motor ran strong and started with relative ease. We managed top negotiate down to 1400 and took her home.

Between me and my buddy we spent all day last saturday conducting repairs.  I rewired all electronics, gauges, controls etc. Even installed a new CD player/stereo/speakers.  He 3M'ed the hull with rubbing/wax restorer. 

The hull turnded out wonmderful and she shines as well as any other new boat.  Electronics, lights and everything else now works.  Now we just need to fix up the upholstery in a  few spots and re-enforce the floor where its weak with some marine plywood.  All in all an awesome buy for $1400 bucks.

Now, some questions for some of you folks who work on your own boats:

1)  Tachometer gauge. I could not find the sending lead anywhere on the motor.  I know that tach works by counting pulses coming off the ignition coil or something of that nature.  Where would such a sending unit be located? Its a 1989 Evinrude 125hp professional outboard with VROII i believe.

2) Where can i find Bimini PINS on the cheap? The Admiral would murder me if I paid $15.99 per pin at west marine (what a rip those guys are).

3) Wehere can i find a rotating latch to shut the windshield? (1 out of 2 is brokern, small plastic latch)

4) Where can I find replacement cupholders? They are just rounded cupholders with a lip up on top so they don't fall into the predrilled opening.

5) where can i find marine carpet to make a new set of stepping boards on the trailer? original ones are missing.

Will post more questions as I do the repairs. Thanks in advance guys!

Congrats on the new boat.

For the bunk carpet & cup holders check Cabela's.

I'm sure the wife won't mind spending more money on something that she'll enjoy using. The wife's tend to bitch more when you spend money on yourself instead of them.

What a sweet looking boat, Andy. Congrats. It sure cleaned up nicely. For your supply needs, try Overtons. Not sure of how their prices compare but here is their website.
http://overtons.com/

Congarats brother!!! Now we can hook up at the moot and PARTY!!! Jen and I miss you guys!!!

That would be cool castmaster. I think we are gonna go up north the weekend of 4th. L:ike fri-tuesday or something.  Email me your number derek, i lost my whole phonebook

Beautiful boat.  And what a steal.  The only problem is, you'll end up putting more in gas into that boat than you actually paid for it

Oh man Ice, you can say that again.  I keep on putting 15-20 dollars every time we go out and it literraly seems as its not making any diffrence on the damn gas gauge.

Very nice looking boat, and it sounds like a great deal at $1400

More enjoyment for your summer time.

Se is definately not a looker on the inside though, but she can fly fly fly. H2o experienced it the other day.  I think I already spun a hub too as it is someone tough to get on the plane.

The motor is oversized (original motor was 75 hp merc), the one I have is 125 Evinrude.  When coming out of the hole it feels almost as prop is ventilating through the water without creating much forward force.

I thought the prop was incorrect pitch. H2o incists the hub is spun.  To mee it really feels as it ventilates too much.

Any ideas?

Sounds like a prop problem too me. I've had the same problem after dinging a rock.

Don`t just nail it on the hole shot. Ease it into full power. If it still ventilates you know thats your problem. It does sound like a spun prop though.