Introduction

[Rick Weaver]

My name is Rick Weaver. I have a 1999 2520. She has no name, but has been a great friend. I live on the Ches Bay and fish after work every fishable day. I don't run far, but still put a lot of hours on the engine. I blew up the original 225 at only 500 hours. Up until this past 2 years, I kept her in our neighborhood marina with bubblers. I have never winterized and am proud to say I have caught a Striper in every month of the year. Oh, and one more thing. I rarely if ever flushed my engine. Amazingly, I have had very few problems with engine number 2 and just hit the 1300 hour mark. The problem is shifting. It is getting harder and harder to get in and out of gear. The mechanic is telling me that there is a lot of corrosion from not flushing, and that the idle needs to be high in order to keep the engine cool. We have been building a new house for the past 2 years and I have kept the boat on a lift at our rental home. This is my first lift ever, and I have had a tough time with wind and as a result I have dinged up the gelcoat quite a bit, for the first time in the life of the boat. So I am here for help. I want to use the winter to restore my baby so she can sit like a shiny 57 Chevy on my brand new lift, at my brand new house.From now on I will treat her better and do all the things that I have been remiss. I have no skills, so i will be farming everything out. I have been talking to a dealer who has a demo motor he will sell me and tells me they can paint the hull any color I want, fix the dents, and bring her back good a new for about 30K less the trade in of my motor (4 to 5K) . If anyone has any insight as a better solution, please share. The easy thing would be to buy a new boat, but I love my Classic Parker.

 

[Megabyte]

First off... Welcome to ClassicParker. 8)

Now for the rest... that is a lot to digest and comment on.
Let's start here:

What was the original motor, and what are you running now?
If you have water at your dock and you are able, why don't you flush given that your mechanic seems to feel that is an issue for you?
If you do a search here for "SaltAway", that might be a good start.

Gelcoat is easy to repair and way cheaper than a patch and a paint job even though I've seen some really pretty Parkers with painted hulls.
Repairing the dings is easier than you might think.

Go to your user profile and put your location in the "Location" field so folks close to you can offer some help.

 

[Rick Weaver]

Just plain lazy. I love to fish, but taking care of my toys has never been my strong suit. Seems like a waste of time now. I want to reposer, but also bring back the beauty of the boat. Maybe even improve it with a cool paint job. Is the price right? Is there someone in Annapolis who specializes in restoring Parkers.

 

[Megabyte]

Maybe even improve it with a cool paint job. Is the price right? Is there someone in Annapolis who specializes in restoring Parkers.

Can't help with your quoted price, but you might want to go by Bert Jabins yard and ask there.
They don't specialize in any brand, but they are one of the few yards with the skills needed to do a proper paint job.
There might be other yards equally qualified, but if it were me, I'd start there.

You might also have them quote you on simply repairing the dings and restoring the gelcoat.
If you want to see what would be involved, check out any of my spring commissioning threads in the Projects section.
My hull was in very poor shape when I bought the boat back in 2003 (it is a 1996 model).
It took time and a lot of effort, but she now looks as good as a new one.

My fishing ranges from the BB to BPL and everywhere in-between. Maybe I'll see you out there in the spring.

Good luck!