1984 Californian MY.. Anyone own?

[castone001]

HowDee all,
Looking at purchasing a 1984 Californian with at 3208's low hours. 870 each.
Anyone have/had one?
Looking for things to look for/look out for.
Seems to be in good shape etc.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. There are quite a few here, someone will chime in.

 

[sunchaser]

Cas
Are you planning on using the vessel or just letting it continue to sit?

20 engine hours per year hints at a variety of underuse issues. Things like

-new hoses,
-pull heat exchangers and aftercoolers and clean them,
-head gaskets changed,
-coolant and raw pumps need checking,
-Stale fuel likely so plan on a tank cleaning.

Do you have a good Cat guy? If so, a borescope into each cylinder would be a good check. Maybe pay a visit to the boat diesel archives for some good insight

 

[castone001]

Awesome! Thank you for this. I'll definitely check all that out!

 

[castone001]

Thank you!

 

[Maui]

I have an ‘82 38’ Californian for seven years now. Truly awesome vessel and the 3208T are great engines. Best vessel I ever owned. Took her to the Exumas and lived on her for eight months in Georgetown and then back to Long Island, NY.
Over 3000 miles and only one broken alternator belt. Did a lot of preliminary replacement including new polyethylene fuel tanks. I would take the risers off the turbo chargers. Easy to get off and mine were badly clogged. Inspecting the entire cool system is a must do on a engines with low hours of such a long time. Good Luck!