new owner of 89 Montego 2557

[Canuck Carver]

Hello all, first time joining a boating forum and new to boat ownership. Glad to be aboard here...had a couple little aluminum boats, first time with a real cruiser. Glad to see that there is an active Carver owners community. Anyone that has a 2557 or 2757 Montego, please say hello as I am sure that I will have a question at some point.

Cheers,
Tomi

[waybomb]

Welcome aboard!

[Beufort]

Glad to see another montego! I'm in the process of getting mine all working and such, was a real pig, I already swapped the engine, replaced a couple pumps and fixed a ton of bad electrical connections. Its soooooo fun!

[Canuck Carver]

Thanks guys!
I've wrenched on cars since i was 10 or so with dad who is an auto mechanic AND thankfully a marine mechanic from the old country. He grew up working on Volvo stuff years before we moved to Canada. Quite interested in renovating this Montego to what we want, but overall it is in pretty decent shape.
Got a great deal on it, but only because it comes with twin Merc 3.7l 4 bangers. everything I have read on these says run, run, as fast as you can...but they run great, and the water test was great. Hoping to get a couple months of cruising in before putting it into the pole barn for a family reno project.
Are there any other owners here with 3.7s?
T.

[RGrew176]

Welcome aboard. Looks like you are across the river from me. My boat is located in Gibraltar Mi. If they ever open the border perhaps our wakes will cross. Good luck with the Carver. Those 3.7's if maintained properly are pretty darn good engines. Some good friends of mine had a 27' Santego with those engines. Ran like a top.

[Canuck Carver]

Yes, we are just separated by a few miles and at times a frustrating border...We live with across from and with a great view of Grosse Isle and the water. Months of watching boats going by during COVID shutdowns was enough to make up our minds to get a boat. Maybe we will see other at crystal bay or wherever our float plans may cross.

[tomschauer]

Welcome!
With those 3.7's, run, run run them until they die. Then replace them with 4.3's.
Not bad engines, parts are expensive and hard to come by. They are a mercury cast aluminum block with a ford 460 cast iron head. Also the same bore and pistons as a 460 but different stroke. Keep good clean oil in them at all times. A good idea is to pull the rocker covers and check the torque on the head bolts. Leaking head gaskets were the Achilles heal for these. A small coolant leak over a long time causes the cylinder bores to go out of round.
I had a 2757 with the 190hp 3.7 LX 4bbl engines and alpha drives. They ran pretty good, but a little lacking on the low end. Kind of surprising for a big bore 4 cylinder.

[Makis96]

Hi, This it Tim, I just purchased in June of 2023 an 89 Montego 2557 with a 454. I have been working on it for a while and was able to get it out once last year before it was to cold. So far the boat is great! I have cleaned the risers, replaced the seals, replaced the rear bilge pump, replaced the raw water pump, sealed a potable water leak, and replaced one of the bellows, but I still have to repair the fuel tank sending unit and I having a leak in the black water holding tank but I don’t know how to get it out. I am also trying to understand the overboard discharge system. Hope to hear from you soon!

[pepmyster]

Welcome to the group!!!!!!!

[waybomb]

Welcome aboard!