So the reason the motor was rebuilt is because the guy originally had a 9.9 and one of the cylinders lost 50% of the compression. Instead of rebuilding the 9.9, his neighbor, who is a marine mechanic, had a 15 that had a busted lower unit. He took the good lower unit from the 9.9 and put in on the 15 and fully serviced the rest of the 15 since it was already being worked on. This was done 3 years ago.
I got to his place, which was immaculate and very tidy, 20 minutes ahead of time so he didn't have time to warm up the motor first. So before he started it up, he pointed out all of it's deficiencies....which were all cosmetic. He also explained all the regular maintenance procedures he did in full detail....he was very particular about this. So after hooking up the hose and gas tank, it started right up after 3 pulls. Shifting from forward to reverse was very smooth, very little white smoke for a 2-stroke motor. After the test run he disconnected the gas, started up again to burn off the excess gas still in the motor and even kept chocking it to suck every little bit of gas out. He said he does this every time he is done with the motor and especially for long time storage with the addition of spraying some fogging oil just before it completely runs out of gas......like I said he is very particular about the details. He seems like a very straight forward and honest person.
Also, since the 9.9 cover fits on the 15, I would have a stealth 15 for all the 9.9 lakes.
In addition to the motor he has a 6 gal gas tank, fuel line and a shiny new prop that just needs to have a new hub installed.
I think $500 is a good price and I feel very comfortable with the person selling it.
I will be sleeping on it tonight and will make a decision tomorrow.
