hey johnny, here are the things that i would be the most concerned about, BTW, these are the big hitters for an "older" boat
regarding the boat check these two thing very completely, the transom and the "stringers"
if the the transom has any movement or "softness" to it run and quickly, it is a very costly repair and you do not want to have a transom failure, secondly check the stringers, they aretheinternal parts (useally wood) that run from the transom forward and are the strenghting part of the structure from front to rear,make sure there are no holes or extremely soft spots in the floor...
on the motor, if you have a compression gauge check the compression on all cylinders i would look for 90-115# or better..
if you don't feel comfortable checking these things offer to pay someone in the industry (local boat mechanic) to help, it will save you money and headaches in short order..
1500 could be a fair deal, but if you have to repair the transom, or the motor you'll easilydouble that in the boat in no time[:-][&o]would be better to pay a little more for a "solid boat" or a good tin boat
that boat may be the deal of the century, and i hope it is, but i have seen and known a lot of people that a bad purchase will turn them against all boats[:-]
last year i bought our boy a 17 foot aluminum bass tracker with a 96' model 50 horse mercury with tilt and trim at a garage sale for 400$ when the boat is finished i'll have less than 1200$ in it, and i assure you it will be a good boat, we had to replace the floor, hear are some pics
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/keiths487/boatpics011.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/keiths487/boatpics012.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/keiths487/boatpics007.jpg
there are good deals out there
, make sure yours is one of them