Hi there ya'll

HarryC123

New Member
Aug 17, 2019
7
Boat Info
440 Sundancer 93', F-32 Trojan 78'
Engines
355 Mercs with Velvet drives
Brand new here and I need a ton of information...
Looking at a 1993 440 DA.
Has big white Cats and I couldn't find and tags on them. 375s? 1200 and 1201 hrs respectively.
Looks to be a red 4 cyl generator.
Boat is rough. Needs a good cleaning and lots of new interior parts...
Hull looks really good and top decks need lots of polish.
All the plastic glass in the biminis is shot.
What do I need to do to check this out before I finish my end of the contract...
Any real problems with these boats?
and if there is a place to steer me to please feel free to point me there...
Guy's asking 45K
I left a deposit pending inspections? Core construction a disaster??
Thanks,
Harry
 
Harry, you know this boat is going to have problems so be certain to hire a good surveyor to examine the boats and another one to inspect the engines. Also get oil sample analysis done on the engine oil.

If you get the engine serial numbers and call CAT they can tell you if any warranty work was done on the engines.

If you get the HIN and call Sea Ray Customer Service they can tell you the same thing on the boat itself, and also answer any questions you may have about the construction of the boat.

Others on here who own 440DB's may chime in and answer your questions. It's a popular boat but I'm not familiar enough with it to answer any questions.

Good Luck
 
Any chance you have the number for SR Customer service???
 
4.3 is a motor I rebuild in my sleep...
I am a chevy guy and have done a bunch of S-10 Blazer engine performance mods on.

Thank you!!!
 
Welcome Harry. There are three things you need to remember about this purchase. Surveyor, surveyor, surveyor and surveyor. Oh wait....That's four!

Other than that, I would take an inside-out approach. That is to say, start with any mechanical items the surveyor points out. Then take care of any manufacturer recommended maintenance items on all 3 engines, for which you do not have a maintenance record. That way you are starting from a known baseline, from which to track intervals. Only after the above, would I start on cosmetic items and/or upgrades. Having a pretty boat is important, but having a pretty boat you can't rely on is no fun at all.
 
Harry,
Keep in mind you can split the survey responsibilities. Hire a good boat guy, as well as a good marine diesel guy who knows the specifics of your engines. We did this with the Sabre we just purchased and it was well worth the added expense.

H
Great Advice!
 
What does a 4.3 chev motor have to do with this 440DA?
I think he is relaying his mechanical experience. Being able to rebuild 4.3 (or 3.8s or 8.1s) asleep or otherwise gets your foot in the door into the diesel world but they are really two different worlds (along with a few tools you probably don't have yet!) I think a good gas mech could easily transition to the diesel world, but it is a different world, a world into which any serious (beyond the weekender) boater should move into.
 
I think he is relaying his mechanical experience. Being able to rebuild 4.3 (or 3.8s or 8.1s) asleep or otherwise gets your foot in the door into the diesel world but they are really two different worlds (along with a few tools you probably don't have yet!) I think a good gas mech could easily transition to the diesel world, but it is a different world, a world into which any serious (beyond the weekender) boater should move into.
Exactly and have just enough diesel experience to get me in deep water I mean trouble...
 
Harry, you know this boat is going to have problems so be certain to hire a good surveyor to examine the boats and another one to inspect the engines. Also get oil sample analysis done on the engine oil.

If you get the engine serial numbers and call CAT they can tell you if any warranty work was done on the engines.

If you get the HIN and call Sea Ray Customer Service they can tell you the same thing on the boat itself, and also answer any questions you may have about the construction of the boat.

Others on here who own 440DB's may chime in and answer your questions. It's a popular boat but I'm not familiar enough with it to answer any questions.

Good Luck
Best advice!
Called customer service, they informed me that my boat doesn't have one of those messed-up core hulls. It's got a nice solid fiberglass hull, so as far as surveying the hall they recommended, not really that big a deal. The only thing that's built with a core construction is the lower decking. The marina is going to perform maintenance on the two engines and the generator which are 375 caterpillars and a 8000 KW generator, it's a cute little red one. Other than that the bilge looks like you could eat off of it. There's only twelve hundred hours on the engines then the only thing that's really scary is what it's going to cost to repair the canvas.
From what I've read everywhere the construction of these boats from 1989 to 1995 was not of the Core Construction. The person at customer service said that boat is built like a brick you-know-what house. And apparently mine has quite a few amenities that were not standard. I'm pretty happy with what I'm buying as long as it runs good . I thank you all very much for your help I'm excited to see if my offer is accepted and I can go down and get this boat.
 
Last edited:
Best advice!
Called customer service, they informed me that my boat doesn't have one of those messed-up core hulls. It's got a nice solid fiberglass hull, so as far as surveying the hall they recommended, not really that big a deal. The only thing that's built with a core construction is the lower decking. The marina is going to perform maintenance on the two engines and the generator which are 375 caterpillars and a 8000 KW generator, it's a cute little red one. Other than that the bilge looks like you could eat off of it. There's only twelve hundred hours on the engines then the only thing that's really scary is what it's going to cost to repair the canvas.
From what I've read everywhere the construction of these boats from 1989 to 1995 was not of the Core Construction. The person at customer service said that boat is built like a brick you-know-what house. And apparently mine has quite a few amenities that were not standard. I'm pretty happy with what I'm buying as long as it runs good . I thank you all very much for your help I'm excited to see if my offer is accepted and I can go down and get this boat.

A "hull survey" is somewhat of a misnomer. The surveyor will check all systems of the boat excluding the motor. Your hull may be solid, but remember it's got 20 or so holes in it, filled with various transducers, plugs, intakes, shafts, etc, any one of which can put the boat on the bottom. I wouldn't be tempted to skip the hull survey just on the basis of its solid construction.
 
If anything the surveyor will give you an unemotional set of eyes. He'll likely point out a bunch of minor things which will need addressed. You'll be surprised at what he finds and what has been deferred by the current owner.
 
Anyone have a number for a surveyor in the northern Maryland area...
 

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