Official 280 Sundancer Thread

Ididntdoit said:
there is NO WAY a 6.2 is adequate - even the twin 190hp 4.3s from 2001 are underpowered
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Have you or anyone here actually been on a 280 with the 6.2 engine? The seller claims it's plenty fast, but of course he's trying to sell the boat. I read somewhere recently where a person put a 6.2L in place of the 7.4L and was quite happy with the results. Of course, the Bravo III OD helps a bit also.
 
Here are a couple of pictures of the couch. The backrest is about an inch forward of the cabinet. It's stiff and very comfortable. I didn;t have it set 100% when i took the pictures thus the wrinkles. (they are gone now). I also upgraded the stereo by adding a pair of JL Audio 650's and a pair of the 770's along with a Polk Audio 660watt amp. It rocks now but I will be adding a subwoofer down the road. We went south last weekend and will be heading down south again this weekend on the boat so I ran out of time.


Couch.jpg

Couch 2.jpg

JL Audio.jpg
 
I hope you 280 owners don't mind me hijacking your threads but I have another question.

This is to anyone that has the 496 MAG engine. I saw a 2004 280 today, and the owner started the engine with the engine hatch open. I was hearing an intermittent air sucking sound. The owner said it has to do with the fuel-injection system. Has anyone experienced this, and if not any idea of what that can be? Thanks...
 
Danny Troy said:
I hope you 280 owners don't mind me hijacking your threads but I have another question.

This is to anyone that has the 496 MAG engine. I saw a 2004 280 today, and the owner started the engine with the engine hatch open. I was hearing an intermittent air sucking sound. The owner said it has to do with the fuel-injection system. Has anyone experienced this, and if not any idea of what that can be? Thanks...
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I bought my 280 with the 496 brand new and it always had the intermittent sucking sound. I had the dealer and another Merc mechanic check it out and both said it was normal.
 
Gunn said:
Mike, love the modifications. Where'd you re-route the bilge hoses? I absolutely hate that mine lay right along the bottom like they do.

Bucit, would love to see pics of your dinette conversion too. I think Floriduramax did the same thing, but I have never seen pics either.

So Mike do the wine glasses make a lot of noise when cruising the bay?!! How was the weather on your Solomon's cruise? We visited there for Labor Day 2011. Got beat up coming home with winds out of the south and 3+ waves; felt like we were all in a heavyweight boxing match after that!

Tom
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Sorry...I finally finished her up and re-upholstered the entire cock pit. I have been so busy that the poor 280 has kinda taken a back seat:( I am hoping to clean up all the mess and take some pics. We made new curtains and had a new custom bed spread made as well.
 
floriduramax1 said:
Sorry...I finally finished her up and re-upholstered the entire cock pit. I have been so busy that the poor 280 has kinda taken a back seat:( I am hoping to clean up all the mess and take some pics. We made new curtains and had a new custom bed spread made as well.
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Can't wait to see the finished product Donnie. I know your dinette conversion was a big task but my little girl (and me) really like the couch. THe dinette is too small and the couch opens it up IMO.
 
The dinette re do really looks good. Is the middle panel sitting on the pedestal, or did you fix it with a new leg or brace?
It does seem like a better use of the space.

On space we are thinking about trading up to a larger boat. I fell in love with a 44 ft Sedan Bridge and then fell out of love the next day. The Sundancer configuration seems a lot more functional for the way we use a boat. But the woman that I boat with wants more space, and I am not so crazy about a wet slip storage in salt water. The more i think about things the better the mold 280 looks.

Redo looks terrific and is cheaper than a 44 footer so I may have to try it!
 
Bama said:
The dinette re do really looks good. Is the middle panel sitting on the pedestal, or did you fix it with a new leg or brace?
It does seem like a better use of the space.
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THe middle cushion is sitting on the table. Remove the pedastal and drop the table into place. THe backrest was made at a 25 deg angle so it sits perfectly flush on the bottoma nd contours to the boats outer wall. I would love to go bigger but we use the boat as a day boat probably 85% of the time and I'm able to keep her on a lift so it's not sitting in saltwater nor do I have pay for a wet slip. Big is good but I'm going to stick with the 280 for a few years.
 
I have to say I love the couch idea. Since I am not sure the trade deal I was working on a 340 will pan out, I may have to look into this. Looking at these pics, it looks like it could really lend itself to a nice wrap-around cushion for the back. Doing this would remove all table space inside since we cannot use the v-berth dinette, but we never use the dinette anyway.
mike
 
themikehyde said:
Tom, I hated those hoses laying in the bilge too. Since they were corrugated, I could never wipe them clean. They come from the pumps, up by the pump side of the genny, then follow what I think is the genny exhaust hose ( if i remember right). That way they are up and out of the way.
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Mike, did you replace the corrugated hoses with smooth hose? Like you said, I can never get those corrugated hoses clean, and since they lay on the bottom, that makes it even harder. I do like your re-routing issue and will do the same this off-season. Though my thru-hulls for the bilge are on the opposite side as the generator, so I'd have to rout them from the pumps to the starboard side of the boat, past the generator and around or over the vacuflush.

Tom
 
Tom, I just rerouted the corrugated hoses, for now. I plan on replacing them with solid, so if I ever actually use the pumps, it should be less restrictive. That is how I routed mine, up between the genny and holding tank and behind the vacuflush. They are up, just below the deck. I am going back tomorrow to install my flow scan senders and will try to take some pics.
mike
 
Hi all, New here. Got my 280 -2004 a couple of weeks ago and must say I really like it. The boat is fitted with 4,3 MPI Vortec engines, at least according to the valve covers... Is this standard or has the original engines been replaced? The speedometer is missing. Can anyone tell where to find a new one? regards Johan
 
yes that sounds like a good idea. i assume the table fits into the space and spans the 2 seats without any support legs. I have never tried that but the cushion on top is brilliant to keep both options in play. Like you we use the boat as a day boat mostly, but I pay for a dry stack.
Thanks for the info.
 
How did you like the 340? Is that extra length and beam (I never know whether to count ours as 28 or 31 to compare lengths) really noticeable? I know you get a third seat across the beam, and maybe you need a diesel power.
 
you will love the boat I think. I have twin 4.3's in my 2006. In that year a single V8 (about 8.0 liter) was standard. I dont know about your year but assume it was the same.

the twins are more. BUt they seem to be good motors. I hope that does not jinx me next time out! What I failed to apprecate is that everything doubles when you have twins. oil filters oil changes spark plugs blocks manifolds. You get the picture. Plus the gas mileage is not as good as with one big engine.

But there are advantages to the twins and most larger boats have that anyway. handling and redundancy/safety is mostly it.
You should be happy with the boat.
 
the speedo is a stock item. finding one is easy although it may not match precisely. If you want that I dont know. the bigger issue is whether the speedo is not there because the pitot pick up did not work. The gauge in my experience rarely fails. The connections to the pick up and the actual pitot tube do fail for lots of reasons. But you need a speedo so get the gauge (not terribly costly) and hope. I might try blowing out the lines (before you install the gauge) before hooking it up. If they are clogged no gauge will work.
Good luck, and if you REALLY are in Sweden speedo means speedometer not a swimsuit!!!!:smt043
 
Thanks for your answers. Regarding the engines, what i'm wondering is if the vortec-labeled 4,3 engines was a factory option or if there should have been Mercruiser 4,3 engines.

Yes, I REALLY:)live in Sweden, and therefore I will try to get a new speedo in my local shop.

Today it seems to be good weather, so maybee we can take the last boattrip before preparing for the long(7 months) and cold winter season... Don't like it!

/Johan
 
JMoberg said:
Hi all, New here. Got my 280 -2004 a couple of weeks ago and must say I really like it. The boat is fitted with 4,3 MPI Vortec engines, at least according to the valve covers... Is this standard or has the original engines been replaced? The speedometer is missing. Can anyone tell where to find a new one? regards Johan
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I have the stock SmartCraft speedo out of my boat, which I would assume is the same as yours would have had. I replaced mine with a MercMonitor. Not sure it is worth shipping it from Canada to Sweden vs buying one though...
 
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