New to Sea Ray. 1999 270da 454 Mercruiser Bravo II - Needs work

erikjphoto

New Member
Feb 18, 2014
9
Seattle
Boat Info
1999 Sundancer 270
Engines
454 Mercruiser w/Bravo II (115 hours)
Hello, I am new here. I just purchased a 1999 270 from a family that did not run it or take care of it for 5 years. It unfortunately sat in a lake uncovered for those years. It had about 6" of standing rain water in the engine bay and standing water in the cabin. So far I dried it out using a couple of heaters. After installing new spark plugs, wires, oil, Distributer cap, batteries, and a starter, it started right up. Now the next task will be removing the 70+ gallons of 5 year old fuel. We have it running off of a 6 gallon aux. tank right now. It also looks as though the alternator is shot. The boat is going to need a major amount of work just dealing with the cabin interior mold and mildew, but the purchase price was almost free. Any tips from anyone on the forum would be greatly appreciated. I have been around boats from 26' - 60' all of my life, but never owned one.


P1070933.jpg
 
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That's a sad sight to see a boat so neglected. Good news about the engine. I would put a dehumidifier inside the cabin too dry it out. Then determine what's salvageable on the interior. I'm assuming all the carpet has to be discarded up to the water line. Do you have any pics of the interior?


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Congrats. A lot can be learned as you begin the cleaning process. Spray 9 and Simple Green are my two favorite cleaners.
I bought mine in Dec of '07 and it wasn't quite as bad looking as your profile pic, but still had lots to be done.
Here are a few of my posts from then that may be of help.
http://clubsearay.com/showthread.ph...ay-11-14-07-Wish-me-Luck?highlight=2000+260DA
http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/5985-It-s-Official-Nehalennia-is-ours?highlight=2000+260DA
http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/6913-Some-positive-Projects-started?highlight=positive+projects
 
Welcome to CSR and what sounds like a lot of work ahead for you, mine needs a good detailing inside and out this year since I didn't get it done last fall. Todd aka Nehalennia is a great one for advise his boat is one of the nicest on the water from his meticulous work, wish he was in the detailing business. I even used Spray Nine on an old Stihl chainsaw it now looks almost new. What I need to do for myself is make a complete list of what needs to be done then break it up into smaller projects I can complete and check off, it seems more manageable that way.
 
Hi thanks. I would post more photos, but I am having problems doing so. No mater haw small I make the photos, they seem to large for this site? I have been using bleach and simple green on the vinyl with good results. There are some pink spots that won't go away though. The interior is wet after every rain. It seems to be leaking around the ports, hatch, Nav. lights, and where the bow rail attaches. I am hauling out April 1st. but have to move the boat about 10 miles to the yard. Anyone see an issue with connecting an aux. fuel tank to the fuel water separator?
 
Hi thanks. I would post more photos, but I am having problems doing so. No mater haw small I make the photos, they seem to large for this site

You have two choices with the photos. You can Become a site sponsor which lets you post pics more easily, or you can use something like Photobucket.com to host the pics and just put links in. Frankly, that seems to be the best solution. Of course, the site always needs sponsors, and I have been remiss myself in not becoming one.

I have been using bleach and simple green on the vinyl with good results.

After reading the vinyl care threads as well as other sites and more importantly, manufacturer's care instructions, I would stop using the bleach. It removes the plasticizers and you could end up having great looking vinyl that all needs to be replaced at the end of the season.

http://veada.com/cleaning.html

Bryan
 
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Please keep us posted on the project. It's always great to see them restored and enjoyed again.
 
Welcome to CSR and good luck on your project. Keep posting your progress and you will get a lot of good advise from the members here. A lot of us do all the work on are own boats and are willing to help in any way we can.
 
My favorite interaction so far was calling Lake Union Sea Ray to order a new Alternator. They quoted me $625 for the Quicksilver OEM alternator. I picked up the exact same alternator under the Sierra name at our local Fisheries Supply here for $200. They are both identical alternators manufactured by Mando in Korea. The only difference is the Mercruiser/Quicksilver alternator has been spray painted black to match the engine. That is one expensive paint job...
 
I buy some of my parts there just depends on what it is some of their prices are as good as any you'll find on the internet some are outrages.
I was going to suggest you get all that water out of the bilge either you need new pumps or there clogged with debris. Before running it anymore pull all the parts off you can a couple of the pulleys look really rusted you'll need to get that off or you'll ruin the serpentine belt within a short time. The bilge looks like it's going to need some real cleaning maybe even a new paint job, there's some good posts on here about painting the bilge it needs to be done right or it wont last. Your boat doesn't look as bad in the pics as I imagined it would with a lot of cleaning and a few boat buck parts it will look like a different boat.
 
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After reading the vinyl care threads as well as other sites and more importantly, manufacturer's care instructions, I would stop using the bleach. It removes the plasticizers and you could end up having great looking vinyl that all needs to be replaced at the end of the season.

At some point you have to clean it to be useable or throw it away, if the cleaner harms it long term is a reasonable risk. There are also products that help extend the life of old or stripped vinyl. .

MM
 
Here is an example of how clean the vinyl cushions became using a bleach water mixture and then some simple green.



 
starting to look much better. The carpet in the cockpit was growing a thick layer of moss, it cleaned up well with a scrub brush with simple green.



 
It looks like NoDrog and I have the same boat as you: mine is 2000 270 DA. You have the extended camper canvas while I have the regular bimini canvas. If the boat sat for 5 years, I would strongly suggest replacing the raw water pump impeller before you take it out. They have a habit of self destructing at the worst moment: I think the Merc recommendation is every 3 years. If you have a auto machine shop closeby, you can remove some of the crusty-rusty parts and have them blasted for a small cost, then repaint them yourself. The power steering-idle tensioner bracket is NLA from Merc and was quite expensive: I think i had 3 parts blasted for about $25 when they would have cost $300 or more new.
 
Haven't heard from ya for a bit, how goes the new boat?
 

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