Sea ray 440 express bridge thoughts

joeyleggz

joeyleggz

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2013
878
long island
Boat Info
current boat: 1997 sea ray 330 express cruiser
Engines
twin 454's efi
Anybody on here own a 440 express bridge looking for opinions and thoughts on that model 97/98 era penny for your thoughts?
 
joeyleggz said:
Anybody on here own a 440 express bridge looking for opinions and thoughts on that model 97/98 era penny for your thoughts?
Click to expand...

I was going to buy one of these. Looked at several, found a lot of junk.

Put a contract on one and had it fail due to hull delamination. Looked at a couple of others and found more hull problems. At that point I gave up on one.
 
CaptRonn said:
I was going to buy one of these. Looked at several, found a lot of junk.

Put a contract on one and had it fail due to hull delamination. Looked at a couple of others and found more hull problems. At that point I gave up on one.
Click to expand...
Interesting I heard something about the hull vents being an issue is that what you came across? Seems like a great boat buddy of mine is going to sea trial with one now
 
joeyleggz said:
Interesting I heard something about the hull vents being an issue is that what you came across? Seems like a great boat buddy of mine is going to sea trial with one now
Click to expand...

Yep, SR just cut the engine vents out of the hull rather than molding them in. After a few years the vents would start leaking and allow water to infiltrate the core.
 
Is there a page dedicated to the express bridge?
 
I have a 97' 440 EB. Took a while to find the right one. As mentioned there is a lot of junk out there. I know of one for sale in Holland, MI right now that doesn't look bad. It's actually in the same port as me in Ludington so I'm not sure why it's in holland right now. Easy enough to get it to NY.

And no there isn't a page dedicated to the 440- not enough demand I guess. Feel free to ask any question or PM me. Our 440 is a rare bird to say the least- It has 430 HP Volvo Pentas and yes, it came that way from SR.
 
Did anyone look at shipping a 440 and how much disassembly is required? I’m in Kentucky and can’t find one in the area.
 
Shipping from where to where? Might be able to take it up or down the river system and not dis asemble it at all.
 
Sidewinder770 said:
Shipping from where to where? Might be able to take it up or down the river system and not dis asemble it at all.
Click to expand...
Shipping to KY. Depends on where I can find a boat. We are on the Ohio so May be able to get it here by water but have to compare costs.
 
To ship it you would have to take the bridge off and probably a second truck to take the bridge itself. People have done it and it's not a quick or cheap endeavor. I would think bringing it up from the gulf or down from the great lakes would be a cheaper option but that also depends if you can captain it yourself or pay someone to deliver it.
 
Ky Tundra said:
Shipping to KY. Depends on where I can find a boat. We are on the Ohio so May be able to get it here by water but have to compare costs.
Click to expand...
what mile post u on in the Ohio River
 
RBB said:
what mile post u on in the Ohio River
Click to expand...
About 596. I have seen a few pop up
in Knoxville. Was surprised to find that’s almost 1000 miles by water. 250 miles on the road. Heard it’s a beautiful trip though.
 
Ky Tundra said:
About 596. I have seen a few pop up
in Knoxville. Was surprised to find that’s almost 1000 miles by water. 250 miles on the road. Heard it’s a beautiful trip though.
Click to expand...
It would be a wonderful trip. I have ran around down there on a bass boat, beautiful.
there is a 42DB in Knoxville for sale.
 
We own a 94 440 EB. It is great for our needs, we have two children and find the forward/aft stateroom locations real nice for privacy. I have removed the engine vents to find the hull epoxied from the factory. I of course re-epoxied the hull and caulked the vents back into place. The systems are old but diy friendly. We have cummins, it is no speed demon. But when we arrive, we have bridge sunsets and a humongous cockpit for water activities. Look for a great lakes boat, it will be in way better condition than one sitting in florida all its life. Imo i would not try to remove the bridge. The arch maybe, but not the bridge. Happy hunting
 
So I called brokers on 1 so far and contacted one via face book the first one said straight up is a wet boat. Transom sides and high on the v. I think I'm moving away from the era and model. Just not interested in always being worried about it.
 
Xplicitlnck said:
So I called brokers on 1 so far and contacted one via face book the first one said straight up is a wet boat. Transom sides and high on the v. I think I'm moving away from the era and model. Just not interested in always being worried about it.
Click to expand...

Same experience. After one bad one after the next, I moved on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,117
Messages
1,426,431
Members
61,029
Latest member
Curious
Back
Top