“Just venting “

[John Matura]

Hey all just need to talk about my boating nightmare...grew up on boats all my life finally decided to get my own a 2006 280 sundancer went great first 5 weeks then blew a motor! repowered then blew a drive bought two new drives in the right ratio then had a bad transom assembly and now long story short I have to pull out motor to replace assembly anyone else have luck like this or is it just me I’ve almost spent what I paid for the boat! Anyway sorry to bore you just had to vent a little

 

[boatrboy]

Based on your pictures, you would think someone would have seen how bad that transom assembly was rusted at the steering lever and suggested a replacement then. Sorry to hear about this.
Also noticed your signature says 4.3 motors but the crate motor looks like v-8’s. Are you upgrading?

 

[John Matura]

Based on your pictures, you would think someone would have seen how bad that transom assembly was rusted at the steering lever and suggested a replacement then. Sorry to hear about this.
Also noticed your signature says 4.3 motors but the crate motor looks like v-8’s. Are you upgrading?

Yes I went with 5.7 350. mag mpi small block v8

 

[Carpediem44DB]

Gotta admire your commitment! Sounds like you are getting quite the masters degree in preventative maintenance anyway. I hope you love the boat, now you should have many years of trouble free boating if you operate and maintain the boat right.
Carpe Diem

 

[John Matura]

Thanks I would hope so next boat is going to be inboard or outboard not I/o

 

[bajturner]

Yes I went with 5.7 350. mag mpi small block v8

Sorry to hear about your bad luck.

350MAGs in the 280DA...wowsers! That thing is going to fly!! I had the 4.3s in my 280, which is what, 8500lbs? I had the 350MAGs in the 300, which if I remember well was about 13,000lbs, and the 300 at 43MPH WOT was faster than the 280 at 41MPH WOT. I loved the 350s.

Do you know the weight comparison between the 4.3 and the 5.7, and maybe also the 5.0? Do you have a generator? I didn't in the 280, but did in the 300.

When you get back in the water I would love to see what your numbers look like!

 

[Carpediem44DB]

Thanks I would hope so next boat is going to be inboard or outboard not I/o

Yeah, I learned my lesson when I relocated my Rinker 350 from the lake to brackish delta water.

 

[Espos4]

Those 350 MAGS are maxing out the abilities oF those Alpha drives. Be careful with aggressive acceleration from a standstill.

 

[John Matura]

Yes that’s why I blew the drive it was a 1.64 I had to go to a 1.47 so far I’ve had it up to 48mph still waiting to hit wot with new gear ratio on the new drives probably going to hit 55mph I have to start playing with props next and get it dialed in

 

[John Matura]

No generator and the 5.7 are about 200lbs heavier I think

 

[Stray Current]

Sometimes you’re better off biting the bullet and going “scorched earth”

gonna be a rocket with 600 horsepower

 

[bajturner]

Yes that’s why I blew the drive it was a 1.64 I had to go to a 1.47 so far I’ve had it up to 48mph still waiting to hit wot with new gear ratio on the new drives probably going to hit 55mph I have to start playing with props next and get it dialed in

That's a sleeper machine!

 

[boatrboy]

I’ll bet he told his wife how frustrated he was (wink wink) that he had to change those powerful v-6 motors. Then to prove it he posted here hoping she will read it..

 

[John Matura]

No she knows nothing if she knew what I spent on all this I would be moving into the boat permanently. New transom just came in I’m pulling motor one more time and hopefully that’s the end of the MAJOR problems.....

 

[John Matura]

Next year it’s getting a corsa thru hull exhaust

 

[bajturner]

Next year it’s getting a corsa thru hull exhaust

With a Silent Choice diverter?

 

[John Matura]

Yes captains call

 

[bajturner]

Yes captains call

Nice. Comes in handy...

 

[Little Ducky]

I like new parts and I can not lie.

 

[boatrboy]

No she knows nothing if she knew what I spent on all this I would be moving into the boat permanently. New transom just came in I’m pulling motor one more time and hopefully that’s the end of the MAJOR problems.....

Your lucky - a couple of years ago I started with needed new manifolds, then found motor issues once those were removed, and wife said “this better be all we are spending”. After I pulled motor I saw transom assembly needed to be replaced too. That went over like a lead ballon. Wish she never saw those bills .
Even worse- the rebuilt motor has issues and had to pull that back out and send it back. What a year. So I can somewhat sympathize.
You will have a really nice (and fast) ride.