390 EC complete restoration thread

Thanks for all the info, I talked to a prop guy around my house and was a huge help! He informed me to look on my survey and it looks like i have a 20" in diameter prop with a 19 pitch and it is called a "Mr. Minus" prop. The trans is a 1.51 ratio so now that I know that I have a call into Sea ray to get what was exactly on the boat when it was manufactured.

He also told me to change the spark plugs, wire, and distributer cap to see if that will help as well. I am hoping that will help as well because I have no idea when that was last done.
 
tobnpr said:
Thanks for the updates! Fun (most of the time) isn't it?? I've been kinda like a lost soul now that mine's done...

I noticed that your master berth is a bit different than mine. It's an "island" style, with a tiny bit of room to "scooch" around each side.

Since you're going to use Starboard...I've posted several times that I used Seaboard for the cockpit panels (same as the Starboard) and I need to pass along a VERY important point. It's well explained in their literature, but I didn't heed the warning well enough. These HDPE plastics expand and contract pretty significantly with temperature changes.
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Thank you for your suggestions...I'll definitely take them into account!! :thumbsup: and...YES it's fun (as long as you are capable of forgetting the money you are throwing away:grin:)

Daze: I always keep some large beach towels over the vinyls because once they are stained with sun oil it's difficult to clean them...and sitting directly on vinyl with bare skin is not that pleasant...so enters Sunbrella. I guess I'll be alble to put just the canvas in the washing machine when it's dirty. I'll keep you posted.
 
Pietro said:
Daze: I always keep some large beach towels over the vinyls because once they are stained with sun oil it's difficult to clean them...and sitting directly on vinyl with bare skin is not that pleasant...so enters Sunbrella. I guess I'll be alble to put just the canvas in the washing machine when it's dirty. I'll keep you posted.
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Oh, I see. So your plan is to make them more like "slip covers" where they can come on and off, as opposed to sewn/stapled on like the vinyl?
 
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Pietro said:
I must be crazy...instead of trading in and getting one nice 455DA or a similar boat, I have just decided to complete overhaul my 1990 390 EC.
First I had to check if the hull was still in good condition. I had to open up the floor to get rid of all the foam that was soaked up with some 80 gallon of water coming form the shower and a punctured tank.

DSC_0441mod.JPG


Beside the rotten foam, the situation was not too bad. Furniture are fine and water only seeped in the central and port compartment. No water from the addictional tank I installed under the stateroom bed.
Also considering that my CATs only have some 150 hr I decided to go on....

The situation is now the one you can see in my pics. We opened up the whole floor and got rid of all the foam. I have now so many more underfloor bins to store wathever I want! I will cover the floor in wood and you can see that we are now creating the lids.

Saloon:
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Head (I will now place the shower sump underneath the head's floor and not the passageway)

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guestroom:

DSC_0475_resize_resize.JPG


stateroom:

DSC_0473_resizemod_resize.JPG


I hope it could be useful for anybody venturing in a restoration project and I hope to get some suggestion and comments from you all!

That' s all for today...ciao!!!
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Hi Pietro,

When you removed your carpetting, is the floor that covers the fresh water tank already cut out and screwed down as a lid? Why I am asking is because I suspect that our tank is leaking. We always have a bit of water in the floor locker just ahead of the water tank. If the problem is because of a leaky tank, then we will want to replace it before splashing this spring. Did you replace your original aluminum tank. From what I am reading on this site, they are prone to leaking over a long period of time.

~KIen
 
electricaldoctor said:
Hi Pietro,

When you removed your carpetting, is the floor that covers the fresh water tank already cut out and screwed down as a lid? Why I am asking is because I suspect that our tank is leaking. We always have a bit of water in the floor locker just ahead of the water tank. If the problem is because of a leaky tank, then we will want to replace it before splashing this spring. Did you replace your original aluminum tank. From what I am reading on this site, they are prone to leaking over a long period of time.

~KIen
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KIen, the floor was already cut, yes....BUT part of the plank covering the tank was under the steps and the fridge!!! So I had to cut part of it anyway... if you disassemble the steps, then you can take the tank cover out in one piece....

The tank is aluminum and it was corroded in the lower side. To prevent it there should be some air circulation between the sole and the tank surface.

I replaced the tank with one made out of stainless steel. If you have some water in the floor locker, chances are that there will be water also underneath...it can seep through via the screw holes that are holding the tank itself... that's what happened to me...I found so much water underneath the floor...:smt089

I hope I was clear enough... :smt001
 
Pietro said:
KIen, the floor was already cut, yes....BUT part of the plank covering the tank was under the steps and the fridge!!! So I had to cut part of it anyway... if you disassemble the steps, then you can take the tank cover out in one piece....

The tank is aluminum and it was corroded in the lower side. To prevent it there should be some air circulation between the sole and the tank surface.

I replaced the tank with one made out of stainless steel. If you have some water in the floor locker, chances are that there will be water also underneath...it can seep through via the screw holes that are holding the tank itself... that's what happened to me...I found so much water underneath the floor...:smt089

I hope I was clear enough... :smt001
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Yes Pietro, your response has great information for me. It is good to know that there is easy access to the water tank by removing a screw down floor panel. All that extra water down below translates into a lot of extra weight to lug around. You went to stainless steel instead of a plastic tank. The stainless would be heavier and more expensive. What gauge of S.S. did you use? I think that I can probably coerce a friend of mine to make me a s.s. tank as has a fab. shop and works mostly with s.s.

~Ken
 
Ken...I went to stainless for the same reason you should...I have a friend that has a fab. shop :grin:

When the original tank in aluminum failed some 10 years ago, we used 1.5 mm plate (gauge 16) in AISI 306. Now we are re building a new one because it is leaking a little and it's also rusty. Now it will be AISI 316 in 2.0 mm that should be gauge #14.
 
Pietro said:
Ken...I went to stainless for the same reason you should...I have a friend that has a fab. shop :grin:

When the original tank in aluminum failed some 10 years ago, we used 1.5 mm plate (gauge 16) in AISI 306. Now we are re building a new one because it is leaking a little and it's also rusty. Now it will be AISI 316 in 2.0 mm that should be gauge #14.
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Thanx Pietro, I will run those specs by my guy. Stay tuned.

~Ken :thumbsup:
 
katricol said:
Pietro...why not use plastic instead??? Ric
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I did some search, but I was not able to find a plastic one as big as the original...moreover I've seen some plastic tank that broke along the edges...so I decided for the stainless steel that my friend then built.
 
electricaldoctor said:
Hi Pietro,

Do you remember the dimensions of the s.s. water tank that you had built & how many gallons that it held?

~Ken
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Ken, I made it a little smaller than the original in order to being able to put it in and out more easily.

I am now manufacturing a new one. Give me a couple of days and I'll get the dimensions and post a pic :smt001
 
Ken, here we are!

The tank is 71.26" x 28.74" x 11.22" and should hold 99.5 gallons (I hope I made my conversion right :grin:)

DSCN00401.jpg
DSCN00371.jpg
DSCN00391.jpg
 
WOW Nice tank...

I think they all should be SS.
It's just a never worry about it again thing.
 
Pietro said:
Ken, here we are!

The tank is 71.26" x 28.74" x 11.22" and should hold 99.5 gallons (I hope I made my conversion right :grin:)

DSCN00401.jpg
DSCN00371.jpg
DSCN00391.jpg
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Wow, that looks great Pietro. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I see tank fittings for a water level sending unit, water in, vent pipe & water out to the fresh water pump.

I will have to show this to my s.s. fabricating friend.

The only thing that I may contemplate adding to your design is to add a drain out through the bulkhead into the engine room with a shut off valve out there for draining the tank into that bilge pump area just aft of the bulkhead where all of the thru hull fittings are.

Great job ~ Ken
 
Spookeay said:
WOW Nice tank...

I think they all should be SS.
It's just a never worry about it again thing.
Click to expand...

...just make sure it's AISI 316... the one we made in 304 rusted anyway!!!

Ken, I'll ponder on your idea of a drain into the bilge....:smt017 it should help in case of a failure....
(the sending unit is the original one!)
 
Pietro said:
...just make sure it's AISI 316... the one we made in 304 rusted anyway!!!

Ken, I'll ponder on your idea of a drain into the bilge....:smt017 it should help in case of a failure....
(the sending unit is the original one!)
Click to expand...

I will take your advice about the grade of s.s. Pietro. The main reason for the drain for me is for winterizing the boat in October.

Thanx for everything ~ Ken
 
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