76 195 SeaRay back in the family.

[Linsk]

New to this form. Back in 1975 my father and I walked into a SeaRay dealer in Northern Jersey. Sitting in the middle of the showroom floor was sitting a yellow 195 with a black stripe. We both fell in love with this boat. My dad paid 8,600 four the boat. He had it for ten years boating on the Hudson river, Water skiing on Greenwood & Lake George. In 1986 he brought a 268 and sold it to my best friend. We used it up to 1998 lots of fun. It sat in storage up to 2010. My friend approach me then a said he wanted to give me the boat. I told him I would give him money for the boat. His wife had a different idea and traded the boat to a bathroom contractor for services. Oh well I little disappointed but moved on I also have a Ranger bass boat. This past December a childhood friend emailed me saying he thought he saw the 195 on Craig's list. There it was made a phone call made a deal and brought it home. It still had the SeaRay plate on the glove box with my dads name on it. It needs a total interior rest new engine and outdrive. The past 2 owners did not take care of her. I have a rebuilt 302 4bb and a beautiful 888 outdrive that I found on ebay. Sorry for the long story but I have to go I have a lot a work to do. Thanks Ron L

 

[Gofirstclass]

Ron, that's a great story and one well worth telling on here. I bought a 20' Reinell bowrider in 1990 and kept it for 12 years, selling it so I could buy my 330 Sundancer. I saw it in a storage yard a few years ago, found out who owned it and called him one day to see if he was interested in selling it.

He said he might be, but wouldn't throw out a price. I told him what the NADA value was and he got pi$$ed and said there was no way he would sell it for that. I asked him again what price he would take for it and he got even madder and hung up.

Oh well, I tried.

 

[kybishop]

Welcome to the forum. Nice story and glad you found your dad's boat. It will mean that much more to you while you work on it.

We also have a 1976 195 Searay that my father bought back when we were kids. Did not buy it new and not certain of the year he bought it. It has the 351 Ford in it and has been sitting in his barn. It is the red version of the 195 with a white stripe. I like the yellow a lot as well and the different colors they made back then.

Good luck with the rebuild and thanks for sharing the story.

 

[OldSkool]

Welcome from one 50 year old owner to another. Yellow with black stripe was common back in the day. Check out Old Skool pics on my profile page and albums. We did the interior including replacing the dog house and side panels. Three sheets of plywood and 12 yards of vinyl should do your interior. I rebuild the swim platform again this spring.

Lots of upgrades including synthetic fuel line and carb rebuild for bio-fuel and new exhaust manifolds. Look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Linsk]

Thanks for the replies. Its nice to still see old SeaRays being restored. Gofirstclass maybe that guy will change his mind. Kybishop that 351 must make that boat run fast get that boat out of the barn and back in the water lol. Oldskool I checked out your photos the boat looks great it gave me inspiration.

 

[kybishop]

Thanks for the replies. Its nice to still see old SeaRays being restored. Gofirstclass maybe that guy will change his mind. Kybishop that 351 must make that boat run fast get that boat out of the barn and back in the water lol. Oldskool I checked out your photos the boat looks great it gave me inspiration.

The 351 ran out pretty well, good running boat. As I understand it from our marine mechanic the lower units on the Ford motors are geared a bit higher than the ones on the Chevy's. Ours was a bit slow out of the water and topped out mid to high 50's, shy of 60 mph. Can change to prop to suit your needs but just something to keep in mind about the gearing of the lower units.

We stopped using it to redo the seats and interior. Stopped in the middle of the redo for some reason. Have intentions of picking it back up but life tends to get in the way.