Comparative thoughts

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Our 26 Express had a 260 HP engine that we put thousands of hours on. Ran it on Lake Michigan from both sides of the lake from Chicago and South Haven to the Straits into Lake Huron. Never felt underpowered and the boat went through some big seas. Other than its weight, it was a very good sea boat. At 3050 RPMs it made about 21MPH so it was no speed demon but at that speed it covered a lot of ground and could do it for hours at a time.
 
Some have mentioned that massaging the prop specs a bit can make a diff also. Going to a four bladed for instance. I’m looking at a 268 right now in CT and the owner swears by the 5.7 for use on Long Island.
 
There have been countless threads on this forum about 268s with the 5.7L engine package. 99% have said the boat is under-powered and difficult to get on plane. Think long and hard about this because once you buy it there is no inexpensive way to correct it. Of course the owner of the one you are going to look at will tell you the 5.7 is OK....he wants to sell his boat. What's he going to say, "Yeah, it's a bit sluggish getting on plane so don't take anyone with you." I don't think so.

The listed dry weight for a 1989 268 is 5475 lbs. Add 100 gallons of fuel (6+ lbs./gal) and 24 gallons of water (8+ lbs./gal) and you are over 6000 lbs. Now add gear, food, drinks and a couple of guests plus yourselves and you are over 6500 lbs. and pushing 6800-7000 lbs. That is too much weight for a puny 260 horses. Trust me....you will hate it. Also the 454 will give you better fuel economy.

Since you don't seem to be in a real big hurry the best thing would be to do sea trials on boat with a 5.7 and then a 7.4. No one ever said they wish they had a smaller engine.
Shawn
 
I think that is the bottom line. I’m not in a hurry. So if I’m not in a hurry and the right boat is out there why not wait for it. It is one of the reasons that we have to keep having this discussion so the newbies like me can see your earnest concern. I have Plenty to go see that are 454. I never thought to do a search for other posts like this. Sometimes I prefer to stir things up and to generate original thought instead of copying old thoughts of those gone by.
 
The 5.7 will probably be mated to an Alpha I Drive while the 7.4 should only use the Bravo I Drive. The 7.4 was offered with the Alpha until 1989 when it got the Bravo due to the torque of the 7.4 chewing up the upper gear case in the Alpha Drives. Alpha's can do ok with the 7.4, but you want to roll the power on slowly to avoid applying too much torque. Not the best match. Bravo's are built so much heavier than the Alpha's and they don't need a shift interrupter to go in and out of gear like the Alpha's. Shift interrupter circuits tend to be problematic.
 
I had a 1989 268DA with 7.4L/Bravo I drive. Ran it out of Ludington on Lake Michigan and took a few cruises the 200 miles north to Mackinac and one to the North Channel of Lake Huron. My opinion of the boat is all positive. It definitely has limitations but everything does. My performance while cruising was 3000 rpm at near 30 mph (depending on load) using about 9 gph. Not too many trailerable boats offered a dinette separate from the berths. That was one of the attractions to us. The more cruising we did made us want more beam and weight which took us to a 300DA and now a 330DA.
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play dough said:
I had a 1989 268DA with 7.4L/Bravo I drive. Ran it out of Ludington on Lake Michigan and took a few cruises the 200 miles north to Mackinac and one to the North Channel of Lake Huron. My opinion of the boat is all positive. It definitely has limitations but everything does. My performance while cruising was 3000 rpm at near 30 mph (depending on load) using about 9 gph. Not too many trailerable boats offered a dinette separate from the berths. That was one of the attractions to us. The more cruising we did made us want more beam and weight which took us to a 300DA and now a 330DA.View attachment 65684
Click to expand...
What a pretty boat. Nice size. For now though I need to tow. Did you like that drive?
 
So let me sum this thread up so I can move on with all of our friendships intact:
-Bigger engine if it is possible, the cost for not having the big gun is speed but not by much.
-try to get a Bravo series outdrive, not alpha if possible.
-Pay for a survey and be there with him when he does the survey.
-get a trailer that is 8300-10000 lbs gvw.
 
Thanks for all your helpfulness. I'll write back to this thread if I buy a boat.
 
Don Tyson said:
Some have mentioned that massaging the prop specs a bit can make a diff also. Going to a four bladed for instance. I’m looking at a 268 right now in CT and the owner swears by the 5.7 for use on Long Island.
Click to expand...

The seller that wants you to buy his underpowered boat says it’s fine. Hmmmmmmm

Never buy and underpowered boat. You will regret it either when you use it or when you go to sell it.

It may cruise at the same speed once on plane but it will take a lot longer to get on plane. And that is frustrating and can be dangerous if you are running in a busy channel with the bow way up waiting for that little small block to spool up. If you boat in places where you go up and off plane often like no wake zones then full speed then down, you will hate an underpowered boat.
 
Don Tyson said:
What a pretty boat. Nice size. For now though I need to tow. Did you like that drive?
Click to expand...
The 7.4L/Bravo was a good driveline for that boat. 30 mph was just a lazy cruise speed for that boat in good conditions. I think I got that boat just over 40 mph once with a light load just because I wanted to see what WOT was in the boat. We did tow that boat with a 3/4 ton full size Dodge passenger van when we wanted to get from point A to B and not worry about the weather.
 
Well I'm sold. Now to find one when spring rolls along. I also found the same era Sorrento 25 with that 454 combo. I found a couple 268's as well. I have a 5 year old F250 with a 6.2 and wonderful gearing to tow this with. I will hope to find a boat with a reliable trailer.
Today I found two different Professional boat surveyors that are willing to do limited "Pre-Purchase" surveys. I want them to check for moisture and apparently the electronic scanner that they use requires that the weather be consistently above freezing. That is a month off form here in PA (or more).
 
Take a good look at the 25 Sorrento. That was Sea Ray's upscale model back then and it had a few "extras" and was a bit nicer. It will not feel as roomy as the 268 though because of the layout and the 268 is about a foot and a half longer. Both have the same beam (102") but the Sorrento is a bit heavier.

You can still look at the boats and you can make an offer "subject to satisfactory sea trial and survey". If a seller/broker will not agree with those terms....move on. If they do agree you make an offer, they probably counter, you accept or counter, agree on a price, (subject to sea trial and survey) give them a deposit of typically 10% and wait 'til the snow melts when the surveyors can do their thing.
 
play dough said:
I had a 1989 268DA with 7.4L/Bravo I drive. Ran it out of Ludington on Lake Michigan and took a few cruises the 200 miles north to Mackinac and one to the North Channel of Lake Huron. My opinion of the boat is all positive. It definitely has limitations but everything does. My performance while cruising was 3000 rpm at near 30 mph (depending on load) using about 9 gph. Not too many trailerable boats offered a dinette separate from the berths. That was one of the attractions to us. The more cruising we did made us want more beam and weight which took us to a 300DA and now a 330DA.View attachment 65684
Click to expand...
play dough said:
I had a 1989 268DA with 7.4L/Bravo I drive. Ran it out of Ludington on Lake Michigan and took a few cruises the 200 miles north to Mackinac and one to the North Channel of Lake Huron. My opinion of the boat is all positive. It definitely has limitations but everything does. My performance while cruising was 3000 rpm at near 30 mph (depending on load) using about 9 gph. Not too many trailerable boats offered a dinette separate from the berths. That was one of the attractions to us. The more cruising we did made us want more beam and weight which took us to a 300DA and now a 330DA.View attachment 65684
Click to expand...
Hi i am curious of the prop you ran on yout 268
 
No.....Dang it all......Got stuck in the Dentist chair for 3 hrs and had to cancel my appt with the boat broker. Hopefully this week I'll see it and will take some photos. I fear though that the 268 Sundancer will work better for Grandchildren.
Is the layout of the Sorrento very similar to the 250 Sundancer? I plan to see one of those soon also.
 

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