John E3
Active Member
Hello to the Sea Ray forum!
After being raised on and around old wooden boats my entire life it was time to make a change to something that doesn't need the same TLC. My 28ft Constellation is already sad for the change, as am I in many ways. My fathers 50ft 1928 Elco Flattop Cruiser recently moved on to a new lease on life with McMillen Yachts in RI. My Connie probably won't get that same reception, anywhere.
I am getting familiarized with the 370 Aft Cabin (DA is the official designation, right?) and it's less and less daunting each time I spend some quality time on it. Due to other distractions (aka house renovations) we only went out a few times, and can't wait for a full season next year. We were looking to see what was out there, for a next year purchase, and this one popped up in the neighborhood and checked every box, except diesel, so we jumped on it.
I have a key question (for now!), which may only be known to the Aft Cabin crowd - where in the world is the 3rd AC unit????? I have been in every compartment, hatch, nook and cranny, and I cannot find a third one anywhere. The fwd cabin under the bunk, salon next to the sofa and ????? It has 3 breakers, 3 controls, and specs say 3 units, but it must be invisible! I did not have the opportunity (reason?) to turn it on since we bought it, as I could follow the noise, and now too far from 30a power in storage to try. It was on for the survey, so it's gotta be somewhere!
And a rather generic question - is there such a thing as used gensets? The Westerbeke 9.6 was reported as running, and I heard it run, but stops as soon as the switch is released. The sensor board has been replaced 3 times due to a fried diode, so that suggests a sensor failure, but there was that 'funny spot' behind the starter, painted the right color red no less. Yeah, not so funny when I got to it. It threw a rod on cylinder 2, and someone removed the piston, rod & connecting cap, and covered up the hole in the block with Marinetex, and jbweld over that. The oil journal is wide open, so it'll never build pressure, therefore shuts down. The seller says he used it last season, then it stopped working. Maybe it was plugged and the plug failed on him? I have no reason to believe that he blew it up. He runs the marina where it is, so I doubt he would have covered it up, knowing we intended to keep it there, so maybe the oil journal was plugged and then opened up? No rebuild chance that I can see given the age and no block to be had, plus it probably does not make sense to fix it regardless. New gas ones seem to be rare, and very expensive. Diesel conversion is always an option (I do all my own work), but they are just as expensive, plus the extras to convert.
I look forward to contributing here when possible!
John
After being raised on and around old wooden boats my entire life it was time to make a change to something that doesn't need the same TLC. My 28ft Constellation is already sad for the change, as am I in many ways. My fathers 50ft 1928 Elco Flattop Cruiser recently moved on to a new lease on life with McMillen Yachts in RI. My Connie probably won't get that same reception, anywhere.
I am getting familiarized with the 370 Aft Cabin (DA is the official designation, right?) and it's less and less daunting each time I spend some quality time on it. Due to other distractions (aka house renovations) we only went out a few times, and can't wait for a full season next year. We were looking to see what was out there, for a next year purchase, and this one popped up in the neighborhood and checked every box, except diesel, so we jumped on it.
I have a key question (for now!), which may only be known to the Aft Cabin crowd - where in the world is the 3rd AC unit????? I have been in every compartment, hatch, nook and cranny, and I cannot find a third one anywhere. The fwd cabin under the bunk, salon next to the sofa and ????? It has 3 breakers, 3 controls, and specs say 3 units, but it must be invisible! I did not have the opportunity (reason?) to turn it on since we bought it, as I could follow the noise, and now too far from 30a power in storage to try. It was on for the survey, so it's gotta be somewhere!
And a rather generic question - is there such a thing as used gensets? The Westerbeke 9.6 was reported as running, and I heard it run, but stops as soon as the switch is released. The sensor board has been replaced 3 times due to a fried diode, so that suggests a sensor failure, but there was that 'funny spot' behind the starter, painted the right color red no less. Yeah, not so funny when I got to it. It threw a rod on cylinder 2, and someone removed the piston, rod & connecting cap, and covered up the hole in the block with Marinetex, and jbweld over that. The oil journal is wide open, so it'll never build pressure, therefore shuts down. The seller says he used it last season, then it stopped working. Maybe it was plugged and the plug failed on him? I have no reason to believe that he blew it up. He runs the marina where it is, so I doubt he would have covered it up, knowing we intended to keep it there, so maybe the oil journal was plugged and then opened up? No rebuild chance that I can see given the age and no block to be had, plus it probably does not make sense to fix it regardless. New gas ones seem to be rare, and very expensive. Diesel conversion is always an option (I do all my own work), but they are just as expensive, plus the extras to convert.
I look forward to contributing here when possible!
John
