My $500 270DA.

Ck111484

Member
Oct 13, 2015
63
SE Michigan
Boat Info
1986 Sea Ray 270DA - project boat!
Engines
Twin Mercruiser 470's
First, a quick history - been a boater all my life, my family had a 20', 26' and then a 37' while I was growing up, all Sea Rays.
We sold the 37 Sundancer with the intent to upgrade to a 54', but the economy turned and we were left boatless.
Then, ~10 years later when I was through college and back home, I got the itch to be back on the water, so I bought a '93 Four Winns 215 Sundowner, and have had it for four seasons. It wasn't in great shape when I got it, and I greatly enjoyed bringing it back to life, updating it and getting it running right.
This is how it looks today:

sp1fglw.jpg


But as usual, I got the itch for something bigger, something I could be comfortable in bigger water to take trips on and sleep 4-6 people comfortably, etc., and the older Sea Rays really caught my eye, specifically the 270DA and Amberjack, so I started casually looking.

Browsing Craigslist one day, I came upon an '86 270DA for $1000. The story was that the seller had recently purchased it from the original owner, who winterized the boat in 2003, began building a house, and never got around to touching the boat again. So it had essentially been sitting, winterized, for 12 years.
A few years ago, he decided to put it on a trailer and keep it at his house to avoid marina fees; the seller only wanted the trailer it was on, and didn't have time to take on the project himself; and the boat was absolutely filthy and in a very rough state so he was selling it cheap.
But, it had always been marina maintained, was basically the boat I wanted, seemed very structurally solid, and being a detailer as a hobby, I could see that through the dirt there was a great boat.

I thought about it overnight, and when I began to consider the logistics of storing it, transporting it, the incredible amount of work it would be, and not even knowing if the motors were good a potential money-pit, I texted the seller the next day and told him I was going to pass. After a few hours, he texted me back, and told me that he really wanted me to have the boat. Apparently he had promised the original owner that he would sell it to someone who would get it back in the water, and he could see the excitement and enthusiasm I had for it, and just thought I was "the guy". He told me he'd sell it to me for $500 and if I detailed his boat and 2 of his cars.

I told him I wasn't sure; but then things began to fall into place. It turned out that my buddy had no problem keeping it next to his detail shop, and I found 25 cinder blocks on Craigslist for $20, and the seller was more than willing to deliver it to the shop and help me put it on blocks.
So, I went for it, and am now the owner of an '86 270 Sundancer!

She's got the twin Mercruiser 470's (wouldn't be my first choice but oh well - I've read about the upgrades and plan on doing them after I make sure they run, and they're the 190hp versions).

Here's right after we blocked her:

5oDD0Xz.jpg


More to follow.
 
So, like I said, the boat was in a very rough state.
To my knowledge it was either not covered, or only covered part of the time, I'm not sure, but this is what it looked like:

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But, it's exactly where it needs to be - next to a fully equipped detail shop!
I wasted no time powerwashing it, and the results were dramatic to say the least:

The whole bow looked like the dark part, the light part had been powerwashed:

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Even the wood came back, much to my surprise:

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Some of the cockpit will need to be rebuilt/reupholstered, but I was quite pleased with just a quick powerwash.

I spent a quick 20 minutes cleaning up the helm and it turned out pretty well considering:

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I did a full wetsand/compound/polish on one side of the lower hull, and as I expected, it will clean up VERY nicely:

yGBlOYW.jpg


YlzIOuh.jpg


It's tough to tell in pictures the dramatic difference, but the port side is done and the starboard side hasn't been touched, other than having the stripes removed (notice the "ghost" stripes):


kblevD6.jpg


The cabin is a different story - aside from the awful, dated colors, it's filthy, and pretty much all of it will need to be reupholstered.
But I'm planning on doing 100% of the work (reupholstering, mechanical, electrical, etc.) myself, and am really looking forward to this project!
 
Mechanicals

So obviously the big question is the state of the engines; I had pulled a few plugs during my initial visit, and didn't see any rust, so I believe it was fogged properly.
Once I had it in my possession, I pulled all the spark plugs, squirted in some Mystery Oil, and changed the oil. Then I put a wrench on the crank to see if they'd turn over - and they do!

Well, the port engine turns over quite easily by hand, and though I haven't tried to start it yet, will crank over fine with the key.

The starboard engine will turn by hand, but it's much more difficult; it also will not crank with the key, all I get is a "click"; but I believe I've got some serious electrical issues going on.

The port engine trims down fine, but will only trim back up by using the trailer buttons; the starboard engine is completely dead unless the port engine is on, and even then will not trim down or do anything unless I hold down the "emergency start" switch (that's when I get the "click" when I try to turn it over). It will, however, trim down and up as it should using the trim button on the throttle.

The "emergency start" switch is completely new to me, and I'm not even sure what it's function is, or why it would need to be held down down for the starboard engine to respond.

I am hoping the "click" I am hearing is either a poor electrical connection with something related to the starter, or a stuck starter. I have not tried the "bang starter with hammer while turning the key" method yet, haha.

So, as this is the main reason I started this thread (along with keeping it updated, if you guys are interested)...

Any ideas?
I'm not even sure where all of the fuses are on this thing. Where to start?

Also;
I picked up a shore power adapter so that I can plug it in to a regular outlet, and while it shows that it's getting power, when I try to flick the "main a/c" switch (which I believe is the master switch for shore power on/off?) to "on", it just flicks right back to "off", and I believe the reverse polarity light comes on for a second.
What's up with that?

Any comments/suggestions are welcome!
I'm going to have a TON of questions from now on (I'm still figuring out how this boat works, and have a LONG way to go), and this seems like the perfect place to ask!


 
Nice find. Should be great next summer n Lake St Clair,, Assume with SE MI that's where you aret. I'm in Bluewater area ear Port Huron.
Good luck hwit her!
 
Looks like you have work to do this winter. Keep us posted on your progress. You might want to do a compression check while you have to plugs out.
 
Nice find. Should be great next summer n Lake St Clair,, Assume with SE MI that's where you aret. I'm in Bluewater area ear Port Huron.
Good luck hwit her!
Yep, that's where she'll live, eventually, and where I kept my boat this year!
And thanks!

Looks like you have work to do this winter. Keep us posted on your progress. You might want to do a compression check while you have to plugs out.
Yessir - tons of work between reupholstering, wood staining, rebuilding and wrapping cockpit pieces, etc., but I'm glad I have a long while to do it :) Should be a fun little ongoing hobby this winter.

And yeah, I have a compression tester, just might do that.
But I figure worst case scenario, both engines are shot; you can pick these up for ~$800-900 all day long on Ebay. I'd still be way, way ahead.

I'll be selling the Four Winns this spring, BTW, and that will fund the more costly things - but I'm still going to try to do everything as cheaply (but quality and correct) as possible.

In addition, I'm in no huge hurry - if it's all ready in the spring, great, if the cabin still needs a bunch of work, I can still use the boat, or even if I have to miss some or all of next season, not the end of the world. I want to just enjoy learning and giving this lady a second chance at life.
 
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cool boat, for $500 you cant go wrong.

The emergency switch is so if you have no juice to one of your motors you can cross over the good (probably running) motor to fire up the dead one. Did you test/charge up all the batteries? Could just be a bad one on the one motor.
 
That is a great buy and you can tell she will finish up looking really good....keep up the good work..

Dave in UK
 
I don't think you can go wrong for $500, looks like you have the ability to put the needed work into it. You will have a nice boat when you are done. Hard to diagnose the engine thing at this point, but I would start with the basics, make sure you have good batteries and all the connections are clean / good. Also, I would pull the outdrives and have a look, they are bound to have issues with the bellows, water pumps and trim senders - could also be the reason that engine won't turn over. If the engines were fogged and winterized, it's a pretty good bet they will run with minimal problems, just need to go slow and easy getting them running.

Keep us updated, really like to see projects like this - you already have a boat that is worth more than you paid for it in my opinion.
 
I would be concern with ice damage considering your location if it wasn't covered properly.Stringers,bulk heads,motor mounts and transom. It would be a shame to do all the work to make it pretty and find out it has a rot problem.
 
Wow - that's awesome progress! I have a project boat myself, so I can relate to the addiction.

470's seem like the step-child of marine propulsion, and they exhibit plenty of Mercury "engineering", but a friend of mine had a set in a 27 Carver and they served him very well for a long time. They ran great - reliable and efficient, so I would take some of the reputation with a grain of salt. His biggest complaint was non counter-rotating drives. I see yours are the same way, but that's a manageable quirk IMO.

Two concerns - cinder blocks aren't recommended because of their propensity to crumble. You might want to find another way to support her. Also be careful with powerwashers, esp near penetrations into structure that could be cored (around deck stanchions etc). You don't want to risk shooting away any bedding material and exposing the core to water intrusion.

I'm not sure what's going on with your shore power connection, but I would recommend putting a new charger into your budget asap. A good charger can pay for itself relatively quickly by being kind to your batteries.
 
Hopefully some owners or previous owners of the same year/model will chime in for specifics, but in the meantime I searched for owner and parts manuals and came up with this for a close year. There's a section describing the reverse polarity light behavior that you're experiencing.

'85 270 DA

Also, do you have two batteries or three, and do you have battery selector switches? Looks like factory setup might have been 2 batteries, 1 switch, but if yours has been modified you'll want to document that as a reference for troubleshooting. If you have multiple switches, cycling through them to see what operates what will isolate whether a selector setting is the reason you're not getting power on the starboard side, or whether it's more likely a dead battery as others suggest. Setting the breaker panel switches and using our selectors in the right combinations was the simplest habit but somehow took me/First Mate a while to master so we get the best performance from our charger, minimize starting issues, and can spend weekends on the hook with little fear of killing the batteries.

Good luck with the rest of the project--I'm looking forward to updates!
 
Congratulations! Looks like a good deal for someone willing to put in a little sweat equity.
Detailing is a hobby of mine too, and it looks like getting your new to you boat looking good again could be a lot of fun, and pretty satisfying.
Re: The electrical issues.
110 side first.
Are all the other breakers turned off? They should be off before you turn the main breaker on. Make sure the things that those breakers supply power to are off too.
If all the breakers are off and the main breaker keeps tripping when you turn it on, and there is indication of reverse polarity, there is a problem between the main breaker and the land receptacle you are plugged in to. The first, and easiest to check is the adapter, or power cord you are using. Could be you have a bad one. Bad ones are not uncommon. Next I would check the polarity at the land receptacle with an inexpensive polarity tester you can get at Home Depot, and also make sure there is no short in there.
If the land receptacle and cord are ok, then the problem is with either your dockside power inlet, the wiring going from it to the main breaker, or the main breaker itself. The receptacle is about $50.00, the wire going to the 110 panel is probably 10/3 (that's what mine is) and available by the foot from a marine store, and the 110 breakers can be had there too. You probably have a Zinc saver, or galvonic Isolater inline on the green ground wire between the dockside receptacle and the 110 panel. Mine is mounted behind the combing very close to the back of the dockside receptacle.
A little patience, and some diagnostic time, and you should be able to straighten it all out.
Next, the 12 volt stuff.
The boat looks like it was exposed to the elements for a while. Electrical connections on these boats get cruddy real quick. I'm frequently chasing down 12 volt stuff caused by weathered connections.
I would check the switches, breakers, and connections for anything 12 volt that isn't working. Most things can usually be solved by snipping off the end until you get clean copper wire, attaching a new connector on some clean wire, and re-connecting.
Switches and breakers go bad less frequently, but they can go bad.
Fuse blocks also develop loose clips because the rvets that hold them to the block get sloppy, but the blocks are standard stuff, cheap, and readily available.
Again, just some time with a 12 volt test light, and a little patience, and you'll probably be able to resolve most, if not all, of the problems.
It helps to have wiring diagrams, and owners manuals. They're available for download on the Sea Ray website.You may not get one for your exact year, but any year of that style should be basically the same.
I printed out two copies of everything I could download, and put them in binders. One I keep in a drawer on the boat, and the other I keep at home.
Best of luck with the new toy.
 
Not that everyone is dying for updates or anything, haha, but unfortunately I don't have really have any, other than that I was able to get both drives trimmed down.
I lost my job so the boat had to take a backseat; I pretty much just drained the cooling system and haven't worked on it for a month or two :smt089

BUT, I got a new job, so once I catch up on my bills and get some disposable income I intend on picking up some vinyl/fabric and trying my hand at reupholstering stuff over the winter, and I will pick up the mechanical work as soon as I can in the spring.

As I said, you can pick them up for so relatively cheap, that in the WORST case that both engines AND drives are shot (which I HIGHLY doubt - I was about ready to fire up the port side motor as it was cranking over great), I believe I would still come out ahead - and either way, getting the rest of the boat tip-top would increase it's value considerably, I'd imagine, so it's worth it, at least to me.

cool boat, for $500 you cant go wrong.

The emergency switch is so if you have no juice to one of your motors you can cross over the good (probably running) motor to fire up the dead one. Did you test/charge up all the batteries? Could just be a bad one on the one motor.
I charged them to the best of my abilities, yes, haha. It's tough to keep 4 batteries charged when you're constantly screwing around with the electricals, playing with the lights, etc. :lol:

Keep us updated, really like to see projects like this - you already have a boat that is worth more than you paid for it in my opinion.
I certainly agree with your last point! She has not disappointed me once when it's come to cleaning her up.

Hard to diagnose the engine thing at this point, but I would start with the basics, make sure you have good batteries and all the connections are clean / good. Also, I would pull the outdrives and have a look, they are bound to have issues with the bellows, water pumps and trim senders - could also be the reason that engine won't turn over.
The bellows are definitely shot and need to be replaced, and I'm assuming the impellers are probably brittle by now and should certainly be replaced - I was able to get both drives all the way down though.
But, could you elaborate on what you mean as far as those things possibly being why the motor wouldn't turn over?

I would be concern with ice damage considering your location if it wasn't covered properly.Stringers,bulk heads,motor mounts and transom. It would be a shame to do all the work to make it pretty and find out it has a rot problem.
I completely agree; I figured it HAD to have rotted stringers or something, being neglected like it was. But (and I know this is doesn't actually tell you anything and is very amateur) the whole boat feels so SOLID. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have it inspected and moisture monitored, but honestly I'd be surprised if it had any major issues just going by "feel".

Hopefully some owners or previous owners of the same year/model will chime in for specifics, but in the meantime I searched for owner and parts manuals and came up with this for a close year. There's a section describing the reverse polarity light behavior that you're experiencing.

'85 270 DA

Also, do you have two batteries or three, and do you have battery selector switches? Looks like factory setup might have been 2 batteries, 1 switch, but if yours has been modified you'll want to document that as a reference for troubleshooting. If you have multiple switches, cycling through them to see what operates what will isolate whether a selector setting is the reason you're not getting power on the starboard side, or whether it's more likely a dead battery as others suggest. Setting the breaker panel switches and using our selectors in the right combinations was the simplest habit but somehow took me/First Mate a while to master so we get the best performance from our charger, minimize starting issues, and can spend weekends on the hook with little fear of killing the batteries.

Good luck with the rest of the project--I'm looking forward to updates!
Wow, thanks so much for the link! That will certainly come in handy.
And the boat actually has 4 batteries - 2 per side - but it looks very factory to me.
And this may be a dumb question, but when you say charger, are you talking about the boat's built-in charger? Or an external charger?

Congratulations! Looks like a good deal for someone willing to put in a little sweat equity.
Detailing is a hobby of mine too, and it looks like getting your new to you boat looking good again could be a lot of fun, and pretty satisfying.
Re: The electrical issues.
110 side first.
Are all the other breakers turned off? They should be off before you turn the main breaker on. Make sure the things that those breakers supply power to are off too.
If all the breakers are off and the main breaker keeps tripping when you turn it on, and there is indication of reverse polarity, there is a problem between the main breaker and the land receptacle you are plugged in to. The first, and easiest to check is the adapter, or power cord you are using. Could be you have a bad one. Bad ones are not uncommon. Next I would check the polarity at the land receptacle with an inexpensive polarity tester you can get at Home Depot, and also make sure there is no short in there.
If the land receptacle and cord are ok, then the problem is with either your dockside power inlet, the wiring going from it to the main breaker, or the main breaker itself. The receptacle is about $50.00, the wire going to the 110 panel is probably 10/3 (that's what mine is) and available by the foot from a marine store, and the 110 breakers can be had there too. You probably have a Zinc saver, or galvonic Isolater inline on the green ground wire between the dockside receptacle and the 110 panel. Mine is mounted behind the combing very close to the back of the dockside receptacle.
A little patience, and some diagnostic time, and you should be able to straighten it all out.
Next, the 12 volt stuff.
The boat looks like it was exposed to the elements for a while. Electrical connections on these boats get cruddy real quick. I'm frequently chasing down 12 volt stuff caused by weathered connections.
I would check the switches, breakers, and connections for anything 12 volt that isn't working. Most things can usually be solved by snipping off the end until you get clean copper wire, attaching a new connector on some clean wire, and re-connecting.
Switches and breakers go bad less frequently, but they can go bad.
Fuse blocks also develop loose clips because the rvets that hold them to the block get sloppy, but the blocks are standard stuff, cheap, and readily available.
Again, just some time with a 12 volt test light, and a little patience, and you'll probably be able to resolve most, if not all, of the problems.
It helps to have wiring diagrams, and owners manuals. They're available for download on the Sea Ray website.You may not get one for your exact year, but any year of that style should be basically the same.
I printed out two copies of everything I could download, and put them in binders. One I keep in a drawer on the boat, and the other I keep at home.
Best of luck with the new toy.
Wow again - thanks so much for the time you spent to post this.
Unfortunately I won't be able to do much probing/testing like this until spring (EARLY spring :smt038), but I will certainly be referring to this post when I do.

Thanks again everyone! I appreciate the encouragement, advice, and any other input.
I feel like I know what I'm doing, and at the same time have no idea what I'm doing :lol:
 
Very sorry to hear about the employment situation--that sucks even when you don't have a fun project in the works!

Wow, thanks so much for the link! That will certainly come in handy.
And the boat actually has 4 batteries - 2 per side - but it looks very factory to me.
And this may be a dumb question, but when you say charger, are you talking about the boat's built-in charger? Or an external charger?
Yes, built in charger/AC converter. When we first got our boat, we didn't always set our cabin breaker panel correctly to charge the batteries properly while on shore power, and the batteries had come with the boat, so we killed them pretty quickly.

And we didn't completely understand our battery selector switch "map," to know what they manage, what they don't, and what combination of settings is appropriate for starting, anchoring/rafting, etc. We're not 100% yet because we haven't mapped every single wire, but we have the major systems covered and don't have user error situations anymore!

Very cool that you have a 4 battery setup. Once you understand the details of what goes to what, you should have plenty of juice to do almost anything you want while you're out and about!
 
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Very nice project! The reverse polarity issue is usually a faulty shore power cord. Check both ends and look for burnt spots. If there are any issues would toss the cord and get a new one. If both ends are good go to the outlet that you connect the shore power cord to the boat. Remove the outlet and inspect the backside. If it's corroded and yucky, replace it. If that's good then pull the main breaker panel and c how that looks. The reason you main ac breaker is turning off every time you turn it on is because of your reverse polarity or an overload condition. (It's suppose to do what is doing so u don't burn your boat down)
Trim tabs
Going down but not back up is a classic symptom of bad trim limit sensors. There should be a hockey puck looking sensor on the sides of the legs with wires coming out. When they go bad they will allow down movement but not up. If you have a trailer switch try hitting it to c if that brings the drives up. If it does then that rules out a bad trim motor and confirms it's a bad sensor. Or the piston my email frozen from sitting. While somebody is at the switch listen to the trim motor to c if it's pumping. Also could be low on fluid.
 
So, as usual, not really any updates; stupid Michigan winter! :smt021

But, I've begun to bring cushions and things home, and picked up some fabric and am going to start practicing, because I'd really like to do the reupholstering myself. I think it'd be a cool after-hours hobby, and would make me mighty proud if it came out well.
Does anyone have any good links or anything to help someone out who basically has no idea what they're doing, or even how to sew? :lol:

Also, question: can the entire helm (captains seat and bench seats, rear jumper seats, etc.) be removed on an 80's 270 Sundancer?
I've got to replace some wood and veneer pieces on it, do some upholstery, and I was also planning on making an enclosure of some sort for a subwoofer where the little middle cooler usually is, and it'd be a lot easier if I could remove the whole helm and take it home on a trailer and work on it in my basement.

As usual, any input is greatly appreciated,
Thanks!
 
OH, and also: do the short rear wooden "guard rails" come off on these boats?
I wanted to take them off to refinish them, but all I see are little circles in the wood, which I imagine could potentially pop out and reveal screws, but I was too worried that I'd damage the wood trying to really give it a go.
Same goes for the bow pulpit; couldn't find any screw, just little circles in the wood.
 
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