New 1976 Weekender 300

[VISA MC]

Barn find! I picked up a 1976 Weekender 300 out of one of the barns at a marina. Boat has always been maintained by the marina, had a pair of new motors and transmissions put in then sat for 7 years. The boat is winterized and cribbed, so I won’t be really playing until next year, but so far I hooked up two batteries and was able to turn both motors over and fire up all of the lights and horn. All work!

We scrubbed the name off and MC numbers and I’ll have them redone in vinyl for next spring. She’s in great shape, just needs a good scrub down outside, inside is clean. It’ll be a long winter and spring!

 

[JimG]

Does sound nice... pics?

Best of luck and welcome to CSR!

 

[VISA MC]

Does sound nice... pics?

Best of luck and welcome to CSR!

I took them from my phone, and they were too large to upload. Here are a few photos. I need to sand down the step down into the cabin, the folding door that closes there hangs up on the bottom board. I might try to just oil it first and see if it lays back down with a little oil.

 

[Steve255AJ]

That is an amazing find! It's gorgeous and looks in amazing shape for it's age. My favorite all time model, the late 70s was when I fell in love with the Sea Rays at Hyannis Marina on Cape Cod as a kid. We had a 240 WE , but I always wanted a 300 WE. Owning my own Sea Ray was on my bucket list, and I really wanted a 300 WE but I needed one I could trailer with my F150. I finally bought a 255 AJ recently, it's the biggest one I could get and still trailer it. I'm still doing work on it but I've had it in the lake 5 times so far. Good luck with it, you got a gem there.

 

[Harv]

Barn find! I picked up a 1976 Weekender 300 out of one of the barns at a marina. Boat has always been maintained by the marina, had a pair of new motors and transmissions put in then sat for 7 years. The boat is winterized and cribbed, so I won’t be really playing until next year, but so far I hooked up two batteries and was able to turn both motors over and fire up all of the lights and horn. All work!

We scrubbed the name off and MC numbers and I’ll have them redone in vinyl for next spring. She’s in great shape, just needs a good scrub down outside, inside is clean. It’ll be a long winter and spring!

Any Pictures?

 

[JimG]

Any Pictures?

Pics in post 3
PO has not been back since October 11

 

[VISA MC]

I’ll be up at the barn tomorrow hopefully. It’s been a long winter here in northern Michigan. My plan is:

• Change oil in both motors
• Drain gas from both tanks
• Put gas in both tanks
• New spark plugs

Then try to start the motors and go from there. I found a local artist to hand paint her new name on the transom. I’ll put a little teak oil on the wood parts and go from there. Hoping for a nice smooth startup on these motors.

 

[Timeflys]

Time capsule!!

 

[VISA MC]

We got both engines turning over and discovered it’ll need 2 starters. They turn over but only with a lot of persuasion. Looks like it’ll be another month or so before we can get it to the water to see how it really goes.

one thing I am very confused about, the two engines that are in it are Mercruiser 233. I’ve thought since I bought the boat those were 351’s. I had a mechanic look at it today and he said they are 302’s. Everything I’ve read says 351 but most of the parts I am looking at are compatible with 302 / 351 and the Merchant 233. What am I missing here?

Also the new name that I picked out for the boat is Gypsea Soul. Making progress, but definitely ready to get it wet and see how she runs.

 

[VISA MC]

Just heard back, mechanic was mistaken. They are 351’s lol. Spent a lot of hours last night wondering where I went wrong.

 

[VISA MC]

Replaced both starters and raw water pumps. Replaced spark plugs, plug wires, cap and rotor, changed engine oil, repacked both shaft seals and rebuilt both carbs. Took her out for the first trip this weekend and discovered what seems to be the carbs loading up with fuel after excessive idle time. But both engines started and ran very well at idle. I can tell we are close to getting this classic back on the water.

Here are a few more photos:

 

[dwna1a]

She looks really nice, great find. Congrats and welcome

 

[VISA MC]

Thanks!

So upon further investigation, it’s water in the fuel. Plan is to put her in the slings and tip it back and pump the water out. Fuel seems ok aside from that. She ran 30 mph on the test run. I’m happy with that!

 

[VISA MC]

Got this one all ironed out. She ran 30 mph today across the lake. Few more trial runs and we’ll be ready for some big water trips on the Great Lakes.