New 260 owner

S

Sharkie

New Member
Apr 28, 2008
19
Avon Lake, OH
Boat Info
1982 260 DA
Engines
350 Mercruiser
Hi All,

I'm the proud owner of a 1982 260 Sundancer! Just found the site, so I'm looking forward to all the great advice you can give (such as - why did I wait to buy a boat until oil was $100+ per barrell).
Looking forward to a fun summer on Lake Erie!

Sharkie
 
Welcome aboard. I have an '81 260 Dancer but I'm convinced it's an '82 (hull ID says 1981 but I think it was a late production and based on old Sea Ray brochures, it looks exactly like the boat in the pics). I just fought through some carburetor issues as well as complete hull and teak resto. I also recreated the anchor hatch (see posts). This is an awesome site and I look forward to swaping stories.
 
Hey Billy,

We just went up last week and picked out a dock at Bay Point Marina in Marblehead. We've got 3 kids, so the beach and playground will keep them occupied. The boat is in Vermillion right now, and except for a coat of wax, it's ready to make the voyage along the shoreline.

The boat needs updating, but overall in great shape.
You're in Catawba? Where at?

Sharkie
 
My in-laws have a house on Muncy Drive on the CIC golf course. We are going to dock with them at Winkies this year. Although I don't think we will splash our boat until mid summer due to the report I just got back from the mechanic, Damnit! My DA is going to need some pricey mechanical work that will take me some time to pay for. But we are still going up every weekend and doing the cosmetic stuff, and I have a pile teak in my garage right now that I am sanding down and refinishing.

Does the interior have that original brown plaid fabric? That stuff is horrible. My Mom is redoing all of our interior cushions right now which will make a HUGE difference.
Billy
 
You definitely in a nice area! That sucks about the problems. What work needs to be done? Mine is good mechanically, but needs serious cleaning/updating inside. The cushions are grey plaid, but are covered in stains. My wife really doesn't like the cosmetics of it, but I didn't budget for too much updating, so I'll have to live with it for a while.

As soon as I can, I'll get pictures, although it looks just like yours.
 
Welcome!! I have quite a bit of experience with '80's vintage 260's and will be glad to help if I can.
 
Well I had the mechanic at Winkines go over the whole thing last weekend. I had originally thought that the boat was mechanically sound and just needed cosmetic stuff. But when they looked at it apparently one of the supports for the engine kicked out and the engine is sitting in there un level. This caused the gimble bearing to get ate up. The throttle cable was installed wrong and is causing the boat to idle at high RPM's, she needs a new fuel pump, an exhaust riser is cracked and she needs a tune up. The outer drive is probably shot, but the marina has one off an abandoned boat they are going to give me for really cheap, so thats pretty cool. So the big thing is the labor to get the engine pulled, repairing the supports and put back in there correctly and replacing the gimble bearing and riser. I can do the fuel pump myself and they are cheap, and not sure what the riser will cost of if it needs to be done right away or if I can get away with patching it till the winter. All that being said I got the boat really cheap so even after I put the couple grand it needs in work into it I will have still got a really good deal on what I think is a really cool looking Sea Ray.
Billy
 
Sounds like we have enough 260 owners to start our own club now!

BillyT, if you need help paying for those repairs you better sell me that camper canvas! :)
Seriously though, sorry to hear about your luck but glad that its still a deal!

Anybody have the teak motor cover on theirs? I like that and wish mine had it...
 
Ha, The camper top is nice but needs a starboard window made.

Don't have the teak engine cover but I think I am going to attempt to make one to look like the one that should be there. From what I can tell from the battery cover, Sea Ray used 2' wide 1/4" teak planks glued to 3/4" marine grade plywood, and then trimmed the outside with teak trim. Shouldn't be too bad once I can find the teak planks.
Probably wont do it for a couple of months but Ill let you guys know how it turns out when I do.
Billy
 
Sounds good, would like to see it when you're done. You have the solid fiberglass cover now I guess?
 
No I wish! The original teak must have gotten too bad because the PO replaced with a piece of plywood. Looks like hell.
Billy
 
Welcome to the site
I have a 76 30' srv weekender. Will post pics as soon as I figure out how.
 
WOW! Guess I joined the right site! I purchased an '80 260 Cruiser Express 2 months ago and have been busy refitting it since. The woman also hates the plaid pads in the V-berth, but it doesn't bother me as I'm still mesmerized by the total stereo system refit I just completed and it rocks! Was hard to convince her that the boat wouldn't float without great audio, but the forward mirror bouncing tells me the baffles are working just fine. Otherwise the interior is in great shape with no stains or funky smells.
Boat has 1 start & 2 aux batteries. I'm deep-sixing the battery selector switch in favor of an auto isolator to charge all of them while under power, and am re-wiring all the accessories to a 100amp buss that only draws from the aux bank so the start batt never lets me down.
The original teak deck plates are still in great condition, save the edges they wear on when you flip them up, and the trim underneath that locks them together is shot so if you stand on the edge of one, it pops up. Just ran out of trim pieces.
Wood topside was all weathered silver, but after a lot of power sanding and 7 coats of Z-Spar Captains varnish, I now have Mahogany dipped in glass. Can't wait to mount the pulpit and spotlight back on though it makes an interesting conversation piece in the house. Haven't screwed up the courage to tackle the swim platform, but it's coming.
Found an 8" DVD/picture frame for the galley area but am still looking for an LCD DVD/DTV that's 12" high to mount in the V-berth above the pop-out tray from the galley.
Just ordered replacement LED nav lights and am going to try to replace as many lights as I can with LED substitutes and run LED ropelight to augment the existing area lighting.
I hope they don't shut down LORAN because that's my backup in case the GPS ever craps out.
Should be on the water this weekend and anchored overnight out in Green Bay over the 4th for the fireworks.
From Kewaunee; keep your bilges dry and your women wet!
(What's wrong wit' her? She's beautiful! She's rich! She has HUGE.......tracts of land!)
 
Something to check.
Sea Ray did a poor glass job just above the bilge drain hole.
If you have standing water in the bilge. Water may be able to get into the bottom edge of the 3/4" reinforcing transom plywood that the inner transom assembly mounts to. Push hard upwards on the bottom of that glassed over transom plywood. If there's movement and a hole in the glass on the bottom edge. Water could enter there.

Also my drain screws were not very tight and the screws threads were not even sealed.
Keeping a dry bilge is a good thing :grin:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,202
Messages
1,428,445
Members
61,107
Latest member
Hoffa509
Back
Top