Official 1980's Weekender/Sundancer 300 thread

Scorpio, I ordered the materials needed for the soft spot repair but I have a question,

It says to get the water out, how do I do that step? Drill a hole inside the cabin and then a hole at the high side of the spot? The area is pretty long, it runs from the hatch over the dinnet to the forward hatch over the V berth.
 
dwna1a said:
Scorpio, I ordered the materials needed for the soft spot repair but I have a question,

It says to get the water out, how do I do that step? Drill a hole inside the cabin and then a hole at the high side of the spot? The area is pretty long, it runs from the hatch over the dinnet to the forward hatch over the V berth.
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I'd drill from outside and see how wet the wood is, mine was dry, the wood was gone in the area affected. You can try to vacuum our some water but the urethane needs some water and will consume it in the reaction. It will also displace excess water as it expands. That's the beauty of urethane, water doesnt adversely affect it unlike epoxy that has to be bone dry.
 
Wow....you all were BUSY while I was gone! And it seems a few more folks have discovered the joy of the classics, too--belated welcome! I just caught up on the pages and pages of posts since my last visit....repowers, chalk paint, solar power, bent plywood, sea glass highlights--FABULOUS!!!

Still have First Mate (going on 10 years); he moved into a 1986 Somerset in fall of 2019. He's loving the live aboard life, and I enjoy having him much closer to my land home than he was before.

Still have If You're Lucky (going on 9 years), may be boating on borrowed time right now because the little rental property I have needed big reno last fall. Started in Sept and finished in December; used professionals for big work like subfloor replacement, HVAC replacement, flooring throughout, new paint throughout, but FM and I handled a bunch, too, and I just didn't have the brain space or time to coordinate that plus boat haul/maintenance and still keep the job that pays for it all. Cross your fingers that if we're gentle with her this summer she won't get too fussy and throw an impeller or split a boot or anything.

Spring was slow-ish thanks to unusually cold weather plus a job change that had FM working Saturdays, but eventually his schedule shifted and we scored a three day Memorial weekend on the hook, then hit full stride the first weekend of June with a long trip upriver for an air show at a nearby municipal airport (13.1 nm; barely a hop for many of you, I know, but about 3/4 the length of our lake). The airfield abuts the lake property so we have an excellent view of many of the aerial routines; we left early on Friday to catch all the practice runs, plus the full show Saturday. Iffy weather moved in Sunday so we left earlier than planned but docked in time to miss the big stuff. The old girl handled it like a boss, though port ran a bit hot out and back, so I've acquired new thermostats and we'll replace both sides for good measure.

It was great catching up with everyone's projects and I'm looking forward to seeing more!
 
I have been very tempted to sell her but the boats I’ve looked at have been pretty ugly.

The backlit SeaGlass came out fantastic
 
So, now that it floats and runs, I get to start sorting the interior. Hopefully, someone can enlighten me; how do you power-up the vacuflush system? I find a circuit breaker for the pump, but no switch. I can get the fresh water pump to run, but no joy for the toilet. Any ideas?
 
Solar Power Update! I added two 100 watt solar panels running through an MPPT charger. I was up at Stehekin on Lake Chelan in central Washington. The lake is 55 miles long and we put in at the last MAIN launch, leaving a 38 mile run to the campground. We spent a week there and I noticed a leak as soon as we got there. The leak kick the pump off about 5 to 10 times an hour for just a second or two. The solar panels kept the fridge running, batteries charged and everything topped off and ready until Wednesday when we idled over and pumped out. We didn't start the motors Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. Those two panels were keeping up and providing more power than I needed for the whole week! I was impressed. The other thing was where we moored, we didn't get direct sunlight until the sun came over the mountain around 8:00 AM each morning and by 6:30 I was in the shade of the trees. I just lashed the two panels to the bimini and there was air circulation below and they did their jobs. It was nice not having to watch voltage and figure when I'd HAVE to run the engines again. My only limitation all week was the black tank. I emptied it on Wednesday, but probably could have gone another day with the two of us onboard.

I did figure out the leak and that has been fixed. I'll just leave it as a careless mistake! Gimbal bearing was not ruined, bellows is good and so I'll test it next week to make sure all has been corrected. I'm going to put a new bellows on the port side this winter. I did it the last time around 2012 or 13, so it's time. It wasn't the cause, but I'm on borrowed time anyway. I have the shift bellows as well and crossed over the to the split exhaust boot in 2012 or 13. Stbd was done in 2017, so I'm good there for a couple of years.
 
Christopher B said:
Hello all. So glad to find this thread. I recently purchased a 1988 Weekender 300. She was never fit with the folding transom seat. Considering retro fitting. What is the consensus. Also after 30 years and 950 engine hours what is a good cruising RPM. I don’t want to beat her up at WOT. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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Wow! Sorry for the late reply. I'm sure by now you've had your boat out and up and running. I'm usually very easy on my old gal. I run the throttles up to about 3,000 to 3,200 rpm and just let it come up on plane. I have the tabs fully deployed and she pops right up. I run fairly light and rarely have a full tank of fuel or much in the way of people or excess baggage. Running around 3,000 rpms and trimming for the maximum speed based on the GPS seems to provide the best mpg. There isn't a lot of difference between 1,100 RPM and 3,000 RPM in the way of miles per gallon. Seems like it's around 1 or slightly more than 1 mpg. I'm just at 950 hours myself.

As far as the transom seat, that would be an easy addition. The parts are available at McMaster-Carr and you can make one and have it upholstered to match or get pretty close anyway. If you need pics, let me know. Is it just a hole where the seat would go now?
 
OK, I'm past my electrical ability. My trailer up button quit working along with my trim down on the throttle handles. Needless to say the only UP I have is to remove the rear ram and tie the drives up! Seems like a fuse or loose connection somewhere. I checked the fuse on the port trim motor and it was good. I did NOT check the starboard motor. Does it feed the port motor? I couldn't find any blown fuses or breakers and don't know where to start tracing for power to the throttles/gear input. I'm hoping this is simple and must be since it all happened at once!

Thanks on advance for any pointers!
 
Jim I think the trim motors are powered separately, I think they draw their power from a lead connected to the starter. Put a meter on the big red wires coming to the square fuse on the trim motor and see ifvyou have voltage. If both units are affected at the same time, there is a common connection to both that I'd suspect. Check the grounds too, at the block, to be sure they arent loose, corroded or broken. My money is on a bad connection in the red wire, probably at the starter solenoid.
The switches on the throttle are low power control circuits and don't really draw any current. I think they are fed off the trim pumps. Start at the pumps. There may be a fuse on the startercsolenoid in addition to the big ones on the pumps. Test them with an ohm meter.
Let us know what you find and I'll try yo help. My manual is on the boat and I havent been there in about a month. I'll look at it next chance I get.
 
Chris,

I'll jump into it next week probably! I have had it out, but have to attach/unattach rams at the launch ramp. Kind of stupid, but I did fix a leak and it's nice to have that in the rear view mirror!

I'm sure it's a common problem since it all hit at once and all quit at the same time. I'll get the meter on it and check it and keep you posted. I have a SELOC manual, but it wasn't a whole lot of help OR I'm just not able to piece together the twin version of their single trim diagrams. I'm guessing it's the red wire or the block ground. I figure I have all winter to get it now! LOL!! Should be good to go next year!

Thanks again for the pointers and no hurry on the manual! I'm retired now and have ALL kinds of time! WOOHOO!!!
 
Jim, there should also be a glass fuse in an inline holder on the small red wire at each pump. I think it protects the wiring to the throttle switches. There has to be a common source that's the issue though.
I wonder if both are fed from starboard starter?
 
I checked the Port and it was fine. I did NOT check the starboard fuse and figured it was somewhere upstream and common to both. I'll double back so I'm not tripping over that later just in case.
 
Does anyone happen to have the cockpit carpet pattern or a photo of the carpet pattern for our old 300WE? I just need an idea of how it’s cut around these four hatches
 
Does anyone have a source to purchase swim platform support brackets? Been Googling but not seeing anything for this era DA/WE. Or have any of you fabricated/had them fabricated?
 
For the original swim step they are just ss tubing, clamped flat on both ends and then drilled for the two screws. There are 3, with the outboard two being a little shorter than the inboard support. I have three of them and can send you a pic with measurements tomorrow if you need them. I'm working to sell my old platform along with the supports so they are just taking up space right now. They would be easy to make if you have a vice.
 
Sundancer said:
For the original swim step they are just ss tubing, clamped flat on both ends and then drilled for the two screws. There are 3, with the outboard two being a little shorter than the inboard support. I have three of them and can send you a pic with measurements tomorrow if you need them. I'm working to sell my old platform along with the supports so they are just taking up space right now. They would be easy to make if you have a vice.
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Pics and measurements would be wonderful--thank you! I think a colleague can make them to be ready for the next haul out.
 
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The two end supports are 7/8 inch SS Tubing with two inches where it's flattened and drilled for the two screws/bolts. Those end pieces are 23 inches between the bends. The middle support is 1 inch tubing 24 inches between the bends with the 2 inch flattened and drilled at each end. Anybody could make these and using all 1 inch tubing might be easier? Either way, let me know if you have any questions!
 
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