Official 1980's Weekender/Sundancer 300 thread

We are frozen in, with some boats being pushed up by the ice getting under them. On our dock we are only two or three inches above the water but we knew the snow was coming and we removed all dock boxes and placed them on the swim platforms. My daughter and I had to cut the ice to get our pump and pipes in place and we are now floating free. He other shed is about 85% under the ice with only one boat running a circulation pump. We are more worried about the rain that's due tomorrow than anything eles now.
 
molson9 said:
Dwna1a, Do you know what size propellers you got on your 300 weekender?
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17x16 three blades. I'm still looking to replace them with four blades. WOT is 4400. I've never pushed her to tha limit.
 
jrdtlm7579 said:
Same here, what part of TN?
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I'm a neighbor to the south on Priest. Only one of our six ropes was straining; BoatSafe was doing its job and First Mate cranked the other heaters a bit for good measure. Glad we got a little melt going these last couple of days, though....your boat and dock doing ok?
 
I'm looking at a set of 17 x 17 with 1.25 shafts off a 340 DA was hoping they might fit. The water is frozen around the JRB but not to thick maybe 1/2 inch at the most. I was able to break the ice around the boat, then run my heat/ac pump and start the boat Saturday.
 
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The shaft size is right but I'm not sure I'd mess to much with sizes. Don't forget we have tunnel drives under our babies. Ask around here before you make that commitment.
 
trflgrl said:
I'm a neighbor to the south on Priest. Only one of our six ropes was straining; BoatSafe was doing its job and First Mate cranked the other heaters a bit for good measure. Glad we got a little melt going these last couple of days, though....your boat and dock doing ok?
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I am at FCM on priest, K Dock. Our boat was Ok even though the dock started to go under due to the ice and snow.
 
molson9 said:
I'm looking at a set of 17 x 17 with 1.25 shafts off a 340 DA was hoping they might fit. The water is frozen around the JRB but not to thick maybe 1/2 inch at the most. I was able to break the ice around the boat, then run my heat/ac pump and start the boat Saturday.
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we we took chainsaws to cut the covered slips free of the ice. Some of the slips had about 3 to 4 inch thick blocks. Once the snow melted off the roof the ice held the docks under the water and was causing the docks to flex and bind. The boats on our dock were in great shape. We watch out for each others boats.The other dock weren't so great. I noticed one of the newer SeaRays was pumping water out at a steady flow. We think the ice got to the bellows. Those folks don't seem to ever come down in the winter. I think this time it may have bit one of them in the butt. We made the call to the owner, but he still hadn't shown by the time I left.
 
Hi all,
Looking at a 1989 300 weekender. 260 hp shaft config. Looks in good shape so far, but 3 ft of snow around it so tough to tell.
Looking for tips on areas to look for trouble. Cant see inside yet, fuel tanks fibr or aluminum? Like size and beam, and no outdrives to deal with. Under 15K with 2013 survey. Dunno, looks like a winner.
See what you all have to say.
Bud
 
Start with it's hearts. Are the twins FWC or raw, when was the last time the manifolds and risers changed? What did the 2013 survey say about the boat? Was she winterized this year? Hours on the engines? Rudder packing, shaft packing, props, shafts, rudders? Our old Weekenders were built like tanks but still look her over for hull damage, mostly around the rub rail and swim platform. How's the bottom paint look?
 
Owner is sending survey. He bought in 2013, hence the survey. Not sure on fw till I get that. Bottom was very nice, i was a service manager for sailboat broker in the late 80's and boat pox was an issue. I looked close at this and it look well cared for. Hull is perfect, no damage, nor repairs to be found. Interior fabrics, leds,Garmin chartplotter, eisen, canvas, all done 2014.
 
You will LOVE this boat. They truly are built like tanks.

After buying it in 2013, why is he selling so soon?


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Moving up this year. I know him, it was his first boat. Just looking for model specific things to watch for. Seems heavy, and well built. 1400 hours on meter, not sure if rebuilt along the way. How are the trans in these? Fuel filters ok, or upgrade with these older tanks?
Thanks guys
I will post more info once I get survey, going to look at slip in the morning, put in my application.
Bud
 
Tanks are aluminum. With 1400 hours I would use caution if they are original. Of course a motor with 400 hours could be just as bad if it wasn't cared for.

I would wait until you can float her and take it for a run. LOL, I bought mine without doing this and I haven't had any issues. "Knock on wood". If you know the boat was used and didn't have any mechanical issues last summer then you should be fine, however "boats" happen!


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I did the same as Mark but I got my baby from a very trusted dealer. Mine had 1400+ on the motors. She needed risers and manifolds but she also had a ICU unit fail in the first six months. Does she have a GenSet?
 
Just in general, whats the block good for before a refresh, rings, bearings, etc? Also, carbs. East to find new? I dont like to rebuild as the castings wear out, would rather buy a nice new set and be done with it. Applied for my slip today, so moving ahead so far. Bud
 
That will depend on how she was taken care of ,how hard or soft she was run.Typically i have seen 5.7 with good care and not being abused go 2-3000 hrs.Preventive maintainance is key also a scheduled look in your cooling system every two-three years.But thats just my opinion and what i have seen.
 
Rhodeislander said:
Just in general, whats the block good for before a refresh, rings, bearings, etc? Also, carbs. East to find new? I dont like to rebuild as the castings wear out, would rather buy a nice new set and be done with it. Applied for my slip today, so moving ahead so far. Bud
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It's a great boat. I have the Sundancer version, and love it. One of my motors went bad 3 years ago, and I love the boat so much I elected to put two brand new ones in. It was well worth it. No way I could have gotten something with brand new motors, this much space, and that nice, for anywhere near what it cost to re-power.
They are relatively easy boats to work on. If the motors are good, that's half the battle. If they aren't, and the boat is really nice, negotiate that in to the price and look at a re-power.
I've removed and replaced manifolds and risers on mine in the past, and they were pretty easy. I also did some other repairs on the old motors in the bilge, and the only thing that was a real PIA was a starter change. Everything else own there is accessible.
The oil filters, being up against the stringers, can be sloppy to get out. After a few years of lining the bilge with absorb pads, and trying my best to balance the filter while working it around a stringer, I made the very worthwhile investment in remote oil filter set ups for the new motors.
Other than that, all other maintenance items in the bilge are relatively accessible.
If the hull is in good shape, cosmetics are basically good, and it runs well, or you have a re-power planned, my advice would be to try everything on the boat to see what works and what doesn't.
Switches and breakers are cheap, readily available, and easy to swap out. Not uncommon to have problems with them when they near 30 years old, but not the end of the world at all.
I've owned mine for 8 years now. Besides the re-power, I've changed bilge pumps, the fresh water pump, and the AC pump. With the exception of the aft bilge pump between the motors, all were very easy DIY projects. Knowing how hard it is to get to, I swapped out the aft pump while the motors were out just as a precaution.
The 12 volt wiring is pretty straightforward, and if nobody has done sloppy splicing, or hacked in to it, you should have no major issues there.
Removing the mirror in the head gets you to almost every connection you will ever deal with, and an annual clean up back there is time well spent on maintenance.
If you can, take a quick look at the wiring to make sure it isn't a mess.
Seeing hacked up wiring is something that might make me pass on a boat, only because it could indicate poor repairs or maintenance in general, and you could chase electrical problems forever. I've added a few 12 volt things in and out of the cabin, and it was really easy to run fresh wire back to the fuse block. If a previous owner chose not to do things right, he probably let some other things go too.
The 12 volt fuse blocks are under the dash, and easily accessible. I swapped mine out when the rivets started to get sloppy causing intermittent loss of power to accessories. . The fuse blocks are cheap, and available everywhere. The replacement took me very little time one evening, and replacement eliminated all of the minor intermittent problems.
The 110 systems on these boats are very simple. I've never had a problem with mine, but even if there was a problem, everything is relatively easy to get to. Again though, make sure all the breakers do something, and that the things they switch power to all work properly.
Check the reverse cycle AC/Heat if equipped, and the AC/DC fridge. Both can be pretty expensive to replace. I'm real lucky that both are original on my boat, but I keep my fingers crossed that they hold up.
The fresh water system is really simple too. Other than swapping out the faucets in the head and galley, I've never had a problem with any of the lines. If a problem did come up, they all look fairly easy to get to.
The long sliding windows in the sides of the cabin can be a nightmare. Make sure they go back and forth properly, and there is no sign of water intrusion anywhere around them.
The stanchions for the bow rail bolt down through the deck and are secured with nuts from the underside in the cabin. Most are easy to see, the more aft ones are tougher, but not impossible. Take a quick look and make sure they aren't leaking.
The original windlass on mine was a Benson. They are long out of business, and replacement parts are not available. That can be another big ticket item, so make sure to check it out.
Having a fairly recent survey is a great starting point. You should be able to check things out pretty thoroughly.
Good luck!
 
Rebuilding these motors makes little sense. Re-manufactured mercruiser motors with warranties are all over the place for decent prices, and brand new ones are just a little more money.
Original carbs were Quadrajets. New ones aren't around anymore. Lots of rebuilders out there, but that's a crapshoot.
There is a difference between a real marine quadrajet, and one that some rebuilder converted from an automotive version.
My new motors came with a different brand (Edelbrock 1409) carb, and I was smart enough to hold on to the freshly rebuilt original marine quadrajet from one of my old motors. It's wrapped up in my garage waiting for the next motor to feed.
If you need, or want, to replace the carb(s) with new, you'd have to go with a square bore and use an adapter plate (no big deal) to mount the brand new carb to the original spread bore intake manifold.
 
Thanks JVM, Carbs are important to me, even if motors are tired, they matter. If compression looks good, I may just do carbs for starters. New block may be the way to go, as you say the original not worth much. Bud
 
Rhodeislander said:
Thanks JVM, Carbs are important to me, even if motors are tired, they matter. If compression looks good, I may just do carbs for starters. New block may be the way to go, as you say the original not worth much. Bud
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If you decide to stick with the Quadra-jets, which are good carbs, make sure you have them rebuilt locally, and hold on to the genuine marine versions.
Do not do the mail order re-builts. If (and you likely will) you have trouble with them, they'll exchange them, but you have to send them back and forth.
I've tried them, and had nothing but trouble with them. Luckily, I found the problems before I sent back my cores. The ones they sent me were not only poorly rebuilt, but they were also converted automotive carbs.
I spent a few bucks more, and had mine rebuilt by a local guy who did an excellent job.
Not long afterward, my tired old starboard motor gave out. Someone made me a solid offer for the good used port motor, which made doing both motors at the same time a no brainer.
I saved the freshly rebuilt Q-Jet from the bad motor. I've also got a mint intake for it. Now I just need another boat to use them on.
 
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