Official (1990-1993) 270/290 DA thread

Wow, that 270 looks so nice without the arch! Could almost pass for a 300...at least the way it looks in the pic. Very nice pic BTW!
 
Since this is the official 270/290 thread, I thought it fair to post my question to you guys here.

I am in a lowly 250 right now and am getting 2 foot-itis. I have been longing for a 300 DA or a 340 DB this past year, but after careful consideration, realized that we would like to keep the trailerable aspect to our boating adventures. With that in mind, I've discovered that the only vintage SR that I can trailer without permits is the 270/290. Yeah, I know it's 1/2 a foot over width, but I'm in Indiana and the cops don't harass boaters. So my question for you gents is...will only 2 additional feet in length and 1 additional foot in beam really be noticeable? I have read that 1 foot in beam feels like 5 extra feet of length. Any truth to this for the guys who have made the upgrade? Also, will I gain any headroom in the galley of a 270? I'm 6' tall and my head hits the ceiling in my 250 with my shoes on. Here are the immediate benefits I have found that the 270/290 will have over my 250. Real sit down dinette, bow pulpit, factory A/C, big block power with Bravo drive, remote spotlight and the potential for marine genset. Can someone tell me if the 2 extra feet in length is in the cockpit or the cabin. It is really tight with four adults on deck right now. I would love to know if the cockpit of a 270/290 has more square feet than the 250.
 
Hi Ten Yrs,
I used to have a Four Winns 245 Vista 1989 yr. it had factory air/heat, remote spot light, no windlass at anchor. I wanted the dinette because I didn't like the fact that if I used the V berth that I had to take the bed apart to have a table. The extra beam makes this possible. The head height is a bit more in the 270, I'm just under 6' and don't have any problem with head clearance. The interesting thing about this yr. 270 is it is the first year Sea Ray utilized the integral swim platform which adds another 18" or so to the boat length, so this model is essentially a 29' boat from swim platform to tip of bow pulpit. You add the anchor if you have the windlass and you have a 30' boat which is a consideration when you get to selecting a trailer for this beast. As far as cockpit room goes there is definitely more space than I had in the 245 Vista, including more seating with the double captains bench and the aft facing bench behind, there is also a fold up aft bench which adds four more possible seats, although I think it is too far aft to have much weight when trying to plane, we don't use it much as I have a big Igloo cooler that doubles as a seat and keeps the drinks and extra food cold. We have had our 270 for one season so far and we love it. It is just my wife and I generally, but we have had a couple of guests out, and weren't crowded plus we were fishing and that can make room a premium. The curtains in both the aft and foward berths make privacy issues almost nonexistent even with four people. It's not a titanic but quite managable with four adults on board. Love the bravo 1 and 7.4/454 magnum combo. Quite thirsty at todays fuel prices, but the wife and I don't care all that much about speed when we are out on the water, and since we have all the comforts of home, there is no rush to get anywhere, so we will run at displacement speeds and hang with the sailboats or trawlers enroute and save fuel, maybe toss out a line and see if we can come up with dinner. As for the trailerable aspect I had the same feeling, I wanted the biggest trailerable boat I could have beam wise, and I'm like you in that I think the extra 6" isn't a huge deal. I did order a 102" wheel base on the trailer so the boat dosen't look like it is sitting way out over the axles, as a matter of fact if you don't know boats and what beam they may be you can't tell the difference between 8'6 and 9' so I'm not worried either. We only have about 35 mi. to the ramp, so it's a piece of cake. Hope this helps, and good luck on your search.
1990-270-da-lover
 
Nice to see this thread alive again! We've had our 270 for 3 years now and are very happy with it. For overnighting we put the camper top up to keep live/dead bugs and morning dew under control. We did not put it up one night and had to wipe the whole cockpit down with towls and they got soaked. I value the camper top as a must have now.

The 454/Bravo1 has worked out great and easy to work on in the bilge. We have the larger waste tank and don't need to dump it very often. Not that we need more to maintain but I wish we had a generator. We do have AC and is nice while docked overnight. The 454 engine heat does provide good hot water when on the hook without electric. Gas consumption is interesting.....5 to 25 gallons per hour depending on speed I would estimate. Nice cruise speed is 25-28mph/3500-3800rpms on smooth/choppy water. Max for me is 36-38mph gps. Lie O Meter says solid 40mph at WOT/4600rpms.

6 adults seem to work well for rides. We have only overnighted by ourselves, in a raftup with others mostly, so privacy is fine. We started using the midcabin more instead of the dedicated V-Berth because the boat seems to move less there and is more private. I always wanted the V-Berth set up all the time and it does have great storage underneath it......but we are not sleeping there much. It is where our TV is so we do hang there sometimes to watch a movie. It also gets used as storage for our factory bow sun pad. Never could figure out where to store that huge item! Pump head is ok but Vacuflush would be nicer. I'm 6'1" and headroom is great and in the shower also.

Bow Rail rain leaks can be a pain and the mounting could better. We do walk back and forth quite a bit at anchor and at no wake speeds. Access to the bow could be better but is ok. Bow spotlight is fun but a hand held is better. In PA you can't navigate with a spotlight on anyways.

My trailer is 35ft long and this combination is about the max with a 3/4 ton truck. I have not been on scales yet but the trailer is 2200lbs empty. Add boat and fuel/water/etc and your at 11,500lbs pretty quick if not more. You can tell when the fuel is full or empty at 100 gallons.

Would I like a 2006 300DA? Sure but a larger truck and permits would be needed to travel a wide beam. It's not always about the boat I have to admit, Mike.
 
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Here's the latest with my upgrade's. I received my 285 fastrolller zodiac this week. I have the davits mount on the boat now. This Dinghy is 9 foot 4 inches and 5 foot 6 inches wide were the old 285 cadet was 9 foot and 4 foot 10 inches wide. This mean all the mounts are messed up. The old Dinghy was already offset to starboard to far. I hade to change to way I mounted the Weaver arch mount on the transom of the Dinghy. There is a wedge that goes between the transom and the arch mount. I rotated that 90 degrees from what I did on the last Dinghy. This gave me about 4 more inches of off set. I really don't think this is going to be enough for my liking. I'm probably going to get another set of the Weave Quick davits and mount the next to the other ones on the swim deck. This will give me 4. ¾ inches more offset witch will center the dinghy up on the back of the boat. I’m lacking a 1/2inch of space on the mount for the ladder on the back of the boat. So this will get interesting what I have to do to overcome this problem. Once this is done then I’ll have to redo the bar that holds the dinghy up right, that won’t get done till spring.
I have had issue’s were the waves would smash into the dinghy on the starboard side. This had not caused a problem yet but I could see in really fowl weather this could create a problem. Also when in a slip or dock the dinghy can stick out to far and want to bump the dock weather is up or down. Having two set of quick davit’s mounted on the back of the boat will give me the option to move it over one way or the other 4 ¾ inch for what is worth.
Tomorrow off to Metro beach by Detroit to get a new piece of bow rail bent up.


bigblockcutlass-albums-boat-picture63334-zodiac2012davits.jpg
 
I am real interested in getting a tender, looks like 8'6" is optimal for our size boat. I don't know if that is too small to be useful, and am researching the Weaver dingy mounting system. I will most likely do this upgrade if I think it will be adequate, since dock fees can quickly pay for this setup. Would love to see how your project comes out. We are just about finished with redoing all the interior cushions, and I just have to switch the hardware from the stock dinette table to the new one I built.
1990-270-da-lover
 
Got my spotlight back from the re-chrome shop after an 11 week wait. The potmetal base actually came in better than I thought it would. The cost came in at $146 which was below what had been estimated.

This is the finished light waiting for re-install:
spotlightetc019.jpg


Here is what it looked like before the shop re-did the chrome:
dec2012005.jpg






This is what it looked like when I had it apart for repairs and before taking in for re-chrome work:

dec2012043.jpg
 
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Looks like the chrome shop did a great job on your light. It's going to look good sitting up on the bow of your 270.
 
looks better than a new one Jerry. I should have had mine done up. Just installed mine tonight after getting the new bow rail bent and installed. Replaced about 9 feet of it. Still pissed at the A-hole in Grandhave thet went flying bye me and created the wake that caused this.

bigblockcutlass-albums-boat-picture63369-new-bow-rail.jpg
 
Next project is to make this quick kit and ladder mount one piece. Do this rather than just move the quick kit over. This will give me a choice were to dock the dinghy when I'm in a slip and no holes to fill.

bigblockcutlass-albums-boat-picture63370-weaver-quick-plates.jpg
 
Just found a "before" shot of the spotlight that I added to my previous post. You can really see a major difference in the before and after.
 
Hey guys,
I haven't posted before but have enjoyed this thread since getting my 270 a few years back. This winter I got tired of crawling under a tarp and ordered a carport kit and got it put together over Christmas. It will make it SO much easier to come and go to the water. The roof, fittings and bungees came in the kit. I got the legs and cross beams from Home Depot - they're 1 3/8" top rails for chain link fencing. The roof is steep and legs anchored to withstand the elements...waiting for the first big wind storm to know for sure.carport.jpg
 
My next project is to replace a cracked gear lube bottle. The replacement part has been changed from the original round type to a square one. Has anyone done this before? I am wondering how to test that I've connected the alarm wires to the right leads. They are both the same color. Thanks.
 
nw-srnewbie said:
My next project is to replace a cracked gear lube bottle. The replacement part has been changed from the original round type to a square one. Has anyone done this before? I am wondering how to test that I've connected the alarm wires to the right leads. They are both the same color. Thanks.
Click to expand...

It is probably just a simple float switch, so, the wiring just completes a ground circuit. ie: it does not make any difference how the wires are connected they are just completing a circuit.

Hmmm, what kind of performance do you get with that 525 and B III set up?
 
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Thanks. Before I installed the new bottle I turned it upside down to make the float act like it was out of oil and just like you said, it acted like a switch when I checked it with my voltmeter.

I get up to about 48 mph at WOT with no load. It cruises nicely at 25 at just over 3000 RPMs. The fuel efficiency is surprisingly not bad because the engine doesn't have to work too hard. The B III outdrive is extremely responsive and really fits with the big motor. And the fuel injection is effortless. Before converting to FI, it was such a pain getting that motor to start. Now it's like going out to start the car, even after sitting for a couple months.
 
There was another boater out in the Seattle area that changed the drive on his '90 270 to a B III and got a nice performance improvement. He used to be on the board, but, have not seen a post from him for several years.
Please explain what a 525 SC is - a custom built motor by someone in that area?
 
Thanks Mike. He is going to have to put some racing stripes on that boat! :smt001

We had some great weather today, so, I put my spotlight back on the boat. Sometime during March I am going to pull it and have the bottom repainted, repair a couple of nicks in the fiberglass, and then buff and wax it. That boat is going to look so good that it will probably be up for a four page layout in the April issue of Better Boating and Gardening. :smt001

sjpotlight003.jpg
 
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