Official 280 Sundancer Thread

[saopm]

I need some help. My mechanic says I need 4 new manifolds (on twin 4.3's). My boat is 6 years old less than 200 hours. Stored in dry stack flushed each time out. We are hot and in salt water in LA and that does accelerate corrosion. After pulling drive, they say that iron pieces were observed in the exhaust. I don't doubt the accuracy of that. They say manifolds corrode even after good flushes, because of salt left in crevasses. Dry stack is worse than wet slip apparently. They also say 6 years is about all I can expect on manifolds. They also say that waiting on a "failure" would be catastrophic as the water would invade the cylinders. I dont wan't that, but the replacement of 4 manifolds is about 5000 bucks. At 200 hours in 6 years that is 25 bucks an hour just for manifolds.

what should a Bamaboater do?

BTW our little state does own 3 BCS championships in a row! And we are also first in the Alphabetic listing of states! Most of us even read and write! oh yeah we also own the 1st capitol of the confederacy. secession is looking better every day!
:smt043:smt001


Should I gamble another year or 2 on the manifolds or not and spend 5,000 in US money?

I just did mine. Parts cost $3,100 and the labor was all me. I think I could have gotten another 3 to 5 years out of them but i'm in a different environment then you.

 

[Bucit]

SJJON - Those hours are extremely low and as stated above, 1100-1500 hours is a good number before any major repairs but it's all in the maintenance. I have an 05 with 447 hours on it and it runs perfect. I average 100 or so hours a year so my boat gets used and is well maintained. I boat 100% in salt water and will be repalcing my manifolds/risers this year. They average about 3-5 years in saltwater. THe boat itself has many positives that I belive outwiegh the negatives. As Jason said, every boat has drawbacks to problems or design, it's all preference and how you will use it. I think I can speak for most 280DA owners that the boat itself is a great all around boat and they would do it again in hindsight.

 

[kkalsch]

Purchased the Garmin 740S combo last summer and now getting around to mounting the radar dome.. I want to mount the dome were the light is currently now....need some recommendation on the radar stand -how high should it be -I was thinking 5" and what degree?
Any suggestions would be great
Thanks

Ken K

 

[JimFromMD]

Purchased the Garmin 740S combo last summer and now getting around to mounting the radar dome.. I want to mount the dome were the light is currently now....need some recommendation on the radar stand -how high should it be -I was thinking 5" and what degree?
Any suggestions would be great
Thanks

Ken K

Ken,
I have that same chartplotter and the HD radar and they both work great. The BOE guys used the seaview mount with the light bar that comes out the back and curves up so that its higher than the RADAR. They installed the seaview mount was directly on the flat spot in the arch, and then the dome directly to the mount. I do not recall seeing any shims or anything to change the angle. I can tell you for in another month when the shrink wrap comes off. (Maybe before if I can't resist cutting a door in it and crawling in to get started on some projects before spring!)

James

 

[kkalsch]

Ken,
I have that same chartplotter and the HD radar and they both work great. The BOE guys used the seaview mount with the light bar that comes out the back and curves up so that its higher than the RADAR. They installed the seaview mount was directly on the flat spot in the arch, and then the dome directly to the mount. I do not recall seeing any shims or anything to change the angle. I can tell you for in another month when the shrink wrap comes off. (Maybe before if I can't resist cutting a door in it and crawling in to get started on some projects before spring!)

James

Thanks James..........Any other input would be great ...please

Thanks
KK

 

[66pony]

I have a Lowrance Broadband unit mounted on a 5" Seaview mount. Do not have any wedges. I am looking to add wedges to get a better forward look at close range.

 

[hillsideshortleg]

We just bought a 89 280 Sundancer. I think the motors have around 1100 hours but have been maintained very well. We wont get the boat in the water till March. I am wondering about the manifolds people are talking about replacing. Are the manifolds something that should be inspected or replaced periodicaly. The boat has only been in fresh water. Should I be contacting the last owner to find out what inspections have been done? Also what does DA stand for after the 280DA? Is there many others out there with the 89 280 Sundancers out there?

 

[jason78]

We just bought a 89 280 Sundancer. I think the motors have around 1100 hours but have been maintained very well. We wont get the boat in the water till March. I am wondering about the manifolds people are talking about replacing. Are the manifolds something that should be inspected or replaced periodicaly. The boat has only been in fresh water. Should I be contacting the last owner to find out what inspections have been done? Also what does DA stand for after the 280DA? Is there many others out there with the 89 280 Sundancers out there?

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to CSR! I am not sure on the manifolds but even in freshwater, I am sure it is time to at least check them if they have not already been done. I would definitely get any records the prevous owner may have. They can potentialy save you lots of time and money. DA stands for Sundancer which is of course one very popular model line of Sea Ray cruiser.

You may want to check out this thread as well- http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/13874-The-official-pre-clinton-era-sr-sport-cruiser-thread

This specific thread is really geared more towards the 01-09 280 Sundancer Model even though it does not state that in the title. It is a little misleading and I am not trying to be rude in any way at all, it is just you are probably much more likely to find posted information relevant to your boat over on that thread, that is all. Let us know if we can help you out any further. Again, Welcome!!

 

[scoflaw]

wood flooring

I know there are many threads on teak galley flooring, but, not interested in the maintainence or the clash against the cabinets. I just came back from the Boston boat show, and noticed Sea Ray is doing there galley floors in wood, that matches the cabs.
Does anyone know what the product looks like raw and how are they attaching it to the deck?

Another slick idea is the grill, that's on a lot of models, where the useless cooler is next to the sink. I'm gonna give that some thought, maybe bust out the power tools?? Fire hazard maybe??

 

[jason78]

Re: wood flooring

I know there are many threads on teak galley flooring, but, not interested in the maintainence or the clash against the cabinets. I just came back from the Boston boat show, and noticed Sea Ray is doing there galley floors in wood, that matches the cabs.
Does anyone know what the product looks like raw and how are they attaching it to the deck?

Another slick idea is the grill, that's on a lot of models, where the useless cooler is next to the sink. I'm gonna give that some thought, maybe bust out the power tools?? Fire hazard maybe??

Goodale Marine (a CSR sponsorer) offers a teak galley floor insert that several people have installed. This eliminates the hassle of an install and greatly eases the maintenance because you can remove it to oil it. I have the sump step insert. It looks great and I have not had to oil it in over a year, however it is about time.

Here is a thread about it. http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/20638-Teak-flooring-upgrade-for-my-280da

 

[Henry Boyd]

I've seen the grills on the various models and understand the advantage of having an electric grill given the number of marinas that do not allow gas grills to be used. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive after spending the money to get all the canvas re-glazed with strataglass, but it seems really dumb to have the grill in the cockpit unless you intend to only use it when all the windows are removed.

Henry

 

[scoflaw]

Jason, the color clash with the cabinets bothers me more than the maintanance, also want to loose as little head room as possible, so the teak attached to sleepers will take up more space than I want to give up. That's why I'm looking for the mill specs on the wood and how it's attached by Sea Ray.

Henry, won't be building a fire with the plastic nearby, most concerned with the counter top catching fire, if I were to countersink it, like Sea Ray did. Gas or electric?

 

[jason78]

Jason, the color clash with the cabinets bothers me more than the maintanance, also want to loose as little head room as possible, so the teak attached to sleepers will take up more space than I want to give up. That's why I'm looking for the mill specs on the wood and how it's attached by Sea Ray.

I agree both are valid concerns. Someone here posted the flooring vendor SR uses. Don't remember the thread. I still think you may have a problem matching your cabinets. This all depends on how proficient you are in woodworking too I guess. As OCD as I am, it would take far too long for me to achieve satisfactory results.

Someone here did hardwood in his boat using the SR floor. It looked great but he basically had a woodshop in his cockpit from the pics he posted. I don't have those kind of tools. If I can find that thread with the SR Flooring vendor I will post it.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

 

[jason78]

I agree both are valid concerns. Someone here posted the flooring vendor SR uses. Don't remember the thread. I still think you may have a problem matching your cabinets. This all depends on how proficient you are in woodworking too I guess. As OCD as I am, it would take far too long for me to achieve satisfactory results.

Someone here did hardwood in his boat using the SR floor. It looked great but he basically had a woodshop in his cockpit from the pics he posted. I don't have those kind of tools. If I can find that thread with the SR Flooring vendor I will post it.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

Here is the thread I was thinking of. It seems Mirage Engineered Hardwood Floor is what Sea Ray uses, at least according to this thread.

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/40239-Hardwood-Floor-Installation-Questions

 

[wvsundancer]

Need some help and advice... I want to add the underwater lights to my trim tabs.. has anyone done this.. which vendor? What unused switch on the dash panel did you use.. how do you route the cabels to which switch block??

 

[jason78]

Need some help and advice... I want to add the underwater lights to my trim tabs.. has anyone done this.. which vendor? What unused switch on the dash panel did you use.. how do you route the cabels to which switch block??

The best one to use would probably be "AFT ACC". The positive wire will be wrapped in the AFT EIM harness wire bundle (near the batteries), probably about 4 or 5 inches from where the harness plugs in to the EIM. You will have to peel off some tape to locate it.

See the wiring diagram in the back your owners manual for details. It will show "Unused; Tape and Terminate" in the manual and give you the wire number and label. As I recall it is a red or purple wire.

Jason

 

[scoflaw]

Thanks for that link Jason, found a perfect match with the Mirage brand. Dealer up the street had wooden samples, he let me borrow. Of course the stuff aint cheep at 9 bucks a foot, but it's gonna look a whole lot better than rug, and it,s only 3/8 thick and glueable.

 

[bajturner]

See the wiring diagram in the back your owners manual for details. It will show "Unused; Tape and Terminate" in the manual and give you the wire number and label. As I recall it is a red or purple wire.

Jason's memory is good. Below is the part of the schematic he was referencing. The full schematic is on page 55/76 of the pdf of your Owner's Manual Supplement (if you have the soft copy from searay.com).




I presume you would ground it to the main DC ground buss:




I am thinking about these lights as well. I am curious to hear people's ideas on how to route through the transom...

 

[wvsundancer]

Does anyone know a vendor for the lights that bolt directly to the trim tabs?

 

[jason78]

Thanks for that link Jason, found a perfect match with the Mirage brand. Dealer up the street had wooden samples, he let me borrow. Of course the stuff aint cheep at 9 bucks a foot, but it's gonna look a whole lot better than rug, and it,s only 3/8 thick and glueable.

Excellent! Please post pics when complete. If it ends up being relatively simple I may give it a shot. Some "in progress" pics would be great too if you can.