Official 370 Sundancer thread

[Sea Ray Mark]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

Has anyone replaced their salon carpet recently? I am going to get this done along with all the fabrics and cushions we are in the process of sewing.
Where did you get the carpet if you have done it. I am having a challenge finding this rubber backed carpet from any of our local suppliers.

The salon carpet inside the boat doesn't have a rubber backing. If you mean you want to replace the cockpit carpet outside, I've had good luck with outdoor berber type carpet with no rubber backing that can be purchased at a local carpet store. I usually get about four years out of it. Even the pieces on the swim platform that are out in the weather hold up well and they dry quickly. Mark

 

[xravenx]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

Has anyone replaced their salon carpet recently?

Carpet was the first to be replaced, since then we have redone EVERYTHING in the salon, got rid of all the dated 90's swirly fabric, looks entirely different now.

 

[buickrod]

Hello all,
I am working on my new to me, 370 sundancer, it is a 94 model with 502's and bravo 2 outdrives. What I am looking for is a source for the weather stripping on the oval shape porthole windows on each side of the boat, mine are crushed down to the point that they leak alot. Anybody that can point me in the right direction to find new seals would by me hero...
Thanks
George

 

[TheWolfTC]

Hello all,
I am working on my new to me, 370 sundancer, it is a 94 model with 502's and bravo 2 outdrives. What I am looking for is a source for the weather stripping on the oval shape porthole windows on each side of the boat, mine are crushed down to the point that they leak alot. Anybody that can point me in the right direction to find new seals would by me hero...
Thanks
George

Hi George, I just replaced all my lenses because they were extremely scratched and nasty looking. I ordered them from www.fpmarine.com. Ken Gearin there has been extremely helpful on a lot of projects for my 370.
Bill

 

[TheWolfTC]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

Carpet was the first to be replaced, since then we have redone EVERYTHING in the salon, got rid of all the dated 90's swirly fabric, looks entirely different now.

That looks great! I started removing the rubber backed carpet yesterday. It seems as if the hardest parts will be those carpeted toe kicks...WOW, that carpet is on there. A nice touch to the salon were new cabinet knobs. We removed the faded and yellowed white ones for new chrome plated ones. The carpet is going to be a fun project and getting rid of the dated blues/greens and teals will really update the interior....after this my wife said I had to STOP!!LOL (Although she is the one sewing all the new curtains and re upholstered the bolsters and head liners.

 

[TheWolfTC]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

The salon carpet inside the boat doesn't have a rubber backing. If you mean you want to replace the cockpit carpet outside, I've had good luck with outdoor berber type carpet with no rubber backing that can be purchased at a local carpet store. I usually get about four years out of it. Even the pieces on the swim platform that are out in the weather hold up well and they dry quickly. Mark

Hi Mark, I am speaking of the salon carpet and yes it does have a rubber backing. Shaw calls it a "BT" backed carpet which they say is essentially "Boat rubber backed". (They didn't explain the T for me...LOL. It is extremely flexible and designed to go around all the curves much better than standard backed carpet. It is flexible, just like a bathroom rug would be, that type of rubber backing. Now if it is some sort of other named synthetic, so be it, but in simple terms it is rubber and is glued down to the deck and can be curved around the stores and under the sitting areas that are also curved. Standard backed carpet won't lay like this stuff does. The 2 carpet stores I went to had never seen anything like it. I finally found a store that carries samples of it.

 

[TheWolfTC]

They look great! I have already done the entire dash replacement with the new simulated wood panels and it was an aamzing upgrade. Next up will be the gauges...I like the chrome bezel look as opposed to the black plastic. So the dumb question of the day...How did you post the pics? I can't get this thing to upload images as it states I have exceeded my 90kb capacity...I am stumped on this simple thing.

Thanks for the tips on using photobucket...here is the link!
http://s1050.beta.photobucket.com/user/Thewolftc/library/Boat upgrades

 

[buickrod]

Thanks Bill, I will check them out.
George

 

[TheWolfTC]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

Carpet was the first to be replaced, since then we have redone EVERYTHING in the salon, got rid of all the dated 90's swirly fabric, looks entirely different now.

The carpet looks good. So was it just a standard backed carpet you found at the local carpet store or did you get something special?

 

[Sea Ray Mark]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

Hi Mark, I am speaking of the salon carpet and yes it does have a rubber backing. Shaw calls it a "BT" backed carpet which they say is essentially "Boat rubber backed". (They didn't explain the T for me...LOL. It is extremely flexible and designed to go around all the curves much better than standard backed carpet. It is flexible, just like a bathroom rug would be, that type of rubber backing. Now if it is some sort of other named synthetic, so be it, but in simple terms it is rubber and is glued down to the deck and can be curved around the stores and under the sitting areas that are also curved. Standard backed carpet won't lay like this stuff does. The 2 carpet stores I went to had never seen anything like it. I finally found a store that carries samples of it.

Hey Wolf you're right, I found a piece that I took out of my Sundancer and it is rubbery on the back. I didn't realize that. When I put new carpet in my 370AC this year I found some stuff at the local store that had somewhat of a white cloth backing on it that was pretty easy to work with as opposed to the hard tan colored mesh that you usually see. I have lots of hatches and steps in my salon and it came out pretty nice. Mark

 

[TheWolfTC]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

Hey Wolf you're right, I found a piece that I took out of my Sundancer and it is rubbery on the back. I didn't realize that. When I put new carpet in my 370AC this year I found some stuff at the local store that had somewhat of a white cloth backing on it that was pretty easy to work with as opposed to the hard tan colored mesh that you usually see. I have lots of hatches and steps in my salon and it came out pretty nice. Mark

Great to hear...glad I wasn't losing my mind...LOL I have seen the white cloth backed stuff as well. Did you glue it down? Tell me what the trick was on the silly toe kicks by the head and around the forward berth bed. These look the hardest out of everything.
Did you take any pics while it was in progress? I was going to do this for any DIY'ers out there that may want to try and tackle this.
I had one guy yesterday telling me that you can't apply the glue while the carpet was in the boat...yadda yadda yadda...that we had to cut the carpet, take outside of the boat, apply the glue, fold it in half and climb back on the boat with it and then get it into place...all within 5 minutes before the glue dried. I was thinking, yeah right that won't be happening..LOL BUT, is he right or being too cautious etc?

 

[Sea Ray Mark]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

Wolf, I didn't do carpet in my Sundancer just did my current Aft Cabin so the pieces aren't the same but I think I know what you're talking about. Those toe kick pieces are held on by screws that are hidden in the carpet so once you find them you can take them off, wrap them with carpet, staple the carpet to the back, and put them back on. I made an exact paper template of my floor and cut most of the pieces at home so when I brought them down to the boat they dropped right in. I then rolled up one side of the piece, spread out general purpose carpet adhesive, then stuck the carpet down and rolled up the other side and did the same thing. When I did tight bends around the hatches and stuff I used brush on contact cement. It all worked very well but I didn't take any pictures while I was doing it. That was the last thing on my mind at the time. Mark

 

[markrinker]

I'm with you. I was just a few years out of college in 1995 when the 370 came out. I was recently married, had been a home owner for just a few years and was on the second season with my first boat, a 22' Four Winns. I loved the boat when I first saw it, but at the time it was so far out of my reach financially that it was just pipe dream. I cut out the two page add Sea Ray ran for the boat in all the magazines with the tag line "therapy for your soul" and pinned it up on the wall of my cubical. 5 years ago, after about 5 promotions, three relocations, three kids and two other boats I finally bought a 1995 370. After 5 seasons I still love it and dont have any plans to part with it any time soon. I have spent the last 5 years tinkering with it and have probably serviced just about every system aboard at least once. It has a great balance of size and functionallity and even at 14 years old still looks very current.

Great story. Remember when the American dream worked like this? I have similar stories, and hope my kids will have them, too. Congrats! (even though this post is from 2008...)

 

[mike b]

Same story, Same boat!!!!!!!!

 

[njp0306]

We love our new modified camper to our "new" 1996 370DA. But for some reason I can't seem to upload a picture. We love it that there are no steel tubing around the back. The rear bimini seems to float when all the surround is removed.

 

[RubberDuckeeToo2]

Great story. Remember when the American dream worked like this? I have similar stories, and hope my kids will have them, too. Congrats! (even though this post is from 2008...)

So true. We went to the Boat Show in Norwalk this fall and were singularly unimpressed with the offerings from almost all of the makers. IMHO nothing current from Sea Ray begins to match our 370 which is even more true once you consider the prices. In fact, there are only one or two Sea Ray models in the last 10 years that hold any interest for us.

Now if I had a spare $1.2 mil hanging around, I might be persuaded to look closer at the Sabre 48 Salon Express....

Gene

 

[TheWolfTC]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

Wolf, I didn't do carpet in my Sundancer just did my current Aft Cabin so the pieces aren't the same but I think I know what you're talking about. Those toe kick pieces are held on by screws that are hidden in the carpet so once you find them you can take them off, wrap them with carpet, staple the carpet to the back, and put them back on. I made an exact paper template of my floor and cut most of the pieces at home so when I brought them down to the boat they dropped right in. I then rolled up one side of the piece, spread out general purpose carpet adhesive, then stuck the carpet down and rolled up the other side and did the same thing. When I did tight bends around the hatches and stuff I used brush on contact cement. It all worked very well but I didn't take any pictures while I was doing it. That was the last thing on my mind at the time. Mark

Thanks Mark! That one bit of advice will help me a lot...never thought of screws holding that toe kick in like that...now to find the screws...lol. Maybe I'll just shave the carpet off until I find them....

 

[tommyadrian5]

Re: Removing padded liners in forward berth...

Out of curiousity, does anybody know what purolator oil filter (or other for cross reference) these boats use (gas engine, 1996).

 

[phil_p]

Can anyone offer some advice on repairs/replacement to the motor and mechanism that lifts the engine compartment hatch? Mine is starting strain in lifting the hatch and will pop the circuit breaker if I don't give it a lifting hand. Someone said they are very pricy. Any alternatives?

Would appreciate any comments advice.

 

[connie garcy]

I notice this weekend none of my back lights for the switches are working. does anybody know where the inverter is located? I like to know before I start pulling the dash apart.

Spiro, did you ever get your back lights working? We noticed ours ar not working. The dimmer works for the gauges.