Official 390 E.C. Thread

Saverio said:
it looks like the old engines must of blew and they never cleaned the bilge after that
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It's only been 14 years or so... But i've seen that before, in my 250, and it was way nastier that that. I couldn't believe how much dirt, crap, and random hardware I pulled out from under my engine. I had it all but totally cleaned out this year before it went in the water, and then about 2 weeks ago my oil filter decided to loosen and drip oil and mess it up all over again.
 
Looks like a pretty nice boat, but I too would spend the money to get a survey.
 
I definitely plan on getting a survey. Do any of you guys have any recommendations for a surveyor in the Norfolk area? I know one here, but he doesn't go that far south.
 
nickdcj7 said:
I definitely plan on getting a survey. Do any of you guys have any recommendations for a surveyor in the Norfolk area? I know one here, but he doesn't go that far south.
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Look here:
http://www.marinesurvey.org/us-regions.html

Ask them if they have prior experience with the model of boat you are looking at. You want someone who have surveyed other examples of the boat.
 
Well that was a waste of a day. My $42 moisture meter paid for itself though. The engine stringers were so rotten that you could even hear hollow spots. Oil in the bilge from a leaky port transmission. Port fuel cooler drips when pressurized. In the cabin, under the salon floor hatch, standing water and the sub floor was bowed up and spongy, with the divider board pushed up.

The broker had just gotten done telling me how a surveyor had looked at the boat to buy it for himself and said everything was solid, but he couldnt get past the different engines. He seemed embarrassed about the whole thing after I sounded the stringers and he could hear the hollowness while standing on the deck.

Now I'm eating lunch at a taco bell in Salisbury MD drowning my frustration in fire sauce. Still 3 more hours of driving to get home.
 
That's too bad, but its better that you spent some time checking it and avoided inheriting someone elses problems.
What brand and model moisture meter did you use. I've got a friend looking at 34 and 37 Sea Ray's. Told him he should get himself one.
 
No I didnt even bother to ask after I saw the fuel leak. And once I found the stringer rot and stress cracks, I wouldn't have wanted to go out in the thing anyway. I do have a question for you guys. Under the floor hatch in the middle of the salon, what's under the sub floor there? there was what looked like an inspection hatch cut into that, and water would pour out of it when i pushed on the floor where it was bowed up. I'm assuming this is where the foam is...
 
Nick

When I went to see the boat and text him the pics he said he would let it go for that price.

it was in just so sad shape and been out of the water for a few years. I should post the pics of how it looks


the center hatch in the midle has a false floor. its filled with foam. when the windows leak the eater tank all the leaks end up in that cavity. thats why there is an inspection hatch and he probably vacuums out the water

nickdcj7 said:
Saverio, that 390 in the Bronx is down to $22k

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brx/boa/5219206824.html
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nickdcj7 said:
No I didnt even bother to ask after I saw the fuel leak. And once I found the stringer rot and stress cracks, I wouldn't have wanted to go out in the thing anyway. I do have a question for you guys. Under the floor hatch in the middle of the salon, what's under the sub floor there? there was what looked like an inspection hatch cut into that, and water would pour out of it when i pushed on the floor where it was bowed up. I'm assuming this is where the foam is...
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This is what it looked like when I pulled the tank. Swimming in water.
http://www.stroboflash.com/SearayProject/gallery/2008-04-24%20Water%20Tank%20Hold/slides/DSC_6116.html

This is before I figured out how bad the stringers were:
http://www.stroboflash.com/SearayProject/gallery/2011-09-15 Rotted floor under Water Tank/index.html

This is what it looks like with the tank out. The floor was coated ONE SIDE with chopper glass. The side facing the saturated foam was raw plywood. Another Sea Ray "quality" feature. I put it back like it was except all the plywood was sheathed on BOTH sides with glass and epoxy. I spent a month on that part of the project.

http://www.stroboflash.com/SearayProject/gallery/10-24-2011 Stringers Final/slides/DSC_8313.html

See all the slides in this series. The round holes are for inspection ports. The square hole at the bulkhead is a sump to catch any water that might accumulate. I have a 3/4" bilge pump hose in the sump terminating under the stairs. If I blow in to the hose and hear bubbles, I know there is water down there and time to pump it out. Unlike the original. There is ABSOLUTELY no raw wood that can get wet. It is all glass and epoxy.

Doc
 
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Well guys, I normally don't throw out my opinion on stuff like this but I can't resist. In my mind for 20k these are great boats with a diesel. I think this is pretty near the bottom of the price point as an RTO Cat 375hp is around $8500 without gear, the genny is prob 3k by it self. The way I see it you get a free boat with the purchase of the engines and genny. Guess what, it needs work. They all do in one form or another(except Albert and Pietro's boats, but I bet they wouldn't sell for 20k). All I know is I'd rather let my family sleep in a rat of a diesel than a gem of a gasser. If I hadn't already been there and done that I'd be all over that, it's a great candidate for restoration. JMHO
 
Folks I'm sorry I didn't see this thread earlier.

Im thinking of selling my 300WE and picking up a 39EC. What can you tell me about these monsters. Good, bad? She's got twin 454's and has Ben well taken care of. She is shed kept. Cabin was gutted this past year and completely redone. She is very clean and very well maintained
 
they started in 85 and ran till 91
starting in 89 they used fiberglass seat bases instead of the plywood and formica. if the boat wasnt covered they dont hold up that well

the boat has tunnels so it only needs about 28inchs of water.

lots of room lots of storage.
the prices i seen are all over the place lately the ones with Cats even came down a lot

not that many parts available flounder pounder has new dash panels and thats about it

at wot expect between 20-25 gal an hour per motor
 
FYI: This is from Doug @ 390x for the fixed tab. I have it on my boat as well as Pietro does and it works well along with 4 blade props.

I used 1/4" aluminum plate. I bought a 2x3 piece of it, and a couple of 1x2' sheets of it. I made a tracing of the v of the boat at the transom between the prop pockets.
I then took the 2x3 sheet, and made the plate for the transom of the boat. I traced the transom shape onto the sheet to get the v-contour of the boat. Once I had that shape, I cut the top of the sheet off at 15" tall, and cut the v-shape. You end up with a piece that looks like an upside down rectangle with a triangle hanging off the bottom (looks like the back of the boat between the pockets). The final result is a piece that is 2' wide x 15" tall. I then cut the remaining piece of the 2x3 sheet off square so it's 24" x 21". I then split it down the middle on the 24" axis so I had two sheets that were 12" x 21". Those were then welded to the transom piece, squarely, but hanging down 1" on each side like fins to catch the water, following the v-contour. You now have the shape of the tab (L-shaped). I then used my remaining 1x2 sheets and welded them from the transom piece to the tab piece on each end to add support. I shaped them a little bit so they look better than big rectangles tacked on. Here's the pics of it:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1158741...38990199904994
https://picasaweb.google.com/1158741...39015792447090

It's bolted on with 4 3/8" stainless bolts with large fender washers and nyloc nuts. Also, you need to remove your drain plug assembly, and bore a hole in the transom plate of the tab 2.5" (in my case), which is bigger than the drain plug assembly. This will allow it to fit around the plug. Also, you need to remove the anode bolts, mount the tab, and then re-drill the anode bolt holes.

Let me know if you have more questions.

--Doug
 
I'm sure it works well, but it sure seems like a lot of work. Honestly a pair of craigslist tabs teed into existing ones works just fine. They're adjustable too. I think I paid $100 plus some line, 2 tees and an hour for install. The following winter I welded extensions on, just to see how slow I could stay on plane, but really not needed. Sorry for the bad pic.
image.jpg
 
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