Opinions and Information

[In The Ville]

Hi everyone,
Looked at a 1995 270 Sun Dancer today. Boat is in very good shape, has twin 3.0 Alfa 1s with 500 hours. Drives were replace some time in its life and are in great shape. Freshwater boat used for local weekend rides. Boat is well maintained, all service done by shop. Have sea trial set up for one day this coming week, hope to bring Marine Survey guy with me. This particular model fits my needs as for one it fits in my lift, anything larger will not. It also has twins which will make my wife comfortable. Towed in twice with last boat with single and she said never again. Will use it for short trips, bar hopping and overnights in the lake. Will be mostly in fresh water. Any thoughts are opinions on this boat?
Thanks

 

[MonacoMike]

Hi everyone,
Looked at a 1995 270 Sun Dancer today. Boat is in very good shape, has twin 3.0 Alfa 1s with 500 hours. Drives were replace some time in its life and are in great shape. Freshwater boat used for local weekend rides. Boat is well maintained, all service done by shop. Have sea trial set up for one day this coming week, hope to bring Marine Survey guy with me. This particular model fits my needs as for one it fits in my lift, anything larger will not. It also has twins which will make my wife comfortable. Towed in twice with last boat with single and she said never again. Will use it for short trips, bar hopping and overnights in the lake. Will be mostly in fresh water. Any thoughts are opinions on this boat?
Thanks

They are a great boat, owned a 1997 for 8 years, closing on its sale soon. Great cabin and head height. Check around the hatches and windshield for soft spots.

MM

 

[In The Ville]

Thanks for the reply Mike, I am a little concerned about performance but should have all my questions answered during sea trial. The owner said it planes quickly without using the tabs even with a load of people. Also I looked for soft spots or any evidence of water intrusion and could not find any, for a 23 year old boat it is in great shape.

 

[NorCal Boater]

I would be really leary of the performance. The seller is not going to say the boat struggles to get on plane or performs poorly....he wants to sell it. That is a 6100 lb. boat, dry with a 100 gallon fuel capacity, 24 gallons of water and a 28 gallon waste tank so you are adding another 6-800 lbs. The 3.0s are only 135 hp motors so 270 hp total but because you add the drag of the second drive I would be stunned if this boat performs as well as the same boat with a 5.7/260 hp model.

I hate being the guy that rains on the parade but I think the boat will struggle to get on plane and those little 4-bangers are going to be running at high RPMs to maintain plane. It's a shame too as I like the 270s but I think without the 4.3s you will never be happy with the performance. Taking the surveyor on the sea trial is a good idea and I would also take along a couple of big "Advisors" (friends) to see how it runs with a load. Be very sure the performance is something you are willing to live with as its very costly to try to change it down the road. Best of luck, I hope it all works out.

I'm in Covington, LA. Where on the LA coast are you?
Shawn

 

[MonacoMike]

With the caveat that we loaded heavy I used a lot of tab to get upon plane with the 300hp 7.4. By 1997 the twins were 190hp. FYI

MM

 

[JVM225]

I’d really want to take that boat for a ride to see if I was satisfied with how it performed with the 3.0’s.

 

[Jaybeaux]

Are you on the Diversion Canal and heading out to Lake Maruepas?

 

[In The Ville]

Hi Shawn, Mike, JVM & Jaybeaux
The performance on this boat is my biggest concern. The boat has been on the Tchefuncta River all it's life, the owner only keeps about 20 gals of fuel in it as he is not traveling far. The boat also does not have a generator so even with a few people on board he is still not hauling a big load. The boat really fits what I am looking for and my thoughts were I would not need much performance for what I was going to do with it. But I remember how my last boat with 310 HP 7.4 would struggle to plane with a load but once up it would cruise at 32 mph and top out at 41 mph. I know this boat will never do any where near that. Also he could not tell me what is wide open throttle RPMs were and had no idea of speed as it has no GPS. I think the sea trial is going to tell be a lot.

I am in Stevensville just north of Morgan City. My avatar photo is the Mariah just north of Stevensville.

Thanks for all the feed back and I will post the results of the sea trial.

 

[dvx216]

I looked at this setup at one time and no matter what your total horse power with twin four cylinders even with the combined the torque once you add the extra drag with two outdrives plus overall weight you start losing performance real quick. I've never rode in the boat with this setup and as long as your just motoring around the river any setup will work but if your in open water in bad conditions I'm wondering how the boat would handle.

 

[MonacoMike]

Hi Shawn, Mike, JVM & Jaybeaux
The performance on this boat is my biggest concern. The boat has been on the Tchefuncta River all it's life, the owner only keeps about 20 gals of fuel in it as he is not traveling far. The boat also does not have a generator so even with a few people on board he is still not hauling a big load. The boat really fits what I am looking for and my thoughts were I would not need much performance for what I was going to do with it. But I remember how my last boat with 310 HP 7.4 would struggle to plane with a load but once up it would cruise at 32 mph and top out at 41 mph. I know this boat will never do any where near that. Also he could not tell me what is wide open throttle RPMs were and had no idea of speed as it has no GPS. I think the sea trial is going to tell be a lot.

I am in Stevensville just north of Morgan City. My avatar photo is the Mariah just north of Stevensville.

Thanks for all the feed back and I will post the results of the sea trial.

You can get a chart plotter app like navionics and it will tell you speed.

MM

 

[SloBurn]

I have '94 with the 7.4L, 330 hp and a Bravo III. The holeshots are nothing to write home about, but with trim tabs, she's no slouch either. I would be worried about twin drives, though, and with only four bangers pushing them. Overall I love the headroom and amount of storage space on this boat. Engine room is tight for a big guy like me, but I manage, and can reach almost everything with a little contortion. Boat handles well for a load of lead, and the ride is quite smooth on our lake.

 

[bobeast]

When you sea-trial it be sure and take along a smartphone with GPS. Then download a speedometer app.