Over 1000 hrs on twin 270 engines...1984

B

brustkt

New Member
Sep 23, 2009
13
illinois
Boat Info
boat less for now
Engines
twin 260
Hello all,
I am looking at a 1984 Sea Ray SeaDancer with twin 270 inboard engines. I am very interested in this boat, but nervous about there being over 1000 hrs on the engines. The owner said that we will not find a more mechanically sound boat out there, that he has had them fine tuned every spring and fall...but I am wondering what you all think. Should we run fast????
Thanks for your input!
 
Was it a fresh water or salt water used boat? fresh water cooled or raw water cooled? We need more specifics. What boat are they in? Need to know how hard they were working...
 
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Hi Larry, it was a fresh water boat. Not sure what you mean by fresh water cooled or raw water cooled. They are mid cabin inboards in a 1984 Sea Ray Seadancer..not the usual I/O. We were told that there were only about 50 of these made. The current owner has owned it since 1987 and is the second owner. He claims to have had the engines fine tuned every spring and fall. We will make sure he has the maintenance records. From what he tells us, it was used mostly for cruising lake Michigan, although it has pulled a tuber from time to time.
Thanks for your input.
 
What size and model?? Exactly what engines are these? 270hp only tells me they are not Mercruiser...
 
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1984 seadancer srv270... besides weight distribution what are the advantages of the inboard setup over i/o?Not sure on the engines I will find out . Thanks Larry
 
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brustkt said:
1984 seadancer srv270... besides weight distribution what are the advantages of the inboard setup over i/o?Not sure on the engines I will find out . Thanks Larry
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I am not sure as to what you have "seadancer" is not correct, is it a Sea Ray Sundancer? And you are sure this is a inboard set up? I know you said the owner said it is rare, but is it a straight inboard or V drive config. What is the beam on this boat. I don't think a 27 ft. Sea Ray will have twin 270 hp. V8 engines. Maybe they are the 170 hp 4 cyl. motors. But if this boat is that rare I may be wrong....
 
:smt001 Hard to help when we don't know what boat you are talking about" year make and model with motor and drive :huh:type gas or oil.raw or closed.:huh:
brustkt said:
Hello all,
I am looking at a 1984 Sea Ray SeaDancer with twin 270 inboard engines. I am very interested in this boat, but nervous about there being over 1000 hrs on the engines. The owner said that we will not find a more mechanically sound boat out there, that he has had them fine tuned every spring and fall...but I am wondering what you all think. Should we run fast????
Thanks for your input!
Click to expand...
 
Here is the advertisement...

Sea Ray, is one of the most popular boats for the Lake Michigan and chain of lakes boating community and Sea Ray manufactured a very few number of Seadancer boats. Only around 50 made with inboard engines. The Seadancer includes: standup head with shower, sofa, galley, frig, water heater, AM-FM stereo/CD with brand new speakers and ipod hook up, twin 270 engines, engine synchronizer, dockside power, 3 batteries, 3 bilge pumps, fume detector, bilge blower, marine radio, compass, sun cover, mouring cover, bow pulpit, swim platform, anchor and rope, life vests, foldup stern seat, 2 captains chairs. Has been an excellent boat, sad to have to sell. This boat has INBOARD ENGINES located midship, which make speed of the boat very good and the boat immediately planes because the weight of the engines are not located in the stern (back) of the boat. This is a boat with an extra wide beem (width of the boat) and inboard engines (instead of the less expensive IO-Inboard-Outboard-Outdrive engine. This boat is a Sea Ray Seadancer SRV 270 (NOT the typical IO Sundancer). These boats were more expensive because of the large inboard engines. 1984. This is a perfect sized boat. Every boater knows that the most stable, powerful boats are inboard boats. This unique boat is perfect for Lake Michigan or even the ocean. Specifications are: Overall length: 29.2 feet. Center Length 27.7 feet. Beam: 10 feet (all boats this size only have a 8 foot beem). The extra wide beam and inboard engines make the boat very stable. This boat is great for trips across the lake or just around the city (through the chicago river at midnight is great!)

Thanks for your help.
 
Well OK, I don't recall this model at all, but it sounds good... I would have a compresion test done and do an oil sampling. If this comes back good I would say engine wise you should be OK for a while.
 
1ooo hrs. is nothing for a freshwater boat if it was not abused and has had good maint. on sbc chevy,s,
 
Ditto on the above- IF they've been well maintained.
270's- I'm assuming- are the ever-popular 350 c.i. Chevy blocks and parts are easy to come by. Get rid of the points and upgrade to electronic ignitions...

Keep in mind the engines aren't the only things to be concerned about in a 25-year old boat. Running gear (struts, rudders, shafts), fuel tanks, stringers, etc. are all subject to problems over time. Suggest you have a certified Marine Surveyor go over the vessel before you purchase.

Here's one- but it is a single engine model:
http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1984-Sea-Ray-Seadancer-270-91094514
 
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Well, went and viewed her today...the interior needs to be completely gutted. Not sure what we are going to do now. Kinda takes the wind out of our sales. I don't know if my wife is going to want that "big" of a project. I will keep you posted....ran good though!
 
ShamuToo said:
No points in this one unless the motors are Crusaders or OMC cobras. Both had a 270HP designation. Do switch out if so.
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Can someone tell me the advantages of switching from points to electronic ignition? I have twin 350 Crusaders (270 hp) in my 30' Weekender. How big of an ordeal is this (time and price wise)?

Thank you,

Andrew
 
If those inboards are 270Hp it may be a Crusader Engine. Is it painted Blue instead of the usual Merc Black?

If you are still considering this boat, I can tell you from personal experience that the Crusader 270 engines are actually better than Merc 260's. Easier to work on since there are fewer hoses, better design of the exhaust water jacket system, and all of their engines used GM's heavy duty truck engine's block with 4 bolt mains. Mine still had points/plugs and never had an issue with them. Installed new points/plugs and didn't need a tune up for 5yrs! Both engines were almost 1000hrs and ran like new - no oil consumption whatsoever.

I wish my current boat had Crusaders. My 8.1's are so much harder to get at due to all the plumbing near and around the block. Also, never had all the sensors to cause problems (not yet experienced, but heard it's an issue)!

Good luck on your search.
 
Our 260 has about 1400 hrs on the single engine and to our knowledge it is original. The twins should be nice since most think that the SB 350 was barely enough motor for this size boat.

Sorry to hear about the interior. If the boat is that rare then it might be worth redoing the insides - if of course one had the $$$.

I've never heard of that model or layout either. Sure would love to see some pictures though...
 
If they run good, strong, the compression is good, you like the boat, and the price is right then go for it. I met a guy last summer that still had the original 327's in an almost 40 year old boat and they still ran good.
I think the most common cause of engine failure in boats is misuse and bad manifolds/risers. If these motors were taken care of and the manifolds/risers are good then you should have no major problems. I would at the very least take off the risers and give them and the manifolds a visual to make sure they aren't corroded. The risers are only on with four bolts each and the gaskets are cheap. When the water jackets corrode they allow water to get sucked in to the cylinders through the exhaust port which results in damage to the rod, pistion, and or head. Around here where we boat in saltwater this is a common cause of engine failure. It wouldn't be a deal breaker if they are starting to look a little ratty either because manifolds and risers are fairly simple to replace and are actually a maintenance item.
My close friend owns an auto repair shop and has been buying boats with bad motors for about 25 or 30 years. They usually all have the same problem. The PO didn't check his manifolds and risers regularly, they rotted out, water got sucked in to the cylinder through the exhaust port, and the motor blew.
He always has a couple of boats around his shop so people / customers often come to him when they want to get rid of a boat with a bad motor, He replaces the motor(s) and either flips it for a quick profit, or keeps the boat for a while himself until another deal comes along.
 
DKRanger22 said:
Can someone tell me the advantages of switching from points to electronic ignition? I have twin 350 Crusaders (270 hp) in my 30' Weekender. How big of an ordeal is this (time and price wise)?

Thank you,

Andrew
Click to expand...


Petronix is probably the cheapest and easiest way to go. The advantage is reliability and maintenance. The points need to be adjusted and or replaced fairly regularly. Back when I owned cars with points I always kept an extra set in the glove box, and they came in handy more than once.
I have a 68 GTO that I restored to stock about 10 years ago. One of the very few modifications I made to the car was replacing the points with a Petronix insert. It was quick, easy, cheap, and is still running strong.
 
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