Restoration of a 255 sedan bridge

[Jim France]

Hello all....
My name is Jim. My wife and I bought a 1981 255 sedan bridge and we are trying to restore it.
The poor boat hasn't seen water for about 20 years. Any advice from anyone who has ever restored a Sea Ray would be greatly appreciated. Our boat has twin OMC 3.8 liter engines.
I've done a lot of work to this boat. But the steering system has been giving me fits! Every time I go to bleed the darn thing, something starts to leak. I've already replaced the upper Helm and now I have to replace the lower one.

 

[Pirate Lady]

congrats, you have a unique boat. SeaRay revived it in 1988 for the one year, called it a 265. I have always loved this boat, but since only made 1 year they are next to impossible get on the market as there are few and they sell very fast. Below is a sample of one, of course, its sold. Good luck with your restoration and know that when you are done, you will have a boat like few have.

https://www.harbortownemarine.com/listings/sea-ray-265-sedan-bridge

 

[2016FLD]

Very nice layout for that style!

 

[DON SIMMONDS]

I had one of these boats. Did a lot of work on it and have a lot of pics. They were made from 1981-1983. Called a 255 but some called them a 27. send me you email to southside@eaastlink.ca and I will send you some pics. Don

 

[Denely59]

Hello all....
My name is Jim. My wife and I bought a 1981 255 sedan bridge and we are trying to restore it.
The poor boat hasn't seen water for about 20 years. Any advice from anyone who has ever restored a Sea Ray would be greatly appreciated. Our boat has twin OMC 3.8 liter engines.
I've done a lot of work to this boat. But the steering system has been giving me fits! Every time I go to bleed the darn thing, something starts to leak. I've already replaced the upper Helm and now I have to replace the lower one.

 

[Denely59]

Hello Jim, I also have a 255, that I have partially Restored. I found that the steering was an issue as well, but managed to trim the hoses back to clean ends, then replace the ferrule and retighten.

 

[Jim France]

I had one of these boats. Did a lot of work on it and have a lot of pics. They were made from 1981-1983. Called a 255 but some called them a 27. send me you email to southside@eaastlink.ca and I will send you some pics. Don

I apologize for not responding to your post. I've had to put some things on hold.
But back at it now.

 

[Jim France]

Hello Jim, I also have a 255, that I have partially Restored. I found that the steering was an issue as well, but managed to trim the hoses back to clean ends, then replace the ferrule and retighten.

Hello,
I've actually done that and still didn't work. I finally called sea star/dometic and they were a
big help. It turns out that my steering system is very uncommon. When I replaced the upper and lower helm nobody told that i had to remove a hose and a uniflow flow valve.