THis was not supposed to be a project boat.

nachoaverage

nachoaverage

New Member
Jun 27, 2010
11
Parry Sound, Ontario
Boat Info
1988 Seville OB, BR
Engines
Broken down Merc 135
I started off trying to buy a old crappy runabout to tow the kids on a tube for the next year or two. Here's what I got 1988 Seville Bowrider with a OB 135. Bought it a few weeks back for $5200.

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Here's the story...

Seemed in good shape and test drove well. 30 or so minutes into my first run one cylinder start missing. Took it in to get looked at. The $4400-$6000 estimate for the rebuild scared my off. I got my engine or more accurately all the parts of the engine and my boat out of that shop as I wasn't prepared to sped that kind of money on the boat.
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At that point I was ready to walk away from the whole deal and sell the hull trailer and parts for about $3000. Then I started looking around this forum and saw all the work that people have invested into their Sea Ray. I talked to a few others and found out that I had stumbled across a great boat even of the engine wasn't. THe floor and transom are rock solid. I got some good advice about replacing the outboard but at the end of the day I didn't have the money for a new one. Looked at used in my price range and realized I was just buying someone else's problems. So I had someone else look at the engine and he going to price out the rebuild but also he suggests replacing the powerhead. He thinks we can get one with a 1 year warranty for about $3300.

SO now I'm starting to get excited about the boat again and started think about what Else I should do to fix it up a bit more. I seem to have been bitten by some sort of Sea Ray bug. Can't really explain it.

Here's what I need to work on besides the outboard

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Skibar missing and mounting bold Broken off in hole. Need to fix that up and find some way to pull wakeboards and tubes.
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Cover needs repair work. I'd like to get a bimi tops for the boat.
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The plastic coating on the gauges is foggy. Don;t know if that can be fixed or the need to be replaced.
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SOme kind of surface damage to the gel coat and some strange white gunk to fix it. That can't be right! Not sure how to address that. Any Idea?

Anyway I'll keep everyone posted. See more pics in my photo album
Cheers
Tim
 
Looks Like a Bay-liner Capri?

Any way. Fix it up~~~~ Looks like a fun boat.
And yes. B.O.A.T stands for, Bust. Out. Another.Thousand.
Good luck and welcome aboard!

Your going to love this!
 
Okay dumb question. Did you really not think a 1988 boat was going to be a project boat unless it had already been restored???
 
I have never owned a boat that was not a project boat. Even when I bought a brand new one, ordered from the factory. Every boat requires attention. Once the boat has the proper attention and you use it as much as you can, the projects go away. Boats like to be run, the more you run them the less they cost you.
 
I bought my 1st Sea Ray Sundancer; a 250 DA 3 months ago. 1986 model. Everything works, but it's been sitting at a dock on a lake for the past 9 years. I've cleaned it up and plan on repainting it this winter. I have already gotten a new bimini top made and bought all the vynil to redo the interior.
The engine a 260/v8 mercruiser. I assume is nothing more than a 1986 gm 350 2 bolt main. Starting to tap last weekend. quites down when you give more throttle so I am assuming it's a lifter. I started to remove the valve cover to get a better inspection and when I went into it, i started wondering how the hell do you change the oil in this thing? I can't get below the oil pan. Is there some kind of suction tube you put down the dipstick or do people lay a sheet of plastic on the hull bottom and let it drain out the drain tube?
I've owned 6 boats in the past. Everyone of them was a outboard. I am 34 and a body shop manager ex-painter and bodyman. Consider myself to be pretty handy on cars and boats and motors. But this is stumped me. Why didn't sea ray install an external oil cooler that you could attatch a pump to and pull the fluid out? What do you guys do?
Also I bought a honda 700ex generator and mounted under the hull; exhuasting the fumes out the back vent. Wired it to the Electrical box. The fride worked, the outlets worked, the A/C worked for a little while then stopped. Not sure if it threw a breaker or reset on the motor or what. Haven't really looked at it yet. I think though this generator is too small. What do you guy's run? 1 more ?: The porta potty has two hoses hooked up to it. A key switch above it in a storage shelf. A pump runs if you turn the key on. I assume this is some sort of pump out system for the crapper. Where do you suck it out of though on the outside of the boat?

??? New Classic Sea Ray Owner
 
Jeez, I never had to do a thing with mine.:smt043Other than new interior, rebuit motor, rebuilt out drive, rebuilt trim pump, misc rewiring, and filerglass repair. But I got her fo a song and love every minute I'm on her.:smt038

Oh, I have a trailer to pull it so it was new tires, bearings, replace rollers and rewire the lights this spring.

The admiral loves it!! I pulled over to check my new wheel bearing and hubs and a guy drives by and yell's "nice boat".

Best money I've ever spent.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Sorry forgot the new swim platform.....
 
Last edited:
bunkster i said:
I bought my 1st Sea Ray Sundancer; a 250 DA 3 months ago. 1986 model. Everything works, but it's been sitting at a dock on a lake for the past 9 years. I've cleaned it up and plan on repainting it this winter. I have already gotten a new bimini top made and bought all the vynil to redo the interior.
The engine a 260/v8 mercruiser. I assume is nothing more than a 1986 gm 350 2 bolt main. Starting to tap last weekend. quites down when you give more throttle so I am assuming it's a lifter. I started to remove the valve cover to get a better inspection and when I went into it, i started wondering how the hell do you change the oil in this thing? I can't get below the oil pan. Is there some kind of suction tube you put down the dipstick or do people lay a sheet of plastic on the hull bottom and let it drain out the drain tube?
I've owned 6 boats in the past. Everyone of them was a outboard. I am 34 and a body shop manager ex-painter and bodyman. Consider myself to be pretty handy on cars and boats and motors. But this is stumped me. Why didn't sea ray install an external oil cooler that you could attatch a pump to and pull the fluid out? What do you guys do?
Also I bought a honda 700ex generator and mounted under the hull; exhuasting the fumes out the back vent. Wired it to the Electrical box. The fride worked, the outlets worked, the A/C worked for a little while then stopped. Not sure if it threw a breaker or reset on the motor or what. Haven't really looked at it yet. I think though this generator is too small. What do you guy's run? 1 more ?: The porta potty has two hoses hooked up to it. A key switch above it in a storage shelf. A pump runs if you turn the key on. I assume this is some sort of pump out system for the crapper. Where do you suck it out of though on the outside of the boat?

??? New Classic Sea Ray Owner
Click to expand...

Sounds like you are on your way to having a nice classic!

Just suck the oil out the dipstick tube. Search for boat oil change kits - there are dozens of them out there. Easy as pie. And yes, in general, the basic engine is the same as a car engine. Marine bolt-ons like ignition, exhaust, etc.

I'm sorry to tell you that your generator in the bilge is a problem though. There are gas fumes down there, and everything in the bilge should be spark proof. Your Honda generator is not. I know there are people that do this - and live to tell about it - but it's a really, really bad idea. If you choose to do it (and you'll probably get one or two more responses telling you not to), at least be sure you have working CO detectors and run the bilge fans before you start and while the generator is running. But really, don't do it.
 
I don't know, $3300.00 for the new powerhead, and whatever they charge to install. Sounds like a bit too much money to be putting in a 1988 Merc.

I'd look on Craigslist for a used motor for a few thousand less. Hopefully one that can be tested. I'm sure there are a lot of people in that power range, moving up to a much bigger outboard, looking to get rid of their's. Did a quick search and came up with this as an example:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/boa/1823600831.html

Of course you're facing with the hassle of installing a new motor, and probably a new remote, but it will hopefully be a lot less than the $4000.00 or so you are looking at.
 
chuck1 said:
Okay dumb question. Did you really not think a 1988 boat was going to be a project boat unless it had already been restored???
Click to expand...

Yep. It's my first boat. I was hoping to buy something and run it for a year or two. See if we really did use it, then consider something newer. I have a number of friends who have done just that. I never expected a boat that old without issues, but I was certainly not looking to buy a boat that needed re-powering. I was on a bit of a tight budget.
 
Danny Troy said:
I don't know, $3300.00 for the new powerhead, and whatever they charge to install. Sounds like a bit too much money to be putting in a 1988 Merc.

I'd look on Craigslist for a used motor for a few thousand less. Hopefully one that can be tested. I'm sure there are a lot of people in that power range, moving up to a much bigger outboard, looking to get rid of their's. Did a quick search and came up with this as an example:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/boa/1823600831.html

Of course you're facing with the hassle of installing a new motor, and probably a new remote, but it will hopefully be a lot less than the $4000.00 or so you are looking at.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, and I have thought about that option a fiar bit.
I've looked that those older Tower of Power Merc, engines. I think they all close to 30 year old or older. Too worried about buy another set of problems. Looked at a number of 1986-1992 135-150 hp blackmax outboards. They all about the $2900 -$4000 range.
 
look for your engine to be a 4 bolt main it should be a truck engine also the tapping sound should be addressed i has a piston go through the oil pan by not listening to the tapping it was a bent rod.also 2nd the advice on the generator being in the engine compartment.
 
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