What to look for on a 78 Sea Ray 240 Sedan Cruiser

[tapenick]

I'm going to look at a 1978 Sea Ray 240 Sedan Cruiser (with fly bridge)... planning to check the floor, engine oil, engine blowby... anything else to look for? (outside of basic operational / cosmetic stuff) Thinking of things that might have been common for this model... maybe stress fractures in a particular place or something like that. Any help appreciated!

Tom

 

[moparlvr4406]

transom where the swim platform attaches..if the bolts aren't well sealed the transom will rot
stringers where the engine mounts
floor above the fuel tank

 

[sbw1]

That era SR was prone to all kinds of stringer and transom rot due to poor quallty limber holes and the use of open cell flotation foam. If the boat was kept on a lift vs. in the water you might be ok, but I would be suspect. Also the boat had a history of variability in build quality. Many times the tabs on the stringers were not properly glassed to the hull, in some cases not even attached. The stringers were sprayed with gel coat but not glassed before being sprayed.

 

[KRB64]

Look for the tell tale tea stains on the transom. What about a compression test? Water in the LU oil? How many hours on her?

You doing this yourself I assume?

And welcome to the forum btw!

 

[tapenick]

"Tea stains on the transom".... to indicate if it has been sitting in the water? May do a compression test... most of the time if there is a really bad cyl some blow-by can be felt coming out of the valve cover.

Boat is showing 600 hrs but they're not sure if the hour meter was reset in 1985 when the engine and outdrive were replaced.

These other posts about rotten stringers are scaring me to death! It has bottom paint if that helps?

One other thing - the owner says that it is kind of hard to get the boat on plane. I wasn't surprised... just has a single 350. Any thoughts on that?

One more! He also has a 78 Sundancer for sale... would I be better off going that route? I really like the looks of the sedan...


Tom

 

[moparlvr4406]

"Tea stains on the transom".... to indicate if it has been sitting in the water? May do a compression test... most of the time if there is a really bad cyl some blow-by can be felt coming out of the valve cover.

Boat is showing 600 hrs but they're not sure if the hour meter was reset in 1985 when the engine and outdrive were replaced.

These other posts about rotten stringers are scaring me to death! It has bottom paint if that helps?

One other thing - the owner says that it is kind of hard to get the boat on plane. I wasn't surprised... just has a single 350. Any thoughts on that?

One more! He also has a 78 Sundancer for sale... would I be better off going that route? I really like the looks of the sedan...


Tom

these boats are very rear heavy so tabs down is a near must to plane out
but water soaked foam can make them even heavier and the 260 merc is not "over powered" in any way
bottom paint does nothing for the stringers...they rot from the inside
best bet...take a rubber mallet and thump on the transom around things that go thru it
if you get a hollow thud in spots....walk away and thank him for his time.

 

[pessemist]

these boats are very rear heavy so tabs down is a near must to plane out
but water soaked foam can make them even heavier and the 260 merc is not "over powered" in any way
bottom paint does nothing for the stringers...they rot from the inside
best bet...take a rubber mallet and thump on the transom around things that go thru it
if you get a hollow thud in spots....walk away and thank him for his time.

Get a reputable survey. I walked away from 3 boats I would have bought without the survey. Work a deal with the surveyor: Have him survey until he finds a 'deal-breaker' then stop with the understanding he will survey the next boat you consider--you can get a big break on the survey price. Remember, the cost of purchasing a used boat is NOT the purchase price--it is the repair and upkeep price.

Make absolutely certain you get a compression test on all cylinders. Nothing tells you more about big repairs down the road than a compression test. I would do this FIRST before spending a ton looking at the rest of the boat. Why bother if you know upfront you need $4K worth of work?

Be frank with the seller. Tell him you expect to rebuild engine, reglass etc and maybe he is desperate enough to factor in the price accordingly. I just helped a friend with an used outboard. Compression was within 5% with all cylinders so the ehad was solid. But engine would not idle and had no power. I told him to expect $300 to rebuild both carbs--he took that knowledge to the seller and now he has a solid outboard.

Start evaluation with the expensive stuff and work your way to the stuff you can live with/repair.

And you can still do everything right and get burned. LOL I have $4K into a boat that passed mechanics and surveyors inspection. Some things just can't be found till you run'her hard.

 

[KRB64]

Tea Stains will be dark stains below screw/bolts/etc that show water seeping out from the "holes".

Tabs do help but it still takes a bit for a loaded boat of this size to dig out from its hole. How long is "a while"? Maybe she's not reeving up enough? Wrong prop?

Personally I like the looks of a WE better but the layout of a DA fits our family.

 

[tapenick]

Thanks guys! I looked at it on Sunday, here's the scoop - Owner couldn't get it started, I could tell it was flooded so suggested moving the throttle to the wide open position. That worked... but then it wasn't idling down. Owner said it "took a while"... I waited a minute or so then raised the engine cover. Return spring was off the carb. I connected it and of course it idled down (and died). Owner said that was unhooked because it wouldn't stay running with it hooked up. Wow. I was already pretty much done but continued with the checkout just because I love the look of the boat. So I gave the idle adjustment screw a couple of turns so it would stay running with the return spring on and proceeded with the checkout. Pretty good shape, no indications or rot anywhere. Tons of pictures and documentation. The batteries looked like a rats nest... a dozen wires or so coming off of each one. Throttle was disconnected from the controls in the cabin... not sure about the steering. But the price was right and I was still loving the looks... so decided to proceed with the test drive. Shut it off to make sure it would restart when hot (it had been running for the 20-25 minutes that I was looking around)... nope. Just clicking. So I left and asked them to call me when they got that problem resolved... nothing yet. Meanwhile I've pretty much decided that the Sundancer is a more practical layout for me and the fam... so have looked at a couple of those. Oh, and to top it all off - the wife dropped her phone in the water while we were looking at it. Bad sign? Thanks again for all of the suggestions/help!

Tom

 

[KRB64]

Sometimes you can make a good score if the PO has cobbled things or doesn't know how to make the repairs but you have the knowledge & ability.

The WE was good for our family of 4 as a day boat or maybe a night or two. The DA makes for a much better over nighter (we've stayed a week before) at the sacrafice of deck space.