268DA and Weekenders

Haven't put it back together yet to many things going on hopefuly I can put it in the water next weekend. You and the wife are smart not to finance hope every thing works out for the two of you.
 
Hi Everyone,
Our weekender just had a new fully enclosed custom canvas top with lots of great clear windows put on it this past summer. Very expensive. Is there any thing you can put on clear vinyl windows to protect them from weather and sun so that they don't cloud up???
 
Does anyone in here have any information on the converter/chargers that came with these boats? I'm debating getting a new because the one I have now seems to work, but the gauge on the front is no longer giving out a reading, plus I'm considering going to AGM batteries. Just wondering if anyone has specs, make, manuals or anything on it.
 
Mine didn't show that it was working eather, I checked it with a meter and it is working fine just the gauge is not working. So I would say check it at the the charger then check the leads at the battery before spending the money. If it dosen't show any voltage check the power supply(120V)

BlewByYou88 said:
Does anyone in here have any information on the converter/chargers that came with these boats? I'm debating getting a new because the one I have now seems to work, but the gauge on the front is no longer giving out a reading, plus I'm considering going to AGM batteries. Just wondering if anyone has specs, make, manuals or anything on it.
Click to expand...
 
I have 2 105 amp led acid batteries nothing special, but she stays on the trailer not in a slip and I keep her plugged in at home. Right now I am finishing up putting on a set of heads. Seems like life keeps getting in the way of me finishing the job but hopefully she will be done this week. :smt038 But then I have my nephews bachelor party on Saturday so Sunday might be shot.:grin: Not to many weekends left for boating before she goes to sleep for the winter.:smt089
BlewByYou88 said:
Daddubo, What kind of batteries are you running?
Click to expand...
 
Hi all! We just bought an 87 DA. It's a fantastic boat. Took it out this past weekend and put over 14 hours on it going from Traverse City, MI up to Suttons Bay and then on to Charlevoix and back.

It seems weird that there is no latch for the ER hatch. When I was putting it away last night I noticed that the hatch had been sliding around and had rubbed through some of the gel coat in a couple of places. Was there originally a gasket for the hatch?

Also, the vents for the ER leaked horribly and water ran all over the cockpit. Any advice on that? There way the vents are designed it seems like it is unavoidable, maybe a better vent?

Anyway, great site here. I have been poking around on here while we were looking at boats and there seems to be a lot of good people here.

Thanks.

John
 
JohnGordon said:
Hi all! We just bought an 87 DA. It's a fantastic boat. Took it out this past weekend and put over 14 hours on it going from Traverse City, MI up to Suttons Bay and then on to Charlevoix and back.

It seems weird that there is no latch for the ER hatch. When I was putting it away last night I noticed that the hatch had been sliding around and had rubbed through some of the gel coat in a couple of places. Was there originally a gasket for the hatch?

Also, the vents for the ER leaked horribly and water ran all over the cockpit. Any advice on that? There way the vents are designed it seems like it is unavoidable, maybe a better vent?

Anyway, great site here. I have been poking around on here while we were looking at boats and there seems to be a lot of good people here.

Thanks.

John
Click to expand...
The hatches are that way I took some thin rubber and glued them down where it rubs and as far as the vents yea every time it rains you get a bunch of water in the bilge I was looking at some different types with bigger scoops to get more air in the ER. Mine originally came from Spring Lake Mi. pretty area.
Defiantly a lot of info here some body will have an answer for your questions.



Frank
 
Last edited:
WHEW!!!!!

Hey all. Just found this thread and read it all from start to finish.

I've been participating in the "general discussion" area a bit, but now that I've found this thread I plan on being a regular here.

Good stuff. Koodos to whoever started it. Can't even remember already...but thanks. :thumbsup:

Kinda feels like a first AA meeting...."Hello...my name is "Old Vet".....I just bought a 1987 268DA and I'm now a SeaRayaholic." :grin:

Some interesting topics touched on here. A couple of comments...and questions if I may.

Interesting to hear the different views on that transom bench seat. I don't have one and want one.

My wife and I re-do boat interiors...upholstery and such. We're just a small "ma & pa" operation. No idea already how many boats we've redone...but we're running a 100% success rate as far as satisfied customers are concerned. And word of mouth advertising is great.

I saw a question about vinyls and other materials somewhere along the way here. One of our suppliers we use is Rochford Supply in Minnesota. Great luck with them so far...very good products and great service. I recommend them if anyone needs anything. Google them.

As for the transom seat.....

We just built one from scratch for one of our clients who has a 1979 250. They'd been using deck chairs and decided they didn't like them and wanted a bench. It turned out great and they are very pleased with the end result.

I intend to build one for our boat over the winter. If anyone has one and can post pictures of it I love to see 'em. May give me a better idea than what I already have floating around in my "mind's eye".

Daddubo

What did you use to buff that baby to get her shining like a brand new penny in those pictures? Looks great. Mine is going to get the same treatment...have to find a good product to use.

Did you ever figure out what that switch is at the helm on the right side wall? I never saw an answer to your original question about it throughout the entire thread.

Previous owner of mine didn't know...even though he had the boat for 10 years. After I got it I've been told it's a test switch (for lack of a better term) for a gas fume detector in the engine room. Haven't yet searched to prove that theory...but made sense to me.

A question to all other 268 owners.

I'm a "toy" nut....love gadgets, bells & whistles. :grin: Very few on my boat.

On the dash, just below, and to the right of the steering wheel...I have a blank spot....perhaps approx 4" x 6"...maybe slightly larger. I just HAVE TO have something installed in there. Looking for any good ideas for something to be "custom fitted" in that spot. Most logical at the moment seems to be perhaps a GPS or chartplotter...if I can find one that will fit that spot well.

Any/all other suggestions greatly appreciated.

A great little story about our boat if I may:

Last year the previous owner had some sort of animal get on board and down below. It apparently pee'd on the rug down there. Smell was horrible he says...tried to clean it a couple of times to get rid of the smell....no luck.

He called his insurance company. They told him to get an estimate to have it replaced.

He called in a guy who does upholstery/carpet work etc.

Instead of just doing an estimate to replace the smelly carpet....the contractor did up a complete estimate to totally re-do ALL of the upholstery and carpeting up top AND below....around $8K. Estimate was submitted to the insurance company....their response was..."Go for it". :wow:

So we..having just bought the boat...are now reaping the benefits. :grin:

Gotta love it huh?

Anyway...sorry to say it will soon be coming out of the water...we haven't even had much chance to learn it and enjoy it yet.

Already looking forward to next year. Gonna be a long winter. :smt089

Take care all...and keep the good info coming in this thread please.
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the thread.
You said you rebuilt a bench seat for a 250? This I would like to see. Post some pics if ya got 'em!
 
Last edited:
Old Vet said:
WHEW!!!!!


Interesting to hear the different views on that transom bench seat. I don't have one and want one.

As for the transom seat.....

We just built one from scratch for one of our clients who has a 1979 250. They'd been using deck chairs and decided they didn't like them and wanted a bench. It turned out great and they are very pleased with the end result.
I intend to build one for our boat over the winter. If anyone has one and can post pictures of it I love to see 'em. May give me a better idea than what I already have floating around in my "mind's eye".

If you have any Pictures of what you did please post them I have found that Photobucket.com is the best they give you a IMG code so you can post full size pictures.


The biggest problem most people have with the seat is it is to low and narrow so did you come up with a better Idea? I took mine out and made storage for lines and bumpers in the recess and used deck chairs.

100_2262.jpg




I was thinking about a full sized bench on a hinge and gas shocks that would rise up when there was a need to get in to the E R.
Daddubo

Did you ever figure out what that switch is at the helm on the right side wall? I never saw an answer to your original question about it throughout the entire thread.

I think the button is for the Mercathrobe but can't verify it. I tried mine and nothing happened with mine when I pushed it so the question is still up in the air.

Previous owner of mine didn't know...even though he had the boat for 10 years. After I got it I've been told it's a test switch (for lack of a better term) for a gas fume detector in the engine room. Haven't yet searched to prove that theory...but made sense to me.

A question to all other 268 owners.

I'm a "toy" nut....love gadgets, bells & whistles. Very few on my boat.

On the dash, just below, and to the right of the steering wheel...I have a blank spot....perhaps approx 4" x 6"...maybe slightly larger. I just HAVE TO have something installed in there. Looking for any good ideas for something to be "custom fitted" in that spot. Most logical at the moment seems to be perhaps a GPS or chartplotter...if I can find one that will fit that spot well.
Are you talking about where My trim tab buttons are?
1268002.jpg



Any/all other suggestions greatly appreciated.

A great little story about our boat if I may:

Last year the previous owner had some sort of animal get on board and down below. It apparently pee'd on the rug down there. Smell was horrible he says...tried to clean it a couple of times to get rid of the smell....no luck.

He called his insurance company. They told him to get an estimate to have it replaced.

He called in a guy who does upholstery/carpet work etc.

Instead of just doing an estimate to replace the smelly carpet....the contractor did up a complete estimate to totally re-do ALL of the upholstery and carpeting up top AND below....around $8K. Estimate was submitted to the insurance company....their response was..."Go for it".

So we..having just bought the boat...are now reaping the benefits.

Gotta love it huh?
It is great when you can come across something like that

.
Click to expand...
Glad you found us I started this thread last year not to long after I got mine these boats have there own nitch. Big but still trailable.
 
"Are you talking about where My trim tab buttons are?"

No....right there beside your steering wheel...just to the right of it in that square area. What have you got there?

My spot like that is blank right now.

"If you have any Pictures of what you did please post them"

I think I might have some before and after pics. I'll look and see what I can find. Will start another thread called "Transom Seat" and post them there.

"I think the button is for the Mercathrobe but can't verify it. I tried mine and nothing happened with mine when I pushed it so the question is still up in the air."

I asked a friend of mine here who used to own a Merc dealership. He told me it was a gas fume detector. If you press the button and the light glows "green"...you're good to go. Says it glows "red" if fumes are present down there.

I haven't traced any wires yet to see what's on the other end though. But that's what he told me. :huh:
 
Old Vet said:
"Are you talking about where My trim tab buttons are?"

No....right there beside your steering wheel...just to the right of it in that square area. What have you got there?

My spot like that is blank right now.

I'm thinking you are talking about the area next to the throttle / shifter if so I don’t think there is enough room for anything when you put your hand there to push the button to shift into natural; my stuff is all mounted on the dash where you can view it better. I think if you mount something in that spot it would cause you to take your eyes off what you are doing.
Click to expand...
 
The transom seat I built for a client was for his 1979 SeaRay 250. He got tired of having to stow the deck chairs he was using and wanted a bench seat. Also wanted more floor space available. He found his deck chairs took up too much space. For his liking anyway.

He has no transom door....just a "walk thru" on the port side. So I couldn't put a seat back across there.

The base of the bench is 3/4" plywood....3" foam on it, wrapped in plastic, then covered with the vinyls of his choice. Legs are 13" Garelick "Stow-Away" legs that fold up.

I also added a 1" spacer under the bench seat where each leg attached to basically "lengthen" the leg to 14"..so overall height of the seat bench ended up at 17 3/4". A comfortable height for sitting and getting up.

I also built the arm rests/storage compartments on each end with the drink holders for him.

As you can see.....the seat collapses for engine compartment access.

I couldn't go any higher with the seat back due to the teak rail across the top of the transom.

The seat width/depth of the bench is 13"....a couple more inches might have been nice but I couldn't do that. If I widened the bench...it would have to be mounted higher on the transom so that it could still collapse without hitting the floor..and not be in the way during engine cover removal.

It still turned out to be a comfortable depth...the edge of the seat comes to just past mid thigh.

That also would have necessitated the seat back to go higher and we didn't want that because it then would have been higher than that teak rail on the transom.

All in all...we were very pleased with the way it turned out...and MOST importantly.....another "satisfied customer". :thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
"I'm thinking you are talking about the area next to the throttle / shifter "

No no....that spot right there behind the right side of your steering wheel. The square area that looks approx 5" or 6" square surrounded by the blue upholstered vinyl.

There's something there with a knob or two on it....and right above looks like a black plate or something with something written on it in white lettering.
 
Old Vet said:
"I'm thinking you are talking about the area next to the throttle / shifter "

No no....that spot right there behind the right side of your steering wheel. The square area that looks approx 5" or 6" square surrounded by the blue upholstered vinyl.

There's something there with a knob or two on it....and right above looks like a black plate or something with something written on it in white lettering.
Click to expand...

No nothing there I have seen people mount things there but depending how big it is, you don't want to block the gauges. If you look at the top of the dash there what feel like 4 pieces of wood under the vinyl I think are for mounting.

One thing you should check in the shower sump and see if it has a float switch in it, if it dosen't you should add one. It is a source of cabin flooding if you forget to turn the pump on before you use the shower.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,246
Messages
1,429,171
Members
61,123
Latest member
Tim Duncan
Back
Top