290 sundancers 1994-midyear 97 "We need a thread"

I'm trying to figure out why for two years nothing was posted in this thread. Is the other thread about later models 290's where things were mistakenly posted? I'm considering a purchase of a '97 290 with twin 4.3's and no generator. Thing is, I plan to use the boat on the hook overnight. I'm in Louisiana therefore A/C is not an option. What to look for with an inspection? How difficult is a gen install?
If I required A/C (which I do!), I would look for a boat with a working generator and A/C already installed. There are a lot out there and a gen install on an older boat would be costly.
 
I really hate the teal carpet...ok, I hate the teal everything. I looked into replacing the carpet, but that would be an investment in time and/or money that is just too much for a boat this age. Soo...I had a guy drive up from Georgia (I think) to Carolina Beach, NC to dye my carpet. I love it!
Teal carpet 2.jpg

new blue carpet 1.jpg
 
I really hate the teal carpet...ok, I hate the teal everything. I looked into replacing the carpet, but that would be an investment in time and/or money that is just too much for a boat this age. Soo...I had a guy drive up from Georgia (I think) to Carolina Beach, NC to dye my carpet. I love it!
View attachment 91558
View attachment 91559

Looks great. Now you need new carpet runners.
 
Probably going to lifeproof the floor. The carpet dye was the first part. Now that I don't have to contend with pulling carpet off the walls, and know the color of the carpet, I can start to pick out and installing the flooring.
 
I am working on a complete replacement of my dash and gauges on my 1996 290DA. Soooo... if anyone needs the old parts, let me know.

All the gauges worked as far as I know, and YES the Lowrance 3500 worked when I removed it.

20200929_175514.jpg
20200929_175510.jpg
20200929_175505.jpg
 
The dash pad was made by my canvas guy. Its not great, and will probably get redone at some point, but its good for now.
That's the part I'm struggling with. I think I'm going to cut and mold a piece out of what I have left over from cutting the dash panel out for the time being. I don't want to have fabric up there again. Eventually I'm going to build something more like the pic I posted below. I'm going to incorporate my chart plotter with the gauges though. For now, the stock looking panel I cut last night will have to do.
http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/dash-fab-analog-to-digital.99397/


B5BA11F5-B39B-4FC2-8EE3-9F0FE0B9265E.jpeg


IMG_20201005_194430.jpg
 
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Hey Folks sorry if I’m high jacking this thread but I’ve read almost all of the posts and everyone seems very knowledgeable about the 290’s. The queen and I are getting back into boating, had a 220SRV when the twins were little, then a 240SRV when they were a bit bigger, now they are getting ready to be seniors in college and we find ourselves with the boating itch. We are very close to Lake Norman and have found a slip mid way up the lake in Mooresville, we are down in Huntersville. So now the 290 question, guy in Cornelius is going out of business and is trying to off load his used inventory. 1995 290, I would say rough is about right but not trash. Needs new cabin cushions and cock pit redo. Not sure about canvas, there’s a Bimini top on it now and I forgot to ask if there was more canvas. No Gen, and a pump out head, does have A/C though. Thing that has me really concerned is it only has a single 350 hooked to a bravo III. Everything I’ve read is it should either have the 7.4 or twin 4.3’s. Should I run away or investigate further. The Queen and I are just going to use it for goofing off on the lake, probably would never do more than 2 nights on the hook.

I would enjoy hearing your thoughts. Very nice pictures from all of you as well.

Thanks!
 
I am listing my 1996 290 with new dash and gauges, new canvas, and complete new vinyl...in NC. The listing is not going live until the weekend. Just had EVERYTHING SERVICED.
 
Hey Folks sorry if I’m high jacking this thread but I’ve read almost all of the posts and everyone seems very knowledgeable about the 290’s. The queen and I are getting back into boating, had a 220SRV when the twins were little, then a 240SRV when they were a bit bigger, now they are getting ready to be seniors in college and we find ourselves with the boating itch. We are very close to Lake Norman and have found a slip mid way up the lake in Mooresville, we are down in Huntersville. So now the 290 question, guy in Cornelius is going out of business and is trying to off load his used inventory. 1995 290, I would say rough is about right but not trash. Needs new cabin cushions and cock pit redo. Not sure about canvas, there’s a Bimini top on it now and I forgot to ask if there was more canvas. No Gen, and a pump out head, does have A/C though. Thing that has me really concerned is it only has a single 350 hooked to a bravo III. Everything I’ve read is it should either have the 7.4 or twin 4.3’s. Should I run away or investigate further. The Queen and I are just going to use it for goofing off on the lake, probably would never do more than 2 nights on the hook.

I would enjoy hearing your thoughts. Very nice pictures from all of you as well.

Thanks!
It doesn't sound right to me. A single 350 sounds like it would be severely under powered unless some real work was done to the motor. It sounds like someone cheaped out on the motor replacement or it's possible they wanted better fuel economy which I'm sure didn't happen.
 
Hey Folks sorry if I’m high jacking this thread but I’ve read almost all of the posts and everyone seems very knowledgeable about the 290’s. The queen and I are getting back into boating, had a 220SRV when the twins were little, then a 240SRV when they were a bit bigger, now they are getting ready to be seniors in college and we find ourselves with the boating itch. We are very close to Lake Norman and have found a slip mid way up the lake in Mooresville, we are down in Huntersville. So now the 290 question, guy in Cornelius is going out of business and is trying to off load his used inventory. 1995 290, I would say rough is about right but not trash. Needs new cabin cushions and cock pit redo. Not sure about canvas, there’s a Bimini top on it now and I forgot to ask if there was more canvas. No Gen, and a pump out head, does have A/C though. Thing that has me really concerned is it only has a single 350 hooked to a bravo III. Everything I’ve read is it should either have the 7.4 or twin 4.3’s. Should I run away or investigate further. The Queen and I are just going to use it for goofing off on the lake, probably would never do more than 2 nights on the hook.

I would enjoy hearing your thoughts. Very nice pictures from all of you as well.

Thanks!

I have a 1995 290 with twin 4.3's, generator, windlass, electric head w/macerator, a/c, hot water etc... The boat is under powered, but workable, in my opinion. I'm on Lake Ontario and, while a bit small for the big lakes on some days, I do love the boat!

Having said that, I did buy this boat from the original owner who had an additional $60,000.00 of maintenance and repair receipts from over the years; it was a salt water dock queen with some issues. The boat was fundamentally clean and came with new canvass and a 2012 aluminum trailer. The original owner replaced both engines and transom assemblies in 2011 however the starboard engine was locked up tight due to salt water ingestion. One of the out drives was corroded almost to dust but still worked and didn't leak. The hot water tank was original and needed to be replaced. A few of the bolsters and trim on deck need to be replaced but all other systems worked and the hull was solid and clean. I paid $5k for the package.

I spent the first couple of months of the first season replacing the items noted above. I did all of the work myself and scrounged replacement parts for pennies-for instance, replacement low mileage engine from 1995 Chevy S10 for $75 (and much labor), located a pair of fresh water Alpha 1 Gen 2 4.3 out drives for $200 (I know, I know...) and did the bellows, gimbal bearings, lower shift cables etc while I was in there. I still have a steady transom leak on the port side which I need to track down this season before launch.

I don't know how handy you are-I had the time and facilities to do this work-but if you like this particular boat I would recommend that you make an offer as if you would need to replace the original 7.4 and perhaps service the Bravo out drive. I would also look carefully at what else might have been Frankensteined and might need to be repaired/replaced. I'm not sure why someone would replace a 7.4 with a 5.7 but my guess would be cost and lack of availability of the 7.4 engine. I believe that you can replace that with an 8.1, too, which should provide advantages. It's always going to come down to time and money-YOURS. If I had to pay someone to do what I did on my boat, I would have been so deep into it with both that it simply wouldn't be worth it and another boat would have been in order even at a higher cost!

I don't know if any of this helped but perhaps food for thought.
 
I am listing my 1996 290 with new dash and gauges, new canvas, and complete new vinyl...in NC. The listing is not going live until the weekend. Just had EVERYTHING SERVICED.
I will check it out when you list it!
 
It doesn't sound right to me. A single 350 sounds like it would be severely under powered unless some real work was done to the motor. It sounds like someone cheaped out on the motor replacement or it's possible they wanted better fuel economy which I'm sure didn't happen.
Yep, my thoughts as well, it looks like just a standard 350, I think I’ll keep looking. I was hoping to get it for under 10K but the thought of putting a 7.4 back in it doesn’t thrill me.
 
I have a 1995 290 with twin 4.3's, generator, windlass, electric head w/macerator, a/c, hot water etc... The boat is under powered, but workable, in my opinion. I'm on Lake Ontario and, while a bit small for the big lakes on some days, I do love the boat!

Having said that, I did buy this boat from the original owner who had an additional $60,000.00 of maintenance and repair receipts from over the years; it was a salt water dock queen with some issues. The boat was fundamentally clean and came with new canvass and a 2012 aluminum trailer. The original owner replaced both engines and transom assemblies in 2011 however the starboard engine was locked up tight due to salt water ingestion. One of the out drives was corroded almost to dust but still worked and didn't leak. The hot water tank was original and needed to be replaced. A few of the bolsters and trim on deck need to be replaced but all other systems worked and the hull was solid and clean. I paid $5k for the package.

I spent the first couple of months of the first season replacing the items noted above. I did all of the work myself and scrounged replacement parts for pennies-for instance, replacement low mileage engine from 1995 Chevy S10 for $75 (and much labor), located a pair of fresh water Alpha 1 Gen 2 4.3 out drives for $200 (I know, I know...) and did the bellows, gimbal bearings, lower shift cables etc while I was in there. I still have a steady transom leak on the port side which I need to track down this season before launch.

I don't know how handy you are-I had the time and facilities to do this work-but if you like this particular boat I would recommend that you make an offer as if you would need to replace the original 7.4 and perhaps service the Bravo out drive. I would also look carefully at what else might have been Frankensteined and might need to be repaired/replaced. I'm not sure why someone would replace a 7.4 with a 5.7 but my guess would be cost and lack of availability of the 7.4 engine. I believe that you can replace that with an 8.1, too, which should provide advantages. It's always going to come down to time and money-YOURS. If I had to pay someone to do what I did on my boat, I would have been so deep into it with both that it simply wouldn't be worth it and another boat would have been in order even at a higher cost!

I don't know if any of this helped but perhaps food for thought.
No it helps a lot, I’m a gear head and handy with tools, (I own Jaguars ) The marina where we have the slip also has a DIY yard and full service mechanics. I’m just getting older. I’ll have a 6 in front of my age in June, so I don’t move as well as I used to. I was hoping to get it for under 10k but with unknown mechanicals I think I’m going to pass on it.

Thanks!
 

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