40 sedan bridge forum

Boating Season came to an end for us yesterday. We had a beautiful crossing from Chicago to Holland, MI to put our boat into storage for the winter. A great 95 mile to cruise to end the season!

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I had a chance to look at a 98 400 this morning which is priced right but seems to have a number of issues that would have to be addressed. Hopefully the brain trust on this site can give me an idea of cost to address or let me know if I should move on to another boat.

1. This was noted on survey the seller had done in July-
Noted on the forward deck area over cabin, around the
main opening hatch. 8 sq ft section of raised moisture
and some delamination. Moisture appears to have
started in the hatch area and spread.


2. Water leaking at base of front windshield.

3. Gelcoat oxidation- Looks like the boat has not been waxed in years. Hopefully it will be salvageable with compound and wax- has anyone paid to have entire boat detailed with multiple steps and if so what was the cost?

4. There are a couple gelcoat repairs that need to be done due to spider cracking but they appear to be cosmetic only.

5. The stainless ends that should be on the aft lower rubrail are both missing and the switch panel at the helm is in rough shape. Are these parts still available?

Thanks in advance
Adam
 
Adam, #2-5 are not big issues and easily resolved. I’ve resealed the windshield. Just some labor, nothing hard to do. Can’t tell you the cost of #3 as I do that on my boat myself. By the way, on your year boat the end caps were plastic, not stainless. But you can now put anything aftermarket you want there. Original factory end bullets aren’t available. I believe www.searay-parts.com may have the switch panels. For #1, I recommend you get an evaluation and estimate from a pro to do a proper repair. Then you can make a decision based on that.
 
An 8 sq. ft. are is too big for a simple repair thru the hatch cut out in the deck. Part of the deck skin will need to be removed, either on top or underneath in the cabin, to replace the core. From the top side, getting a match pin the non-skid is nearly impossible so the usual approach is to cut the deck back to a non-skid area where the gelcoat can be repaired without dealing with the non-skid match. This usually means that the repaired area is a lot bigger than it needs to be to preserve the non-skid. The other approach is to remove the interior ceiling above the headliner . The repair will be smaller, but the boat will be trashed with grinding/sanding dust every where.

If this were my decision, I'd keep shopping if the seller has not had the boat repaired.
 
An 8 sq. ft. are is too big for a simple repair thru the hatch cut out in the deck. Part of the deck skin will need to be removed, either on top or underneath in the cabin, to replace the core. From the top side, getting a match pin the non-skid is nearly impossible so the usual approach is to cut the deck back to a non-skid area where the gelcoat can be repaired without dealing with the non-skid match. This usually means that the repaired area is a lot bigger than it needs to be to preserve the non-skid. The other approach is to remove the interior ceiling above the headliner . The repair will be smaller, but the boat will be trashed with grinding/sanding dust every where.

If this were my decision, I'd keep shopping if the seller has not had the boat repaired.

Thanks to everyone for the quick replies. I understand this repair is major but doable. If everything else is minor and the boat could be purchased for below $80k with diesels would that make you more comfortable with taking a chance on this boat?
 
I wouldn't do it. That said I think you're still thinking about it and when you do your survey, not the previous one, you'll probably find more. They didn't take care of the boat.
 
I had a chance to look at a 98 400 this morning which is priced right but seems to have a number of issues that would have to be addressed. Hopefully the brain trust on this site can give me an idea of cost to address or let me know if I should move on to another boat.

1. This was noted on survey the seller had done in July-
Noted on the forward deck area over cabin, around the
main opening hatch. 8 sq ft section of raised moisture
and some delamination. Moisture appears to have
started in the hatch area and spread.


2. Water leaking at base of front windshield.

3. Gelcoat oxidation- Looks like the boat has not been waxed in years. Hopefully it will be salvageable with compound and wax- has anyone paid to have entire boat detailed with multiple steps and if so what was the cost?

4. There are a couple gelcoat repairs that need to be done due to spider cracking but they appear to be cosmetic only.

5. The stainless ends that should be on the aft lower rubrail are both missing and the switch panel at the helm is in rough shape. Are these parts still available?

Thanks in advance
Adam

#2-#5 should be of little concern to you. Regarding cost for #3, that will greatly depend on location. I can tell you that I was quoted $1200 just to wax my boat from rub rail up while in water. I declined and did it myself.

It's hard to give advice on #1 since none of us know just how bad the damage is. Does the repair really need the extensive and intrusive work that Frank outlined above? Maybe. And if so, I'd walk. Maybe it's less severe and you can get away with drilling some holes and injecting some Git-Rot in there. It's hard to say.

I can tell you that I have read complaints in the past about how Sea Ray cut the holes for those hatches. THere's nothing protecting the balsa core on the upper hull except some caulk (they should have epoxy'd around the edges of the cutout before putting the hatch in). So once that caulk breaks down, you get the issues you're describing. Same thing with the port windows in the 2 heads and 2nd stateroom. I've removed those windows on my boat and epoxy'd all around the edges to prevent any water getting into the side hull. I haven't done the hatch yet, but I probably should.
 
I was able to get a $10k concession for the potential repair to the hatch area and should be getting the engine survey water test done in the next week. If everything checks out and I accept plan is to have the hull sides painted and damage repaired in hatch area over the winter. The Maxum I had before my Sundancer was painted and it was worth every penny not to have to wax twice a season.

Has anyone painted their 400 yet? Would love to see pictures

Thanks again to everyone for their responses.
 
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I was able to get a $10k concession for the potential repair to the hatch area and should be getting the engine survey water test done in the next week. If everything checks out and I accept plan is to have the hull sides painted and damage repaired in hatch area over the winter. The Maxum I had before my Sundancer was painted and it was worth every penny not to have to wax twice a season.

Has anyone painted their 400 yet? Would love to see pictures

Thanks again to everyone for their responses.
Had my painted last year from the rub rail down. It's awesome and would be hard for me not to have my next one painted. It doesn't take me to long to buff the top half and I don't have to have the boat pulled.
 
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Had my painted last year from the rub rail down. It's awesome and would be hard for me not to have my next one painted. It doesn't take me to long to buff the top half and I don't have to have the boat pulled.

Your boat looks great! I am getting quotes now and trying to decide on potential color change or keeping it white. I like the look of darker hull but my fear is even with the less porous nature of paint it would still be more hands on to keep it looking good in salt water
 
I have two friends that have painted their white hulls with dark blue Awlgrip - they look great. One is 10 years old and he says it is quite a lot less maintenance than gel coat. BUT...it was expensive to have done...
 
Your boat looks great! I am getting quotes now and trying to decide on potential color change or keeping it white. I like the look of darker hull but my fear is even with the less porous nature of paint it would still be more hands on to keep it looking good in salt water
Thanks!
I thought about a dark color they look great. I had a few boaters more experienced than myself tell me it makes a big difference in how cool the boat stays inside. Also they sometime will look wavy painting a dark color over gel. You also have to consider water spots. I can't speak if that's true or not but in the end I just went with the classic white and couldn't be happier.
 
Thanks!
I thought about a dark color they look great. I had a few boaters more experienced than myself tell me it makes a big difference in how cool the boat stays inside. Also they sometime will look wavy painting a dark color over gel. You also have to consider water spots. I can't speak if that's true or not but in the end I just went with the classic white and couldn't be happier.
I love our blue hull but keeping the spots off is constant work. I installed a water softener in my dock box and that really helps a lot. If I ever do replace this boat, I’ll look to buy white for sure.
 
The end cap for the rub rail, port side is part number 1726778. It's no longer available. It was used on a lot of boats back then so if anyone sees a decrepit dancer or bridge boat out the in a yard I sure could use that end cap. I hate to change them both out to something else and I certainly don't want to go diving under our docks...I can't imagine whats down there. In case you think like me, it's stainless so magnet won't help.
Did you ever find suitable replacement for your lost end cap? The boat I have under contract is missing both.
 
Did you ever find suitable replacement for your lost end cap? The boat I have under contract is missing both.
Nope. Mine are stainless and there isn't anyone making them. I'm considering having a friend who owns a stainless fab shop make them ($$$) or I'll switch both to the Taco brand. There are plastic versions available on ebay but they still run about $70 and I need two of them. The Taco brand is about that and they're stainless but not the same as OEM. If my friend makes them, I'll probably throw a few on ebay.
 
I hope my boat grows up to be like Carters...
LOL - I started with a 21' er!

#3 is $30/Ft in Chattanooga waterline up (compound and wax), including the inside of the bridge and cockpit - they even did the dingy and motor!
 
That top...man it's just floating and the lines all match up...

waterline is perfect. I could stare at that picture all day. ^^^
I just post to get Carter to post so I can see his Sig line.
 

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