Dave in Iowa

DaveKamp

DaveKamp

Active Member
Jun 9, 2021
189
USA, Upper Mississippi River Mile 499
Boat Info
1970 SRV180, '77SRV220CC, 76 SRV-240FB, another SRV180
Engines
Mostly MerCruisers with R-MR-Alpha drives
Hi All!
Dave, in Iowa here... right on the Mississippi River, not far from Interstate 80.

I've got a few SeaRays... I am in no way 'new' to boats, my Dad has had boats since long before I discovered this water-covered earth, and the first Sea Ray exposure was a '76 SRV-220CC. He contracted a classic case of TwoFootItis, and sold it in lieu of a 25' Wellcraft, but the SRV's robust build and wonderful workmanship never left my mind. I bought MY first from it's original owner in a well-used condition... ran it for one season with it's original MerCruiser 120 (153ci GM) four. It had well over 4000 hours on the clock, and never a rebuild. It'd been in storage for seven years when I got it, and part way into the second season, the upper gearcase seal failed, and emptied the drive's lubricant into the bellows, resulting in a nice 'friction-welding' of the upper gearset. Happened that there was a substantial flood mid-summer, so I pulled the four, and the worn out back-to-back seats... and the jammed-up steering cable... and inoperative gauges, and threadbare carpet... and...

Made a whole new interior... extended the bilge by 9 inches, rebuilt a MerCruiser 165 from a houseboat... using a PLETHORA (yes, I have a plethora) of 'non-original-spec' parts... and fitted a 1.34:1 gearset into the 120/140 upper... and a 24p cleaver.

Engi1.jpg

Follow.jpg


Yes, that's a remote lubricant reservoir line... Rev limiter is set at 5100... yes, it needs a drive shower... yes, it WILL melt it's gears if I'm not careful.

It has plenty of power. Obscene power. Laugh-Yourself-To-Incontinence power.

And very sweet, simple interior, and a classic retro exterior.
 
boilh20.jpg
I thought I had some better interior pix, but realized that when I did the build... it was PRIOR to 'digital-age'... o_O

Here's a look-behind... taken somewhere above 55... but well before 60... it gets a bit 'twitchy' around 60, but settles down again around 66. Yes, the trim-tabs are in kinda close... it doesn't need them to 'plane', they get used to allow a very flat 'climb' (no planing transition) when children on learning skis, and at high speed, leaving them basically flush to the hull helps damp 'pitching' when air pressure is working on the bow.
 
Here's it's bigger 'brother':
Hydrology1.jpg

Hydrology is a '77 SRV-220CC.

Originally came to my attention in the back of a used-car lot. The exterior had been buffed to perfection:
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But the ropes holding the drive up suggest more TLC than the lot's 'detailers' could handle:
BlownMotor.gif


Yeah, that's not a MerCruiser block... certainly not the MCM228 305... this was from an '80ish Chevy station wagon... a Malibu IIRC... and it was cracked... everywhere. Block, heads, intake, exhaust, elbows... carbeurator, water pump, thermostat housing... and it'd been sunk... only for about two hours, but sunk. Fuel tank was surprisingly unmoistened... floor needed some help, original back-to-back seats were too weak to sit on...

<<Hey- did'ja notice the 3/4" galvanized pipe fitting and cap atop the T-stat housing? ;-D >>
 

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I bought this one... because of kids. The SRV-170 is a great little boat, but with one toddler, and one in a basket, the SRV220-CC's high gunwales, cuddy, porta pottie, and smoother ride made it a better choice for a young family. I didn't make a huge investment in it... I bought the boat and trailer, towed it home, unloaded the boat into my driveway, and immediately sold the trailer for what I'd bought BOTH for. Being less than a block from a marine forklift, having the trailer was unnecessary. The engine and drive came out, as did the carpet, cabin liner, and broken-down seats. I put in new liner, new carpet, made boxes and put in a (smaller) pair of back-to-backs (the price was right). I replaced the (well worn) gimbal, new gimbal bearing, new bellows, water hose, etc, rebuilt the drive (mechanically, it was pretty good... shift spool was worn, new cardan joints, and dropped in the MCM-260 from my Dad's Wellcraft (a totally different story). Replaced the battery wiring, bilge blower, bilge pump, while my Dad made replacements for the delaminated hatch covers and anchor-locker cover. I brought it home on June 3rd, had it in the water, and fully operational by the end of July. We used it heavily for six seasons, and life got in-the-way, it's been in storage since. I need to get it out, clean it up, lift out the engine, as it suffered a Champion plug crimp fail on the #1, it spat the plug out, except for part of the ceramic that got busted off on the way, now that cyl is way down on compression. I figure that when it comes out, I'll give it a proper interior redo, new bows and canvas top, and a roller-cam 5.7 with a 2-barrel MerCarb.
 
Welcome Dave! Damn, your shit cruises! Nice pics
 
Yeah,when I first acquired my 180, there was a guy who had a '70 SRX Pachanga with a MerCruiser 250hp 327 but iirc 4bbl, and I don't THINK it was a 'stock' MCM config (R-drive), it had a windshield, and an elevated ski eyelet just in front of the engine covers. He used it for barefooting, so it wasn't propped for top speed, but it was plenty fast, very responsive, and had good manners. I compared my 180's hull to the SRX, and there really wasn't much difference aside from length, I believe it was just the last chine, and finish of the trailing edge, that had any difference. That, and seeing another slightly-larger SRV with a 302, is what inspired my confidence in going from an average (tired) four to a rather healthy EFI six.

Obviously, I didn't care for the original 'Sand Avocado' much, and while it was complete, it was like most... brittle to the point that it shattered upon sitting on it, and it was really uncomfortable in swim trunks... beach towels were an absolute necessity.

I dunno who the bikini-gal is in the 'citrus yellow' demo above, but I'm certain I wouldn't've gotten a second-date from her after all the pinch-welts appeared in her backside. The wood frames of the original back-to-backs were mostly in a pile underneath, and the piano hinges were unrevivable... so restoring THEM was not a sensible plan. It's really a 2-person runabout, with room for coolers and beach-camping gear, and if there's two more, they can sit in the jumpseats without serious discomfort.

The maroon did pretty well, and put a skim of resin on the floor to seal in the 'floor fraggies'... I made the carpet snap-out and washable... and two removable swivel pedestals with homemade wood/FG seats and snap-in cushions.
 
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I love a 2 seater runabout, I pondered an Aristocraft a few years back that I saw at an antique shop in Saugatuck, but it was way overpriced for how much work it needed.
 
Those interiors remind me of the Mark Twain tri hulls my parents' friends had when I was a kid. The back to back seats that you had to peel yourself out of. IIRC the were 17 or 18 footers, but as a kid I thought they were huge.
 
"peel yourself out of":D Yeah... especially on a hot summer day!!! But really... ANY vinyl seat is that way... sweaty skin on hot vinyl... coupled with a bouncing boat... leave's it's calling card, and forever memories.
 
highslice said:
Those interiors remind me of the Mark Twain tri hulls my parents' friends had when I was a kid. The back to back seats that you had to peel yourself out of. IIRC the were 17 or 18 footers, but as a kid I thought they were huge.
Click to expand...
remember Mark Twain had to check depth with a rope how slow was that
 
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