Sea Ray 230da

Well what a great thing to see a 230DA thread. I was out on the lake most of the summer and missed this when it started. I spent a lot of time restoring my '94 230DA last year. I also re-did all the upholstery, installed new carpeting, installed full shore power with a Progressive Dynamics PD2140 converter/charger and an inverter, flat screen w/dvd player and I put a new Isotherm refrigerator in place of the ice box. I can now stay out in the bay for days at a time and I often did last summer....I really love this boat.

I'm always here for any advice or questions....
 
Hey powderfinger,

Welcome, I seen you on the generator thread and holy cow, I have to say though I agree with your post more than most cause you attempted to bring reality to the subject. Anyway, I am def interested in some of the mods you did and will def be picking your brain. I spent a lot of time on the bay down here in my old Wellcraft and would like to make my Searay (when all completed) more comfortable for my family of 4 for a couple of nights so you are forewarned that I maybe asking a lot of questions LOL.

Mike,

Great pics and I'm still jealous. I have a few friends from NZ (they live here now) and they say the same thing about the weather. Hey can you take some pics of swim platform area of your boat whenever you get a chance? I am trying to decide what to do for rear seating and need some ideas. Talk to you later.

Derek
 
Hi Powderfinger,

I was thinking of sending you a PM welcoming you to this thread when I read your well written response in the "gen thread". So welcome and I can guarantee no one here will tell you your boats ugly.

Derek,

Thats me looking chuffed with the days haul....(it's the only photo I can find of the rear seat).When I got Annie there were no bolsters or cushions on the transom shelf. After finding it a great spot for fishing etc I added the 6" seat. You can sit with your feet on either side, it works well.
I also changed the shower head and hose to a regular kink free garden hose with multi nozzle hand gun. I extended the hose so I can reach the fwd step to wash down any fish guts and when I boat in salt water I can also run the engine on the "ear muffs" if the wash down hose at the marina is busy. Great mod and the kids like trying to shoot sea gulls with the jet nozzle selected.

Mike


View attachment 22034
 
Thanks for the welcomes Derek and Mike -

I wasn't aware that there were any other 230DA owners here on the forum.....I think the 230DA is great. Perfect for my fiance and me on this lake. I look forward to our sharings in the future....Cheers to you both and be well!

dusty ~
 
Mike,

That is awesome and simple, I too have no rear seats installed so I think I will use your idea about the cushion and the hose. Thanks for the pics!

Dusty,

Do you have any pics of your improvements and possibley your engine bay. The guys on here gave some pics but they weren't exactly what I needed but I think yours will be what I need because of your 5.0. Also I think some of my friends maybe up in your area. Is there a bunch of 4 wheeler/snowmobile trails where you are? They keep telling me about a lake that I need to bring my boat upto where the boating is unreal.

Derek
 
dlcope said:
Dusty,

Do you have any pics of your improvements and possibley your engine bay. The guys on here gave some pics but they weren't exactly what I needed but I think yours will be what I need because of your 5.0. Also I think some of my friends maybe up in your area. Is there a bunch of 4 wheeler/snowmobile trails where you are? They keep telling me about a lake that I need to bring my boat upto where the boating is unreal.

Derek
Click to expand...

Derek -

I sure can send you some pics of my engine bay. It's all original and clean as a whistle too. But here's the situation. I live up on the lake most of the year but in the winter I come to Florida where I am now. My boat's up at my N.Y. home all covered up. However, I will be back up there for a doctor's appointment in 2 weeks and I most certainly will hop up into it and take some good engine room shots for you as well as of my retro-fitted Isotherm refrigerator.

As for the trails, there are hundreds of miles of 4 wheeler and snowmobile trails all throughout the beautiful six million acres of the upstate New York Region's Adirondack Park. Within this area are the pristine Adirondack Mountains, and nestled within the valleys of the mountains are hundreds of pure spring fed, crystal clear lakes. One of the larger and most beautiful is the majestic Lake George, where I live. It's 32 miles long with over 100 islands scattered from end to end, many of which are state owned camp grounds. There are many small coves and bays with public docks and "crusier docks" for overnight boat docking. Believe me, IMHO Lake George and it's surroundings are as close to Heaven as most of us will ever see before the real thing :smt001
 
Derek,

The rear seat is simple, I used a 3/4" thick treated fence paling as the base. It was just the right width and length. Cut it to shape, drilled down through both the base and the fiber glass then fitted those hammer in type nuts (5/16") to the wood. I bored some vent holes in the wood also. Glued on some foam, upholstered it and back bolted it from the engine bay and hey presto...
 
Dusty,

Sounds great! No hurry on pics, just at your earliest convenience. I am looking for the all the pulleys and accessories pictures. My engine came with nothing bolted to the front of the motor so I am putting it together from pics and various service manuals so thanks in advance. Def interested in the fridge upgrade. I am extremely interested in your upgrades. I have been getting great ideas from Mike (Annie) so I can't wait to see what you have done. My boat is completely stock with no shore power and just an ice box and porta potti. I think Lake George is the lake my friends were talking about because they mentioned all the islands. There is an extremely good chance I will be headed up there next summer with the boat so we will see. Have fun in Florida, we try to go to the Tampa area once or twice a year to visit my sister and we love it down there.

Mike,

Thanks for the detailed installation instructions, I will def be doing the rear seat the same way you did. I am also going to be ordering a swim platform so that seat will be all the more enjoyable.

Derek
 
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Derek,

A swim platform is on my todo list. I contacted swim....com and the freight charge to NZ was $1,200! so I have decided to wait for the pacific plate to move closer to the U.S.A. Lol

I've been out of town for a few days, home for the weekend with two weeks left to go. I'm looking forward to a 5 week vacation over Christmas. I have the 1st and 4th weeks booked on the boat.

Take care guys.
 
I know you sold your 230, however do you recall what pitch the prop was? I have a 1992 230 SD LTD with a 4.3L (recently acquired) with a 19 and its kind of slow on plane and will only turn 3200 RPM. I am thinking that a 17 pitch will work better.

Thanks.
 
Well it's been awhile since last post but I have been working on the house and the boat. Update on the boat, I got it running and tuned up. While I was tuning it, I had problems with it cutting out at 2000 rpm and above. The only thing I haven't touched is the carb so I ordered the rebuild kit and will be rebuilding this weekend. It is soaking in carb cleaner now. After that it should be ready for water. Checked all lights, fans, alarms, and everything to make sure all bases are covered. Will be working on trailer next to replace lights and fix the brakes. I'm really trying to get fixed by the holiday weekend to at least enjoy the boat for whatever boating season is left. Hope all you fellow searay owners are doing well and will keep regular updates. will post pics of boat in the next couple of days.

Derek
 
230 owners...I posted this on the site, but didn't get a response from fellow 230 owners so again...My 230 seems to list pretty bad, and the list sort of flops from port to starboard depending on acceleration, turning etc. I can correct the problem with tabs, but I seem to have to adjust tabs constantly. I'm going to put 23 x 9 tabs on (current tabs are undersized), but I was just wondering if fellow 230-ers have the same trouble. Stays stable runing in straight line but just seems to list alot at different times. THX
 
I made up some larger tab plates of steel and bolted them to the std. tab plates and yes they did make a noticable difference. She still lists and carries on a little in cross winds and 1 metre slop at slow speed but if I trim out a little and add some throttle it is not as bad.
 
Hey 230 owners. The latest with my 230 is unfortunate. I was able to get the motor running but kept running into problems, carb, chipped teeth on fly wheel, flat cam on fuel pump lobe. So after all that I decided to pull the motor and do a complete rebuild. I will be pulling the motor out in the next couple of weeks. Please keep posting on here for all 230 owners to see. LM230, unfortunately I have not had my boat on the water yet but I would look for obvious problems i.e. bubbling gel coat, hollow sound when knocking on the side of the boat. I heard these boats were top heavy so I am sure Darylle is correct. I look forward to hearing from you guys.
 
Hi
I'm not sure about being "top heavy" I think it's all about the length, a relatively narrow beam and surface area/freeboard/wind exposure. I have increased the tab sizes with an emphasis on the Port tab as generally it's the only one I use. Good luck with the rebuild. With regards to the rear lounge I removed that "backrest" completely and fitted a piece of 10"x3" on it's edge to raise the bench to a more comfy height which allows us to sit and face either way.Come to think of it I raised all the seating including the helm but this means I must drive looking over the screen which I much prefer. I have also just completed a telescoping cover/bimini which drops down for transport or rough conditions.
 
Hey Darylle,

Do you have any pics of the modifications of the seats? I too am trying to figure out what to do with the rear seat. I have had a few ideas from other people who responded. I think since I will be rebuilding and the boat will obviously be down for awhile I am goin to put swim platform on it. I plan on trying to pull the motor this week.
 
dlcope said:
Hey Darylle,

Do you have any pics of the modifications of the seats? I too am trying to figure out what to do with the rear seat. I have had a few ideas from other people who responded. I think since I will be rebuilding and the boat will obviously be down for awhile I am goin to put swim platform on it. I plan on trying to pull the motor this week.
Click to expand...

G'day
What I done with the rear was I removed the "wrap round" back and using the centre of the post supports (legs) drilled 2 x large holes thru and slapped the 10 x 3 on it s edge then I duplicated the nylon strip that the rear seat locks into 6" higher. I also slapped a 5"x 3mm aluminium strip to the vertical face of the rear helm seat and made up some 6mm ply panels that hinge for the cushions which increased the storage area. At the helm I removed the entire seat assembly and fitted some 75mm x 35mm on it's edge and bolted it between the seat base and the raised deck section where it sat previously. At the helm I fitted some 3x1 on it's edge which runs back at about 45 deg but this required me to trim the seat bums which gave me more clearance around the wheel. I will try to send some pics soon. I also made a swim platform that hinges up when trailering.
 
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