1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

[captain_ron]

Hey Gang,

I have recently acquired this beautiful 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 and I decided to do what any crazy person would do ..Restore It !!!








She has literally sat in a boat grave yard since 2005, luckily I can not find any soft spots in the decking (I literally Jumped around on every inch of this boat) and the Transom seems good as well. So I thought I would start with the motor



I drained the nasty grey ( looks like I might have bigger issues here) thick oil out and with the help of Metal Rescue,and Marvel Mystery Oil I was finally able to get the motor to move ...just a bit. So I decided to go ahead a dive head first..(ok technically intake first) And Removed the Intake.


Found 2 surprises first one was that it was a 351 W not a 302 like I was told can you guess the other surprise ?



Got the heads off and found good looking cylinder walls and no rust !!! But I did find a bad Valve sorry no pics but looks like I might able to get away with a Valve job, new main & rod bearings, and some rings and this thing might just run !

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

and I decided to do what any crazy person would do ..Restore It !!!

Ayuh,.... Welcome to the Asylum,...

You've got yer task lain out for ya,....

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

Welcome to the Iboats Dry Dock, captain_ron...
Want to start out by being the first to warn you about the the extremely likely possibility of finding most of the substructure of the boat to be rotten...:facepalm:
Most boats that sit out in the rain and sun, and rain and sun, for an extended period of time will usually end up rotting from the back and bottom, up...
Bouncing and jumping up and down will not reveal the truth.
You will not be able to know for sure without performing core samples of the underlying structure...
Don't be alarmed or put off because that is what we deal with here on this forum, on a daily basis...
Starts out with a happy, new, first time boat owner with the proverbial diamond in the rough...
Soon becomes the distraught, denying, unbelieving boat owner that realizes, "What have I gotten myself into"...:noidea:
To, "Oh, what the heck, with the help of the Iboats gang, I can restore this boat to better than new"
Best of luck and have fun!
GT1M

 

[captain_ron]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

Welcome to the Iboats Dry Dock, captain_ron...
Want to start out by being the first to warn you about the the extremely likely possibility of finding most of the substructure of the boat to be rotten...:facepalm:
Most boats that sit out in the rain and sun, and rain and sun, for an extended period of time will usually end up rotting from the back and bottom, up...
Bouncing and jumping up and down will not reveal the truth.
You will not be able to know for sure without performing core samples of the underlying structure...
Don't be alarmed or put off because that is what we deal with here on this forum, on a daily basis...
Starts out with a happy, new, first time boat owner with the proverbial diamond in the rough...
Soon becomes the distraught, denying, unbelieving boat owner that realizes, "What have I gotten myself into"...:noidea:
To, "Oh, what the heck, with the help of the Iboats gang, I can restore this boat to better than new"
Best of luck and have fun!
GT1M

Thanks guys well I had planned on redoing the interior anyway so once I get the carpet up ill know for sure but i'm hoping for the best lol !

 

[captain_ron]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

Well I didn't get as much done as I wanted to this weekend but I still made some progress I think.
So as you can tell from earlier pictures this thing was absolutely nasty so I decided to give the ole gal her first bath in 8 years


I have to say I think she cleans up rather Nicely!!

I then continued the tear down of the motor and got pretty much everything ready So I can pull it out !


But in order to pull the Motor I have to also Pull the out Drive Got the Prop and Trim Rams off Drained the outdrive



And then after a few more Nuts BAM!!!

 

[captain_ron]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

Well the rain started coming down pretty hard so I then decided to work more inside (under my tent) and start ripping out the out rotten seats.

And then Dumpster RUN !!


And now my spare bedroom is starting to look a little crowded lol




Next weekend we have the Pirates of Lanier Poker Run on here Lake Lanier and ill be helping at one of the stops so I doubt I get to much accomplished. Hopefully Sunday I can start taking apart the bellows.

 

[Celtichawk]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

On board for this one, who would have thought to pull that from a boat grave yard. What made you dive into one from the yard? Good luck with this can't wait to see more and review your progress.

 

[captain_ron]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

What made you dive into one from the yard? QUOTE]
I always loved the way these old SRV closed bows looked they just have beautiful lines and couldn't ever find any near me . I found like 10 in this graveyard and this happen to be the best one and I love a good project ! My dad and I restored an 74 Nautaline that has turned out beautiful so I kinda wanted a project of my own and something smaller. And this ole gal fit the bill !

 

[Chris_94_Sprint_TX]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

Welcome to the forums and as mentioned the asylum we got jackets and cookies, beers are in the works haha. On board for your resto with any advice or help I can give. Can't wait to see the boat completed and splashed in.

Chris

 

[captain_ron]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

So like I thought the Poker Run really put a halt to any progress but I made up for it this weekend got a lot done at least I think so lol.

First I got the Motor pulled



Then I started the tear down process I didn't get as much pictures as I wanted (got to involved in the motor )

But I had already pulled the Carb,Intake,and heads off previously so I got the lifters out which showed very little wear only roughly 3 had any rings on them at all . I flipped the block on the stand .




This thing has to have one of the prettiest crankshafts from a 76 Ive ever seen!

 

[captain_ron]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

all the main and rod bearing looked very good ! If I wasn't as anal as I am id just keep all the bearings (going with new main and rod bearings).
Water pump looks to be in working out but has a lot of rust build up so im going to replace it hate to start pushing all that rust around a good motor.

Timing chain was in excellent shape according to the gauge it only had 716 hours


Camshaft looked good as well very little wear on it as well.



The pistons them selves look great the skirts look almost brand new ! The only issue I see with this motor was that it sat so long that the rings just rusted to the cylinder walls.

Each Piston was a big issue to get out but with some WD40 got it done. The cylinder walls have no ridges at all besides just some carbon build up. And show no indication of rings hitting.

And shes tore down !

So for this motor the plan is to Vat the block hone the cylinders new rings for the pistons , new main and rod bearings all new gaskets a new water pump some new valves for the heads along with one new pushrod and lifter rebuild the carb and she should be good to go !

 

[snwwlkr]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

Great project there Capt... Those old Sea Rays are really worthy of the effort. Love the closed bow look like yours. Wanting to find one of those soon for myself...

Excellent movie, Capt Ron also.. Even call my 5 yr old "swab" quite often...

Keep up the good work..

Will in TN

 

[Chris_94_Sprint_TX]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

That has to be the cleanest 37 year old motor I have ever seen. Glad it worked out so well for you, Keep up the good work and pics.

Chris

 

[captain_ron]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

That has to be the cleanest 37 year old motor I have ever seen. Glad it worked out so well for you, Keep up the good work and pics.

Chris

I truly expected to see a rusted cracked piece of But you know what little victories like this is what keeps me going on the project . Now since the motor and outdrive are off time to do some core samples of the transom and deck ....Yall keep your fingers crossed for me !

 

[Chris_94_Sprint_TX]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

I got them crossed. I'm hoping what little resto work my SR needs goes as smoothly as yours.

Chris

 

[Celtichawk]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

I have recently acquired a 1976 SRV 195 and love it!!!!!! Got my work cut out for me but not merely as much as you. How's our resto coming along as you have not been back in awhile?!!!!

 

[captain_ron]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

Not much progress I need to replace the deck and work has been incredibly busy havnt spent more than two consecutive days at home since early august but winter is coming and we normally slow down good time to get back on it.

 

[Celtichawk]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

Well don't forget us and since I own the exact boat I prefer to keep tabs on yours lol

 

[Celtichawk]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

Here is a question how are your bow hatches? There are two one that locks and the other with hooks mine are bad shape need replaced and was curious if you in same boat and decided any ideas on rebuilds for those?

 

[captain_ron]

Re: 1976 Sea Ray SRV 195 Restoration

im actually missing one lol and the other one im going to try and sand down and restore the one I have. Not sure what im thinking just building another one out of plywood then fiberglassing and gelcoating it to make it look like the rest of the boat.