1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

[9double8]

I bought this boat about 5 years ago. Enjoyed a couple seasons on it and then put it up for storage since I had been moving around and had no time for it. Needless to say, 3 years of outside storage with a cover caused some rot on the interior wood seats and gunwale/upholstry. I've already gave the motor a full tune up, new water pump is purchased and cleaning up the wires and engine compartment will be done before she gets wet again.

I'm replacing all the interior wood and switch the colors from maroon and white to navy blue and light gray. I've also started replacing and rewiring the helm and all accessories. I just got two new bilges, 2 new 6-rocker panel switches, repainted the wipers and installed new blades and I'll be adding a new stereo.


Here are some before pics of the interior.

 

[9double8]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Test fitting the wood.

 

[9double8]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Here's the outside with stripes and then stripes removed using a pinstripe removal wheel attached to a drill. I have yet to wash the boat until I'm ready to get her wet. I'll use a heavy compound, restripe it blue and gray, then light polishing compound and wax. I'll be switching the color from maroon and white to navy blue and light gray vinyl and pinstripes.

The engine compartment that I'm cleaning up, rewiring and re-routing the wires, labeling wires and putting them in looms. I'm not sure how many owners had this boat in the past but there are all sorts of hack jobs and I'm amazed I had this on the water years ago with no problems but I'm sure one was waiting. I'll ensure all wiring is good before I get her wet again.

 

[jbillingsley]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

There's an engine I'm all too familiar with! Can't believe I'll be tearing into the one in my boat again - it'll be the 4th time I've seen the internals of this motor.

 

[jbillingsley]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

And, good luck with your restoration.

 

[tazrig]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Those 260's are great motors. I'm just replacing 2 of them after 22 years (with "0" break downs) with Merc 300hp MPI's. Although I'm looking forward to the new motors I'm going to miss the simple, no nonsense mechanics and electrical systems of the 260's. The new motors are basically computers with big signs on them that say "don't touch me! If anything goes wrong take me to the dealer".

You look like your off to a great start with the restoration. It's lots of hours of work but well worth it in the end. They just don't make boats like that any more. Best of luck with it!!!

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Looks good!

I'd vote to leave the stripes off the exterior, as it makes it look a little newer with the white.

 

[tazrig]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Looks good!

I'd vote to leave the stripes off the exterior, as it makes it look a little newer with the white.

I agree. when I did my 1976 Formula over i left off all the striping except the main one on top. It does make it look more modern.

 

[9double8]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

I think I will keep the striping off as long as after using the heavy compound the sun fade is hardly noticeable. I don't want to repaint the outside.

 

[9double8]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

When I got the boat it had a full rebuild. I have not put too much time on the motor and when I drained the oil it was still very clean. I had only put less than 50 hours on it since I've owned it. I'm hoping a good tune up will get it running good. I've changed the oil, spark plugs, wires, external fuel filter/water seperator. I still need to buy the fuel filter on the carb, new distributor cap and plug wires. I need to change the water impeller which I've purchased already and drain about 30 gals of old fuel that had stabilizer in it and add new fuel to the boat.

I'm guess since the boat sat so long, it would be good to 'prime' the engine before starting since the cylinders are bone dry?

 

[9double8]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

There's an engine I'm all too familiar with! Can't believe I'll be tearing into the one in my boat again - it'll be the 4th time I've seen the internals of this motor.

Why do you have to tear into is for the 4th time? Are there failure points that are common with the motor that I should know about? Thanks-

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Well, if the above deck is that bad... I wonder what the below deck looks like?

 

[tazrig]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

I'm guess since the boat sat so long, it would be good to 'prime' the engine before starting since the cylinders are bone dry?[/QUOTE]

Yes you should prime the oil pump by removing the distributor and using a drill with an oil priming tool to the oil pump let it run for 10 min or so to lube up all the internals. You probably already know this but make sure to mark with a sharpie where the rotor sits inside the distributor and where the distributer sits on the block so you won't have to start adjusting the timing from scratch when you re-assemble. Mercruiser also says it's ok to prime the motor by just taking out the plugs and cranking it over until the oil pressure comes up but the way described above is the preferred way according to Mercury. Also, at 3 years the gas in your tank might still be good if it was properly stabilized before sleep. You can always try it before going through the hassle of draining it all out. If the engine isn't liking it then drain it or if it has turned to cottage cheese then it's toast for sure.

 

[Bomber Goober]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Yes you should prime the oil pump by removing the distributor and using a drill with an oil priming tool to the oil pump let it run for 10 min or so to lube up all the internals.

I used to use a flat tip screwdriver with a busted off handle, works just as good.

 

[tazrig]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Basically the same thing the "tool" just has a round circle around the tip to stop it from jumping off the screw head and potentially scoring the inside wall. What ever works...

 

[9double8]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Also, at 3 years the gas in your tank might still be good if it was properly stabilized before sleep. You can always try it before going through the hassle of draining it all out. If the engine isn't liking it then drain it or if it has turned to cottage cheese then it's toast for sure.

I had actually thought of draining some into a clear glass jar and inspecting it before draining the full 30 gals. I just don't want to try to push the fuel through the motor if it is gummed up. I put 1 bottle in at storage and another bottle a year or two later. I'm hoping its good but I also thought I heard water from the ethenol fuel may cause issues from sitting so long.

 

[tazrig]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Was the gas tank topped off before storage? The problem with Ethanol or E-10 is that is absorbs a lot of water because of the alcohol in it which is o.k. because the engine will just harmlessly burn it off. However, it can only absorb a certain amount and then you get "phase separation" which means the absorbed water separates from the gas and sinks to the bottom of the tank so you have a layer of gas and a layer of water sitting below the gas. Once this happens you can not recombine the two. If the tank was topped off before storage you may be o.k. if it was left with just a little in the tank, say a 1/2 tank or less then it may well have separated already. Your idea to test the gas for "gumminess" is a good idea. What you might also want to do is get a hose to the very bottom of you tank if you can (possibly gaining access by removing the fuel level sensor) and putting a rubber hose to the bottom of the tank and suck out a little also to see if it's still straight gas or if there is water in there.

 

[9double8]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

The tank was half full (or empty, depending on your view ) when it went up for storage. I'm going to pull some fuel out from the bottom of the tank into a glass gar and see how it looks. If it looks decent and no junk, I might try to run it through. If it looks anything like crap, I'll pull it all out. I hope to get some final test fitting of the interior wood this weekend and start wraping it in vinyl over the next few weeks.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

Well, if the above deck looks that bad... I wonder what the below deck looks like?

Hey Jig, did you ever get an answer?

This pix makes me think there might be rebuilding going on before it really should be:

The fab work for the interior panels looks great BTW, it just seems as though there might be some more looking, inspecting, coring & probing that should be done before you spend time & money on put back....

 

[tazrig]

Re: 1984 Sea Ray Amberjack SRV245 Restore Project

If it does look crappy, either from water of sediment and you suck it all out you might want to try a couple tanks of fresh gas using Star Tron:

Star Brite Star Tron Gas Additive - iboats

I too had a tank (80 gallons) of gas sit for a number of years. Way past the point of being usable. I had it drained and disposed of. I was left with a bunch of gook at the bottom of the tank that I couldn't get out. I tried a bunch of different things but the Star Tron worked the best by far. So good in fact I had to replace the carburetor gas filter after every 2 hours of use as it was completely clogged. After the 2nd and 3rd tank of gas eventually all the gook was gone from the tank and I only had to change the filter at the end of the season.