New to the forum and boating community

[tlgreen22]

Hey there, I just recently purchased a boat and cant wait to spend my weekends at the lake cruisin' around enjoying the water. Im new to the boating world so I dont know too terribly much about boats but I'll fill ya'll in on my new purchase. I bought a 1993 Sea Ray 180 BR in fairly good shape. Engine runs like a top, hull, transom and paint are in excellent condition and interior is decent considering its age (splitting at the seams in some areas but not tears). I've been looking for quite some time for a boat and a friend of mine was in a bind so I basically bought it from him to help him out. I ended up paying $2700 for the boat and trailer which I think is a good deal considering the other junk I've been to look at recently. What do you experienced boaters think? Good price for the boat or what? Here's a quick cell phone pic...

 

[stic88]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

your buddy got the help he needed and you got the boat you wanted. dont know much about boats myself but if both of you came out happy in the deal then it was a good trade

 

[roscoe]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

Thats a very nice boat, and a great price too if everything is good on the boat.

My friend has the same boat, a 94, with the 4.3 liter, with only 97 hours on it. I've had my eye on it for a while.

 

[tlgreen22]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

Thanks for the replies! I love the boat, me and the fiancee' took it out on the lake yesterday afternoon and it performed very well despite choppy waters. Everything works great on the boat except the trip button only works trimming down and not up, but its got a button below it (trailer trim) or something like that lol that will trip it up. All it needs is a lil TLC. I gave it a good bath yesterday evening and put a couple coats of wax on it. Some simple green and mildew remover on the interior cleaned it up very nicely!

Does anybody know where I might be able to find replacement parts such as dash peices? Mainly the piece that goes around the gauges and the glove box peices? Mine are black the the clear coat is coming off and I would prefer white peices instead

 

[MAXXIE]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

Smart boy getting into the boat thing before you get married. I had a hell of a time talking the wife into another toy. Mine is an '85 & needs a lot of TLC, in fact the seats are so stained I need to replace them over the winter along with the floor. My dash panel was in rough shape so I made a custom one out of oak. I stained & sealed it & it came out really nice compaired to what was there. Your boat is to nice to do that to it, I'd shop around on ebay or craigs list for a factory dash, ask around here on this forum, you may get lucky. Good luck with your new boat, I'm new this year as well & love it.

 

[tlgreen22]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

I called a local sea ray dealer in search of new dash pieces but they are supposedly discontinued. Since mine aren't actually damaged I decided to scuff them up with some scotch brite and have the local paint store mix me a can of paint with clear in the color I want. Seems to be the easiest an most affordable route to go. I need to call an upholstery shop to check about getting some of the seams re-stitched. I'm afraid that ones gonna hurt the ol pocket book!

My fianc?e is the one that actually talked me into getting a boat, I've been wanting one for awhile and then when she told me she wanted one too I went shoppin lol

 

[dsiekman]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

Congrats!

I would say your dash issue depends on how handy you happen to be. A few years back I pulled mine out and laminated mahogany veneer over the aluminum. Epoxied and varnished and it turned out very nice. It also gave me the chance to arrange the gauges and switches to my taste and flush mount my gps.

If you go this route, take LOTS of pictures as you go and label EVERY wire as you disconnect it. Just take your time. It will give you something to do while your fiance picks out wedding stuff...

 

[The Famous Grouse]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

Everything works great on the boat except the trip button only works trimming down and not up, but its got a button below it (trailer trim) or something like that lol that will trip it up.

I'm going to assume you mean the "trim" switch.

On many Mercruiser setups, the "up" button on the trim switch will only trim the outdrive up to a certain point. This is to prevent you from trimming it up too far because the outdrive can be damaged by running at too high of an RPM with the unit tilted up.

Using the "Trailer Trim" button you can trim the drive all the way up.

Some Mercuriser outdrives can be run at low RPM with the outdrive tilted up in the "trailer trim" position, but consult your operating manaul to know for sure. The manual for my Mercruiser specifically says that the unit may be run in the trailer trim range for short durations and the RPMs must be kept below 1200. Obviously it is better to avoid doing this unless absolutely necessary.


You can test the trim functions with the boat on the trailer. Using just the up button, you should be able to trim the drive about half way up and then it will stop. From there, pressing the "trailer trim" buttom will raise it all the way to the top of its travel.

The drive should not fall back into the down position on its own. If it does, you have issues.

Grouse

 

[tlgreen22]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

Yes, "trim" is what I intended to type lol. Predictive text gets me everytime on this iPhone. I know what you mean with the trailer trim button. But the actualy trim switch only works when trimming down. To trim it up at all I have to use the trailer trim button. It may be a wiring problem in the switch itself or the switch just may be bad.

 

[tlgreen22]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

And the drive doesn't fall back into the down position after it's trimmed up. I thinking it's probably just a switch

 

[tlgreen22]

Re: New to the forum and boating community

And the drive doesn't fall back into the down position after it's trimmed up. I thinking it's probably just a switch