1995 Searay Sundancer

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frosh coach

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exMember
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May 7, 2007
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26203
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i'm looking at purchasing a 1995 Sundancer. The boat has twin 4.3l mercs. I know they also offered the boat with a sinlge 7.4. Does anyone on here own one? I open to feed back from everyone.

Thanks
 
Depending upon size, although I suspect the majority of Sundancers are 26', it should be adequately powered. My Regal gas the same power, although, I believe '95 is pre Vortec engines. My 4.3l's are 2bbl, 195hp, and run thru Alpha 1 Gen 2 legs with 1:81 ratios. If the SR is larger, you may be under powered; if smaller, so much the better. Obviously, you should get a full survey prior to purchase.

Having twins is far superior to handling a boat this size, or larger, with a single.
 
Steve:
the boat was repowered from what I understand. One was a complete and the other was a rebult. I need to find out if they are vortec. I'm just starting to explore this.
 
Chris,
I hava a 290 w/4.3 EFI's and Bravo III's.
It has enough power and handles great. Cruise about 28/30 knts. at 3200 rpm. I will probably catch arrows for this but, I think a 7.4 would border on being under powered, especially heavy with fuel, water, passengers & etc.
Downside, with twins the engine compartment is way too full.
 
I've been on Harlan's boat...purrrrfect combo.

He has travelled many miles on her (the boat that is) :-)

Agree on a single 7.4 as being less than for that size for a number of reasons, handling being one as well as the others stated.

Stan
 
On that boat, min single is an 8.2 HO. Harlan nailed it. Most ER's are too too stuffed in cruisers to be of any use if you are larger than a 6 year old.
 
Are the drives counter roatation?

I have a 31 with twin 5.7's and when I bought the boat, I couldnt spin it on a dime for the life of me. I had to spin both motors at about 2000rpms to get it to spin ever so slightly.. I just assumed the drivers were counter rotating..Turns out they werent, I eneded up dropping the port lower unit on the drive and had it replaced with a counter rot. Nice $4000 upgrade..

A single 454 is way tooo small for a 29 ft boat, especially a cruiser...
 
Thank you all for the responses. I figurd the same about the single 7.4 being under powered/handling. Plus with the twins in case you loose a motor at least you can still LIMP back.

I'm not sure if they are EFI or not. I'll have to find that out. Regardless, I would think she should still move along pretty good.

If anyone else has comments, let me know.

Now I have to sell my 1988 Searay 230.
 
I had a 1999 270 with a 7.4 B 111 which was fine. I have been or Harlan's 290 DA and run with his boat. Harlan is right on the money with the 4.3s. It is a great boat.
 
Chris,
If it don't have EFI's it very well have Alpha drives. Mine was repowered with the EFI"S and upgraded to BIII's.
 
You didn't say the model, but I am guessing a 290DA. It came with either twin 4.3s or a signle 7.4. The twins were Alphas, the single a Bravo III. A dock neighbor had one with a single 7.4, nice boat, ran well, all little unruly around the docks with the single engine. Otherwise plenty of power. In my opinion the nicest Sundancer of that era / size was the 300DA with twin v-drives.
 
I do not know about 300 DAs. Harlan's 290 DA is a very nice boat inside and out. His 290 looks very sleek and long on the water and is beautiful when up and running.
 
the model is a sundancer not a DA.
Thanks agin for all the comments. It's funny as I type the reply the 11 pm news said we shold have 10" of snow at wake up time. WTF!!!!
 
We had a 290 larson cabrio w/4.3 twin volvos. That was one of the funest boats for us.
Handleded great, nice and fast, and wasnt too bad to work on. Larson also offered the 290 w.single 7.4, knew someone who had one, their boat was slower and he had a bit of difficulty docking.
 
Yes DA=Sundancer. The 300 and 290 those years were laid out identically I, just different sizes. David Pascoe has a review of a 1993 and 1996 290 on his site - take it for what it is worth, he tends to be dramatic on the bad site (he thinks every boat should be built like a battleship), but it will give you some insight. I personally think these years/models are good boats for the money.
 
some model had the exhaust risers too low which drowned the engines, especially if a crowd was well aft. Folks here should be able to say it that was one of the affected models.
 
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