268 Sundancer

G

GAJ

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exMember
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Jan 1, 2000
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516
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My bother is looking at a 1987 268 Sundancer. It has a 350 I/O and I'm a little concern about being a little under powered. We both agreed that the twin screw 268 sundancer with 4 cylinder is out. So my question is it under powered and any info on this boat would be great. Thanks

Gary
 
I don't know that boat but I had a 2000 Regal 2660 with twin 4.3's. The lowest (stock) option was a single 5.7. I have to believe being much newer(lighter)than an 87 of similiar size that yes it is underpowered with a 350.
 
Have friend with same boat, single 5.7, Alpha one drive. He claims it's underpowered. I've never gone for ride but have feeling he's right on. I'm a big fan of big blocks in any cruiser style boat 24 feet and over. Of course there comes a point in size where twin 5.7's makes sense.
 
I have the sistership and have the Magnum 454(330hp). I get pretty good(but not great) performance but I think anything smaller would be really disappointing. Twin 350's would work, powerwise, but would be really cramped, hard to work on and weight may also become an issue.
 
Thanks for the info. I thought it might be under powered with the 350. So we might have to move to something different. Thanks again
 
A number of years ago I had a 250 Dancer with the single 350 Alpha. Worked just fine Next boat(2'itis) was a 1988 270 Dancer with twin 4.3.
Again very good performance. I keep accurate records for fuel consumption etc. It took me the whole season to accept the fact that the twin 4.3s and the single 350 burned fuel at the same rates. Just be sure you're not under powered. Good luck. Ron
 
I had a 1987 250 Dancer with a single 350 (260hp) Merc, Alpha 1. It was definately underpowered. These are heavy boats so I'm sure the 268 would be a bit worse.
 
I used to run my 88 270 with T4.3 4brls with a buddy that had the 268 wit T 4-cyl. He would burn about 20% more fuel than I did, and had to run them a lot harder just for a reasonable cruise. If you will not be trailering, maybe you should take a harder look at the 270's. After riding in some 25SD's with the 350 blocks, I would guess the 350 on a 268 is right on the edge of underpowered, unless you will always have a light load.
 
I have been on a 268 with a 350 and it was real bad. Seemed to be a major struggle just to get up on plane. Nice boat but not enough power.
 
Definitely underpowered with the 350. The alternative however was the 454 with the Alpha 1 until the Bravo 1 came out I believe in '88(?) The 454 just had too much torque and HP for the alpha and they were prone to destroying the drives (speaking from experience) If you really want and like the 268, you must find one with the 454 / Bravo setup.
 
My 87' has the 454/alpha combo. The power is fine, but with most of these boats it needs to be prop'd right.

Alphas are the smaller drive but if you use the high performance gear lube and take care of it its no problem. I only blew a drive once and it went because it was original from 87' and had seal failure.

Besides alphas are cheap to buy and fix. You can pickup one of those SEI aftermarkets for $1200 with a warranty. Thats a deal. If I ever have drive trouble again thats what I'm going to do.

I'd sell him mine but I think I'm going to keep it for a few more years till my kids get bigger.

Good luck.
 
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