konst406

I am purchasing a 01 Sea Ray 280 SS. It has the twin 5.7 EFI merc motors. My question is, do they have roller cams? And if so, would it be beneficial to put full roller rockers in them? Any tips or issues that anyone has seen or had? Engines only have 173 and 179 hours on them. So they are pretty fresh. Any other tips about this boat would be helpful to. This will be my 2nd boat. First with water system. Anything special I need to know or watch for?

airjunky

Roller cams . Forget about roller rockers, need distributor caps and rotors freqently ,Vortec 5.7s fairly well optimized ,but crack easy so don't skimp on the winterize or run it hot

Mr Maine

250 horse engines opposed to the 300 horse mpi I assume? Didnt know they made those in 2001. Anyway as airjunky said don't bother with roller rockers wont see a difference. Regular maintenance is all they need. SBCs are pretty bullet proof in stock form.
BTW, what is the ss? Not a sundancer I assume?

konst406

Thanks guys, and yes it is a SS. From what I read they should be 260 hp EFI motors. Not much difference but it all helps.

Knot 4 Me

I had that engine in a '99 23' runabout. No difference between the 250 HP 2 bbl 5.7L, the 260 HP 5.7L EFI (TBI), and the 300 HP 350 MAG (MPI) except the induction systems. The biggest bang for your buck on those motors, if you are looking to pick up HP, would be to ditch the TBI setup and go with a good dual plane intake and 4 bbl. carb. Leave the stock rockers alone.

dereknkathy

with searays you might as well leave the stock motors alone. i swapped a 350 hp 400 for the 260 hp 350. no change in boat performance. they are what they are and they do what they do.