IMP X-255 SC Restoration and Resurrection

[x255sc]

Over the last few weeks I have been looking for a project boat to fix up and have some fun with. I had been looking for a bow rider with an inboard. I thought I had one bought last weekend, but the guy sold it out from under neath me. I was kind of frustrated and happened to remember that not too far from me was a boat dealer that kept a bunch of project boats. One of my friends and I loaded up the truck and headed for the dealer. We wandered the lot for a while and didn't see much until the owners grandson came out and told us we needed to check out what was inside. They used to own IMP boats and were a huge dealer for them back in the day. So long and short I wound up finding an 1984 IMP x-255 SC powered by 2 (dawns flame suit) OMC 260 Stringer drives. I got the boat for next to nothing and they have tons of parts so I'm not too terribly worried about the drives at the moment. Anyhow heres how i found the boat



I guess they sold it new and traded for it again in 94. It has sat inside since then. It was winterized and they had cranked the engines each year. The only problem I had was the trailer didn't come with it. So a quick craigslist scan on the way home and we had located a decent trailer, but we had to take the boat that was on it as well. So sadly I am now the proud owner of an 82 Searay SRV245 cabin cruiser as well. Initially I was going to scrap it as the PO told me the block was cracked, but fired right off and ran and the boat itself is really solid. So one of my buddies is going to put a motor in it and clean it up. It is currently dry-docked in the back 40
.

So now that we had the trailer open we went today and picked up the boat and brought it home

I definitely have some adjusting to do in the trailer but we got home with it. Overall the boat is very solid as far as the hull. There is a few spongy floor places, but I plan on removing the carpet this winter and redoing the floor an going with gelcoat. I haven't got to do a whole lot with it yet, but we did get all of the old gas out of it and managed to get the engines to fire off even if for just a bit. I'll get some more pictures tomorrow. It's going to be a long road, but i think its worth it to keep her going.

 

[tpenfield]

Congrats on the project boat(s). Read up on what you are likely to find underneath that spongy floor. It may enlarge the scope of the project.

Interesting to find a twin engine setup in a boat that size.

 

[chevymaher]

LOL Flame suit. Funny stuff. Looks like a nice boat. My self I like the sea ray to.

 

[Scott Danforth]

motors are cheap. bet you could get the searay up and running for about a grand, turn and sell for $5k to help pay for flame suits....

 

[x255sc]

Well I had a marathon week of late nights after work to try and get her going to get on the water this past weekend. Spoiler Alert .....I got it going, but broke a spring on the trailer before we got it to the water. So anyhow we pumped the old gas out first thing. They had made an effort to at least preserve it as it had a ton of what appeared to be stabil in it. I guess they missed the memo that stabil is only good for 24 months not 24 years. I then threw batteries in it and pulled the coil wire and cranked both engines until i had oil pressure. I put new plugs and wires and all that jazz in them. While the plugs were out we scoped the cylinders and there was not a bit of rust and both engines had a defined cross hatched.
So after new fuel pumps and rebuilding the carbs we finally have both engines running and both seem to run very well. Next I decided to replace the impellers. I really didn't want to mess with the shift cables so I cheated a little bit.
Hopefully I didn't upset the OMC gods too much. I didn't feel a disturbance in the force. The impellers weren't in terrible shape, but I feel better knowing they are new. The starboard drive appears to have an upper gear case leak so that will be a repair on the list soon. Th tilt motor also seems to be dragging some as well. (Its getting a little hot in the flame suit lol) As far as the floor I looked agh this very closely before I bought it as I am very familiar with the nightmare that lurks below. The floor is basically a deck that spans across the stringers that are at the very edge of the hull. Its just 1/2 plywood that has been glassed. It's not supported super well and it just needs to come up and be replaced. Its not totally rotted out or anything. The stringers and transom both seem super solid. (famous last words) Now right where the step drops into the cabin it is soft and we found out why. We hit the storm of the century on the way home with the boat and put it inside as soon as we got home with it. That spot being in a little cubby doesn't dry out and being carpeted really doesn't help that. So anyhow heres some interior pictures. Its really dirty and that is this weeks project. I am going to try and get it cleaned up and get some of the teak in better shape.


I believe one of my friends is going to take the sea ray. I will have to get some pictures of it as it sits now because we dry docked it in my yard. It was pretty intestine it involved giant foam blocks and a skid steer I think its going to a motor and manifolds and a lot of cleaning so far. I was shocked though as we picked the stern off the trailer by the hooks on the transom. I guess the old girl is pretty solid. I may make a different thread for it. So thats where its at for now. I would be curious to know how many of these x-255's were built as I have never seen another and I have done significant googling and come up with nothing.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Be sure to have your buddy post up the Sea Ray if he decides to bring it back to life. From what I see the hull is in way too good of condition to just junk.

What size engines are in the x255. If those are V8's I bet that thing flies, at least from gas pump to gas pump.

 

[x255sc]

That was my thought on the Sea Ray. It really is a solid boat. The IMP has 350's in it so yes pass everything but a gas station.

 

[x255sc]

Well its been a few weeks and I've had the boat on the water several times. Ive still got a few things to iron out such as the trim thats not working on the port engine and what I believe is a bad coil on the same engine. Ive rebuilt the carbs twice, but I am really considering swapping to edelbrocks. I'm having issues with the port engine. It will run fine for the first hour or so until you come into a cove or slow for a bit. When you take back off it will run up to about 2500 rpm and just drop out like you cut the key off. If you back out of the throttle it will catch its self up to 2500 again. It eventually gets worse until it almost won't run. If you fiddle with it it will idle but its rough and acts like its loading up. Leave it set for 30-45 minutes and it will run fine for a while again. The boat has the original coils so I'm hoping that is most of my issue. I have yet to run it totally flat out. It cruises very comfortably at 3000 RPM at 40mph on the speedometer. I ran it up to an indicated 60 at 3700 ish. It seems to take a while to gain speed past that. I almost wonder if the carbs again still aren't right. Then again its a heavy boat and i have non functioning trim on one side. Other than that it runs excellent. I did have to do the obligatory grease packing on the tilt clutches as I had one drive that was lazy. I have a new trim motor in the cabinet in the cabin, but its in a heck of a spot so that may be a rainy weekend project. I'm also missing a cylinder and control panel for the trim tabs. I think i'm just going to totally re do that system. I did have to adjust the axles on the trailer as it had 0 tongue weight and seemed to be really hard on tires. You can see in this picture just how far forward they were.

I'll have to get some more pictures of the way it sits now next time I have the boat out. If the truth be told if I don't get a lift at the lake for this thing I'm going to get a triple axle trailer. This has too much rear end weight for the trailer its on.
I also got the name on the boat. I thought it was fitting because well I'm always working on it and its my favorite song.
Knock on wood I am shocked this thing is even on the water at this point. Its hard to believe it sat for 24 years. I haven't found anything on it that doesn't work other than the trim on the one side. I've got a lot of cosmetic stuff yet to finish and I really need to get it buffed out. I'm hoping to get it back on the water this weekend and I'll grab some more pictures. On a side note I've decided I'm a glutton for maritime punishment. Now that I know the boat isn't going to require major work at least until winter I was looking for another project to tinker with. I found an 04 Polaris MSX 150 with a spun rod bearing for basically nothing so I picked it up, but that will be another thread I guess.

No now I have a boat with not one but two stringer drives and a Weber powered Polaris ski.... I'm sure they will both work for at least one day at the same time.... maybe haha. At least it will be a good learning experience.

 

[x255sc]

Oh and for those wondering about the Sea Ray she is still proudly (loose term) standing in the back 40 on her foam blocks lol

 

[sheboyganjohn]

I hear you on being a glutton for punishment. I have my Sea Ray that is still a work in progress plus I picked up two jet ski's over the winter. A 98 Yamaha that just needed a battery and a choke knob, and a 96 Sea Doo that is really making me hate jet ski's. Did wear ring, implellor shaft, rebuilt the starter and I am still fighting with it trying to get it to start the first time. Have a new battery charging up for it. And If I drop one more tool under the motor I am going to drill a hole in the bottom to get it out. Still have to change out fuel lines and figure out where the oil leak is coming from since the bilge always has a bit of oil in it. But that will be a winter project. At least we have the Yamaha to use for now.

 

[x255sc]

I hear you on dropping tools. I did an electronic ignition conversion on the boat the other day and dropped a little screw in the bilge. An hour of standing on my head and I had it again.

I finally figured out my cutting out problem after replacing the carb and all ignition components and it still acting up. There was a small screen in the fuel pickup tube that was stopped up. Lesson learned don't overlook the obvious.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

At least you figured it out. I have a click on the port engine that is not internal to the engine. Thought it was the flywheel cover, but pulled it off and still have the click. Since it has two engines I am just going to run it until the click goes away or it gets annoying enough that I want to pull the engine again for the fourth time.