just bought my first GW

[Drifter80]

I just bought a 1995 226 Seafarer with a 200HP Yamaha 2 stroke. I'll be keeping her in the water so I need to paint the bottom and do a few things before I can enjoy using it. Ahh, the joys of doing work on a boat so you can enjoy it at a later date. 8)
I've read through these forums and I've found them to be very informative. I have a few questions I was hoping some of you could help me with.
How do I find out (other than filling it up) what size fuel tank I have? Also, I have read that some Seafarers have Aux tanks. If my boat has an aux tank would there be a tank selector switch somewhere on the helm? I've popped the access covers off and I can't tell if its just one large tank or two.
Also, are there any sites with info and specs on older model year Grady whites?
Any info will be helpful

Thanks

 

[Bama96]

Congrats on the boat. I think you can go to the Grady site and pull up the brochure for that year and find the info you need.

 

[yankeecause]

Welcome Drifter80, You can go to the Grady factory link and see all the specs. for your boat and even the owners manual. You are going to love this site! Joe.

 

[Fishermanbb]

Standard main tank fuel capacity is 92 gallons. If it has an Aux tank it is 56 gallons. I doubt you will find the selector switch on the dash for that model year. If there is an aux tank the "Switch" will most likely be somewhere in the stern bilge. It will be a small arrow shaped valve. You can follow the fuel line for your engine back into the boat...To the filter...Then back from there....If it goes to the valve described above you have an aux tank. Also, if you do have an aux. tank it probably has its' own fill....Do you have two fills?.....This isn't necessarily so but likely....It's possible one tank flows int oanother and you only have one deck fill but I don't remember any late model GW's with that arrangement....But it is possible.....The valve selector would be the dead giveaway....

 

[Drifter80]

I didn't see any switches and I know it only has one fuel filler so unless I find a switch when I'm rooting around in the back I'm going to say it only has one tank.
I did find the specs on the GW site, thanks for the heads up on that.
I'll be busy working on it this weekend but I'll try to steal a decent digi cam next weekend and post some pictures.

 

[plymouthgrady]

seafarer

Welcome! I have a '92 Seafarer w/ 250 SWS II. My fuel tank is 92 gal. I would be very surprised if your boat had an aux tank. Do you have a fresh water washdown? Pop off the aft-most inspection port. That's where my 12? gallon fresh water tank is. Main fuel tank is amidship. Aux. tank may be where fresh water tank is. Fuel tank is alum. and water tank is plastic.
When you're ready to paint, I suggest you do a painting "system" using an ablative paint.
1st, prep the hull and put on a barrier coat. Then, a primer coat. Then put on an "indicator" coat-opposite of your final coat. (you can use the primer coat if you like) and finally your bottom paint. The indicator coat tells you when the paint is getting thin and you touch-up year to rear instead of painting the entire hull. Good luck!

 

[Drifter80]

Yeah, I have a washdown. I didn't know if that was raw washdown or tank fed. I live on a fresh water lake so I'd almost rather have a raw wash down like I did on my proline. A neat freak can burn through 12 gallons pretty quickly. :lol:
Yes, I am going to put a barrier coat down and then do that VC17 paint. Red wear indicator on the keel and then blue or black... leaning towards black since my stripe is dark blue and the VC17 blue tends to turn out light blue. The boat was trailer kept so its never been painted before. The trailer it was kept on is amazing. I almost wish I would have more of a use for it then the one or two times a year I might take it up north.

I'm very excited. I came a second away from buying a 1986 226 at a local marina but the survey found the transom to be totally rotten. I was crushed. I've always been a fan of the look GW walkarounds have and for an 86 the boat was (on the outside) in amazing shape.
You would THINK that with the Michigan economy in the tank I would have had an easy time finding a nice boat but it wasn't the case. I found a nice 25' Mako CC but that too nuked the survey.
Finally we found this Grady White up north by our cottage. It was totally by chance. I commented on another Grady. The owner of the Grady asked if I was looking for one and explained that someone was selling one at the local marina. Went and saw it, she passed the survey, we agreed on the price, and dragged it home at a whooping 10mpg.
She looks great, the cushions are all in good shape, the glass looks great, it has a very nice aftermarket hard top with outriggers... which I won't use but I think they look cool so I'll keep them on The electronics are limited and the stereo is crap. I'll be working on replacing the radio this weekend and I'll probably wait a year before I add GPS or anything to it.

 

[Parthery]

My '01 had a tank selector switch which controlled the fuel gauge. You will find a t-valve in the bilge which controls the flow to the engine.

Another way to tell is to look and see how many fuel fillers you have. Two caps = 2 tanks.

Good luck with the new rig....

 

[plymouthgrady]

yeah, a fresh water washdown would be pretty redundant on a lake! Raw water is on port side and fresh is on starboard. If you're not filling an aux. tank, it's raw.
Sounds like you were patient, thorough & got a gem. Let's see some pics!

 

[Drifter80]

Just wondering if anyone has mounted wake board tower speaker pods onto the frame of a hard top.

I'm thinking about replacing the two speakers down by the feet of the front seats and adding two speaker pods on the hard top frame. Tacky? Cool? Any thoughts...

 

[Dogwood]

Which marina was the 226 1986 at as I would like to take a look.

 

[Drifter80]

Which marina was the 226 1986 at as I would like to take a look.

http://landsendyachtsales.com/boat_sales.htm
Beware, the website has god awful wav. file music. The boat is listed under the pre-owned tab.