1988 Ranger 395V - Questions

postmortem01 · February 18, 2016, 06:26:10 PM

Hey guys. I'm picking up my first boat in a couple weeks. I bought a 1988 Ranger 395V. It's in really good condition for it's age. After taking it out on the lake for a test drive, I decided that I'd like to replace the guages with more modern guages. I have a few questions...

1. Has anyone done this with their older boat? Did the modern guages drop into the guage plate?
2. Does anyone sell new guage plates?
3. Any suggestions of brands for the guages and do I necessarily need all of them at this point?

postmortem01 · February 18, 2016, 06:31:51 PM

Potentially, if it's more pain than it's worth, I may just shine up the gauges and make a new gauge plate. If someone already makes a blank, I'd prefer to buy one than trace and water jet or cnc a new one.

Ron Fogelson · February 18, 2016, 09:34:21 PM

Ranger is pretty good about having parts, I'd check with them on the face plate. As far as the gauges again you could get them from Ranger but it will be cheaper to buy on line and believe most are standard sized.

Ron Fogelson · February 18, 2016, 09:36:46 PM

An idea about your face plate is to take it and have it dipped or you could even do it yourself with camo or whatever cool colors your like best.

Bigwrench · February 18, 2016, 10:20:34 PM

Quote from: Ron Fogelson on February 18, 2016, 09:34:21 PM
Ranger is pretty good about having parts, I'd check with them on the face plate. As far as the gauges again you could get them from Ranger but it will be cheaper to buy on line and believe most are standard sized.

I agree call them up and at least see if it is available for sure. I called on my 1990 330V and talked to Sherry, they didn't have my exact one but she told me I'd have to send my old one in and they would make me one. I never did but I did try to do it myself and it turned out ok but would a been much nicer with the engraving on it
Before

After

The original pattern on yours should be "Walnut Burl"

postmortem01 · February 19, 2016, 12:42:26 AM

Thank you. I'll call them tomorrow and see if they have it. If not, I guess I'll make one. We have laser cutters and water jets at work so I can just cad the shape and cut it.

Do you have any suggestions on a brand/manufacturer for the gauges?

postmortem01 · February 19, 2016, 12:02:39 PM

Ok. I called Ranger Parts. They require for me to make a template and send it to them and then they will make a replacement panel for me. If I go that far, I might as well just do it myself.

I'll post pictures of how this goes as I work on it. I think I'll go with a nice anodized aluminum plate with laser etching as a replacement.

Ron Fogelson · February 19, 2016, 12:19:17 PM

Sounds great look forward to the pics

postmortem01 · February 19, 2016, 12:35:56 PM

Thanks. The dipping idea is an interesting idea also. We do that here in the building as well. I don't know how to do it myself but maybe I'll give that a shot.

Great suggestion.

Bigwrench · February 19, 2016, 02:41:22 PM

My idea was originally to use 2 pieces of material, solid white underneath and the walnut burl on top and then have someone engrave the writing in and then the white would show up easily on the walnut burl background. I contacted a local trophy shop who engraves all sorts of stuff and he was willing to give it a shot but then we found out his engraver bed only would handle up to 14" pieces and the plate was too big so I was stuck with no switch markings like the original . you may be able to come up with a way around it though where you work. keep us posted !
BTW I ordered the walnut burl in a 4x8 sheet from Berrys home center , was very reasonable on price, I still have a bunch left if you live close enough

postmortem01 · February 19, 2016, 03:07:02 PM

No kidding?!?! I'll buy it and if you'd like me to cut and engrave one for you, I'd be more than happy to. Our lasers handle 28" x 40".

I think I'm going to eliminate a few gauges from my dash, more like yours. I just don't think I need all of that.

postmortem01 · February 22, 2016, 05:42:01 PM

I'm picking this boat up on Monday night. Anything I should check for or service before I take it out? The gentleman I'm buying it from says that it doesn't need service until May or June but I'd hate to blow up my motor because I just didn't take precautions. Should I just take it into have it serviced for safety-sake?

Ron Fogelson · February 22, 2016, 10:39:37 PM

Have it checked before you drop the $$$$$ could save you a lot down the road.

Kris · February 23, 2016, 07:24:40 AM

I have a 1987 Ranger 360V and my dash panel looks like yours does. I am presently working on doing away with the bench seat and replacing it with seats from Bass Boat Seats.
After the seat is taken care of I am going to do something with the dash panel. I am going to keep all the gauges so I intend to cover it with some exterior grade woodgrain vinyl. This stuff is kinda like the old woodgrain on station wagons back in the day. Still available on Ebay and other places. Burlwood to Oak to Mahogany. Good luck with you decision. i will probably replace all the gauges with Faria Gauges eventually.

Bud Kennedy · February 23, 2016, 07:42:39 AM

I too have an old boat and motor. Mine is a 1991 Ranger 365V and up until a year ago I had not experienced any problems whatsoever. That all changed and resulted in a lower unit rebuild followed by a powerhead replacement. Fact is that your boat like mine is old and as a result of this age your motor has to be suspect. It is not if but when you will experience a problem and it will not give you any notice if a problem happens. Now you have to decide if you really want to spend a bunch of money in an old boat when indeed the motor repair will be about equal to the value of the boat.

I actually wanted to re power with a new rude but spending 12 - 15 K on a new motor does not make sense for a boat only worth about $4K to start with. Obviously it has no value without a motor but the expense has to be considered. I am 70 years old so buying a new boat or spending all that money is just not something I am willing to do at this point of my life.

Now you have to consider all the other probable expenses for bilge and live well pumps, Gauges, VRO failures, batteries, etc, etc, etc.

So the short answer is.......Have the motor and systems totally checked out by a reputable service shop. You might be purchasing from a friend but this is business and you need to consider the consequences.

postmortem01 · February 23, 2016, 01:27:43 PM

Thanks so much. I'm taking the boat into a local shop to have the motor gone through. They will also do a visual hull inspection to make sure there are no obvious problems.

blkfalc4 · February 25, 2016, 09:15:41 AM

Check the transom, that yr still used wood.

postmortem01 · March 04, 2016, 07:38:55 PM

Everything checks out okay after some minor work (tune-up) on the motor. I need to change some of the toggle switches on the console because someone must have replaced 2 position switches with 3 position switches at one point. It becomes confusing.

My buddy and I have a tournament next weekend so I built a temporary deck extension today at lunch. It should be fine for this tournament. I will pull it out and replace it with an aluminum version that will have a door and compartment built in.

postmortem01 · March 04, 2016, 07:39:51 PM

I think that I will tackle the dash plate after this tournament.

Bud Kennedy · March 04, 2016, 07:57:13 PM

Just a reminder that some of those switches on the dash are supposed to be 3 position. Your dash looks just like mine and several are three position.

postmortem01 · March 04, 2016, 08:01:28 PM

I'll be able to tell when I pull the dash. Some of these are definitely not intended to be 3 position that are. They work but the additional non-functioning 3rd position just makes it confusing.

ranger1882 · March 04, 2016, 08:24:08 PM

i have an 82 375v .... postmortem - is your glove box stock or homemade ?

postmortem01 · March 05, 2016, 12:13:10 AM

I'm not certain. The guy I bought from isn't the original owner. There are similar wooden pieces under each of the graphs so I think they are homemade.I'm going to replace them with a more modern approach.

Bud Kennedy · March 05, 2016, 07:28:05 AM

FYI, the glove box door is a factory standard and is not homemade. Here is a picture of my boat showing the glove box.

ranger1882 · March 05, 2016, 07:46:55 AM

I'll have to look into that....mine is wood with a ranger emblem, but is rectangle ( no angles) and a little smaller.... could use replacing....the guy i bought my boat from mailed ranger a template of the dash plate and has a new one ( with the birdseye maple- or whatever its called- woodgraine) shipped back to him with all holes drilled- said it was a very easy process