The Mariah Owners Club - My 240 Talari

The beginning of my Mariah ownership was less than auspicious. I found a 1995 240 Talari on a bulletin board at a gas station near my marina. It was one owner with 150 hours, 454, bravo 3, with Z package. I took a look and I was hooked. It wasn’t quite in the condition that I hoped for, but I bought it right (or so I thought).

I pulled it home and headed for the lake. I got it out on the water, dropped the throttle and it planed beautifully. But as soon as it planed, smoke and steam started coming from the engine compartment. I u-turned back to my slip, by the time I got it in, it sounded horrible, and the bilge pump was on pumping hot water into the lake. You didn’t need to be a boat mechanic to figure out what was going on. I hauled it out of the lake and took it to the shop. I wasn’t surprised when I got the news a few days later that the 454 was cracked. I was mad and insulted. I called the dude I bought it from and he basically said sue me. I heard it run in the driveway before I bought it, but obviously not long enough to find the problem; lesson learned. So here I sat, a boat that needs about 9k worth of repairs. I had a choice, sell it and take a beating, or fix it up and take a beating later. Either way, I was going to take a bloodbath financially. So I decided to fix it.

I gutted the inside of it, and took to a body shop. The finish from the rubstrip up was faded and it wasn’t going to polish. I took off the windshield and everything that would unscrew and had it repainted ivory from the rubstrip up and into the interior. The guy that painted it was a boat guy and he recommended a product called Imron2000. When I picked it up, the result was beautiful. I was finally seeing the gorgeous boat that this could be!

Next step was power. I was looking at new GM long blocks found a spot out east that would ship a new 454 to my door for $5100. But wait, a 502 was just $200 more! I’ve had a ton to deal with on this boat, I may as well indulge myself. While I was waiting on the engine to arrive and be installed, I worked on the stereo.

I like music on the water, so all winter long, I had been amassing sound equipment. I got a pioneer DEH-5800, 4 6.5” Polk Momo two way speakers, 2 10” Polk Momo subs, a 2000w profile amp powering the subs, and a 1000w profile amp powering the smaller speakers. This combo is superlative in power and clarity. I recommend it!

The 502 bolted in just fine and by Memorial day, I had a clean boat with over 400 hp and 500 ft/lbs of torque! I still have some detailing to do on the boat. I have all the parts for thru-hull exhaust. I’m thinking that 502 needs to be heard, but I’m about tired of working on it! I’m going to play with it for a while…maybe exhaust this winter….

I've got some pics up in the gallery, I'll try to get some more up.