Very old thread started by myself a few years ago. Wife is in remission, kids moved of to college, project is up for sale. I'll post details in the for sale section
Very old thread started by myself a few years ago. Wife is in remission, kids moved of to college, project is up for sale. I'll post details in the for sale section
Hello Lance, How is your wife doing? God Bless you and your family for the courage that you have! Did you end up selling the Pirata? I am looking at converting my 1988 Saltare to a V Drive as well. I have a 496 BBC that I am using for the power plant and I was wondering how you determine what kind of a V Drive unit to go with. My local Supra dealer in Crystal Lake, IL just provided me with an email address to Skier's Choice to see if they can help. I understand that I am going to have to beef up the stringers to hold this beast in place and add some bushings to help keep her from vibrating the motor mounts out of the wood. My Saltare only has 310 hours on her so she should look real nice when I am finished. Who did you see for design experience? I just looked at the SE450 at the boat show and I took a ton of pictures. I am going to design a playpen and surround seating similar to these new boats, but I am going to make sure that I have easy access to the motor and the v drive unit for maintenance purposes. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you, -Bob
My wife is great, one more year until the "all clear 5 yr" status on her cancer so we're hopeful all continues as planned.
The Pirarta project stills sits in the back yard needing a new home......
You have two options on the V drive unit. Either option will require you (most likely) to move the shaft log forward a bit to get the position of the engine correct. You can use the direct mount V drive/Borg Warner type unit like all current wakeboard boats have or go with the "remote" v drive like an old school flat bottom. I had opted for the old school build and was going to use a big block mounted to a BW 72 velvet drive, then a drive shaft to a Champion V drive mounted forward under the floor. With this method you get a flatter shaft angle hence a higher top speed. I believe the angle on this was around 11 or 12 degrees vs 14 or 16 on the direct mounted unit.
I'd check ebay for either types of v drive unit (remote mount preference would be a Casale/Champion) and BW transmission.
Get some pics posted of your project!
Is this boat in California? There is a one for sale that was a V Drive conversion attempt.
1984 SUPRA ALLEGRO 454 PCM 330 HP
14H 14L Michigan Prop
Yep, Chico
1984 SUPRA ALLEGRO 454 PCM 330 HP
14H 14L Michigan Prop
Yep, make you a killer deal on it!
you could stand to make a few hundred bucks off the curved windshield alone.
i was always pulling for the unicorn of an older supra v-drive....just like I'd love to do a rear wheel drive conversion on an Acura Legend. An LS motor in that body (assuming the frame was strengthened accordingly) would be epic. I've settled (for the moment) for an 88 Saltare (non-v-drive) and 00 740i
Hey Bob - the stringers aren't a crazy big deal. The mount isn't rocket science in its current location and won't necessarily be if you move it around. For me I would always struggle to conceptualize the angles to the v-drive and whether the thru hull shaft log would have to be changed or not. Assuming you have the budget to tackle this and re-working the other systems that will be competing for space with your ending aft, you should be good to go.
All that said, if you want to have fun on the lake..keep your current working setup and then buy a "project" and get busy on the weekends dialing it in. If your "project" is also you summer fun toy its a drag if it's not ready when you are.