Eclipse232

Ok so I have a 1990 Wellcraft Eclipse 233. It came with a 350 and alpha drive. I replaced the 350 with a 454 magnum and replaced the alpha drive with a bravo 1 drive. I have replaced the exhaust manifolds with EMI Thunder exhaust manifolds and have run the exhaust out the side of the boat. The prop is a Mirage 21p. The boat does 55 at just about 5000 rpm. I have tried a 23p just for the hell of it, the boat did 47 at 4400rpm roughly. I didnt get an accurate reading when I changed the prop. I forgot the gps. haha

Now my father has a 1989 Baja 240. It has a 454 (non magnum) with a bravo drive. Same exhaust manifolds as my Wellcraft. Same prop at the Wellcraft. The Baja does 59 at 4800.

Now my way of thinking is that I have the Wellcraft, a smaller boat, that weighs less than the baja, with a more powerful engine...

Shouldnt the Wellcraft be atleast a little faster than the Baja?

Any ideas?

wjb21ndtown

If you put the same motor in both boats the Baja will be faster. Not because Baja's are known for incredibly fast hulls, but because the 232 Eclipse isn't a performance hull. Your 232 probably has a stand-up head and tons of other things that make your boat heavier than that Baja. If you put your same motor in a 23' Nova the Nova will be faster for the same reason.

It sounds crazy, but you're right about at the speed you should be. Those 232s go 45mph with a 260hp small block. You've added 100hp and picked up 10mph, that's about right... Do a little bit of work to that 454 and you should be happy with the results. You've already done the expensive part of the Hp upgrade (the exhaust and outdrive), get an intake manifold, carb and cam to match and you should be able to get around another 100hp out of that motor.

t500hps

That type of boat (wellcraft) might have a hook in the hull. Are you getting the bow up properly? Something to check.

Too Stroked

A Bravo drive also has more hydrodynamic drag than an Alpha in a straight swap.

Eclipse232

How would you eliminate hydrodynamic drag? I was thinking that the bravo drive me be in the water too deep and may be creating drag...but i wasnt sure. Could that be an issue?

Too Stroked

The general way this is done is to raise the propshaft height relative to the planing bottom. (X dimension) This is usually done at the factory by raising the entire engine & drive in the boat. In an existing boat, you can buy "shortie" lower units. But, you're talking a lot of money that you'll never get out of a boat like yours. And just in case somebody mentions a nose cone, they have little or no effect if you're going less than about 70 MPH.

ezstriper

boils down to like trying to make a lincoln town car fast...hulls only designed to go a certain speed no matter what H/P you throw at it....like pissing in the wind..turn around and buy a "performance" boat..

rchevelle71

iTrader: (1)

YUP,

The reason I sold my eclipse 6 years ago, and got the Pantera, the eclipse was good for what it was, but your never gonna make fast, no matter how much $$ you throw at it. heck mine even had Scarab Decals, and they didnt help

Eclipse232

Haha well thank you guys for the help!

astar77350

HAHA!