JohnJan

Can anyone provide some insight or experience on making this conversion? Boat is a 1976 Cig 28SS and my goal is to simplify the entire rig for increased reliability. Is it feasible to cobble parts together or better to purchase a turn key engine/drive combo?

John

Wally

iTrader: (1)

If you can, it will probably come out cheaper to try and find a complete combo....piece parting it will more then likely cost ya more in the end.
Also will depend on how you want to try and save money......do you plan on glassing the whole transom and then recutting the opening for the bravo's? or do you plan on getting the stellings TRS to Bravo box?.....
In the long run unless you got the hull for cheap it may not be worth doing the conversion...

TxHawk

iTrader: (2)

I just got done doing this conversion. I had the transom redone and recut holes for the bravos. I bought a used set of IMCO's and Stellings boxes with steering all together. I bought the engines separate. I would get the most parts you can together. It really adds up!

JohnJan

Wally, did you trade windshields with a guy in Detriot a while back for a 28SS, the guy I bought this boat from had mentioned the name "Wally" and wander it that was you?

Excaliber, where are you located in Texas?

John

Wally

iTrader: (1)

Yup that was me. You bought Erics boat eh? it looked nice from the pics i saw of it.

Biggus

iTrader: (1)

Why would you want to re rig your boat and decrease the realiablity?

Just bolt on a pair of Konrad 540's and be done with drive problems for the life of your boat!

Feel free to PM me. I did the conversion last April and I've enjoyed a very hard season this far

The Konrad 540 is the Rolex of sterndrives,.. PERIOD.!!!

Kurt.

Hi-Tech Marine

DITTO's////// DITTO's

I'm with BIGGUS on this one !!!!!!!

29scarab

Whats a rough cost of how much the Konrad 540 set up is??

I've read up on them but didn't get any figures on conversion cost.

Thanks

Biggus

iTrader: (1)

The Konrad PRS conversion kit that bolts up to a TRS transom assy. is @9k

Drive and transom assembly is under 12k (retail)

www.konradmarine.com

JohnJan

I knew the Konrad's would come up and there's no doubt that that's a great way to go, except for one thing, economics. 28SS's are selling for the low to mid $20's, maybe $30k if they're VERY nice. And mines pretty dang nice, but has a tired drive train. I can put Konrad's on for $18k and still need engines. Say $5k each for very simple freshening of my existing engines and I've got a boat worth around $30k with $28k of improvements, not counting my purchase price of the boat. Or, I buy some new 350's with Bravo's for $22k, add $2k for misc and fiberglass and I've spent $24k on improvements. I'm $4k less in the tank on my $30k boat. Oh, and we're talking small blocks here so the Bravo's would be no less reliable than Konrad's. I could also sell the TRS's for what, maybe $2k apiece?

So, after thinking out loud here, I think the best option is to stick with the TRS's and only spend $10k on freshening up the engines.