areyouliving

I have a chance to buy a 1990 34' Excel at a pretty reasonable price. It seems like a great layout for a 34' boat. I can't seem to find much on here about them, are there many out there?
Are people happy with them for the most part?
Anybody stuff some big motors in one?
Who's got the fastest one around?
What about the build quality?
I read one person say the v-birth is useless, is that the general consensus? We plan on overnight trips often.
Are these hulls turds and that's why so little conversation about them??

Thanks
Bill

Tinkerer

T hat is the same as the 34 SCARAB - I have a 1992 and I loved the boat when we used to weekend on it. We used to take a 5 day trip at least once every summer and trailer it somewhere we hadn't been before. It handles rough water real well. I had 1300 HP in mine and in rough water I saw 84 MPH. It is for sale without engines and drives for $5000. It does need a new transom and a cabin floor. ( pictures in the swap shop ) Mine was set up for weekending. ( hot and cold pressurized water system, fridge, microwave, enclosed head with a pumpout flush toilet.)
I loved the boat until my wife decided that she didn't want to go to Lake Michigan or overnight on it anymore )

areyouliving

Wow tinker that's a really nice boat. Too bad about the transom. Your couches and v birth are different than the one in looking at. It has a U shaped couch and recessed v birth.

Keith

I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd add to it for future searches. (BTW, Tinker, good to see you still around bud. I'm getting ready to sell my Scarab soon, the wife wants a cruiser.)

Are people happy with them for the most part? Absolutely. I've owned a my 1990 34' Scarab Excel for the last 20 years. So you could say I'm pretty happy with it. It's a bullet proof boat, glued to the water and solid.

Anybody stuff some big motors in one? My newest engines are 509 darts, built to my spec, generating a reliable 510HP each. Boat runs great at 3500rpms, cruising at 45+/- mph (200 gallon gas tank). I've tweaked her to get 70mph, but that was summer 2011, I just don't run WOT. The original engines lasted 13 years. The 2nd set were ****ty rebuilds sold to me as "new", they went only 7 years. My current power package has 5 years on it, about 125 hours. They're reliable, I know they're going to start, that was my priority. Bigger power, you'll get better performance.

Who's got the fastest one around? That depends on your definition of fast. The older Scarabs are a Cadillac ride, wave busters, not so much "fast" by today's standards and ventilated hulls. Very few left on the Chesapeake Bay, I see perhaps 1 during any given weekend.

What about the build quality? Fairly good quality, but age and use takes it's toll on a 1990 Scarab. Keeping up with the upgrades, maintenance and repairs is important. My boat has about 1050 hours on it, and she still looks and performs great.

I read one person say the v-birth is useless, is that the general consensus? We plan on overnight trips often. This is true, the v-berth is horribly small, and feels like you're sleeping in a coffin with the anchor locker taking up so much room. We spent the occasional overnight, but it was rare. I had cushions made to create a sleeping berth by converting the semi-circular couch, but I wouldn't recommend the boat for anyone who wants to spend overnights.

Are these hulls turds and that's why so little conversation about them?? The hulls were fast for their time, but not by today's standards. The stringers are huge, thick, made out of wood so the 34 Scarab is heavy. Mine has a 200 gallon gas tank, so when full, I'm carrying some serious weight. But then again, it's been 20 years since I had to worry about a weather forecast. Running 5 footers is not fun, but I knew I was going to make it home in this boat.

Added the tubular platform in 2009.