Now you are going backwards....An offshore boat has 2 (two) engines. If you want a sweet, rare, reliable, efficient ride, get some 450 hp small blocks, custom built and you will see upper 70's and the cg and balance will be perfect. You will never worry about breaking a Bravo and there will be room to work back there for routine maintenance; cause that's all you will need.
Good Luck

thank you...:ernaehrung004:

Not saying I'd do it, just that it could be done.

Need to come up with a name for the boat. I'm hoping it would give me a little better luck after all the trouble last year. Was thinking of something with chief, squaw, sun, waves, brave, spirit, arrows, No Reservations:D - love that name.

Rising Son
Rainmaker

Try using "braves" & "waves"; or if u go with small blocks, "twin-lil' Brave" something w/"twins/arrows/littleBraves"...naming a boat is very tricky. I thought for 2 yrs and decided to keep it "New Moon"- less stress; plus the whole bad luck thing!
spil

you could contact the Apache tribe chief and send him a picture of your boat and let him name it for you... that would be pretty cool and a little better story when people ask where the name came from...

just an idea..

Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
Post Office Box 1220
Anadarko
OK 73005-1220
(405) 247-9493
Fax: 247-3153

"just an idea"
And a good one at that!

Sweet, Thanks!!!. But if he gives her a name am I stuck with it? I mean, I don't want to anger the apache spirits. What the chief says you go with it, whether you like it or not. I'm not really worried about the bad luck. It doesn't have a name now which IMO is bad luck for this boat.

Lil Rebel

im sure he doesnt mind if you do dont use it or not... i think he would feel honored to have the opportunity and may see something in the boat that you dont?!? give it a shot all you have is timed anyway until summer and we can plan a naming ceremony too.

the apache gaming commissioner is a friend of mine and i could easily get you in contact with the chief....

lil rebel is just "OK"

I recently purchased an Apache Brave that already has the name No Reservations and the name is painted on. I don't think I will be re-painting just to remove the name. Its already grown on me, jejeje.

JCG

thats cool!!! now my 41 will have a "baby ship" lets see some pics of the little No Reservations, jejeje

Yah lets see some pics of that bad boy. I can see myself buying a little apache scout and painting to match.

Looked into the 454 to 502 conversions. Just from what I've researched all the accessories should work on the 502. I did read something about the fuel pump may need a regulator and the 502 will probobly need a new flywheel. Was hoping somebody might be able to shed some light on the topic.

If you do crate engines, you will need to buy 502 flywheels. The 502 will not have provision for a mech. fuel pump, so you will have to come up with an electric pump and regulator. All of the other acc. should work. I need to find out if your old 454's were Gen. 4 or 5. This will determine what you do with the external oil plumbing.

hook em up matt! andy listen to matt... he wont lead you in the wrong direction buddy.. merry christmas and winter sucks!!

Merry Christmas!!!!,

Yep Matt knows his stuff. Looking forward to putting it all together. I've always wanted to be more hands on DIY with the boats so for me the knowledge gained is priceless.

Found some info on the web that indicated the old 454 365hp was a Mark IV.

You will have to come up with a Gen 6 oil filter adapter... no big D.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Andy when you're ready for some engines let me know I am working a deal with Marine Power.

Patrick would also like to see a big arch on that bad boy. Give it some thought. :D

Radar arch.......LOL, I'm sure my friends would love that, couple of beers and it would turn into a monkey bar........at speed :drink:

Thanks By U.

Closed on my first house yesterday or I'd have these engines in yesterday. Going up to the lake for new years. Going to try and clean the bilge up a little. Still debating whether or not I want to paint it. I'll post some pics and see what you guys think. Happy New Years everyone.

If the mills are out you need to paint it. You will regret it if you don't:drink:Think about it SERIOUSLY:party-smiley-004:

Paint the bilge.

Heck... paint mine too. :D

Can I paint your's first? It can be my guinea pig :D I think I'm going to use awlgrip.

Fixed a shifter problem over the weekend, one of the ball/sping/cylinder's behind the back cap of the drives was locked up with gunk. Sorry, no pics.

Starting striping the bilge down for paint this weekend. Matt (Excaliburhawk40) stoped by and gave me some help as well as some much needed advice - THANKS!!.

Looks like she will need new fuel hoses, bilge hoses, and hose clamps. One of the lube reservoir's was leaking so those will get replaced too. Debating replacing the battery cables and switches, but have not priced out. Anyone know the life expectancy of cables like that? Transom assembly looks good - was replaced in 2001 or 02. Replaced a hot water heater Grrrrrrr.......

Picture of heads shows the culprit. Pro Comp heads.......which I would NOT recommend to anyone.

Got the pieces to one of my engines back. I need to get rid of the 454 block that locked up. Will sell for cheap, or trade for some trim resorvoir's or hoses. It's rebuildable. Send me a PM if interested.

Wow, looks like you got a lot done after I left.

Yep, enough to call it a day. Found another spot that will need some fiberglass repairs made. The one spot on the corner of the bulkhead looks like that one piece of fiberglass cloth delaminated. Need to send that to Froberg to see what he thinks, or maybe he will chime in. Hopefully it is just cosmetic and the rest of the bulkhead is in good shape. Up close it looks like it wasn't bonded together properly to begin with.

Mmm. Tempting.
Got an oil pan? One of mine has 4 ricochet dents from when a bearing cap blew off and down as the crank broke. :eek:

Did you already get opinions on that? They don't seem to be in critical locations. Like you said, maybe never well bonded there. IMO... they are pretty high up in the hull to be of severe structural concern. I would be tempted to get in there with some west system while the bilge is open, sand it down and re-paint the bilge. Then watch it for a season and see if they pop. The one looks like a seam, not a crack. If they were at or near stringer tabbing I would say go see a glass guy.

I think he is busy, something about moving and sneaking away from his poor wife left unpack everything.

He got it ready to wash and start sanding this weekend.

Got some good work in this weekend. Finished derigging and ready for prep. Would have started cleaning, but somebody tried to set fire to the power washer place nearby storage. Not exactly a metropolis out there:D. I remember about ten years back there was a sign on the road said 24 hour mechanic with a heart sign and a phone #.

Been busy with the new house. Couldn't thank Matt enough for coming out there again in the 30 something cold & wind.

Maybe. I need to have a careful look at mine. It might not be in much better shape.

Couple more of the bilge before we got after the wiring.

Ready for prep

all cleaned up

Better pics of the repair areas.....

The one close to the bulk head is the worst. You can see the crack goes all the way up and back to the corner of the hatch opening. This is the starboard side of the engine bulkhead.

Of course, I found a few more suprises.

I need some opinions on these spots where the stringers meet the transom just below the transom assemblies; any and all comments would be greatly appreciated. Also note the different gelcoat color where it looks like a previous repair could have been made. Looks like it was gone over in gelcoat down the whole width of the transom - see post 167. Up close and in the pictures it appears that the gelcoat just gave way. Probobly from the weight of the transom assemblies is my guess. There is no separation from the hull and its solid fiberglass/resin under the chiped part, no tearing or anything. Mostly cosmetic, but not sure what to do. I don't think I need to rip out the stringers. Do the transom assemblies need to come off or can I fix it without doing all that?

Port side

starboard side

Other stringers appear to be in good shape.

I would take them of and cut the stringers back about 10 inches and replace the hole transom !!!

Wile your at it,,its the best thing to do and then u don't have to phuck with it again for the next 15-20 years !!!!:ernaehrung004:

Thanks daredevil. I don't mind replacing the transom, but if I don't need to then I'd rather not.

Got some prefessional advice from two separate guys, one was glassdave here on OSO. Both said all the repair spots were pretty typical and relatively easy to fix. I'm going to have the fiberglass guy thoroughly inpect the transom for rot and if all is OK I'll have him patch it up and go.