Guys don't get me wrong....true there is no replacement for displacement......If you want all out power go with BBC no question.

I am simply stating that with today's rising fuel cost and overall expense of performance boating in general I would rather go out every damn weekend and not worry about the cost of fuel as much or big power breakdowns.

If this were a single enigine boat we wouldn't even be having this converstaion about sbc's but since he has twins I just see it as a very viable and cost effective option.

For not much more money a 430,440. or even a 454 cubic inch small block can be made. totally different environment but there have been many SBC and SBF built making 750-800 HP in circle track dirt cars. Refresh at 1200 laps. Thats about what 300 hrs? :drink:

Agreed - but which ones would I buy? I don't think Merc's 6.2 320hp would be enough power. Derebery and a couple of other make a 425hp 383 much like the one Vector showed, but I don't think I'm going to get 500+hrs out of those, I could be wrong. I don't have the budget for Raylars LSM550.

Anybody know the speeds the 292 Fastech gets with twin 6.2 320hp? Weight?

I've gotten good pricing on 475hp 383s from Mesa Balancing.

btw, 500hrs?
how many hrs you do a year?
I'd say going thru the tops every 3-4yrs is a good idea.

Thanks, those are impressive numbers. The fastech's twin steps are no doubt going to be more efficient. I'm thinking a little less than 65mph, which isn't too bad. Sounds like 6.2

Storm - I do about 30 hours a year, more like 100 on the sea ray. I'll check into Mesa.

At 50hrs a year, after 4yrs you should have the top gone thru.
Maintainance is the name of the game.

The XZ drives on my boat were 10 years old and run with bigger power most of their life. Jo put two new 6.2's in the boat and it runs great. One drive did go out on me, but not due to any use I gave it, it was just thier time. I had them rebuilt with the same XZ gears and hope to get a lot of time out of them. The XZ's rob some power, I get 66mph at WOT, cruise is 44mph at 3500rpm, getting 2 mpg. Juice up the sbc's and you'll see 70mph and have some extra room in the bilge to work.

Thanks Austin, thats great info and a good comparison. My assumptions were flat out wrong. I believe the Pantera is around 500lbs lighter. Your also running in the ocean which typically bumps up a few mph over freshwater. I would probobly be pretty close to those numbers with the bravo one. Not quite the speed or cruising I'm looking for, looks like I'll need a minimum of 380-400hp.

Please, no SBC in an Apache.:eek:

Don't even think about it.