Adamcoover

Found a 83 scarab III 34. I currently have a 98 scarab 29 that's really nice. Wife and I enjoy sleeping on the boat we have one shared daughter with my x girlfriend and one on the way. The 29 doesn't have enough cabin really and we really need ac. This 83 I found is nice for its age could use as is and it's in the four diget price range. I am just not familiar with this boat. Is there a way to make it look alot more modern? Is it a ton heavier than a boat of the same size in say a 2000 model year? What do they run for speed stock? What kinda power do you have to put in them to get into the 80mph area? Those old school drives what will they handle? Can you eliminate the old school drives and separate trans and goto a modern drive ?

machloosy

Glassdave and some other guys will have more info but here are some answers...
80+ is going to require 850-900hp per side which will need a bigger drive and a tranny.
Stock TRS drives are good for 450hp depending on tranny's
It'll be about a 1000lbs heavier than a newer boat w/ bravo's
Tons of room and very stable
You can swap to a bravo drive and run about 500hp/side, but the transom has to be filled then re-cut since the openings for the trs drive is larger. If you want more power, speed, and reliability basically the only option is a super speed master drive. Everything else requires major transom work.

If you found a turnkey Scarab III under 10k w/ a solid transom and stringers (get a survey!) Just buy it

Adamcoover

super speed master drive? Who makes this? Cost?

kvogt

I had one years back with 600 hp on trs drives.
Nice boat alot of room for the size and very easy stay over boat.
With 600 hp it ran 75+ with 28 bravo 1 props.
The trs drives can handle 600 hp but that is about it Konrad also an option.
Must have Borg trans the merc trans will not last in that size boat with that power.

Under 10 with borg trans and running is a steal.
Kirk

machloosy

Kvogt more like 750 to see 80mph?

And Adam the SSM drives are Mercury. Essentially predeccessors to the #6 drive

kvogt

I know there many different things determin how fast a boat will run. My personal set up was 468 ci aluminum heads 177 blower that made 600 hp and the best gps i ever saw was 76.8.

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

I absolutely love my III and it is probably the most comfortable boat i have ever had. Mine has the bench seating on both sides of the cabin and came from the factory with panels and pads that make this like almost a queen sized bed. With plenty of room for the kids in the V birth you should be good on space. My boat is a later bravo boat and tips the scales at a fairly light 7500 pounds for a boat that size. Trs boat should be heavier but they are great drives and can handle decent power. Unfortunately these hulls kind of hit a wall in the upper seventies and require drive busting power to get any more out of it. 525's put the boat in the mid 70's and thats still pretty respectable. The trim/fit/finish on 87 and older boats is not all the great but certainly not bad, 88-89 boats were much different and showed a better quality.