Winter repower of a 223 Condurre
 

Here is a little information to start with.

I purchased this mint 1989 condurre last summer, bought it for a song off craigslist. This boat is in super condition, gel is like new and everything worked. All the switches and respective dummy lites come on, nav lites, ect. The only issue was the bilge pump, easy fix.

Original power was a 330hp 454. This motor has had some gas run thru it no doubt. Hr meter reads 160, but has not budged since I have had it. So lets say 25 hours a year at 21 years old is approx. 525 hours. Being a boat that has been in the south 25 hours a year is nothing.

Here she is:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/



http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/


http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

Here is the tired old 454

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

Making some progress

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

New power

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D720/ry%3D480/

Performance with the old 454 was not too bad. 59mph at 4750 rpm. Have seen 62 with no gas, and choppy water.

I dont know what to expect with the new motor. New motor is a 425hp Merc with cast aluminum headers/manifolds and dry pipes.

I am hoping for upper 60's but a solid 65 will be fine with me.

Looking to have the new dropped in late feb, and have it all put back together by april.

LC

Loose, good looking Condure, I like the colors. My buddy has the same boat and ironically the same truck and color. His originally came with a BBC and alpha drive. I don't know if yours is a alpha or not. After destroying 3 alphas he switched to a Bravo. Because the bravo sits lower he didn't gain any speed with increased hp that he put in the boat. His currently has a 454 with some old aluminum Sonny Leanord heads, comp cams cam, and EMI exhaust. Probably making around 420-440 hp. I think the best he has gotten is 62 and is a 59 mph boat all the time. I know he has tried a couple of different props with the last being a vengance that lift the boat out of the water good but he needs less pitch on it. He normally runs a 4 blade hydromotive. What size and type prop are you running? My buddy is on here sometimes and goes by the name sneakypete

I have the Bravo drive. The mirage + in a 23" pitch is my prop of choice. I have tried some others but the mirage + wins out.

I have often thought about the drive being deep. If this power does not give me much speed I may have to try a -2 shorty. The whole prop is under the hull. Major drag.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

Making some progress. Got the bilge clean and the new steering actuator installed. Need to relocate bilge pump to lowest point and new float switch. Now if the temps would stay above freezing I would drop the motor in.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D720/ry%3D480/

Nice work Loose.
When I ordered my '99 Cobalt 202 (21') I got the 300HP 350 Mag with a Bravo I. I knew Bravo's are deeper and an Alpha probably would have had a little more top end but you never have to worry about a Bravo so the piece of mind was worth it. I still run 58 - 59 on GPS all stock.

loose, got the same boat, love it handles like a dream, not the fastest but runs every day at 59.9 gps have seen 62.2 with choppy water an half full of fuel. getting ready to power up again. got a 502,pro-comp alum oval heads,comp cams 224/236@50 duration .568/.576 lift 112 lsa cam. emi exaust.air gap intake, msd, holley 750 mec. sec. hopeing to get a 64 plus speed dnt know. had the alpha.converted to bravo. 2inch lower than alpha.thinkn of a shorty too. ran several props cant get much over 4700 or 4800 rpm. thnkn the stock merc/msd combo may be the prob. good luck with the boat. keep us posted.

Sneaky,
Can you tilt your outdrive up with out it htting the swim platform? Your bravo may be deeper than mine being a swap from an alpha. I sure am hoping for more than 62 mph.

loose, yes my drive will full tilt. have about 3/8 inch clearance. no room for shower cap cooler. from the pics u posted my drive is the same x . looks like the factory did the same as i did , do the trim limits work on the drive? u may try hitting the trailor button to get the drive up more when running all out, i wired my switch straight .running a 4 blade 25 pitch vengence picked up front of boat an gained 3 mph.

Well it's about time there are more small Cobalts around. I often feel
ganged up on. Your pics of the drive got me thinking. I can't believe
that there is that big a difference between our boats. I am at 72.1 MPH
with my 502 MPI. I would think you guys should be mid 60's for sure.
With the engine upgrades don't mess around with your old analog
tachometers. Get a digital tach. You will need it when you are prop
testing. Also always use a GPS speed. I found my tach off 5% and my
speedometer off 6%. The greatest top speed gains I found was in the
last 250 RPM's. If you don't have accurate input your prop guy will not
be able to maximize your performance. Best of luck! :evilb:

Motor is in. The only thing that looks bad is the routing of the raw water hose to the oil cooler. Goes over the batteries and can be difficult to remove batteries. I think its an ok trade off since I have very easy access to the oil cooler.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D720/ry%3D480/

Motor went in without a fight, really helps to remove the rear seat. Alignment is spot on, and overall I am fairly happy with the appearance. Now I just have to change the oil, and put the drive back on, install all the seats and engine hatch lid and go lake test. I may leave the hatch off during testing so I can get actual rpms with a laser.

Looks great!!
 

You did a really nice job. Looks clean and tidey, not to mention it looks like a motor that means business. keep us updated.

Looking forward to hearing how the Lake Test goes. If you're able to, shoot some video while you're out there.

Took the cobalt for a swim today only to have to pull it right back out. Damn bellows must have gotten a hole in it over the winter. I new I should have replaced it before.

LC

Bellows replaced, back to the lake. 61mph on gps at 4900 and still had some stick left. Heavy rains here in the south has swollen the streams feeding the lake and there is so much trash in the water is was scared to go much faster. 61 may be shy of what it hit cell phone gps speedometer is real slow to update but 61 was top speed displayed. I know that it feels like hanging your head out the car window going down the interstate. Oil pressure is solid at 65 at 2000 revs on a mechanical gauge on the oil filter housing. Temps are stable, little low but 65 degree water. Getting a little sludge out the crank case breathers, builds up on the flame arrestor grate, hopefully this will subside in hotter water temps. Talk about a sit u in the seat from 3000 rpm to 4000. Great power for this hull. I am satisfyd. Getting my digital non contact tach back this week end, gonna verify rpms and start finding a prop.

LC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEk9XQ9NIoU

Just a little video with some sound of the motor at idle.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

digital tach added.

After a few weekends prop testing I have found that the Mirage Plus 23" pitch is the best prop for this boat/power combo.

I have tried

Bravo 1 22"pitch-nose down, could not trim out very much, prop would ventilate.

REV 4 25" pitch-great prop could trim out as much as I wanted and would not ventilate. RPMs were too low

REV 4 23" pitch-again great prop, good bow lift, rpms were a tad shy of 4800.

Mirage Plus 23" Best bow lifter, can trim out until I hit the limit, best speed at 4850 with 4 ppl, and a full tank of gas 64 mph. Best silp numbers too 10 to 11%. I am going to get this prop labbed, maybe a little more cup added.

I honestly think this boat likes more weight aft so the bow will air out a little more.

I am fairly happy with the project, added a solid 5 mph. with the engine swap. I know there is more speed in this combo, I just have to play we set up to find it.

LC