looseconnection

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:










Here is the tired old 454



Making some progress



New power



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

cdail28590

iTrader: (2)

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

looseconnection

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.

looseconnection

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.

hemihead

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.

sneakypete87

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.

looseconnection

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.

sneakypete87

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.

dbkski

iTrader: (1)

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!

looseconnection

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.





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.